Submit to the Brittingham & Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry
Submissions open on July 15 and close on September 15 each year for the Brittingham Prize in Poetry, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, and the Wisconsin Prize for Poetry in Translation, all of which are awarded by the University of Wisconsin Press. Please read the instructions carefully before proceeding to our Submittable submissions manager. All submissions must be accompanied by a $28 entry fee, payable by credit card. Winners will be announced no later than February 15, and winning manuscripts will be published in the first few months of the following year (roughly one year after the announcement).
The Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry are awarded annually to the two best book-length manuscripts of original poetry submitted in an open competition. Each winning poet receives a $1,500 cash prize. All submissions will be considered for both prizes. There are no restrictions on the kind of poetry or subject matter, although translations are not acceptable.
The manuscript must be previously unpublished in book form. Poems published in journals, chapbooks, and anthologies may be included, but must be acknowledged. No changes in the manuscript will be considered between submission and acceptance. Simultaneous submissions to other contests are permitted provided the poet agrees to inform the Series Editor of the manuscript’s acceptance for publication elsewhere, and to withdraw the manuscript via Submittable if applicable.
Online submissions are required; we no longer admit postal submissions. All submissions must be uploaded as an 8.5″ x 11″ pdf document, single-spaced, and 50–to-90 manuscript pages in length. Pages should be numbered.
After reading these instructions, you may access the Submittable submissions manager at wicw.submittable.com. You will be asked to upload a single pdf including a title page, table of contents, your poems, and (if applicable) an acknowledgments page listing any magazines or journals where the submitted poems first appeared. Your name and contact info should not appear anywhere in the document. You will be asked to pay a $28 submission fee.
Questions not answered on this page may be directed to series editor Sean Bishop.
Submissions will also open for the fourth annual Wisconsin Prize for Poetry in Translation.
Please note that translation guidelines differ from the guidelines for the Brittingham & Felix Pollak Prizes: Translators or original authors are invited to submit a book-length manuscript, including all poems in both their original language and their English translation. The translations submitted must be previously unpublished in book form. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, as long as the applicant withdraws the manuscript if it is accepted elsewhere. The winning manuscript will be awarded $1,500 and will be published by the University of Wisconsin Press in the spring of 2028, alongside the winners of our annual Brittingham & Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry. Submissions will remain open until October 31, 2026, through Submittable (click here).
Applicants are asked to confirm they hold the rights to their translations, before preparing a manuscript in pdf format, including the following:
- A simple title page, which should include the names of the original author(s) and translator(s)
- A table of contents, with accurate page numbers indicated.
- 75 to 250 pages of poetry, including all poems in both their original language and translated into English, with numbered pages.
- A biography page, including 50-to-250-word bios for each author and translator.
- A project description that addresses the book’s historical, cultural, and/or artistic significance.
- An acknowledgments page (optional, if any translations are previously published).
Brittingham & Pollak FAQ
The judge for each year’s Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes will be announced no later than July 15, and will appear in our Submittable submissions portal. Past judges have included Airea D. Mathews, Amaud Jamaul Johnson, Eduardo C. Corral, Forrest Gander, Carmen Giménez Smith, Natasha Tretheway, Denise Duhamel, Lucia Perillo, Terrance Hayes, Jean Valentine, Cornelius Eady, Robert Pinsky, Marilyn Nelson, Maxine Kumin, and Philip Levine.
Anyone, as long as their manuscript meets the criteria outlined above. Previous winners of either the Brittingham or Pollak are not eligible to win the same prize twice, but may be awarded the other prize for a second collection. Previous winners of either prize may also be considered for the Four Lakes Prize in Poetry.
Applicants will submit for both the Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in a single submission, or for the Wisconsin Prize for Poetry in Translation. Your submission in either category should include just one $28 payment.
Yes. But please upload two separate submissions online. You will be required to pay two submission fees.
Unfortunately we cannot. If you wish to make sure your submission is received, simply log into Submittable to view your list of active submissions.
The prizes are effectively identical; there is no first and second place.
The University of Wisconsin Press, Series Editors Sean Bishop and Erika Meitner, Associate Editor Nate Marshall, and Associate Editor for Translation Sarah Wells employ a team of readers which changes each year, though this team typically consists—in part—of University of Wisconsin Creative Writing faculty and Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing fellows and alumni. Every manuscript is read by at least two different screeners, and manuscripts that make it to the semi-finalist and finalist rounds are read by at least three different screeners. Twenty to thirty manuscripts are then given to the judge, who chooses two winners.
We notify all submitters of their status no later than February 15; we appreciate your patience as we make our decisions.
The University of Wisconsin Press has published more than sixty collections of poetry since the inception of the Brittingham Prize in 1985. The Brittingham and Pollak Prizes have debuted many of the most respected names in poetry today, including Olena Kalytiak Davis, Bob Hicok, Tony Hoagland, David Kirby, Nick Lantz, Lisa Lewis, and Brian Teare.