The 2026 Bougainvillea Poetry Prize FlowerSong Press

The 2026 Bougainvillea Poetry Prize

FlowerSong Press invites submissions for the 2026 Bougainvillea Poetry Prize. This annual award honors a full-length poetry collection that engages with the realities of working-class life—poverty, labor, financial insecurity, inequity, and precarity.

We seek manuscripts that illuminate, document, or advocate for the lives of working people. We especially encourage submissions from writers of working-class backgrounds. BIPOC and LGBTQ+ poets are strongly encouraged to submit. All styles and forms are welcome.

The prize honors the memory of Irma (1939–2010) and Alfonso Gomez (1938–2021) of Brownsville, Texas, Mexican-Americans who raised seven children while working in such jobs as cashier, ice worker, homemaker, truck driver, migrant farmworker, painter, and custodian, among many others.

Prize: $500, publication by FlowerSong Press (2027), 10 author copies, and promotion
Entry Fee: $15 per manuscript
Deadline: October 31, 2026 (11:59 PM CST)

Guidelines:

• Submit a full-length poetry manuscript (60–120 pages)
• Manuscript must be unpublished as a whole (individual poems may have been published)
• Work should be primarily in English (other languages may be incorporated)
• PDF submissions only
• Black-and-white images only, with full rights
• Simultaneous submissions allowed (notify us if accepted elsewhere)
• Multiple submissions allowed (each requires a separate fee)
• No translated manuscripts

Selection Process:
Manuscripts are read by the editorial staff of FlowerSong Press. A small group of semifinalists will be selected, from which finalists and a winner will be chosen. Finalists will be announced prior to the winner.

Submit