Poetry Contest for Emerging Poets
$1,000 and publication awarded for the winning group of three poems by a poet who has not yet published a book with a nationally distributed press.
We are happy to announce the results of the 2025 Poetry Contest for Emerging Poets. We received many excellent entries this year, and the editors selected Inkyoo Lee. Inkyoo’s winning group of three poems will appear in an upcoming issue.
Congratulations also to our runner-up Jon Wolf.
We will open submissions for the 2026 poetry contest on February 1.
Rules
All entries must be postmarked by June 1, 2025 or submitted online by midnight CT.
Entry fee is $18 per group of three poems and $18 for each additional group. Fee includes a one-year subscription. Make checks payable to Boulevard.
Author's name, address, and telephone number, in addition to the titles of the three poems, should appear on the first page.
Cover sheets are not necessary.
No manuscripts will be returned.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but previously accepted or published work is ineligible.
The poems may be a sequence or unrelated.
All entries will be considered for publication and for payment at our regular rates.
Entries will be judged by the editors of Boulevard magazine.
No one editorially or financially affiliated with Boulevard can enter the contest.
The winning poems will be first announced on the website and then published in the following issue of Boulevard.
Due to the number of submissions, we cannot respond to each writer individually. Please check back for the announcement of the winner.
Previous Winners
Rachel Stempel, 2024
Lucinda Trew, 2023
Danielle Lemay, 2022
Jennifer Conlon, 2021
Bryan Byrdlong, 2020
A.D. Lauren Abunussar, 2019
Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez, 2018
Elizabeth Hoover, 2017
Stacey Walker, 2016
Richard Lloyd-Jones, 2015
Alex Chernow, 2014
Christopher Robley, 2013
Jordan Pemberton, 2012
Hallie Rundle, 2011
Tomás Q. Morín, 2010
Salita Bryant, 2009
Greg McBride, 2008
Deborah Kroman, 2007
Jennifer Banks, 2005