This contest is currently closed.

The St. Lawrence Book Award

Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The St. Lawrence Book Award for an unpublished first collection of poetry or prose. The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length manuscript in any genre. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.

Entry Period: July 1 - August 31 Early Bird Period: June 1 - June 30 How to submit ›

How to Submit

Black Lawrence Press accepts submissions exclusively through our online submission manager, Submittable. We are not able to accept submissions via email or postal mail.

All manuscripts should include a title page, table of contents, and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Please follow the length requirements for the category to which you are submitting. Please include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable. We look forward to reading your work!

JUDGING PANEL

Beginning with the 2021 contest, the St. Lawrence Book Award is judged by a revolving panel of judges, in addition to the Executive Editor and other members of the BLP editorial staff. The judging panel is comprised previous St. Lawrence Book Award Winners, including: Jody Chan, Anna B Sutton, Brad Ricca, KMA Sullivan, Kim Sousa, Jason Tandon, Katie Umans, Leigh Camacho Rourks, and Shubha Sunder.

2023 Winner

Max McDonough

For Python with a Dog Inside It

Max McDonough's work has appeared in The New York Times, the Best New Poets anthology, AGNI, Northwest Review, The Adroit Journal, Ecotone, T Magazine, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the Vanderbilt MFA program, and now lives and teaches in Philadelphia. Python with a Dog Inside It is his debut collection.

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