November 2026 is the season's big book-prize month for poets. Yale, BOA, Georgia, Nightboat, Fordham's Poetic Justice prizes and Beloit's Chad Walsh chapbook all close, plus a handful of single-poem contests, broadsides and paying journal calls. Below is a curated roundup of poetry contests November 2026 and related calls we verified on official contest or publisher pages. … [Read more...] about Poetry Submission Deadlines November 2026
How to Write a Poetry Cover Letter (With Examples)
A poetry cover letter is the short note that goes with your poems when you submit them to a literary magazine. It's much shorter than a job-application cover letter, and it does far less work. Editors read your poems to decide. The letter's job is to be polite, accurate, and out of the way. Here's what to include, what to leave out, and examples you can adapt. What a poetry … [Read more...] about How to Write a Poetry Cover Letter (With Examples)
Staying Alive Together, By: Andrew Cyr
On Saturdays I stood at Mt. Claire, crimson sky colliding seasons, waiting by the rail for those who might not return. Shadows dimmed, air thinned— I shouldn't have been there— but I came for someone like myself. People jumped, not for thrills but as a cry for help. I almost counted myself among them— the coward of hopelessness stalked me for years, dancing in acid … [Read more...] about Staying Alive Together, By: Andrew Cyr
What Is O Me! O Life! About?
What is O Me! O Life! about? Walt Whitman's short poem asks what good there is in life when the world seems full of foolish, faithless people and the speaker doubts himself most of all. Then it answers. Life is worth living because you are here, because life and identity exist, and because "the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse." Read the full text of O Me! … [Read more...] about What Is O Me! O Life! About?
Bright Star Summary and Analysis
This Bright Star summary begins with a wish. John Keats's speaker looks at a star and wishes he could be as steadfast, as unchanging, as it is. But he does not want the star's lonely, distant watch over the earth. He wants to be unchanging in a human way: lying forever with his head on his love's breast, feeling her breathe. If he cannot have that forever, he would rather die. … [Read more...] about Bright Star Summary and Analysis
Composed upon Westminster Bridge Summary and Analysis
This Composed upon Westminster Bridge summary starts with a surprise: a nature poet praising a city. Standing on Westminster Bridge early in the morning, William Wordsworth looks at London and declares that "Earth has not anything to show more fair." Before the smoke and noise of the day begin, the sleeping city looks as calm and beautiful as any valley or hill. Read the full … [Read more...] about Composed upon Westminster Bridge Summary and Analysis