Submissions are OPEN for the Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize

The Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize

The Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize is granted annually by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Georgia. The competition is judged by that year's Diann Blakely Poet.

The winner of the contest will receive $500 and their work will be archived on this website.

The 2025-2026 Poetry Competition will be judged by Diann Blakely Poet Karla Kelsey who visited the University of Georgia between November 11-12, 2025 as part of the UGA Spotlight on the Arts.

Competition Rules:

Poem submissions must be written in English.
No simultaneously submitted work.
An entry is one poem, 50 lines or fewer, and each author may only submit once in a given year.
Do not submit work previously published in any form, as it will not be considered.
Entries will be read blind. There should be no identifying information in the poem or in the file name.

Please note that students, faculty, staff, and administrators currently affiliated with the University of Georgia are ineligible for the Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize. Intimate friends, relatives, colleagues, and former or current students of a judge are also ineligible to enter. Previous winners of our contest should wait three years before entering again.

Any entry that does not follow these directions will be disqualified.

In exchange for the opportunity to submit a poem for consideration in the Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize, the author (“Entrant”) hereby grants the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, by and on behalf of the University of Georgia (“University”) a non-exclusive right and license to use the poem submitted (the “Submission”), for judging and for permanent storage with the University of Georgia English Department (collectively, the “Permitted Uses”), in all platforms and in all media now known or hereafter devised. Permitted Uses shall also include the right to present the Submission on the English Department’s website, and in the advertising and promotion of the Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize. The University is under no obligation to use the Submission for any of the Permitted Uses. Nothing herein shall limit the University’s rights to use the poem as a member of the general public.

Competition opens on Feb 1, 2026 and closes at midnight (Eastern Standard Time) on Feb 28, 2026