Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest

in Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, applicants will submit published or unpublished work. $9,000 in prizes.

Interested in the competition?

Competition Overview

No restriction on age of author. All countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions)

Eligibility

$25 per submission. In each submission, students can include up to three poems.

Entry fee

April 15 - October 1, 2026

Submission Deadline

📌 Note: Aralia is not the organizer of this competition. For official rules, deadlines, and updates, please refer directly to the competition organizer. Aralia provides listings and information about competitions for student reference. Aralia is an online education platform offering competition preparation classes to students worldwide.

Competition Details

1. Submsision Details

All ages and genres of poetry are accepted for the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest.

Length limit: maximum 250 lines per poem (excluding title or blank lines)

Acceptable document types:.doc, .docx, .pdf, .odt, .rtf, .txt

Acceptable fonts: Times New Roman, Arial, or Verdana in 12-point size or larger

To ensure anonymity, remove name/initials, email address, mailing address, phone number, and social media links in your submission.

2. Prizes

Participants compete for an astonishing $12,000 prize pool.

Tom Howard Prize: $3,500 for a poem in any style or genre
Margaret Reid Prize: $3,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style
The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
10 Honorable Mentions will receive $300 each (any category)
The top 12 entries will be published online