2024 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize Press Release

The official press release announcing the 2024 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize winners is now live. View the complete list of winners and finalists selected by judge Kim Addonizio.

Red Wheelbarrow National Edition: Magazine, Launch, and Prize Information

Celebrate with us the publication of the Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine's latest issue.

Download Red Wheelbarrow 2024

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  1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. Go to View > Page Display
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2024 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Winners and Finalists

2024 Redwheelbarrow Winners and Finalist Flyer Screenshot

Poetry Center San José and Red Wheelbarrow Magazine are delighted to announce the winners of the eighth annual Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize, judged by acclaimed poet Kim Addonizio.

Download PDF Press Release

2024 Winners

  • First Prize ($1,000): "Pink Anemone" by John Blair, San Marcos, TX
  • Second Prize ($500): "Driving the Prison Bus is a Calling" by G.R. Kramer, Alexandria, VA
  • Third Prize ($250): "Mother's Rural Kansas Childhood, 1910s" by Jane Bridges, Ann Arbor, MI

The first-prize winning poem will be produced as a letterpress broadside by Gary Young of Greenhouse Review Press.

2024 Finalists

  • "Do not mistake the waterfall for a harbor" by Mirande Bissell, Ellicott City, MD
  • "In Which I Inhabit for a Moment a Whitesnake Video" by Morrow Dowdle, Durham, NC
  • "Phantom Daughter" by Sara Femenella, Los Angeles, CA
  • "Arachnophobia" by Elizabeth Joy Levinson, Chicago, IL
  • "Everything is a Cool New Modern Wine Bar Now" by Amy Meckler, Forest Hills, NY
  • "To the first poet I met here" by Olga Mexina, Tallahassee, FL
  • "How Batteries Work" by Lisa Allen Ortiz, Santa Cruz, CA
  • "spring comes to Juniata, Pennsylvania, 1945" by Thomas Patterson, Westport, MA
  • "Cuban Sonnet" by Alfonso "Sito" Sasieta, Hyattsville, MD
  • "The Other Grail" by Kira Trainor, Pomfret Center, CT

This year's competition received an impressive 2,400 poem submissions from over 800 writers. All winning and finalist poems will be published in the annual fall national edition of Red Wheelbarrow magazine.


2025 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize Guidelines and Details

2025 Ninth Annual Wheelbarrow PDF flyer

  • Submission Deadline: July 31st, 2025, 11:59 PM, Pacific Daylight Time
  • Submit at Submittable.com
  • Final Judge: Stephen Kuusisto
  • Co-sponsors: Poetry Center San José & Red Wheelbarrow

Download PDF Flyer


Three prizes: $1,000, $500, $250

  • Letterpress broadside of winning poem: Gary Young, Greenhouse Review Press
  • Winners & Finalists published in Red Wheelbarrow
  • Finalists announced September 15th, winners announced October 1st

Publication-launch and prize celebration:

  • Date and location to be determined

Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit up to three original unpublished poems at Submittable.com
  • One $15 submission fee good for all three poems; upload all poems in one file, please.
  • Each poem must fit onto one 8.5 x 11 page.
  • Yes, simultaneous submissions accepted.
  • No author name on text or in file name.

About Stephen Kuusisto:

Stephen Kuusisto holds a “University Professorship” at Syracuse where he teaches across multiple disciplines and serves as the Director of the Burton Blatt Institute’s interdisciplinary programs. He’s the author of the memoirs Planet of the Blind (a “New York Times Notable Book”) and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening as well as Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey. His previous collections of poems include Only Bread, Only Light, Letters to Borges, and Old Horse, What is to Be Done? His latest book, Close Escapes will be published by Copper Canyon Press in the spring of 2025.


Red Wheelbarrow 2023

Red Wheelbarrow 2023 Cover

About the Prize and Launch Event

Brought to you by Red Wheelbarrow, Poetry Center San Jose, Works/San Jose, and the Well-RED Reading Series, this hybrid event celebrates the power of words and art. Don't miss the chance to connect with fellow art and literature enthusiasts and discover the exceptional works of featured artists and poets.

Featured Contributors

2023 Red Wheelbarrow Back Cover
Explore contributions from a diverse group of talented poets and artists, including Gary Young, Nimah Gobir, Frances Hatfield, Kristin Lindseth, Adela Najarro, Stephen Kuusisto, and many others.

Check Out More

  • View the gallery and learn more about Works/San Jose art and peformance center at their Facebook page
  • Follow the PCSJ Facebook event page for updates

We look forward to celebrating this special occasion with you. For any inquiries, contact us by email.


Celebrate the Winners & Finalists of the Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2023!

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the prestigious Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize. This year's final judge, the esteemed poet Ellen Bass, has selected three outstanding winners and five finalists. Check out the press release here.

View Press Release


Red Wheelbarrow 2022: 

2022 Red Wheelbarrow National Edition

To best view this file, open it in Acrobat and then from drop-down VIEW menu (in “PAGE DISPLAY”) select “Two Page View.” Left pages should be even numbered. If they’re not, then from drop-down VIEW menu again (in “PAGE DISPLAY)” you need to also select "Show Cover Page in Two Page View."

National Edition Download

Brought to You By Red Wheelbarrow, Poetry Center San José, Works/San José, and the Well-RED Reading Series
Two ways to attend this hybrid event:

  1. Attend in person and we hope you will!
    • Refreshments served, broadsides and books available
    • Eventbrite (free) tickets for in-person admission
    • Works/San José Art and Performance Center
      38 South Second Street, downtown San Jose, off of E. Santa Clara Street
    • Facebook new gallery/venue
  2. Zoom

Red Wheelbarrow 2022

December 13, 2022 Launch Event Flyer

2022 Poetry Prize Press Release


Red Wheelbarrow Prize: Guidelines, 2022

Submissions open through July 31st

Final Judge, Juan Felipe Herrera
 
2020 red wheelbarrow poetry contest details

Red Wheelbarrow Facebook Page

Editor: Ken Weisner, weisnerken@deanza.edu

http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/weisnerken

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