Can I publish poetry with a university press? Must I win a poetry prize competition first?
Yes, you can publish poetry with university presses! Many university presses maintain prestigious lists in poetry. As Literary Hub has pointed out, university presses play an important role in cultivating poetry, and poetry also makes an important contribution to university press publications. Many poets published by university presses have gone on to win incredible honors, including being awarded Pulitzer Prizes or being named US Poets Laureate. You can find presses with active poetry lists in the AUPresses Subject Area Grid, available at the Association’s Find a Publisher webpage.
Some presses publish poetry selected by an in-house or external series editor. Others choose their publications through dedicated prize competitions; these may have associated submission fees, which support managing the review process, administration of prizes, and publication of the winning books. Some series or prizes highlight work by specific groups of people, such as Black poets, first-time authors, etc. You will need to do your research to discover prizes that you might qualify for or presses that would be good fits for your poetry manuscript.
—University of Wisconsin Press, May 2025
See also Do university presses publish poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction?