STREETLIGHT’S 2025 POETRY CONTEST Send us your poems by July 14! 1st Prize — $150 2nd — $100 Entry Fee: $10 for up to 3 poems
CONTEST GUIDELINES:
- Up to three of your best, previously unpublished poems. Any subject.
- Multiple submissions are fine.
- This is a blind contest. Please remove all personal information from the story pages.
- We encourage simultaneous submissions but if your piece is accepted elsewhere, inform us at poetry1@streetlightmag.com or poetry2@streetlightmag.com, right away.
- Contest deadline is Monday, July 14th, 2025 midnight EST.
- Competition winners will be announced July 28th, 2025. Only winning authors will be contacted. However, all entries will be considered for general publication in Streetlight. If your poetry is a good fit for a subsequent issue, we will get in touch to see if it is still available.
- Winners will be chosen by Streetlight staff led by poetry editors Sharon Ackerman and Fred WIlbur. Winning submissions will run in a later 2025 Issue.
This is a blind contest and your name will be hidden from our judges--do NOT include your name or address on the pages containing your work.
TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- By submitting your work, you grant Streetlight Magazine first North American print and electronic publication rights and guarantee that the submission is your own, original writing. All rights return to the author after publication.
- If you publish your work again at a later date, we request that you include a notice stating that it was first published at Streetlight Magazine.
- Our editors do not decline contest entries nor close them out. After the contest deadline, winners are announced, and non-winning entries are considered for general publication.
- All winning entries will be published online as well as in the 2025 Streetlight annual print anthology.
Sharon Ackerman is an Appalachian poet residing in central Virginia. Her poems have appeared in the Southern Humanities Review, Atlanta Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Roanoke Review, Appalachian Places, Still: The Journal, and several others. She has one poetry collection, Revised Light (Main Street Rag, 2021), and a second in the works.
Frederick Wilbur received his BA from the University of Virginia and an MA from the University of Vermont. He has authored three books on architectural and decorative woodcarving. His two poetry collections are As Pus Floats the Splinter Out and Conjugation of Perhaps. His work has appeared in many print and on-line reviews including Shenandoah, The Atlanta Review, The Comstock Review, The Dalhousie Review, Rise Up Review, and Mojave River Review. He was awarded the Stephen Meats Award by Midwest Quarterly (2017).
We seek to publish all types of well-crafted poems which go beyond description, and resonate with rich language, clear images and a voice. Streetlight Magazine welcomes work by both emerging and established poets. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your poetry is accepted elsewhere. Send us 3-5 unpublished poems in a single document. A cover letter is not necessary, but please include with your submission a 2-3 sentence biographical note that will be used if your work is accepted.
TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- By submitting your work, you grant Streetlight Magazine first North American print and electronic publication rights and guarantee that the submission is your own, original writing. All rights return to the author after publication.
- If you publish your work again at a later date, we request that you include a notice of the first printing appearing in Streetlight.
- All accepted entries will be published in the Streetlight annual anthology.
We are looking for elegant and memorable writing, both traditional and experimental. Send us stories up to 2,000 words in length. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere.
TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- By submitting your work, you grant Streetlight Magazine first North American print and electronic publication rights and guarantee that the submission is your own, original writing. All rights return to the author after publication.
- If you publish your work again at a later date, we request that you include a notice of the first printing appearing at Streetlight.
- All accepted entries will be published in the annual Streetlight anthology.
- Accepted entries may receive an audio production for the Streetlight Voices podcast.
We seek creative non-fiction and essays that examine issues from fresh, new angles. Send work that arcs towards truth--as ephemeral as that may be--whether by examining real life, or through the exercise of pure thought. Send us work that can change our minds and our way of seeing the world. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere.
TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- By submitting your work, you grant Streetlight Magazine first North American print and electronic publication rights and guarantee that the submission is your own, original writing. All rights return to the author after publication.
- If you publish your work again at a later date, we request that you include a notice of the first printing appearing at Streetlight.
- All accepted entries will be published in the annual Streetlight anthology.
- Accepted entries may receive an audio production for the Streetlight Voices podcast.
Streetlight seeks original art submissions -- paintings, photography, pastels, pen and ink -- that will make us pause and consider. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- By submitting your work, you grant Streetlight Magazine first North American print and electronic publication rights and guarantee that the submission is your own, original writing. All rights return to the author after publication.
- If you publish your work again at a later date, we request that you include a notice of the first printing appearing at Streetlight.
- All accepted entries will be published in the annual Streetlight anthology.
We welcome guest bloggers -- it's free to submit a blog to Streetlight Magazine.
We're interested in topics about the literary and visual arts as well as personal perspectives, humor, commentary, and interviews with writers and visual artists. Blogs should be between 300-700 words long and may be edited to fit our website's format and style.
- You may submit previously published blogs, and we will credit your blog accordingly.
- Casual, informal writing is okay.
- Authors retain all copyrights and their content will appear on the Streetlight Magazine website with the author's permission.