This Editors' Choice prize for a single essay is open to any writer writing in English. The contest awards $250 to the first-place winner, $100 to the second-place winner, and $50 to the third-place winner and includes publication in the winter 2024/5 issue of Birdcoat Quarterly. 

All submission will be read anonymously by our team of editors and a first-place, second-place, and third-place essay will be chosen for prize and publication. Only previously unpublished work will be considered. You may submit one essay per $10 entry fee. 

We only accept submissions via Submittable. Please take care that you are submitting under the contest category as regular submissions received during the contest period WILL NOT be entered into the contest. The deadline for contest submissions is June 1, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST. 

Each entry must include: 1) an entry fee of ten dollars ($10) and 2) the submitter's contact info (do NOT include any identifying information on the manuscript itself).

Simultaneous submissions will be considered with notification. All rights revert to author after publication.

This contest for a first or second full-length poetry collection is open to any poet writing in English who has not yet published more than one full-length book in poetry (poets with multiple chapbooks ​are ​eligible), and offers a cash prize of $1,000 and publication by Ghost Peach Press, as well as ten free copies of the published book.

Entries will first be read anonymously by Ghost Peach’s panel of editors, and 2024 judge Leila Chatti will choose the winning collection from ten finalists. All manuscripts should include a title page, table of contents, and an acknowledgements page (if applicable). No identifying information should be included in the submission.

Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in a pleasant-to-read font (as in, not comic sans), with no more than one poem per page. Manuscripts should consist of approximately 48 – 90 pages of poetry (not including front and back matter). We prefer that you are ethical and do not submit if you are related to/work with/are besties with or otherwise have personal connections to the judge which could cause your work to be recognized. 

Ghost Peach Press accepts the $25 entry fee exclusively through our Submittable page. The entry fee is due at the time of submission and includes a copy of the winning book upon its publication. For a discounted entry fee that does not include a copy of the book, choose the "2024 Ghost Peach Press Prize in Poetry - No Book" form.

This contest runs from January 1st, 2024 – May 1st, 2024. The winner will be announced in fall 2024 and publication is expected in late 2025.

This contest for a first or second full-length poetry collection is open to any poet writing in English who has not yet published more than one full-length book in poetry (poets with multiple chapbooks ​are ​eligible), and offers a cash prize of $1,000 and publication by Ghost Peach Press, as well as ten free copies of the published book.

Entries will first be read anonymously by Ghost Peach’s panel of editors, and 2024 judge Leila Chatti will choose the winning collection from ten finalists. All manuscripts should include a title page, table of contents, and an acknowledgements page (if applicable). No identifying information should be included in the submission.

Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in a pleasant-to-read font (as in, not comic sans), with no more than one poem per page. Manuscripts should consist of approximately 48 – 90 pages of poetry (not including front and back matter). We prefer that you are ethical and do not submit if you are related to/work with/are besties with or otherwise have personal connections to the judge which could cause your work to be recognized. 

Ghost Peach Press accepts the $18 entry fee exclusively through our Submittable page. The entry fee is due at the time of submission and does not include a copy of the winning book. If you want to receive a copy of the winning book with your entry fee, choose the "2024 Ghost Peach Press Prize in Poetry" form.

This contest runs from January 1st, 2024 – May 1st, 2024. The winner will be announced in fall 2024 and publication is expected in late 2025.

We offer an expedited response time with an expected response time of two weeks. Submitting through the expedited option does not guarantee acceptance.  
Please submit  up to 3 poems in one document. We welcome submissions that blur genre and play with form, experiment with compression or expansion, use language in surprising ways, and bring attention to subject matter of contemporary urgency or uncommon interest. We especially love work that is tender, weird, and wild, hard-hitting and incisive, clear-sighted and daring. Stun us, wound us, share your gifts, or keep us warm—send us work that is unapologetically yours.