Poetry by the Sea, in partnership with the Wild & Precious Life Series, is running a third Villanelle Contest, The Gylys Villanelle Prize. The winning poet will be awarded a prize of $500 and invited to read the piece at the May 2027 Poetry by the Sea Conference. We welcome traditional villanelles, as well as artful variations that push the boundaries of the form. The contest will open on September 14, 2026. Submissions and payment must be received by Midnight on October 26, 2026.
Full Guidelines
1. Villanelles must be previously unpublished.
2. In the cover letter area, provide your name and contact information, and list the full titles of the single villanelles you are submitting.
3. Place up to four single villanelles in ONE Word document, indicating the category at the top of the page: “Single Villanelles.” Upload your Word document(s) to Submittable. Important: The final judge for the contest will judge ANONYMOUSLY. Do NOT include your name or any identifying information in the Word document(s) or file name(s).
4. 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 villanelle for $12
- Enter 2 single villanelles for $16
- Enter 3 single villanelles for $20
- Enter 4 single villanelles for $24
2026 Final Judge – Julie Kane
[Note: current and former students of Julie Kane (in an academic setting) should NOT enter.]
Julie Kane’s doctoral dissertation, “How the Villanelle’s Form Got Fixed,” explored how the villanelle transitioned from a musical genre to a fixed poetic form. She wrote the historical introduction to the Everyman’s Library Villanelles anthology and co-authored the “Villanelle” entry in The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics. She has been a National Poetry Series winner, Donald Justice Poetry Prize winner, George Bennett Fellow in Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy, Fulbright Scholar to Lithuania, and Louisiana Poet Laureate. Her most recent poetry collection is Naked Ladies: New and Selected Poems (LSU Press, 2025).
About Beth Gylys
Award-winning author and the co-founder/Principal Investigator of Beyond Bars: A Journal of Literature and Art, a Mellon sponsored literary journal for incarcerated writers and artists, Beth Gylys is the author of five books of poetry and three chapbooks. Her last two full-length collections (The Conversation Turns to Wide Mouth Jars—co-written with Cathy Carlisi and Jennifer Wheelock—and Body Braille) were both named Books All Georgians Should Read. Her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in the Birmingham Poetry Review, West Branch, The James Dickey Review, SWWIM and on the Best American Poetry blog. Click here for more information.
