2026 Prize for Poetry announced; submissions wanted

Submissions will open on February 1 for the 2026 Charles Moore Poetry Prize Competition sponsored by Eastport Arts Center (EAC). Now in its fourth year, the competition has seen a steady increase in the number of submissions from Maine and beyond. Submitted poems are collected into an annual anthology available for sale from the EAC, online, and from A Boatload of Books, with previous volumes being Of Woods and Waters, Connecting Nature and Worklife, Lifework. Contributors attending the poetry celebration will receive a print copy; others, due to postage costs, will be emailed a PDF version but may purchase copies through the EAC or on Amazon.

The themes of the 2026 competition are “sound” and “silence.” Poets can write about one or both themes in one poem of no more than 48 lines. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2026. Poets 18 and older will enter the adult division; poets 17 and under will enter the youth division.

The top three poems in each division will receive cash prizes. All poets will be invited to read their poems at the Poetry Celebration and Book Launch on Saturday, August 16, 2026, at the EAC.

Former EAC Board member Charles “Chick” Moore established the Eastport Arts Center Prize for Poetry to bring people together through the power of poetry, to help strengthen bonds within our communities, and to provide an outlet to those poets who may lack an arena to share their creative output.

Complete submissions guidelines are available at <eastportartscenter.org/poetry-contest>.