Philip Levine Prize for Poetry

Juan Felipe Herrera is the 21st Poet Laureate of the United States (2015-2016) and is the first Latino to hold the position. From 2012-2014, Herrera served as California State Poet Laureate.

Herrera’s many collections of poetry include Every Day We Get More Illegal; Notes on the Assemblage; Senegal Taxi; Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems, a recipient of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross The Border: Undocuments 1971-2007. He is also the author of Crashboomlove: A Novel in Verse, which received the Americas Award. His books of prose for children include: SkateFate, Calling The Doves, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award; Upside Down Boy, which was adapted into a musical for young audiences in New York City; and Cinnamon Girl: Letters Found Inside a Cereal Box. His book Jabberwalking, a children’s book focused on turning your wonder at the world around you into weird, wild, incandescent poetry, came out in 2018.

Herrera is also a performance artist and activist on behalf of migrant and indigenous communities and at-risk youth.

The Philip Levine Prize for Poetry seeks previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscripts and is open to any poet writing in English.

• Individual poems in a contest manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks, but the work as a whole must be unpublished.
• Translations are ineligible for this prize, as well as previously self-published books.
• Current and former faculty and students of California State University, Fresno are ineligible.
• Close friends and family members of the final judge are also ineligible.

• Please include a table of contents and number your pages.
• Manuscript should be 48-80 pages in length (not including title page, table of contents, etc.). Each poem should start on a new page.
• If needed, you may attach a ‘Notes’ page.
• Please do NOT include the following in your manuscript document: a cover letter; a dedication or thank-you page; an acknowledgements page; any biographical notes; your name or any identifying information.

If you are submitting online via Submittable:

• Within the document, please include a single title page with only the title of the manuscript so that your entry remains anonymous.
• Do NOT include your name or personal information in the file name or in the title of the manuscript.
• Within Submittable, for our administrative purposes, please include your contact information (author name, address, telephone number, and email address).

If you are submitting a paper manuscript:

• Please include two title pages. One title page should include the title of the manuscript only, so that your entry remains anonymous. The second title page, for our administrative purposes, should include the title of manuscript, author name, address, telephone number, and email address.

Simultaneous submissions to other publishers or contests are permitted, as long as you notify Levine Prize staff promptly if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

All entries must be certified by Submittable (online) or postmarked (hardcopy) by September 30, 2022.

Via Submittable online:

• An entry fee of $25 (U.S.) must accompany each online submission.
• Multiple submissions are accepted so long as a separate entry fee accompanies each submission.

Via postal mail:

• An entry fee of $22 (U.S.) must accompany each hardcopy submission.
• Multiple submissions are accepted so long as a separate entry fee accompanies each submission.
• Checks or money orders can be mailed to the address below, and they should be made payable to “Fresno State – Levine Prize.”

SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT

Via Submittable online:

• Be sure that your document is complete and formatted correctly before uploading.
• Reminder: Do NOT include contact information in the body of your manuscript, in the file name, or in the title of the manuscript.
• Include a title page with manuscript title only and enter your contact information separately into Submittable so that the manuscript remains anonymous.

Via postal mail:

• The Levine Prize encourages online submissions to save paper, but we still welcome mailed manuscripts.
• Be sure to include your check or money order. You can mail your submission to:

Fresno State, Levine Prize
Department of English
5245 N. Backer Ave., PB98
Fresno, CA 93740-8001

The Philip Levine Prize for Poetry endorses and abides by the Ethical Guidelines of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP):

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that 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 contest contributes to a vibrant literary heritage.

Online submissions will receive automated notification of receipt. Please keep these for your records.

To confirm receipt of your paper manuscript, include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Please do not enclose a SASE for return of a manuscript. All paper manuscripts will be recycled at the conclusion of the competition.

Results will be announced in early February 2023. We notify all entrants in three ways:

• via email to those who included an email address with their paper or online manuscript;
• via postal mail to those who included a SASE with their paper manuscript; and
• online via our MFA program’s website, social media, and elsewhere.

To receive mailed notification of the winner and finalists, you may attach a SASE with your submission materials.

Mai Der Vang, contest coordinator:
maidervang@mail.fresnostate.edu

Levine Prize staff:
levineprize@mail.fresnostate.edu or 559.278.1569