Submissions are open for this year’s Juniper Prizes. Five prizes are awarded annually for a debut poetry collection, a poetry collection by an author who has published previously, a short story collection, a novel, and a book of creative nonfiction. Each prize offers a cash award of $1,000 and publication by the University of Massachusetts Press.
Using only the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of 50 to 70 pages, a story collection or novel of 150 to 350 pages, or a memoir, biography, essay collection, or book of narrative nonfiction of 150 to 300 pages with a $30 entry fee by September 30. The creative writing faculty at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst will judge. The winners will be announced in April of next year. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Inspired by Fort Juniper, the name of the house that poet Robert Francis built by hand in the woods of Amherst, and in honor of Francis’s written work, the Juniper Prize for Poetry began in 1975. In 2004 the Jupiter Prize for Fiction was added to the award lineup, and in 2018 the prize for creative nonfiction was included. Previous winners of the Juniper Prizes include poets Lucille Clifton, Richard Jackson, and Susan Leslie Moore; fiction writers Wayne Karlin and Lynn Lurie; and nonfiction writer Jennifer De Leon. The 2022 winners will be published in the spring of 2023.