The 2025 Backwaters Prize in Poetry competition is accepting submissions now through May 1!

The winner will be awarded a $2,000 cash prize and the honorable mention will be awarded a $1,000 cash prize. Both winners will be awarded the publication of the book by the University of Nebraska Press under its imprint, Backwaters Press.

The judge for the 2025 contest is Maggie Smith, the New York Times bestselling author of eight books of poetry and prose, including You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Good Bones, Goldenrod, Keep Moving, My Thoughts Have Wings, and the forthcoming Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life.

The 2024 winner was Wolves in Shells by Kimberly Ann Priest, which will be published in October 2025. The honorable mention was Persimmons by Kerry James Evans, which will be published in the spring of 2026. Both were selected by Tomás Q. Morín, the author of Where Are You From (Nebraska, 2024) and the memoir Let Me Count the Ways (Nebraska, 2022).

For more details, please visit the Backwaters Prize page.