Unlock Your Writing Potential: Students in Our Writing Competition Preparation Class Are More Likely to Secure Awards
Founded by The Adroit Journal, the Adroit Prize for Poetry and Prose is a poetry contest that recognizes the exceptional talents of high school students in the realms of poetry and prose writing. This contest provides a platform for young writers to showcase their creativity and gain recognition within the literary community. Judges for this year’s competition were Natalie Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning Mojave American poet, and Ocean Vuong, Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist. It is one of the most competitive poetry contests to enter.
Eligibility: High school students
Submission Guidelines: Students can submit 5 packets of work, each of the packets may contain either up to 6 poems or up to 3 pieces of prose (total 3,500 words combined)
Competition Deadline: May 1, 2025 (based on last year’s deadline)
Competition Website: https://theadroitjournal.org/adroit-prizes/
Write the World, developed by David Weinstein – who’s currently working at Harvard University, is dedicated to improving the writing of high school students through a global online community and guided interactive process. Through multiple competitions throughout the year, students are encouraged to develop their voices, refine their editing skills, and publish on an international platform. Write the World helps students develop the writing strategies and communication tools essential for success in school, career, and life.
The Write the World Writing Competition series has different writing themes and formats for each competition. The series is currently at the Poetry contest. This year’s theme is “Emotions in Words.”
Eligibility: Young Writers who are at least 13 years old
Competition Deadline: April 28, 2025
Competition Website: https://writetheworld.org/#/competitions
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the longest-running, oldest, and most prestigious literary and art competition in the United States, aiming to find creative works and original technical skills by students in grades 7-12. Since 1923, the Academic Art and Writing Award has recognized the vision, originality, and talent of young people, and has provided opportunities and academic awards for creative young people to express their talent. The high school award symbolizes the pursuit of excellence and will help students stand out in university and scholarship applications. Poetry is one of the categories in the competition, and the type of submission may include but is not limited to prose poetry, free verse, formal poetry, song lyrics, and spoken word. Students can submit single poem to the contest. There is an entry fee of $10 per individual entry.
Eligibility: Must be a student in grade 7-12 in the US or international students studying in American schools
Competition Deadline: December 2024 to January 2025.
Competition Website: https://www.artandwriting.org/
YoungArts identifies the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts, and provides them with creative and professional development opportunities throughout their careers. All applications are judged by esteemed, discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process, and award winners are offered a lifetime of artistic support and ongoing connection with an extraordinarily robust network of peers and mentors.
Poetry Guideline: Students must submit 3 to 5 separate poems, and they should not exceed 10 pages
Eligibility: Grades 10–12 or 15–18 years of age on December 1
Competition Deadline: October 17, 2025 (based on last year’s deadline)
Competition Website: https://youngarts.org/competition/
The Leonard Milberg High School Poetry Prize recognizes outstanding work by student writers in the 11th grade in the U.S. or abroad. Contest judges are poets on the Princeton University Creative Writing faculty, which includes Michael Dickman, Paul Muldoon, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, James Richardson, Tracy K. Smith, Susan Wheeler, Jenny Xie, and Monica Youn.
Submission Guidelines: Students may submit up to 3 poems. Submissions for the poetry contest cannot be poems that are currently submitted to and/or have won in other contests
Prizes: First Prize – $500, Second Prize – $250, Third Prize – $100 (Cash Prizes!)
Deadline: November 26, 2025 (based on last year’s deadline)
Competition Website: https://arts.princeton.edu/about/opportunities/high-school-contests/poetry-contest/
Skipping Stones, an international multicultural magazine, holds an annual competition for young writers, including a poetry category. The poetry contest seeks works that promote multicultural understanding, nature appreciation, and social justice.
Eligibility: Students from age 7 to 17
Submission Guideline: Prose ≤ 1,000 words; poems ≤ 30 lines
Deadline: May 5, 2025 (based on last year’s deadline)
Competition Website: https://www.skippingstones.org/wp/youth-honors-award/
The Nebraska Poetry Society’s Poetry Contest invites students of all ages to showcase poetic talent and engage with the vibrant poetry community in the state. The poems are evaluated by a panel of judges who consider factors such as creativity, craftsmanship, and emotional impact. Students are allowed to submit up to 5 poems
Eligibility: Students of all ages
Deadline: The contest closes after receiving 100 submissions. Winners will be announced by December 31st.
Competition Website: https://www.nepoetrysociety.org/poetry-contest
The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the world’s most prestigious awards for a single unpublished poem, attracting thousands of entries annually from over 50 countries. It’s open to both new and established poets.
