Poetry Contests
by Bill Schulz
I've never won a poetry contest; I've never entered one.
I did once win a prize, though. My senior project at Hobart College in the mid ‘70s was a collection of poems titled Engaging Blue, which won the Charles H. Prize for "Best Poem or Poetry." I received a certificate from the college and from Tess Gallagher, the "outside reader," a tin of snuff. I still have both certificate and snuff and that seems quite enough.
My quarrel with contests, and I admit it's a trivial quarrel, is in the value of entering, which for a little-known, aging poet from a little-known place in Maine is very little, I'm afraid. I prefer to spend the entrance fee on books or raisin bread to feed my head or my insatiable desire for raisin toast.
I acknowledge most poetry journals—even online journals—need cash to stay afloat, and charging $20, $30, $40 to enter a contest is a good way to pad the bank account and perhaps a chance for a publisher or editor to stash a little in their pocket.
As I said, it's a trivial and probably cynical quarrel.
My real quarrel with contests and submissions in general is the length of time it takes for editors to accept or reject a submission, especially if I'm paying a fee that's in double digits. Don't we all have submissions getting moldy with age?
Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. As editor of Hole In The Head Review, I started a contest, The Charles Simic Prize for Poetry, after my friend and mentor, Charlie Simic, died in 2023. From the beginning we worked to keep the entrance fee low ($15, $0 for poets experiencing financial hardship) and the prizes valuable, $1000 first prize, $200 second prize, and a signed first edition of one of Charlie’s books for the editor's choice.
Submissions for the Simic Prize open on September 1. You'll find submission guidelines here: https://theholeintheheadreview.submittable.com/submit.
Let me know if you're up for sharing 51-year-old snuff. Could it possibly be worse than new snuff?
Bill Schulz lives in Maine, not far from the farm where his ancestors settled in the late 1780s. He received a master’s degree from the poetry program at The University of New Hampshire in 1976 and a master’s in theological studies from The Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, CA 30 years later. His book of poetry, Dog or Wolf, was published by Nine Mile Press in 2022. His second book, Another Psalm, was published in 2025 by Kelsay Books. He is the founder of Hole in the Head Review.
