Here are the Guidelines for Omnidawn’s Single Poem Broadside Contest.

Suggested poem length:

Poem should fit on one 8 x 11 page for a broadside. Type size can vary. The winner of the Omnidawn Single Poem Broadside Poetry Contest wins a cash prize of $1,000, publication of the broadside by Omnidawn, 20 free copies of the broadside, and publication of the winning poem in the Omnidawn newsletter.

For those of you who are not familiar with “Broadsides” here is the Wikipedia definition for the term “Broadside (printing)”: “A broadside is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only. Historically, broadsides were posters, announcing events or proclamations, or simply advertisements. Today, broadside printing is done by many smaller printers and publishers as a fine art variant, with poems often being available as broadsides, intended to be framed and hung on the wall.”—Wikipedia Omnidawn will use a local printer who will use high quality paper, suitable for framing.

  1. Omnidawn seeks a wide range of styles, approaches, forms, diversities, and aesthetics to send to the judge (for example: lyric, prose poems, experimental, etc.).
  2. There are no citizenship requirements or limitations. Online submissions are accepted from around the world. No postal submissions will be accepted.
  3. If you submit more than one poem we recommend that you begin each poem at the top of a new page and precede each poem with the words “POEM 1,” “POEM 2,” “POEM 3,” and so on to make it very clear to our editors where one poem ends and another begins.
  4. Poems must be in English, although it is perfectly acceptable to include some text in other languages.
  5. Poem submissions for all contests must be original. If you include quotes from other works in your poem, please be sure they are clearly attributed to the author at the bottom of the poem.
  6. Simultaneous submissions to other contests and multiple submissions to this or other Omnidawn contests are perfectly acceptable. Please notify us if your poem is taken elsewhere.
  7. Poems must be previously unpublished in any form. Therefore, poems that have been previously published in print or online web magazines, journals, or books (including self-published books) are ineligible.
  8. If you include photographs or other graphic images, they must only be created by you. No collages are allowed.
  9. This contest is Identity-Hidden. If you include your name, or identifying information, your submission may be disqualified. You may use a pseudonym, including within a poem as needed, but please indicate that this is one.
  10. Revisions are not allowed to a poem after it has been submitted to the contest. 
  11. NOT ELIGIBLE: translations, or collaborations by more than one author.
  12. NOT ELIGIBLE: Students, colleagues, or close friends of the judge, Rodrigo Toscano.
  13. NOT ELIGIBLE: Omnidawn past and present staff and interns; and authors of books or broadsides Omnidawn has published. 
  14. Note that if you win this contest you are still eligible to enter and win one of Omnidawn’s full book or chapbook contests.
  15. No postal entries. We can only accept submissions via Submittable.