The 2025 Press 53 Award for Poetry
Is Open for Entries

Award includes: Publication by Press 53 of the winning poetry collection as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection; $1,000 cash advance; 53 copies

The Press 53 Award for Poetry is awarded annually to an outstanding, unpublished collection of poems. This competition is open to any writer, regardless of his or her publication history, who is 18 years of age or older, provided the manuscript is written in English and the author lives in the United States or one of its territories.

Dates for submission: April 1, 2023–July 31, 2023. Submissions will close at midnight Eastern Standard Time on July 31. (Note: Deadline can be extended at the discretion of Press 53.)

Winner and Finalists announced: The winner of the Press 53 Award for Poetry will be announced on or before November 1, 2023, on the Press 53 website, and via email, Facebook, Twitter, and by email through Submittable. We will also include a list of finalists.

Award: The author of the winning manuscript will receive a cash advance of $1,000, publication of the manuscript in April 2024 as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection, and 53 copies of the completed book with an option to purchase unlimited copies at a discount for as long as the book is in print. Prizes awarded upon publication.

How to submit:
Online: Enter here using Submittable (April 1 through July 31, 2024)

By Mail (Postmarked April 1 through July 31, 2024):
Send manuscript, cover sheet with contact information, and $30 reading fee (check/money order) to:
Press 53
560 N. Trade St., Ste 103
Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Reading fee: A reading fee of $30 must be paid for each entry. Reading fees are nonrefundable.

Judging: Press 53 Poetry Series Editor Tom Lombardo will be the only judge for this contest; the contest will be judged solely on the strength of the poems as a collection.

Eligibility: The competition is open to manuscripts written in the English language from writers at all levels, 18 years years of age or older, who live in the United States or one its territories. Note: authors and editors who work for Press 53 or have published a book with Press 53 are not eligible to enter.

Manuscript Guidelines:

1. Manuscripts should be approximately 50 to 120 pages in length. We do not favor one length over the other. We are only concerned with the quality of the poems.

2. The author's name should not appear on the manuscript. This is a blind read.

3. Manuscript should include a Table of Contents with numbered pages.

4. An acknowledgments page for previous publication of poems in the manuscript is not necessary. Only the poems are read and considered.

5. Use a standard, easy-to-read font such as 11- or 12-point Times New Roman, Minion, Garamond, etc.

6. Poems previously published in journals, magazines, or anthologies, and poems that have won awards, may (and should) be included in the manuscript. Selected poems from chapbooks are fine, but please use only a reasonable number of poems, not the entire chapbook.

7. Previously published collections are not eligible, including self-published collections available as ebooks or in print.

8. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition for consideration. Each submission will require a separate reading fee.

9. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your manuscript if it is accepted by another publisher. Withdrawal can be completed via Submittable by opening your submission and clicking "Withdraw" in the upper-right corner of your screen. Reading fees are not refundable and withdrawn manuscript cannot be replaced with another manuscript.

10. Confirmation of receipt will be sent via e-mail by Submittable immediately after submission. An announcement of our shortlist and winner will be sent to all entrants via email through Submittable, and posted on the Press 53 website, Facebook, and Twitter on the dates indicated above.

11. The Deadline for entering is July 31. Requests to edit a manuscript will not be honored after the deadline. If a manuscript is withdrawn, it cannot be replaced with another manuscript, but you may enter another manuscript before the deadline, which would require another reading fee.

If you have any questions or concerns other than technical issues with the submissions manager, please contact Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher & Editor in Chief

Announcing the Winners of the
2024 Press 53 Award for Poetry

This year we received 401 entries from writers in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Our judge, Press 53 Poetry Series Editor, Tom Lombardo, and Georgia State University poetry intern Joy Ahn, had a hard time narrowing these down to First Prize, Runner-Up, and a list of five Finalists. Thank you to everyone who entered their manuscripts for making this task difficult for Tom and Joy. Tom is looking forward to reading more great poetry next year.

And now the results of the 2024 Press 53 Award for Poetry!

