Tony Quagliano Poetry Award (biennial)

About this program

The Tony Quagliano Poetry Award, established in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, is a biennial $1,000 prize recognizing accomplished poets whose innovative, experimental bodies of work and meaningful contributions to literary communities advance poetic craft; preference is given to poets with connections to Hawai‘i and/or the Pacific, and winners are featured on the council’s website and invited to give a reading and workshop. Applicants must be residents of a U.S. state or territory, submit materials in English, and there is no entry fee. Submissions require three PDFs sent by email to TQpoetryaward@hihumanities.org: 20 pages of poetry (anonymous), a statement describing literary community work (anonymous), and a bibliography listing at least 25 published poems with contact details (no more than five poems from any one source). Entries are judged 75% on quality of published work and 25% on community involvement; the next application cycle for the 2027–28 award is expected to open at the end of 2026.