San Diego Poetry Annual

Honoring Steve Kowit’s contributions to American Poetry since 2016.

Open to any poet anywhere. Submissions open June 15th and close October 15th every year. Submissions sent in outside of the submission period will not be read.

2025 Kowit Award Judge: Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Winners and Honorable Mentions will be invited to read at the annual awards reception in April for National Poetry Month in the Shiley Special Events Suite, 9th floor, San Diego Central Library. First prize: $1,000. Second prize: $250. Third Prize: $100. Winning and Honorable Mention poems will be published in the San Diego Poetry Annual in March.

Steve Kowit Poetry Prize Guidelines

Submit one (1) previously unpublished poem (in English) and a 50-word biography.

Please do not submit poems that imitate Steve Kowit’s work.

Please do not submit the poem you sent to other publications.   (No simultaneous submissions, including to the general San Diego Poetry Annual through Jotform. Please choose separate poems for the Kowit and the general anthology.)

Please do not put your name on your poem on your page(s).  This is a blind judging process.

Submit one poem per entry.  You can submit as many entries as you desire.

Pay the $15 entry fee:  the entire entry fee is a tax-deductible donation to San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild (SDEAG), a 501(c)(3) public charity celebrating The Arts.

The $15 entry fee includes a copy of the San Diego Poetry Annual in PDF or e-book format, available for free download each March. All of the entry fees collected are dedicated in support of the Kowit Poetry Prize Program and are not released for any other purpose by SDEAG or by the San Diego Poetry Annual. 

Meet the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize Coordinator, Valarie Hastings!

Valarie Hastings earned the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize in 2020. Her poetry has appeared in more than a dozen literary journals including, Crab Creek Review, Literary Mama, Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Paterson Literary Review, and the San Diego Poetry Annual. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2019 and earned finalist status for the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize (2018, 2019), the Knightville Poetry Prize (2019), the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award (2020), and the Crab Creek Poetry Prize (2011). She recently moved from the Bay Area to San Diego.    The Steve Kowit Poetry Prize would not be possible without you, so please consider sending your best poems to us this year. We open for submissions via Submittable on June 15th and close on October 15th. We announce finalists in December and awardees on January 5th. We look forward to reading your work.