First Prize

Jackie Craven of Schenectady, NY, won First Prize for WHISH, earning her publication as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection in April 2024, a $1,000 advance, and 53 copies of her book.

Jackie Craven writes poetry and prose steeped in magical realism. Recent poems appear in AGNI, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Cincinnati Review, New Ohio Review, Pleiades, Ploughshares, and many other journals and anthologies. She's the author of the collection Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters (Brick Road Poetry Press) and two chapbooks, Cyborg Sister (Headmistress Press) and Our Lives Became Unmanageable (Omnidawn award for fabulist fiction). After completing a Doctor of Arts from the English Department at UAlbany, she worked for many years as a journalist covering architecture, art, and travel. She lives in Schenectady, New York; Cocoa Beach, Florida; and on Zoom, where she hosts a long-standing open mic for writers.

Judge’s Comment: “It’s rare to find such perfect prose poetry. The poet’s abrupt swerves and disruptive metaphors drop readers off cliffs, repeatedly. Marvelous work.”

Runner-Up

For the first time, we are naming a Runner-Up that includes publication in 2024 as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection, a $500 advance, and 53 copies.

Sara Ries Dziekonski was named Runner-Up for her manuscript, Today’s Specials. Sara is a Buffalo native and holds an MFA in poetry from Chatham University. Her first book, Come In, We're Open, won the 2009 Stevens Poetry Manuscript Competition. Her chapbooks include Snow Angels on the Living Room Floor (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and Marrying Maracuyá (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2021), which won the Cathy Smith Bowers Chapbook Competition. Her poems have appeared in U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's syndicated newspaper column “American Life in Poetry,” and in the journals Slipstream, Potomac Review, SWWIM Every Day, Connecticut River Review, and LABOR: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, among others. She is the co-founder of Poetry Midwives Editing and Submission Services and teaches creative writing with Keep St. Pete Lit.

Judge’s comment: “The narrator unveils truths of a family-run restaurant from the other side of your diner dinner plate. I could smell the food buried in the tension. The pace, the teamwork, the interaction with customers, both good and bad, become a solid core of the poet’s diner-sized revelations. Her poems made me hungry for more.”

Finalists

Press 53 congratulates the following five finalists (alphabetized by last name):

The Forest Comes with It by Carolee Bennett of Clarksville, NY 

True Crime by Juliana Gray of Alfred, NY 

No Swaddle by Mackenzie Kozak of Candler, NC 

Jefferson Water and Other Poems by J. Eric Smith of Sedona, AZ 

Lifelines by Ellen Zhang of Troy, MI 

A Note from the publisher: Again, everyone at Press 53 thanks the poets who sent us their manuscripts for consideration of this award. The quality of poetry we receive tells us that the art and craft of poetry is thriving and growing. We would also like to thank all of the booksellers who recognize this and offer a well-stocked contemporary poetry section to their customers. There are millions of poetry readers across this nation and abroad who will drive long distances if they hear of a bookstore with a strong contemporary poetry section. Bookstores: Hire a poet, give them a few bookshelves, and your poetry community will come! Poets: Keep reading, writing, and submitting your work for publication. The world needs more poets, more poetry, more truth, more love!

Our 2023 Winner

Maya J. Sorini of Bergen County, NJ, has been named winner of the 2023 Press 53 Award for Poetry. Press 53 Poetry Series Editor Tom Lombardo selected Maya’s manuscript, Boneheap in the Lion’s Den, from a field of 383 entries by poets in 44 US states and Washington, DC.

Tom said of Boneheap in the Lion’s Den: “These poems take the reader on a powerful journey through the trauma surgery wards where the poet works. What struck me was the poet’s unsparing honesty and compassion.”

Maya J. Sorini is a poet, performer, and medical student with a background in trauma surgery research. She has a BA in Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis, a master’s degree in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University, and has taught in Columbia University’s Narrative Medicine program. Sorini continues to work as a freelance Narrative Medicine workshop facilitator. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Journal of the American Medical Association, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art and Healing, and The Intima. She performs her work at both public and private events for a wide range of audiences. Maya currently attends Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

Previous winners