For more information about the South Dakota State Poetry Society (SDSPS) and our other publications and contests, please visit our website at sdpoetry.org.
Deadline: February 1, 2026
Please note: We do not accept previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if your work is accepted somewhere else.
Send one document with up to five poems. Use your contact information, including phone number and email address, as the header for each page. Please also add a brief bio (50 words or less) in the space for Cover Letter, highlighting any connection you have to South Dakota.
We welcome poetry from all poets. There is a submission fee of $3.00 for non-SDSPS members. We are unable to offer a complimentary copy to non-members, but copies are available for sale on our website. SDSPS members receive a copy as a benefit of membership.
For information on how to join SDSPS, please visit sdpoetry.org.
Deadline: February 1, 2026
Please note: We do not accept previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Send one document with up to five poems, each on its own page. Use your contact information, including phone number and email address, as the header for each page. Please also add a brief bio in the Cover Letter space (50 words or less) highlighting your primary connection to South Dakota.
We welcome work from all poets. If you are not a member of SDSPS, please use the form that says "open call/non-SDSPS members only." Members receive a copy of Pasque Petals as one of their membership benefits.
Submission Period: 2/15 to 5/1
CONTEST OPEN TO CURRENT SOUTH DAKOTA RESIDENTS ONLY.
Chapbook Contest 2025 Rules and Guidelines:
- Submit up to 30 pages of poetry.
- No more than one poem to a page, but a poem may be longer than one page.
- Individual poems may have been published elsewhere, but the chapbook as a whole must not have been published anywhere else.
- Poems may be on any subject and in any form other than prose.
- Chapbooks must be submitted electronically through Submittable.
- Poets may enter more than one manuscript, but each entry must be submitted separately, with a separate reading fee. The reading fee for SDSPS members is $15 per manuscript, and the reading fee for non-SDSPS members is $20 per manuscript. To join SDSPS, please visit sdpoetry.org/shop.
- Manuscripts will be judged blind. NO PERSONAL INFORMATION should appear anywhere in the manuscript and will disqualify a submission if it appears in the manuscript.
- Each manuscript should include:
- Table of Contents with no personal information (numbered pages).
- Title Page with just the chapbook title and no author/personal identification.
- A manuscript of poetry with no personal information (only the poem titles, page numbers, and the poems).
- An acknowledgements page listing poems that have been published previously, as well as the periodical, anthology or book, and date of publication.
Please also include a cover letter that includes a brief bio (50 words) and the title of your chapbook entry.
Only one winning manuscript will be accepted for publication. Should the contest be cancelled, all entrants will be refunded their reading fee. The winning poet will receive publication and ten author's copies. (2025 SDSPS members will also receive a copy of the chapbook as part of their membership benefits.) Rights return to the poet after publication.
The South Dakota State Poetry Society selects TWO poets for its Poet of Merit awards each year in which a new poet laureate is not named - one award for a living poet and one posthumous award.
Nominees must have been either born in South Dakota or have been a resident for five or more years. Ideally, if the nominee has moved out of state, he or she shall have maintained South Dakota ties.
The South Dakota Poet of Merit Award is a lifetime honor and may be granted regardless of whether or not the poet has served or may in the future serve as a South Dakota Poet Laureate.
Living South Dakota Poet of Merit Award winners will be invited to add copies of their work to the SDSPS Archives at SDSU’s Briggs Library. Works of South Dakota Poet of Merit winners in the Posthumous category may be collected by the committee and submitted to the SDSPS Archives at SDSU’s Brigg’s Library.
Current SDSPS Members are eligible to submit nominations via Submittable for the Poet of Merit Award. (If you are not a current member, but wish to join or renew, please do so via our website here: https://sdpoetry.org/shop/)
To nominate a Poet of Merit in either or both categories (living or posthumous), SDSPS members should submit the following by April 1:
a) a cover letter stating why the poet deserves the honor; b) a sample of the poet’s work, not to exceed 15 pages or 10 minutes of recorded audio and/or video. (If poems are published, indicate where and when.); and c) a bio of the poet, not to exceed three typed pages. (Note: At their discretion, the committee may choose to further read or research a poet's writing and accomplishments in addition to considering the submitted nomination materials.)
Submission Period: 2/15 to 5/1
CONTEST OPEN TO CURRENT SOUTH DAKOTA RESIDENTS ONLY.
Chapbook Contest 2026 Rules and Guidelines:
- Submit up to 30 pages of poetry.
- No more than one poem to a page, but a poem may be longer than one page.
- Individual poems may have been published elsewhere, but the chapbook as a whole must not have been published anywhere else.
- Poems may be on any subject and in any form other than prose.
- Chapbooks must be submitted electronically through Submittable.
- Poets may enter more than one manuscript, but each entry must be submitted separately, with a separate reading fee. The reading fee for SDSPS members is $15 per manuscript, and the reading fee for non-SDSPS members is $20 per manuscript. To join SDSPS, please visit sdpoetry.org/shop.
- Manuscripts will be judged blind. NO PERSONAL INFORMATION should appear anywhere in the manuscript and will disqualify a submission if it appears in the manuscript.
- Each manuscript should include:
- Table of Contents with no personal information (numbered pages).
- Title Page with just the chapbook title and no author/personal identification.
- A manuscript of poetry with no personal information (only the poem titles, page numbers, and the poems).
- An acknowledgements page listing poems that have been published previously, as well as the periodical, anthology or book, and date of publication.
Please also include a cover letter that includes a brief bio (50 words) and the title of your chapbook entry.
Only one winning manuscript will be accepted for publication. Should the contest be cancelled, all entrants will be refunded their reading fee. The winning poet will receive publication and ten author's copies. (2025 SDSPS members will also receive a copy of the chapbook as part of their membership benefits.) Rights return to the poet after publication.