List of poetry awards

Last updated October 04, 2025

Major international awards

Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings
Bridges of Struga (for a debuting author at Struga Poetry Evenings)
Griffin Poetry Prize (The international prize)
International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine (Open First Prize=£5000)
Montreal International Poetry Prize ($20,000 prize for one poem)
National Poetry Competition (International, First Prize=£5000)
Arvon International Poetry Prize (biennial)
Nobel Prize in Literature (Not exclusively for poetry)
Poetic Republic Poetry Prize (Anonymous peer review poetry competition)
Poetry London Prize (First Prize=£5000)
Rhysling Award (For science-fiction poetry)
Pushcart Prize ("Best of the Small Presses")
Charles Causley Trust International Poetry Competition (First Prize=£2000)
Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry
The Poetry.com Contest (First Prize=$1000)

Asia

SAARC Literary Award

Africa

Brunel University African Poetry Prize

Europe

Austria

Croatia

Tin Ujević Award for contributions to Croatian poetry

Germany

Ernst-Meister-Preis für Lyrik
Hölty Prize
Horst Bienek Prize for Poetry
Leonce-und-Lena-Preis
Peter-Huchel-Preis
Wilhelm Busch Prize for satirical and humorous poetry

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Slovenia

Spanish (language)

National Poetry Award (Spain)
Premio Adonais
Premio Cervantes
Premio Loewe (Loewe Foundation International Poetry Prize)
Premio Nacional de la Crítica

North America

Canada

Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry
Archibald Lampman Award
Atlantic Poetry Prize
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
Gerald Lampert Award – for the best volume of poetry by a new author
Griffin Poetry Prize – generous award for one Canadian and one foreign poet
Pat Lowther Award – for the best volume of poetry written by a woman
Prix Alain-Grandbois

Governor General's Awards

English language

Governor General's Award for English language poetry
Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama

French language

Governor General's Award for French language poetry
Governor General's Award for French language poetry or drama

United States

Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize – awarded annually in memory of this poet, sponsored by the University of Utah Department of English and the University of Utah Press
Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize – for a first book of poetry
Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry – annual prize, administered by the Sewanee Review and the University of the South, awarded to a writer who has had a substantial and distinguished career
Alice James Award
Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship – given annually to a U.S.-born poet to spend one year outside North America in a country the recipient feels will most advance his or her work
Autumn House Press – poetry and fiction awards for full-length book manuscripts
Backwaters Press – annual prize awarded to book length manuscript selected by guest judge
Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry – awarded by the editors of Paris Review for the best poem published in the magazine over the course of the year
The Best American Poetry series – maximum of 75 poems published each year in the anthology series
The Best New Poets series – maximum of 50 poems published each year in the anthology series
Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry – offered by the Library of Congress for the best book of poetry published by a living U.S. author during the preceding two years
Bollingen Prize – $175,000 offered by the Beinecke Library at Yale University every two years to recognize the lifetime achievement of a living U.S. poet.
Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards – former series of annual anthologies (1948–1977) of poems selected as the best from each year's English-language magazines
Brittingham Prize in Poetry
Chelsea Award for Poetry – given by Chelsea magazine
Cider Press Review Book Award – given by the Cider Press Review
Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards offers $3,500 for the first prize and $2,000 for the second prize
Donald Justice Poetry Prize – sponsored by the Iris N. Spencer Poetry Awards at the West Chester University Poetry Center
Dwarf Stars Award – annual award presented by the Science Fiction Poetry Association to the author of the best horror, fantasy, or science fiction poem of ten lines or fewer published in the previous year.
Donna J. Stone National Literary Awards – sponsored by the Matthew J. Pascal Foundation and American Mothers, Inc.
Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry
Georgia Poetry Prize – sponsored by University of Georgia Press
Glascock Prize
Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award
Iowa Poetry Prize – sponsored by University of Iowa Press
Isabella Gardner Poetry Award – sponsored by BOA Editions
Jackson Poetry Prize - Honors an American poet of exceptional talent with an award of $100,000, sponsored by Poets & Writers
Julie Suk Award – awarded for Best Poetry Book by a Literary Press, sponsored by Jacar Press
Kate Tufts Discovery Award – $10,000 awarded to a first time poet
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award – $100,000 award for poet in mid career
Lambda Literary Award - for works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes
Lannan Literary Award for Poetry – comes with $150,000
Letter Review Prize for Poetry - $1000 USD + Publication First Prize. All entries considered for publication.
Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry
Maurice English Poetry Award – awarded for a volume of poetry published when a poet is more than 50 years old
National Book Award for Poetry
National Book Critics Circle Award – given annually in poetry and in five other categories to promote the finest books and reviews published in English
National Poetry Series – offered by the National Poetry Series through five participating publishers for a collection of poetry
The New Criterion Poetry Prize – given by The New Criterion magazine
O. B. Hardison Jr. Poetry Prize – awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to a U.S. poet who has published at least one book within the last five years, has made important contributions as a teacher, and is committed to furthering the understanding of poetry
Patricia Cannon Willis Prize - offered by Yale's Beinecke Library every two years to honor an exceptional book that “represents the highest achievement in the field of American poetry”; carries an award of $25,000^[1]
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation – honoring a poetry translation published in the preceding year
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry – given biennially to an American poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poets' Prize – awarded annually for the best book of verse published by an American in the previous calendar year
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Rattle Poetry Prize – $5000 prize for one poem given every year by Rattle
Rhysling Award – two given out each year (one for a long poem, the other for a short poem), by the Science Fiction Poetry Association for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poems
Richard Wilbur Award
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize – offered by the Poetry Foundation for a U.S. poet "whose accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition"
T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry – publication prize awarded annually by Truman State University for the best unpublished collection in English. A distinct prize with the same name is awarded in the United Kingdom
Willis Barnstone Translation Prize – annual prize for an outstanding translation of a poem from any language into English
Witter Bynner Fellowships – administered by the Library of Congress, the fellowships are sponsored by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, an organization that provides grant support for poetry programs through nonprofit organizations. Fellows are chosen by the Poet Laureate, and are expected to participate in a poetry reading at the Library of Congress in October and to organize a poetry reading in their respective cities
Witter Bynner Poetry Prize – established by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1980 to support the work of a young poet
Yale Series of Younger Poets – offered by Yale University Press to a poet under the age of forty for a first volume of poetry

