Submissions for the 2025 Airlie Prize Opening Soon


Submissions for the Airlie Prize are open annually, January 1 through March 31, to all poets writing in English, regardless of place of residence. The winner will be notified at the end of the summer following the submission and will receive a $1,000 cash award upon publication of the book.

At Airlie Press, our vision and mission are to publish books of poetry that are compelling, innovative, and representative of diverse voices. As a press, we commit to participating in the ongoing conversation and practice regarding inclusion and equity. We are actively seeking collections from writers of color, trans and nonbinary writers, disabled writers, and others whose voices are underrepresented in literary publishing. As our membership changes continuously, we are open to a wide range of aesthetics in our publications. 

In the interest of transparency, we’d like to share our selection process. In the first round, all manuscripts will be evaluated by two readers and are not read anonymously. Readers may include Airlie Press editors (either past or present), previous Airlie Prize winners, and guest readers invited by the current editorial board. Each reader will choose two manuscripts to advance to the second round. All current editors will then read the manuscripts that have advanced to the second round, and each will choose their top two selections. From that group of finalists, the prize winner is chosen by consensus among all current editors, and the winner is announced in August. If you have submitted to the Airlie Prize before, we encourage you to try again, as the judging team of Airlie Press editors varies from year to year.

Members of the Airlie advisory board are ineligible to enter this contest. In the case that an entry to the contest is made by a close connection (friend, relative, student, or former student) of one of the Airlie Prize readers, that reader will recuse themselves from the review of that manuscript in the first round. Manuscripts that advance to the final round will be read by all current editors, regardless of connection, and a winner will be chosen by consensus. For the purposes of this contest, we also define “close connection” as anyone with whom a reader has direct correspondence (either written or verbal) once a month or more. As poetry is a relatively small community, we believe a passing acquaintance with one of the readers does not necessitate a recusal.

Submissions are accepted via Submittable during the submission period. Entry fee: $25 ($33 if you would like to receive a copy of the winning book; $38 for those residing outside the US wishing to receive the book). Please note that this submission fee is waived for all BIPOC writers for the duration of the reading period.

Manuscript Guidelines:

  • Manuscripts should be 48 to 90 pages of original poetry in English (excluding front matter and end matter). No more than one poem should appear on a page. The author’s name should not appear anywhere in the manuscript.

  • Please be sure manuscript pages are numbered.

  • Please include a table of contents.

  • Please use a standard, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman in twelve-point size.

  • Poems included in the submission may have appeared previously in magazines or anthologies but may not have been previously published in a book-length collection of the author’s own work.

  • Authors may submit more than one manuscript as long as no material is duplicated between submissions. Each submission requires a separate entry fee.

  • This contest is limited to single-author submissions. Translations are not eligible.

  • We accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you notify us and withdraw your manuscript from Submittable if it is accepted by another publisher. Entry fees are nonrefundable.

  • The contest winner will participate in the judging for the Airlie Prize in the year following their book’s publication.

Results of the 2024 Airlie Prize


The winner of the 2024 Airlie Prize is  All the Salty Sand in Our Mouths, by samodH Porawagamage.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a manuscript to this year’s contest for trusting us with your work. We hope you’ll join us in congratulating the winner and all of our finalists.

Winner (publication in 2026)
All the Salty Sand in Our Mouths, by samodH Porawagamage

Finalists
In the Blue Blue World, by Nola Iwasaki
Neither Kind of Body, by AM Goodhart
Of Fish & Country, by Stephanie Glazier
Saltmouth, by Celina McManus
Sun Blue, by Megan Breiseth
Unconditional Endorsement of The Future (Forty-Five Stories), by Jeff Whitney

Semifinalists
Air Ball, by Molly Ledbetter
Archangel Days, by Carolyn Oliver
Blue Collar Eclogue, by Jay Brecker
Break Water, by Rebekah Hewitt
Dating with Disabilities, by lee varon
Fist City, by Tyler S
Her Terrible Splendor, by Aza Pace
How We Keep Each Other Company, by Talia Bloch
I Did Not Think I Would Be Homesick, by Freesia McKee
Lichens in the Canopy, by Jeff Fearnside
Little Feather Licks, by Brandon Krieg
Man Moth, by Donald Levering
One Bulb Light Exile, by Alexandra Burack
The Only Book You’ll Ever Need, by Elizabeth Young
Otherwise Habitat, by Brent Armendinger
Our Long Float, by Elizabeth Chapman
Preverbal, by Carroll Beauvais
Rivermouth Shouting, by Jean Gallagher
The Science of Kneeling, by John Minczeski
The Sea Hands Over Its Ropes, by Lauren Mallett
Strong Female Lead, by Elle Cantwell
Summer of Holding Still, by Dana Roeser
Town of Eves, by Silvia Bonilla
Whole She-Bang, by Denise Utt
The Widow’s Calendar, by Veronica Corpuz

ABOUT THE WINNER

samodH Porawagamage writes about the Sri Lankan Civil War, lasting effects of colonialism, poverty & underdevelopment, and disproportionate impacts of climate change on rural & marginalized communities. becoming sam, selected by Jaswinder Bolina and published by Burnside Review Press, is his debut collection of poetry. He enjoys long hikes, birdwatching, martial arts, haphazard cooking, and ghost stories.