Willow Springs Books is a literary press housed in Eastern Washington University’s Inland Northwest Center for Writers in Spokane, Washington and operates under the direction of poet Jonathan Johnson. Each year, we host the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction and the Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize. Past judges have included Rick Bass, William Kittredge, Jess Walter, John Keeble, Shawn Vestal, Sharma Shields, Alexis Smith, and Molly Giles. Please view each category for guidelines or visit willowspringsbooks.org/submit.
Willow Springs Books is seeking submissions for the Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize, a first poetry book prize for poets 35 years old and younger who have not yet published a book-length poetry manuscript. Poets who have previously published chapbooks are welcome to submit.
The contest is in honor of Emma Howell who was born in Portland, Oregon, and died in 2001, at the age of twenty. She lived in Spain and Brazil and traveled widely. She left behind a loving family, many close friends, and a single volume of poetry, Slim Night of Recognition. In an effort to promote the publication of young poets and to honor Emma’s memory, as well as the time and effort her father, Christopher Howell, former Director of Willow Springs Books, has put into our press, we are ecstatic to be launching this new prize.
The competition is open for submissions from 11/1/2024 to 4/1/2025. Finalists will be selected in March, and the winner will be announced in April. The winning poetry manuscript will be selected by the series’ judge, changing yearly. The winner receives $2,000 plus publication in our Emma Howell Rising Poets series. The press will retain reprint, film, electronic, anthology, translation, foreign publication, and sight and sound rights.
For the well-being of our staff, we ask that you include content warnings in your cover letter for any poems within your manuscript that may have triggering material (i.e. self-harm, suicide, sexual misconduct, race or gender-based violence, etc.)
ELIGIBILITY
Poets 35 years old and younger who have not previously published a book-length poetry manuscript are eligible.
Poets who have previously published chapbooks are welcome to enter.
Manuscripts that have been submitted in previous years may be resubmitted.
There is an entry fee of $25.
*Graduates of Eastern Washington University’s MFA in Creative Writing program must be 5 years removed from their degree before submitting*
GUIDELINES
Submissions must be original, book-length poetry manuscripts (minimum of 48 pages) written in English. There is no maximum page count. Translations are not accepted.
One manuscript per submission.
Submissions will only be accepted electronically, via Submittable.
Poets may submit one manuscript per year.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed. If you have submitted your manuscript elsewhere, we request that you notify us immediately if you have an offer for publication.
Manuscripts MUST CONTAIN page numbers and a table of contents. Individual poems may have been previously published in journals, chapbooks, anthologies, or limited-edition volumes, but please note which poems and where they have been published on an acknowledgments page. The collection as a whole must be previously unpublished.
Willow Springs Books reserves the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.