Current Contests

The Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize was established by friends of Ina Coolbrith, former Poet Laureate of California. The competition is designed to encourage the artistic development of student poets.  Local winners are forwarded to the statewide contest. On the State level, cash prizes totaling $500 will be awarded and divided at the discretion of the judges. Awards are made for the best unpublished poem or group of poems by an undergraduate student at the system-wide University of California campuses, University of the Pacific, Mills College, Stanford University, Santa Clara University, and St. Mary's College.  Each participating campus may submit THREE ENTRIES selected from the submissions at their campus. All entries, including those from the judging campus, are forwarded to UC Berkeley.  Winning manuscripts are filed in the University Archives at the Bancroft Library on the Berkeley campus.

Submitted poems must be typewritten, original, and unpublished. You may enter as many poems as you wish, but each poem should have its own title. Since submissions will not be returned, a copy should be retained.  Please limit entries to 15 pages or less. Do not put your name on the poem(s).  

• Entrant’s name
• Local address 
• Permanent address
• Phone number
• UCD Email address 
• Major
• Complete SID
• Contest name
• Title(s) of poem(s)
• Number of pages (total of all pages submitted

CONTEST RULES

Deadline:          Monday, April 15, 2024 @ 12:00 noon

Qualifications: Contestants must be undergraduates with declared majors in either English or Comparative Literature.

Entries:              Only one entry per author per genre. One author may submit in both fiction and poetry, under separate entry forms.

Fiction:              One or more completed works not to exceed 30 total double-spaced pages.

Poetry:               From one to a maximum of six poems not to exceed 12 total pages.

Miscellaneous:

• The primary goal of the Pamela Maus Contest is to encourage previously unpublished writers. Entries must not have been previously published and must be the original work of the contestant.
• Entries should be typed with the last 4 digits of your student ID number (not your name), the contest name & number of pages in your submission.
• Entries will not be returned, and publication rights remain with the author.

• Competition is open to any registered full time UCD undergraduate at the time of the award, regardless of having won before. 
• Money Prize to be awarded to winners.
• Entries may be a short story (or short stories) or a novel excerpt, with a total combined length not to exceed 35 pages.
•  Manuscripts must be double-spaced 
• All pages should be numbered.
• Put the last 4 digits of your student ID in the upper right hand corner on all pages.
• Do not put your name on any page of submitted manuscript.

The Celeste Turner Wright Poetry Prize is sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, who’s University and College Poetry Prize Program established in 1955 now includes about 175 colleges and universities. Dr. Celeste Turner Wright (1906-1999) became the first woman professor on the UC Davis campus, where she was also the first Ph.D. of either gender to teach in the humanities. Among other more scholarly work, she published three volumes of poetry: Etruscan Princess, A Sense of Place and Seasoned Timber. Her memoir, University Woman, appeared in 1981. The competition is designed to encourage the artistic and creative development of student poets. The Academy of American Poets is offering a cash prize of up to $100 for the best poem or group of poems submitted by a registered full time UC Davis student at the time of the award, either graduate or undergraduate.

• All entrants must be registered UC Davis undergraduate or graduate students in Spring quarter of the contest year. 
• Submitted poems must be original and previously unpublished. 
• You may enter up to five poems not to exceed a total of 10 pages. 
• Poems which have won prizes in the Ina Coolbrith, or the Pamela Maus contests are ineligible. 
• A prize may be given for one poem or for a group of poems.
• Give each poem a specific title (not just "Spring" or "Love"). 
• Each poem should be on a separate page. 
• Do not put your name on any poem. Instead, put the last 4 digits of your student ID number at the top of each page along with "C.T. Wright Poetry Contest." 
• Number the pages.