science fiction and fantasy poetry association
Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association
Annual Contest

SFPA has run an annual poetry contest since 2006, with the rules and guidelines consistent since the 2013 edition.

The contest is intended to raise funds for SFPA (a small donation is required with each entry), as well as to draw more attention to speculative poetry and reward writers of good speculative poems.

Each year, members and non-members submit speculative poems in long, short, and dwarf poem divisions, which are then judged by a guest judge. The top three winners of each division receiving cash prizes and publication on the SFPA website.

Submit your entries using the following form: https://bit.ly/SFPAcontest2025

Current Judge and Chair

2025 Judge: Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall Gailey is a poet with MS who served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington. She's the author of seven books of poetry: Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, Unexplained Fevers, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, Field Guide to the End of the World, winner of the Moon City Press Book Prize and the SFPA's Elgin Award and in 2023 Flare, and Corona from BOA Editions, a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She’s also the author of PR for Poets, a non-fiction guide to help poets publicize their books. Her work has been featured on The Writer’s Almanac, Verse Daily, and The Best Horror of the Year. She holds a B.S. in Biology and an M.A. in English from University of Cincinnati, and an MFA from Pacific University. Her poetry has appeared in journals like The American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry; her personal essays have appeared on Salon.com and The Rumpus. Her web site is www.webbish6.com. Twitter, BlueSky and Instagram: @webbish6.

2025 Contest Chair: James Machell

James Machell is a British writer, born in London and matured in Seoul. He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and the outreach manager for Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, for which he gets to interview his favourite writers and artists, including P. Djèlí Clark, Ken Liu, and Samuel R. Delany. He is also a judge for the Latin Programme Poetry Prize. Find him on X @JamesRJMachell or YouTube, where his channel’s name is Fell Purpose.

Contest Rules and Prizes

The SFPA speculative poetry contest is open to all poets, including non-SFPA-members.

Prizes will be awarded for best unpublished poem in 3 categories:

  • Dwarf (poems 1–10 lines [prose poems 0–100 words])
  • Short (11–49 lines [prose poems 101–499 words])
  • Long (50 lines and more [prose 500 words and up]).

Line count does not include title or stanza breaks. All sub-genres of speculative poetry allowed in any form. Entries must be anonymized to ensure fair judging; friends/family/students of the judge may not enter.

The first, second, and third place winners of each category receive publication on the SFPA website and a cash prize: $150 First Prize, $75 Second Prize, and $25 Third Prize.

Submission Guidelines

  • The 2025 contest will open June 1. The deadline will be August 31. Submit your entries using the following form: https://bit.ly/SFPAcontest2025
  • Unpublished poems only. Per SFPA's Statement on AI, the submission of AI generated poetry is prohibited.
  • Author retains all rights, except that first through third place winners will be published on our website.
  • Enter as many poems as you like, but an entry fee of $3 per poem must be paid via PayPal at entry (credit card can be used without a PayPal account, and those unable to use PayPal may mail a check). Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but must be immediately withdrawn if accepted elsewhere.
  • Entries will be read anonymously. Please do not include any identifying information in the file (file name can be anything); enter your name only in the form. The form can take a submission with multiple poems in the same category (dwarf, short, or long). Use a separate documents to submit poems from different categories. .rtf preferred.
  • No PayPal, or problems with the form? E-mail contest@sfpoetry.org to ask for instructions with “SFPA contest help” in the subject line.

Confirmation of receipt of your submission should follow within 3 days.

Announcement of winners will be posted on the SFPA website.

Previous Years' Contests

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