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The Orison Prizes in Poetry & Fiction Orison Books

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Each year from December 1 - April 1 we accept submissions of full-length poetry (50-100 pp.) and fiction (30,000 word minimum) manuscripts for The Orison Prizes in Poetry and Fiction, judged by different prominent writers each year in an anonymous judging process. The winning entry in each genre will be awarded publication and a $1,500 cash prize, in addition to a standard royalties contract. Finalists will be selected by the editorial staff at Orison Books, and the winners will be selected from among the finalist manuscripts by the judges. In the event that a judge in either genre does not select a winner from among the finalists, the Editor will select a winner. The editors also reserve the right to select no finalists, in which case all entry fees will be refunded to the entrants. All finalist manuscripts will be considered for publication under a standard royalties contract. We aim to announce contest results by October 15, 2024. Please do not query about results before this date.

    2024 judges

    Poetry: Ellen Bass

    Fiction: Kaveh Akbar

    ABOUT THE JUDGES

    Ellen Bass’s most recent poetry collection, Indigo, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. Her other poetry books include Like a Beggar, The Human Line, and Mules of Love. Her poems appear frequently in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, and many other journals. Among her awards are Fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and The California Arts Council, as well as The Lambda Literary Award and four Pushcart Prizes. She co-edited the first major anthology of women’s poetry, No More Masks!, and her nonfiction books include The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth. A Chancellor Emerita of The Academy of American Poets, Bass founded poetry workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and the Santa Cruz, California jails, and teaches in the MFA writing program at Pacific University.

    Kaveh Akbar's first novel, Martyr!, was recently released by Knopf and was an instant New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of two poetry collections, Pilgrim Bell (Graywolf, 2021) and Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice James, 2017), in addition to a chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic (Sibling Rivalry, 2016). Akbar is the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine (Penguin Classics, 2022) and co-editor, with Paige Lewis, of Another Last Call: Poets on Addiction and Deliverance (Sarabande, 2023). His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.

    Quick Links to Open Calls:

    2024 Orison Fiction Prize Fee: usd $25.00

    Open

    Closes on Monday, April 1, 2024 11:59 PM EDT (in 4 days, 12 hours)

    • Original English work only; no translations.
    • Do not include your name anywhere in your manuscript file or file name, but only in the Duosuma cover letter and biographical note fields.
    • Individual poems and stories or excerpts may have been previously published in periodicals and/or chapbooks, but the manuscript as a whole must not have been published in book form, whether digital or in print. Self-published manuscripts are considered previously published and are not eligible.
    • Please include any publication acknowledgments in your cover letter, listing any periodicals where individual pieces from your manuscript first appeared. Acknowledgments should not appear in the manuscript file.
    • Poetry manuscripts must be 50-100 pages of poems (each poem beginning on a new page; page count does not include front- and back-matter). Fiction manuscripts must have a minimum word count of 30,000.
    • Fiction manuscripts may consist of short stories, a novel, a novella, flash/micro fiction, or any combination of forms, as long as the manuscript meets the 30,000 word minimum.
    • Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please withdraw your manuscript through Duosuma immediately should you accept an offer for publication elsewhere.
    • Multiple manuscripts may be submitted; each manuscript must be submitted separately and be accompanied by a separate entry fee.
    • Hybrid work, including work that incorporates visual elements, is acceptable. However, we cannot consider manuscripts with interior color pages.
    • Orison Books is committed to running ethical and transparent contests. Current or former students of the judge or the lead genre editor(s), or anyone with a close personal relationship with that judge or lead genre editor(s), are not eligible to submit in the category in question. (Lead genre editors: Luke Hankins [poetry]; Jonathan Geltner and Meghan E. Giles [fiction].) Judges never see author names until after they have made their selections.
    • Existing Orison Books authors and current or past Orison Books board or staff members are not eligible for The Orison Prizes.
    • Orison Books undertakes never to extend contest deadlines, except in the case of technical problems or other events that would prevent submitters from entering the contest by the original deadline.
    • Entry Fee: $25.
    • We only accept electronic submissions, which must be sent through our Duosuma page.

    2024 Orison Poetry Prize Fee: usd $25.00

    Open

    Closes on Monday, April 1, 2024 11:59 PM EDT (in 4 days, 12 hours)

    • Original English work only; no translations.
    • Do not include your name anywhere in your manuscript file or file name, but only in the Duosuma cover letter and biographical note fields.
    • Individual poems and stories or excerpts may have been previously published in periodicals and/or chapbooks, but the manuscript as a whole must not have been published in book form, whether digital or in print. Self-published manuscripts are considered previously published and are not eligible.
    • Please include any publication acknowledgments in your cover letter, listing any periodicals where individual pieces from your manuscript first appeared. Acknowledgments should not appear in the manuscript file.
    • Poetry manuscripts must be 50-100 pages of poems (each poem beginning on a new page; page count does not include front- and back-matter). Fiction manuscripts must have a minimum word count of 30,000.
    • Fiction manuscripts may consist of short stories, a novel, a novella, flash/micro fiction, or any combination of forms, as long as the manuscript meets the 30,000 word minimum.
    • Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please withdraw your manuscript through Duosuma immediately should you accept an offer for publication elsewhere.
    • Multiple manuscripts may be submitted; each manuscript must be submitted separately and be accompanied by a separate entry fee.
    • Hybrid work, including work that incorporates visual elements, is acceptable. However, we cannot consider manuscripts with interior color pages.
    • Orison Books is committed to running ethical and transparent contests. Current or former students of the judge or the lead genre editor(s), or anyone with a close personal relationship with that judge or lead genre editor(s), are not eligible to submit in the category in question. (Lead genre editors: Luke Hankins [poetry]; Jonathan Geltner and Meghan E. Giles [fiction].) Judges never see author names until after they have made their selections.
    • Existing Orison Books authors and current or past Orison Books board or staff members are not eligible for The Orison Prizes.
    • Orison Books undertakes never to extend contest deadlines, except in the case of technical problems or other events that would prevent submitters from entering the contest by the original deadline.
    • Entry Fee: $25.
    • We only accept electronic submissions, which must be sent through our Duosuma page.

    Other Related Projects

    Best Spiritual Literature Awards
    Best Spiritual Literature Editorial Nominations
    The Orison Chapbook Prize