Annual Poetry Contest
We’re kicking off our first annual Poetry Contest with the theme: Season of the Witch.
Submissions will close December 1, 2026 at 11:59pm PST.
Open For Entries!
Submit Your Poem
Submission Period:
October 1 - December 1
$15 Entry Fee Per Submission
$200 - First Place
$75 - Second Place
$75 - Third Place
All three winners get published in Helia Lit’s physical annual anthology (and receive a free copy).
Prizes:
The Prompt
We’ve officially entered The Season of the Witch, and for many, it’s becoming a whole era and we’re here for it.
So we want poems that celebrate magic and witches, whether that’s literal, metaphorical, or somewhere in between. We love when poets go beneath the surface of the prompt. While we’re into poems with pointy hats and cauldrons (seriously, we’d love to read these), we also want to see poems speaking to the sovereignty, journey of acceptance, and trauma of witches. We want to feel the emotional undercurrents of your poem so strongly, we can’t ignore them (whether they’re making us laugh or cry).
We’re not looking for anything in particular in regards to genre, specific poetry structure, time periods, or other arbitrary guidelines that put your work in the proverbial cauldron. You get to interpret the prompt and send us your brilliance.
P.S. If you have questions about the prompt and whether your idea would meet it, feel free to email us here.
This Is What We’re Looking For
You can focus on any element of the season of the witch that you want.
There are no genre, time period, or other arbitrary constraints. We want to see your interpretation, whether you’re focusing on themes surrounding persecution and empowerment, animal familiars, inherent magic in the world, or fucking badassery of witches. Go metaphorical or literal, we’re open to all of it.
We don’t weigh publication history, degrees, agents, followings, or prior contest wins (we won’t even ask you to tell us about them). We only consider the poem itself.
How
To Enter
Write to the prompt and submit an original, unpublished poem.
Submit your poem with the button to the right.
Upload your poem and pay the $15 entry fee.
Watch for your payment confirmation email, which arrives within 20 minutes.
If no payment confirmation reaches you within 1 hour, check your spam folder, then write to us at hello@helialit.com and we will confirm your entry by hand.
The Prizes
First place: $200
Second place: $75
Third place: $75
Our first, second, and third place winners will be published in our annual anthology with a free physical copy. The winners will also receive:
Author interviews for Substack and Helia Lit
A free editorial review with Helia’s editors
A free query review from Emerald Editorial
All finalists will have their poems featured here.
Poetry only.
Must be an original, unpublished work.
Opens: October 2, 2026.
Closes: December 1, 2026 at 11:59pm PST.
Winners will be announced January 1, 2026.
$15 entry fee per poem, with no limit on entries.
Each poem requires its own entry fee, no matter how many you want to submit.
(1 poem = $15; 2 poems = $30; 3 poems = $45, etc.)
The Details
We Want To Read Your Poem!
New, original poems only. Work posted publicly on a blog, newsletter, or social account counts as published and will not be considered.
Entries must be in English.
Writers must be 18 or older.
You must pay the $15 entry fee for your submission to be complete.
No simultaneous submissions allowed.
Write your own poem. Work generated by AI is not eligible.
Helia Lit staff, readers, and their immediate families are not eligible.
All poems must follow Helia Lit Submission Guidelines for Content.
Any poem not written to the prompt will not be considered (no matter how epic and amazing it is).
The Rules
Your Rights
Winners and finalists grant Helia Lit 90 days of exclusive first rights, starting the day the poem publishes, so we have a window to celebrate the work properly. After 90 days, every right returns to you.
Since your poem will be published in our 2026 anthology (available January 2027), you also grant Helia Lit the right to publish your poem in any reprints of this specific anthology (you can still submit your poem elsewhere, but print is pretty permanent).
What we mean by this is that we reserve the right to have your poem published in the 2026 anthology (digital and print). You can submit elsewhere, but know your poem will stay here too.
If your poem doesn’t place, you keep your rights the entire time.
We Adhere to the CLMP Code of Ethics
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The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree
to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
How Reading Works
Two readers see every entry, and every entry gets read to the last line. We’ll see your name, but that’s it. We’re not checking out your socials, credentials, past contest wins, etc. We’re making it as blind as we can.
Entries close December 1 | Finalists announced December 20 | Winners announced January 1
We’ll celebrate the writers moving forward in each round on our socials and in our newsletter, Get Lit Weekly. Everyone who entered will hear from us by email on January 1 (placed or not).
Frequently Asked Questions
Please Give These A Read
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As many as you like, at $15 each. Every poem is read on its own.
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No. Send us the version you want us to read.
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Trim the poem. We hold the 5,000 word cap for everyone. No exceptions (we love you, promise).
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Yes! Horror, fantasy, science fiction, literary, romance, historical, personal experience, and anything sitting between them.
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It won’t be considered. Send us something else. Sorry, not sorry.
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Yes, it’s $15 per entry. One poem per entry.
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No. The contest is separate from the print edition and from our contributor rates, however, winners will be published in our annual anthology.
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HELL YEAH! $200 for first place, $75 for second and third.
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Everyone hears back by January 1st, placed or not (check your inbox).
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No. We are a small team, and we’re devoted to giving every poem a fair read.
