$24 | Call for Submissions – The Two Sylvias Press 2022 Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize

Deadline: December 31, 2022

Entry fee: $24

About the competition

The Wilder Series Book Prize is open to women over 50 years of age (established or emerging poets) and includes a $1000 prize, publication by Two Sylvias Press, 20 copies of the winning book, and a vintage, art nouveau pendant. Women submitting manuscripts may be poets with one or more previously published chapbooks/books or poets without any prior chapbook/book publications. (We use an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female” and we welcome trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who are female-identified or AFAB.)

​All manuscripts will be considered for publication.

Judges: The Editors of Two Sylvias Press: Kelli Russell Agodon & Annette Spaulding-Convy.

Competition guidelines

• Please submit an original, unpublished full-length manuscript of poetry (no translations or previously self-published books). Individual poems may have been previously published in journals, magazines, anthologies, and chapbooks, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.
• Open to: Women over the age of 50 (born on or before December 31, 1972)
• Length: 48-80 pages of poems 
• (One poem per page. Poems can be longer than one page, but please do not place two separate poems on the same page.)
• Manuscript should include a table of contents and an acknowledgments page for previously published poems.
• Poet’s name should not appear in the manuscript.
• A poet may submit more than one manuscript for consideration. Submit additional manuscript(s) in a separate email(s) and include submission fee(s).
• Simultaneous submissions allowed. Please notify Two Sylvias Press by emailing twosylvias[email protected] immediately if manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

NOTE: Our mission at Two Sylvias Press is to support poets. Your manuscript will NOT be disqualified if it was submitted incorrectly. We will not penalize you for trying and making a mistake. If we have a question or concern about your manuscript format, we will contact you and allow you to resubmit. Please know that we are on your side. Thank you for trusting us with your work.

• Electronic submissions only, emailed to: [email protected]   Note: If you do not receive an email confirmation of your submission within 24 hours, resubmit your manuscript. The confirmation email may be in your spam folder.  Please do not email Two Sylvias Press to receive an individual confirmation of receipt of your manuscript or to confirm your payment. Note: if you submit more than one manuscript by gmail, you will one receive one email confirmation.

• In the body of email, please include a short bio, manuscript title, page length, poet’s name, and all contact info (email, mailing address, and phone number).

• Email subject line should include: last name, manuscript title, and the year (2022).

• Attach your manuscript as an MS Word Doc and email to: [email protected] 

• Submission/Reading Fee is $24 per manuscript

Author: VoW Research