Discover New Art Prize for Poetry and Prose | $60,000 Awarded (Early-Bird)

Discover New Art Prize for Poetry and Prose

Two $25K prizes—one in poetry, one in prose—awarded to exceptional manuscripts-in-progress poised to become significant books. Five finalists in each category also receive $1K awards.

What to submit:

• Submit up to fifteen pages of your manuscript for poetry or twenty-five pages for prose. 
• Submitters whose manuscripts are selected for the second round of review will be asked to submit a personal statement (no more than two pages, double-spaced) detailing how the award will support the completion and eventual publication of the work.
• The winners will be selected by a panel of judges for each genre. Each of our judges will provide a statement on the merits of the winning work.

Eligibility:

This award is open to writers who have not published or are not contracted to publish a single-author work of creative poetry or prose with a Big Five publisher (or their imprints) between January 31, 2017 and January 31, 2027.

Guidelines:

• Submissions will be open from October 1, 2026 - January 31, 2027.
• The early-bird submission fee is $30 (October 1, 2026 - November 30, 2026).
• The regular deadline submission fee is $35 (December 1, 2026 - January 31, 2027).
• Writers from historically marginalized or underrepresented groups are invited to submit for free until we reach fifty submissions in this category.
• Submissions must be primarily in English.
• Submissions may be excerpts of novels, memoirs, book-length essays or poems, or collections of poetry or short stories.
• Multiple and simultaneous submissions are allowed, but each submission must be accompanied by a submission fee.
• If your manuscript is accepted for publication, or you opt to self-publish before the results are announced, you must withdraw your submission from consideration.
• Submissions must be from manuscripts not published in full. The submitted excerpt (individual chapters, essays, stories, or poems) may be previously published, provided the entire manuscript has not been.
• The panel of judges reviews anonymously—please do not include identifying information on your manuscript.
• No translations, unless translating your own work. Original and translation must both be unpublished.
• AI-generated or AI-assisted submissions are automatically disqualified. This includes using AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or other similar LLMs) to translate your own work.
• Friends, family, and associates of the judge panel are not eligible for this award.
• If you submit to the wrong genre, feel free to email us, but don’t worry about editing your submission. We’ll take care of it. 

The Judges—Meet the Panel

The winning manuscripts in each category will be chosen by these distinguished poetry and prose judges.

Poetry

Kaveh Akbar's poems appear in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Paris Review, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. He is the author of the poetry collections Pilgrim Bell and Calling a Wolf a Wolf, and editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse. His first novel, Martyr! (2024), was a New York Times bestseller, a National Book Award finalist, and winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize for Fiction.

Carl Phillips's latest book of poems is Scattered Snows, to the North (2024). His Then the War: And Selected Poems 2007–2020 won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. Other honors include the Jackson Poetry Prize, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the LA Times Book Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, and the Library of Congress. He lives on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the New York Times-bestselling author of two illustrated collections of essays, Bite by Bite and World of Wonders. Her honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. A professor for over twenty-five years, she serves as a firefly guide for the Mississippi State Parks. Her newest poetry book is Night Owl (Ecco).

Prose

Lauren Groff is the author of eight books, including the National Book Award finalists Fates and Furies, Florida, and Matrix. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband own the independent bookstore The Lynx.

Rebecca Makkai is the author of the New York Times bestselling I Have Some Questions For You as well as four other works of fiction. Her last novel, The Great Believers—one of the New York Times’s Best Books of the 21st Century—was a finalist for both the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and the 2018 National Book Award, and won the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, she teaches graduate fiction writing at Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and the Bennington Writing Seminars, and is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Roxane Gay is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and the author of Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times-bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women, and the New York Times-bestselling Hunger, as well as World of Wakanda for Marvel. Her writing appears in Best American Short Stories, Best American Mystery Stories, McSweeney's, Tin House, Oxford American, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She also writes the newsletter The Audacity.

Submission Timeline—Key dates:

October 1, 2026–Submissions open

November 30, 2026–Early-bird deadline

January 31, 2027–Final deadline

About Discover New Art

Discover New Art is a literary organization devoted to uplifting the craft and careers of literary writers. 

Since 2011, we have published contemporary writing and created opportunities for writers through publication, contests, prizes, and other forms of recognition. 

Across our platforms, we offer always-open, always-free submissions alongside competitive prizes judged by accomplished writers and literary professionals. 

Our magazines are distinct publications, each with their own editorial identity, aesthetic, and literary focus, connected by a shared commitment to strong writing, thoughtful editorial practice, and meaningful opportunities for writers. Together, they allow Discover New Art to publish a broad range of literary work while preserving the particular character of each magazine. 

At the center of Discover New Art is a commitment to both the work and the writer: to publishing literature we believe in, supporting the development of literary craft, and creating opportunities that can contribute to a writer’s career over time. 

Submissions must be made through Submittable. 

Please contact blake@discovernewart.com with any questions about the Prize.

By submitting to the Discover New Art Prize for Poetry and Prose, submitters agree to receive correspondence about future publications and submission opportunities from Discover New Art and associated magazines. You can easily unsubscribe at any time.