2026 Frontier OPEN // FREE for Historically Marginalized Groups
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2026 Frontier OPEN
It can be difficult to write for a themed contest. Some poets may not have an award-worthy poem for every pirate-horror or glassblowing sonnet contest out there. Those who do may still struggle to interpret the nebulous criteria. While themes can provide direction, they also run the risk of an additional publication barrier.
That’s why, once a year, our publication holds a contest with no thematic restrictions—no deciphering niche writing prompts, just an invitation to submit your strongest work.
Frontier Poetry is thrilled to announce our biggest writing contest of the year: the 2026 Frontier OPEN. While we primarily serve as a platform for new and emerging writers, the OPEN is meant to support and elevate the poetry community as a whole. Every year, we look forward to this prize, for which emerging and established poets are considered in equal measure and as a result are often published side by side in Frontier Poetry.
We’re awarding one exceptional poem that demonstrates impact, risk, experimentation, and craft excellence—regardless of theme or subject—with a $5,000 prize.
In addition to the winner, nine finalists will also receive an award of $100 each with publication. The Frontier Poetry editorial team will work together to select winners and finalists for this contest.
Our editorial team can’t wait to read your best work—glassblowing sonnets and pirate-horror poems included.
The contest opens May 11th, 2026, and closes July 12th, 2026.
Read recent Frontier OPEN winners:
- 2025 Frontier OPEN | “Poem Wedged into the Brittlebush or Poem that Eats What Happened" by Anna Flores
- 2024 Frontier OPEN | "To the Man who Hugged Me after I Rear-ended Him" by Marianne Kunkel
- 2023 Frontier OPEN | "Autobiography of not a horse" by MaKshya Tolbert
- 2022 Frontier OPEN | “Diction” by Yi Wei
- 2021 Frontier OPEN | “Fireworks” by Chaun Ballard
Guidelines
- Submissions are open to all poets, regardless of publication history.
- Send up to three poems per submission, for a total of no more than twelve pages.
- For this contest, we have no aesthetic or formal requirements and will consider all styles of poetry.
- Please submit unpublished poems only. Previously published work will be automatically disqualified.
- We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- As part of our dedication to the pursuit of a more inclusive publishing world, we offer a free submission window for poets from historically marginalized groups at the beginning of the contest. Please note the portal will close when we hit our cap of fifty submissions; there will be no additional waivers granted.
- Submissions are open internationally, to any poet writing in English. Inclusion of other languages is welcome, as long as the poem is primarily written in English. Some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
- Please include a brief cover letter that includes a short, third-person bio with your publication history, if applicable. To safeguard our staff, please include any necessary content warnings as well.
- Do not include any identifying information in the body of your document.
- Work generated by AI will be automatically disqualified.
- Please do not submit work if you have a close relationship with Frontier’s editors.
- Winners and finalists will be announced in the summer of 2026.
If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ page. If you don’t find the answer to your question, you can send an email to contact (at ) frontierpoetry (dot) com.