I am very happy to announce the ninth annual Orchard Street Press Poetry Contest, the return of an event that, in its first eight seasons, has produced some wonderful poetry and eight editions of Quiet Diamonds (QD), our annual journal that grows in reputation with each passing year. I am especially pleased to announce that the Contest entry fee remains at $15.
The awards for the prize-winning poems are $700 for First (and the Malovrh-Fenlon Poetry Prize), $500 for Second, and $300 for Third. In addition to the prize-winning poems, another forty (or so) will be chosen for inclusion in QD (there are usually about fifty poems in each edition), and we will also select entrants to be invited to submit chapbooks for possible publication by The Press.
Congratulations to last year’s winning entrants: First Prize: Tanya Young of Osprey, FL; Second Prize: Carolyn Jabs of Santa Barbara, CA; and Third Prize: Bill Griffin of Elkin, NC.
It has been a joy to interact with so many writers from across the country through the Contest and through the books and chapbooks we publish. To date, we have produced chapbooks by poets from 36 different states. In the eight editions of Quiet Diamonds, we have published poems by 160 poets from 40 states. We have been heartened by this and by the sheer power of poetry to engage and enhance life and to rise above the trials of this world.
Please consider submitting poems to this year’s Contest. It would be our pleasure to read your work, and we look forward to that opportunity. Contest particulars are described below.
All the best!
John P. (Jack) Kristofco
Publisher
Entering the Orchard Street Press 2026 Poetry Contest
Poets should submit poems and the $15 fee to:
The Orchard Street Press
P.O. Box 280; Gates Mills
Ohio 44040.
Entries can also be submitted via this website
Submission details: Submit up to four original, unpublished poems (no translations and no single poem longer than two pages). Poems should be typed and should not include the poet’s name on the page. The poet should also send a cover letter (listing the poems, a brief ‘writing bio,’ and the poet’s full contact information—including phone, mailing address, and email) and a SASE for results (for hard mail submissions).
Deadline for submissions is April 30 (postmark or online). Feel free to email or call if you have questions: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 330-264-7733 (office) 330-464-2598 (cell).