Nebraska Poetry Society's 
2025 Open Poetry Contest

• 1st Place: $500  

• 2nd Place: $250

• 3rd Place: $100 

  • Honorable Mentions: Up to 5 poems will be selected as honorable mentions.

  • All winners and honorable mentions will be published in the Nebraska Poetry Society’s online publication, The Poet Rabble.

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Guest Judge: Lisa Fay Coutley

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Lisa Fay Coutley is the author of five poetry collections, most recently HOST, published in the Wisconsin Poetry Series in 2024. Her first creative nonfiction collection, Small Girl: Micromemoirs was also released in 2024 alongside the grief anthology she edited: In the Tempered Dark: Contemporary Poets Transcending Elegy. Her poetry and prose have been published and anthologized widely, translated into Italian, and recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Academy of American Poets. She is an Associate Professor in UNO's Writer's Workshop, where she teaches poetry, CNF, and editing & publishing.

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​​Submission Guidelines:​

• Submissions open on October 1, 2025.

• Submissions will close when we receive 100 entrants or on November 31st, whichever happens first.

• Submissions are only accepted through Submittable. 

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Eligibility:​

• Submissions are open to anyone. You do not need a connection to Nebraska or a Nebraska Poetry Society membership.

• Only unpublished work is accepted, including self-published works (print or digital), personal blogs, social media, and other online platforms.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, provided you notify us immediately if the work has been accepted or received recognition in another contest.

• We accept all forms of poetry. No images, please, text only.

 

• The nonrefundable submission fee is $20. This includes up to three (3) poems.

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• Formatting: Please format your poem the way you want us to read it. We appreciate the use of a 12-point Times New Roman font. We also appreciate poems that are under three pages long. All entries must be in English. Please put each poem on a separate page with the title and upload it as a separate file. Do not include your name on the poem, as all entries will be judged blind.

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• Winners will be announced by December 31, 2025. You will be notified of your submission as the contest progresses. Notification will be through Submittable using the name and email address you provide when submitting. 

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• The submission fee is a tax-deductible donation to the Nebraska Poetry Society, a non-profit organization whose mission is to make poetry accessible to all. The submission fee includes a subscription to our quarterly newsletter.