Connecticut Poetry Award (annual poetry contest)

About this program

The Connecticut Poetry Award, run by the Connecticut Poetry Society with support from the Adolf and Virginia Dehn Foundation, is an annual open poetry contest that awards cash prizes (1st $400, 2nd $100, 3rd $50) and publication/recognition in the Connecticut River Review; first-place winners also receive a one-year CPS membership. Electronic submissions are accepted only via Submittable during the contest period (April 1–May 31) and require a $15 reading fee. Entrants may submit up to three previously unpublished poems in a single document (one poem per page; 80-line limit), must omit identifying information on the poems (Submittable collects ID separately), and may submit simultaneously elsewhere but must notify CPS if a poem is accepted; work created with AI software is not eligible.