The Vanderbilt University Literary Prize will be awarded annually to the sole author of a full-length collection of poetry that demonstrates great poignancy combined with rigor in form, language and artistic vision.
A collaboration between Vanderbilt University’s Office of the Chancellor, Vanderbilt University Press, and Vanderbilt University’s English Department and MFA Program, the annual contest seeks to identify works of poetry whose originality is immediately identifiable in how the book, in some combination, renews our relationship to language and expands our conception of poetry; delves into underexplored areas of human experience; makes claims on our lives that are urgent and aesthetic; or promotes historical, social, literary, political, or spiritual awareness.
Spearheaded by Professor Major Jackson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing, this prize continues the university’s legacy and on-going commitment to discovering new voices and to supporting the arts as transformative and essential to our community.
The Vanderbilt University Literary Prize in Poetry is open to poets twenty-one years of age or older, at any stage in their career, who are writing in English. Manuscripts must be an original work composed by a single poet. Individual poems may have been previously published in periodicals, chapbooks, or anthologies, but may not have been previously published in a full-length collection. Poets do not need to be US-based but all prize monies will be subject to international tax withholding. We are committed to an ethical and transparent process that maintains fairness and promotes the literary arts. There can be no conflict of interest between applicants and the advisory board or series general editor. Current faculty, students, and graduates of the MFA Creative Writing Program at Vanderbilt University are ineligible.
Winning manuscripts will be published in print, e-book, and audio formats by Vanderbilt University Press, accompanied by a standard publishing contract.
The prize recipient will receive a $10,000 honorarium, an invitation to read in the esteemed Gertrude C. and Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series at Vanderbilt University, and a one-week residency on campus to engage students and local writers in the Nashville community.
Submissions are open until April 15, 2024 or until we reach our 500 cap. Please click the link below to submit your manuscript.
Results will be announced in the summer on our website and social media feeds, and they will be included in the advertisement publicizing the next cycle’s submission period.
