Tomaž Šalamun Prize (2025)
Ends on
$1000 + chapbook published by Factory Hollow Press + one-month residency in Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Tomaž Šalamun Prize is open to poets at any stage of their career. Previous publication is neither a requirement nor a restriction. You can enter if you've published zero books or 100 books.
Translations into English are acceptable if the author is still living and has given written permission. Prose poetry and hybrid forms are also acceptable.
The winning chapbook will be published by Factory Hollow Press in Amherst, MA. Starting in 2019, the editors have selected one or two additional chapbooks to be published by Factory Hollow.
The prize winner will receive $1000, 10 free copies of their chapbook, and a free one-month residency at the Tomaž Šalamun Centre for Poetry in Ljubljana, Slovenia. If a translation wins the prize, the translator will receive $1000, 10 copies of the chapbook, and the residency.
The winner will be invited (but not required) to give a reading at the Tomaž Šalamun Centre for Poetry in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For the past several years, the winning chapbooks have been translated into Slovenian and published in Slovenia.
Individual pieces in the chapbook may have been published in print and/or online journals, but the chapbook itself must be previously unpublished.
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your submission immediately if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
Graham Foust will judge the 2025 prize. Current/former students and close friends of the judge, of the prize director (Brian Henry), or of any of the editors of Factory Hollow Press are not eligible. If in doubt about your eligibility, query salamunprize@gmail.com.
Entry fee: $17
Deadline: March 15, 2025
Requirements: Send a chapbook of 20-28 pages (total length including title page, optional table of contents, optional acknowledgments/notes). Do not include your name anywhere on your submission. (Manuscripts will be read anonymously.) Your name should be listed only in the required fields in Submittable. Acknowledgments are permitted, but not required. Acknowledgments, notes, and dedications should not contain any identifying information. Your submission must be a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
Contest Process: 1st round of selection: all manuscripts will be read two to three times / 2nd round: approximately 40 manuscripts will be selected as semi-finalists / 3rd round: 10 finalists will be selected / 4th round: finalists' manuscripts will be read by the judge, who will select the winner, then the editors will make the editors' choice selection(s) among the remaining finalists
About the residency: The apartment at the Tomaž Šalamun Center for Poetry has been reserved for the winner of the 2025 Tomaž Šalamun Prize from mid-May to mid-June 2026. Because the apartment is also used by other organizations, alternative dates might not be possible. The winner is not required to travel to Slovenia or to accept the residency. (If the winner cannot accept the residency, their chapbook still will be published and they still will receive the $1000 prize.) There is no additional payment if the winner does not use the apartment or accept the residency. The residency includes the free apartment, but does not include travel expenses or meals. The apartment is located at Cankarjeva 5 in downtown Ljubljana. It has a kitchen and its own bathroom. The winner may bring a partner or child with them. The apartment and residency are managed by the Tomaž Šalamun Centre for Poetry and JSKD in Ljubljana.