The ninth season for the Poetry by the Sea Sonnet Contest, renamed in honor of our beloved Founder and Director and run in conjunction with Mezzo Cammin, is open as of November 9, 2026. There are two categories: Single Sonnet and Sonnet Crown. The winning poet in each category will be awarded a prize of $500 and invited to read the pieces at the May 2027 Poetry by the Sea Conference. We welcome traditional sonnets, as well as artful variations that push the boundaries of the form. Submissions and payment must be received by midnight on December 31 2026.
Full Guidelines
1. Sonnets must be previously unpublished and all your own work with no AI assistance.
2. You may submit in both categories — up to eight single sonnets AND three sonnet crowns.
3. However, please refrain from entering the Sonnet Contest for TWO YEARS after winning that contest and from entering the Crown contest for TWO YEARS after winning that contest.
4. In the cover letter area, provide your name and contact information, and list the full titles of the single sonnets you are submitting.
5. Place up to four single sonnets in ONE Word document, indicating the category at the top of the page: “Single Sonnets.” Place each sonnet crown in a separate Word document, likewise indicating “Sonnet Crown.” Upload Word document(s) to Submittable. Important: This contest is judged ANONYMOUSLY. Do NOT include your name or any identifying information in the Word document(s) or file name(s).
6. Please pay the reading fee through Submittable [you do not need a PayPal account to enter]. Only entries accompanied by the appropriate payment will be read. The reading fee schedule and links to Submittable are as follows:
- Enter 1 single sonnet for $12
- Enter 2 single sonnets for $16
- Enter 3 single sonnets for $20
- Enter 4 single sonnets for $24
- Enter a sonnet crown for $20
2027 Judge – Melissa Balmain
[Note: current and former students of the Judge (in an academic setting) should NOT enter.]
Melissa Balmain edits Light, North America’s longest-running journal of comic verse. She’s the author of three poetry collections: Walking in on People (chosen by X.J. Kennedy for the Able Muse Book Award), The Witch Demands a Retraction: Fairy-Tale Reboots for Adults (Humorist Books), and, most recently, Satan Talks to His Therapist (Paul Dry Books). Her poems and/or prose have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Ecotone, The Hopkins Review, Lighten Up Online, Literary Matters, McSweeney’s, Mezzo Cammin, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Nimrod, Poetry Daily, and Rattle. A winner of multiple sonnet competitions (including Poetry by the Sea’s), she teaches at the University of Rochester.
Thank you to the final judges, as well as to the poets who enter their fine work and continue to make this contest possible.
2026 Midge Goldberg
2025 Austin Allen
2024 Dan Albergotti
2023 Julia Griffin
2022 A.E. Stallings
2021 Jenna Lê
2020 Julie Kane
2019 Marilyn Nelson