Awards given by the Academy of American Poets

Wallace Stevens Award – $100,000 to recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry
Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets – $25,000 for distinguished poetic achievement
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize – $25,000 for the best book of poetry published in the United States in the previous year
James Laughlin Award – $5,000 to recognize and support a poet's second book
Walt Whitman Award – first-book publication, $5,000, and a one-month residency at the Vermont Studio Center for an American who has not yet published a book of poetry
Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards – $10,000 book prize and $25,000 fellowship, awarded in alternating years to recognize outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry
Harold Morton Landon Translation Award – $1,000 for a published translation of poetry from any language into English

Awards given by the Poetry Society of America

Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award
Anna Rabinowitz Prize
Cecil Hemley Memorial Award
Frost Medal
Four Quartets Prize
George Bogin Memorial Award
Lucille Medwick Memorial Award
Lyric Poetry Award
Norma Farber First Book Award
Robert H. Winner Memorial Award
Shelley Memorial Award – since 1929, offered by the society to a poet living in the United States who is chosen on the basis of "genius and need"
Student Poetry Award
William Carlos Williams Award – offered by the society for the best book of poetry published by a small, non-profit, or university press
Writer Magazine/Emily Dickinson Award

Awards given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters

American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals for Poetry – given every six years to honor the distinguished career of a poet; considered the highest honor of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Arthur Rense Prize – in 1998, the $20,000 award was established to honor "an exceptional poet" once every third year
Michael Braude Award for Light Verse – $5,000 biennial award is given "for light verse written in English regardless of the country of origin of the writer"
Witter Bynner Poetry Prize – awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters from 1980 to 1993

South America

Chile

Premio Nacional de Literatura de Chile

Oceania

Australia

New Zealand

Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry
Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon, Laureate and New Generation Awards
New Zealand Poet Laureate

References

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[1] ttps://library.yale.edu/news/yale-library-announces-new-literary-prize-american-poetry

[2] The W B Yeats Poetry Prize for Australia Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine

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