OREGON POETRY ASSOCIATION 2025 SUMMER/FALL POETRY CONTEST
Begins: June 12, 2025
Ends: July 28, 2025
Winners will be announced mid-September 2025 and invited to read at the Conference in early October.
CATEGORIES
Limit: one poem per category (no duplicates).
1) OREGON Poet’s Choice: one poem / two pages maximum, any subject, any form. Entrant must have current Oregon mailing address.
Judge: Ellen Waterston
The document file name should be: Category-Title, for example: Poets Choice-The Waste Land
2) Members Only: one poem / one page maximum, any subject, any form. Entrant must be a current OPA member.
Judge: Emily Ransdell
The document file name should be: Category-Title, for example: Members Only-This Is Just to Say
3) Extended Prompt: one poem / one page maximum, any form, following this prompt.
Judge: Richard Tillinghast
The document file name should be: Category-Title, for example: Extended Prompt-Last Train to Memphis
4) Theme—Waves of Peace: one poem / one page maximum, any form on the theme.
Judge: Charles Goodrich
The document file name should be: Category-Title, for example: Theme-Dover Beach
Read more about this year's judges.
AWARDS
OREGON Poets Choice: 1st place $150; 2nd place $100; 3rd place $70; up to 3 Honorable Mentions.
All other categories: 1st place $100; 2nd place $70; 3rd place $50; up to 3 Honorable Mentions.
All 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be published on OPA’s website and in next year's Verseweavers, OPA’s annual print anthology, and may be included in an OPA newsletter or social media posting.
ENTRY FEE
OPA members: Flat rate of $9 for up to four poems (limit one poem per category).
Non-members: Flat rate of $17 for up to three poems (limit one poem per category).
DEADLINE
Entries must be submitted via Submittable by July 28, 2025, 11:59pm PST, at which time poems will be made available to the judges.
CONTEST GUIDELINES – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY, AS MANY HAVE CHANGED FROM PRIOR YEARS. (Entries not in compliance with these guidelines will be disqualified; entry fees non-refundable.)
1. Poems entered must be entrant’s original work, unpublished online or in print, and may not have been a prior winner in any contest. Self-published books/collections, blogs, social media, and personal website postings are considered published.
2. Poets may only submit one poem per category. Page limits are one page for all categories except Oregon Poet’s Choice which has a two-page limit.
3. If entering multiple categories, each poem must be submitted in a separate document. The document file name should be: Category-Title, for example: Poets Choice-The Waste Land; Members Only-This Is Just to Say; Extended Prompt-Last Train to Memphis; Theme-Song of Myself.
4. Submit poems in 12-point Times New Roman font, standard 1-inch margins. Format as .doc or .docx. No PDF files.
5. At the top of each poem, identify the category.
6. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but if a poem is accepted elsewhere, entrant must notify OPA immediately and withdraw the poem via a Submittable message.
7. Poet’s name/contact information should NOT appear anywhere on the poems entered or in file names. Poems are read blind.
8. Online submissions only at https://opa.submittable.com.
9. If you join OPA at the time you enter, you are eligible for the Member rate and the Members Only category.
10. Poems may not be edited and re-submitted. Submission is final.
11. Members may submit up to four poems (three, if a non-resident of Oregon), limited to one poem per category.
12. Non-members may submit up to three poems (two, if a non-resident), limited to one poem per category.
13. Non-residents of Oregon may submit up to three poems (two, if a non-member), limited to one poem per category.
14. OPA claims first North American Rights to winning poems. All rights revert to author upon print publication in Verseweavers. OPA reserves the right to use prizewinning poems on the OPA website, membership forms, etc. If a poem is subsequently reprinted, please acknowledge OPA and Verseweavers as the original publisher.
CONCURSO DE POESÍA EN ESPAÑOL 2025
Asociación de Poesía de Oregón
Oregon Poetry Association
(OPA)
BASES
Una vez más, la Asociación de Poesía de Oregón abre sus puertas a la comunidad hispana y te invita cordialmente a participar en su Concurso de Poesía en Español, cuyas bases son las siguientes:
Fecha límite para participar: hasta el 30 de junio de 2025.
Los poemas deben entregarse de manera electrónica a través de la plataforma “Submittable”: https://opa.submittable.com
Participar en el concurso no tiene costo alguno.
Los poemas ganadores serán anunciados durante el mes de agosto de 2025.
