The Beautiful Pause Prize - Poetry Chapbooks/Collections
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The Beautiful Pause Prize…
is a yearly prize of $1,000 and the print publication of a full-length manuscript awarded to a writer of exceptional talent and heart.
One runner-up will receive $500 and publication of an excerpt in one of our biannual print volumes.
Contest Timeline
Submissions are open November 15th, 2024 - May 1st, 2025 for POETRY manuscripts. Collections and chapbooks are welcome.
- A shortlist and the winner and runner-up will be announced in August/September 2025
- Publication and release of the winning manuscript in December/January 2025/2026.
- Submissions will reopen for NONFICTION on November 15th, 2025.
Guidelines
18 and older to submit.
This contest is judged by Press Pause editors, and submissions are anonymized. Remove any identifying information from your manuscript. If there is identifying information anywhere on your manuscript, it will not be considered.
Please submit complete manuscripts, 30 poems minimum.
Only one attachment/manuscript per submission. A single author may submit multiple manuscripts but must pay the $25 reading fee for each submission.
It is okay if some or all poems are published elsewhere separately, but not if they have been published as a collection before.
What Makes a Beautiful Pause?
We are looking for original, honest, beautiful collections of poems from humans. We have no gates to keep. Haunt us from every corner of every place. Send us collections that make us pause, slow down, think, laugh, cry, and feel more connected to our fellow humans. As we always say: Send us whatever is in your hearts.