The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize

About

$10,000 + Publication + Residency at Vermont Studio Center

2025 Judge: Shane McCrae

Established in 1998, The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize highlights one full-length collection of poetry per year. Since 2024, the Prize comes with a $10,000 advance, TRP’s X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.

Recent judges include Diane Seuss, Richard Blanco, Kimiko Hahn, Kazim Ali, Maggie Smith, and Marilyn Nelson.

Submissions open each year on July 1 and close on September 30.

Submission Guidelines

Submit to The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize

General Guidelines

• Submissions are open July 1 – September 30.
• A fee of $28 must be paid at the time of submission.
• Open to any poet writing in English. Translations are not eligible.
• The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize is not a first book prize, though we welcome first books. The Prize is open to poets at any stage of their career.
• There are no formal restrictions for this prize; we welcome manuscripts of any style/form.
• Poems may have been published individually in magazines or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify TRP immediately by withdrawing the manuscript via Submittable if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
• Current and former students and faculty of Sam Houston State University are not eligible.
• Family members and current or former students* of the final judge or TRP staff are not eligible.
• Current and former TRP authors are not eligible.
• Submitters must be 18+ years of age.
• Submissions are accepted through Submittable only.
• Winner will receive a $10,000 advance, TRP’s X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.

*Writers who studied with the final judge or TRP staff for a semester-length period are not eligible. Writers who studied with the final judge or TRP staff for two-week residencies, single workshops, or other instances less than a semester in length are eligible, provided the work submitted is previously unseen by TRP staff or the final judge.

Manuscript Guidelines

• Manuscripts must be between 50 and 100 pages in length.
• Please include a table of contents, title page, and page numbers.
• Do not include an acknowledgments page.
• No more than one poem per page. (Multi-page poems are welcome.)
• Submissions are anonymous. Please remove any identifying information from the manuscript.
• Submit as a .pdf, .docx, or .doc file format.
• No revisions will be accepted once the manuscript is uploaded.

Submit to The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize

TRP’s X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center

Vermont Studio Center (VSC) and TRP: The University Press of SHSU (TRP) are pleased to announce a partnership to offer the TRP’s X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center. This fellowship offers a three-week residency, in the summer, to a recipient of the X. J. Kennedy Prize and includes a private studio space, a private room in shared lodging, access to the Visiting Artists & Writers Program, and all meals. The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize Fellow at VSC will join an inclusive international community of artists and writers located in northern Vermont.

Learn more about Vermont Studio Center

Judge: Shane McCrae

Shane McCrae’s most recent books of poetry are New and Collected Hell and The Many Hundreds of the Scent. He has edited a volume of John Berryman’s uncollected Dream Songs, which will be published in December of 2025. McCrae’s awards include a Lannan Literary Award and a Whiting Writer’s Award and he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.

X. J. KENNEDY

X. J. Kennedy, for whom this competition is named, is a distinguished poet, translator, anthologist, editor, and is the author of numerous books of poetry, children’s literature, and textbooks on English literature. Kennedy won the Poetry Society of America’s Frost Medal for lifetime service to poetry in 2009.