Los poemas deben cumplir con los siguientes requisitos:
1. Lxs poetas pueden enviar uno o dos poemas escritos originalmente en español.
2. Los poemas deben ser originales e inéditos (no haber sido publicados previamente en formato impreso o electrónico; no haber sido aceptados para publicación en otro lugar y no haber sido ganadores de otro concurso). No se permite el uso de Inteligencia Artificial (IA). NOTA IMPORTANTE: Los libros/colecciones autopublicados, blogs, publicaciones en redes sociales y sitios web personales también se consideran publicaciones.
3. Los poemas no deben exceder una página si son en verso (o 500 palabras si son en prosa).
4. Lxs poetas deben enviar cada poema en un archivo aparte, con el siguiente formato: letra Times New Roman tamaño 12, márgenes estándar de 1 pulgada. Los archivos deben tener la extensión .doc o .docx (no se acepta PDF).
5. IMPORTANTE: El documento en sí y el nombre del archivo no deben contener ninguna información que identifique a lxs poetas (nombre, seudónimo, etc.), ya que la revisión de los poemas es ciega. Favor de nombrar el fichero con el título del poema y eliminar cualquier etiqueta que contenga nombre u otros datos identificativos a través de las "propiedades" del documento (para ello, ir a "Archivo > Propiedades > Resumen").
6. El envío es definitivo: los poemas no podrán ser editados ni reenviados.
7. Se otorgarán los siguientes premios:
Primer Premio: $150
Segundo Premio: $100
Tercer Premio: $70
Habrá además hasta tres menciones honoríficas.
8. Lxs poetas ganadorxs serán anunciadxs durante el mes de agosto de 2025 y serán invitadxs a leer en la Conferencia Anual de OPA a principios de octubre. Sus poemas se publicarán en el próximo número de Verseweavers de OPA.
9. Todos los derechos sobre su obra revierten a lxs poetas tras su publicación en Verseweavers. OPA se reserva el derecho de usar los poemas ganadores en su sitio web, redes sociales, boletín informativo, formularios de membresía, etc. Si un poema se reimprime posteriormente, se ruega otorgar crédito a OPA y Verseweavers como los editores originales.
2025 SPANISH POETRY CONTEST
Oregon Poetry Association
(OPA)
GUIDELINES
Once again, the Oregon Poetry Association opens its doors to the Hispanic community and cordially invites you to participate in its Spanish Poetry Contest, whose guidelines are as follows:
Deadline to submit entries: June 30th, 2025.
Poems must be submitted electronically through the "Submittable" platform: https://opa.submittable.com
There is no fee to enter the contest.
The winners will be announced in August 2025.
Poems must meet the following requirements:
1. Poets may submit one or two poems originally written in Spanish.
2. Poems must be original and unpublished work (not previously published in print or electronic format; not accepted for publication elsewhere; not a prior winner at another contest). No use of AI is permitted. IMPORTANT NOTE: Self-published books/collections, blogs, social media, and personal websites postings are also considered published.
3. Poems must not exceed 1 page if they are in verse (or 500 words if they are prose).
4. Poets must submit each poem in a separate file in Times New Roman font, size 12, standard 1-inch margins. The files must be in .doc or .docx format (PDF is not acceptable).
5. IMPORTANT: The document itself and the file name must not contain any information identifying the author (name, pseudonym, etc.), as poems are reviewed blind. Please name your file with the poem’s title. Remove any label that may contain name or other identifying data, through the "properties" of the document (to do this, go to "File>Properties>Summary).
6. Submission is final: poems may not be edited or resubmitted.
7. The following prizes will be awarded:
First Prize: $150
Second Prize: $100
Third Prize: $70
There will be up to three honorable mentions.
8. Winners will be announced in August and will be invited to read at the OPA Annual Conference in early October. The winning poems will be published in the next issue of OPA's Verseweavers.
9. All rights revert to the poets upon print publication in Verseweavers. OPA reserves the right to use winning poems on its website, social media, newsletter, membership forms, etc. If a poem is subsequently reprinted, please credit OPA and Verseweavers as the original publisher.
Thank you for for supporting poetry in Oregon. Your generous contribution may go to the Youth Contest, Spanish Contest, Adult Contest, Conference, or Special Workshops & Poetry Event.
Memberships last for one year. Thank you for supporting the Oregon Poetry Association.
Memberships last for two years. Thank you for supporting the Oregon Poetry Association.
Memberships last for one year. Thank you for supporting Oregon Poetry Association.