Eligibility: Any students over 16 years old
Submission Deadline: December 31, 2024
Prizes: €6,000 first prize, three runner-up prizes of €1,000, and eight commended prizes of €250. The shortlist will be announced in March 2025 and the four shortlisted poems will appear in the Irish Times online.
Competition Website: https://www.themothmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?ID=9324&page=55
Established in 1919, the Yale Younger Poets Prize is the oldest annual literary award in the country and has played a crucial role in showcasing emerging American poets. The competition aims to identify and promote the most promising new voices in American poetry. The winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets will receive a $ 1,000 advance and a publication contract with Yale University Press, a renowned publisher in the literary world. In addition to the publication opportunity, the winner will also have the chance to be one of the six recipients of a writing fellowship at The James Merrill House in Stonington, CT.
Eligibility: Emerging poets who have not previously published a book of poetry and who reside in the United States.
Deadline: November 15, 2025
Competition Website: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/yale-series-of-younger-poets-rules/
90% of Aralia Students Win Awards in Poetry Contests
Hosted by Rattle – a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the practice of poetry- the Young Poets Anthology is a platform and poetry contest for young and talented poets to showcase their work and gain recognition within the poetry community.
Eligibility: Authors must be 15 or younger when the poem was written, and 18 or younger when submitted. A parent or legal guardian’s signature is required.
Deadline: November 16, 2025 (based on last year’s deadline)
Competition Website: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/34387/young-poets-anthology
Bennington College Young Writers Awards are created by Bennington College, to promote excellence in writing at the high school level and to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students. The competition runs annually from September 1 to November 1. Every year, over 5,000 students submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the Young Writers Awards competition. Each year, students are invited to enter in the poetry category by submitting a group of three poems.
Eligibility: 9th-12th grades, welcome submissions from both US and international students.
Deadline: September 1 to November 1
Competition Website: https://www.bennington.edu/events/young-writers-awards
The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is an annual contest open to high school sophomores and juniors. Established in 2007, the prize aims to recognize exceptional young poets. It is named after Patricia Grodd, who has shown generous support for The Kenyon Review and its programs, as well as a strong dedication to education and a profound love for poetry. The winner of the contest is awarded a full scholarship to attend the 2023 Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop.
Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors
Deadline: November 1 to November 30
Competition Website: https://kenyonreview.org/submit/patricia-grodd/
The Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Contest is an opportunity for people of all ages to explore and celebrate the wonders of nature. The poetry contest aims to highlight the importance of nature as a source of wonder and strength, and promote the preservation of biodiversity. The theme for this contest is The Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild.
Guideline: The maximum length for a poem is 500 words
Eligibility: High school students. Students are required to have a team of 2 or more people from intergenerational age groups.
Deadline: November 16, 2025 (based on last year’s deadline)
Competition Website: https://rachelcarsonlandmarkalliance.org/rachel-carson-intergenerational-sense-of-wonder-sense-of-the-wild-contest-2022/
The Ocean Awareness Contest provides a platform for young people to understand environmental issues through artistic creation and creative thoughts, explore their relationship with the changing world, and become advocates of positive change. The 2024 Ocean Awareness Competition theme is “Tell Your Climate Story.” Poetry and Spoken Word is one of the categories for this contest. There is no entry fee for this poetry contest.
Eligibility: Any student aged 11-18 who is/was enrolled in middle or high school (secondary school) at the time of the competition
Deadline: June 9, 2025
Competition Website: https://bowseat.org/programs/ocean-awareness-contest/contest-overview/
River of Words Poetry and Art Contest is a free, international youth art and poetry contest — the largest in the world — that aims to inspire children ages 5 to 19 to translate their observations into creative expression. River of Words® (ROW) is a program of The Center for Environmental Literacy and a part of the Kalmanovitz School of Education, at Saint Mary’s College of California. There is no entry fee for this poetry contest.
Eligibility: K through 12th-grade students, ages 5-20. Students must be enrolled in school to be eligible. All entries must be submitted by a parent, guardian, educator, or facilitator unless the student is 18 years old or older.
Deadline: January 31, 2025
There are so many more poetry contests out there for motivated and ambitious high school students and they’re tailored to suit every artistic inclination. Participating in these poetry contests not only allows students to refine their writing skills but also offers the opportunity to gain recognition and valuable feedback from renowned poets and judges. Aralia is currently offering poetry competition preparation programs with experienced teachers to guide students through exploring their personal styles and expressing unique ideas and thoughts. More details below!
