Submission Guidelines
Trio House Press sponsors two annual poetry manuscript awards and one annual creative nonfiction award:
The Trio Award for First or Second Book for emerging poets for a book of poems contributing in an innovative and distinct way to American poetry.
The Louise Bogan Award for poets at any level of publication.
Each award winner receives $1000 and twenty copies of their book, along with assistance in marketing the book.
The Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award
Award winners receive $1,000 and twenty copies of their book, along with assistance in marketing the book.
Trio House Press offers an open submissions period each year, which may vary from year to year.
2025-26 SUBMISSION PERIODS:
November 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026: Trio Award and Louise Bogan Award
February 1 - May 15, 2026: Aurora Polaris Award
June 1 - June 30, 2026: Open Reading Period
Our submissions fee is $25 per manuscript for all award reading periods. We do not waive submission fees for contests, but do offer a fee-free option during our open reading period for poets with incomes of $50,000 or less per year.
Judges are forwarded unmarked manuscripts for consideration. Relatives, close friends, and current or former students of contest judges are not eligible for publication.
Our submissions process adheres to and supports all ethical standards and guidelines outlined by the CLMP.
GENERAL GUIDELINES (FOR ALL PERIODS/CONTESTS)
All manuscripts must be written primarily in English, and authors must reside primarily in the United States. We do not publish fiction at this time.
- The Trio Award for First or Second Book is only open to poets submitting their first or second poetry book manuscript. Books and chapbooks with ISBN's are considered "books". Writers who have published more than two books in other genres but no books of poetry are still eligible for the Trio Award. Those ineligible for the Trio Award are encouraged to enter the Bogan Award.
- The Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence is open to ALL poets, regardless of publication history.
- The Aurora Polaris Award is open to all writers, regardless of publication history.
- We do not accept submissions of books that have previously been self-published for any of our contests or during our Open Reading period.
- We do not accept submissions of books that have been previously published by other publishers for any of our contests. If the book is out of print and the rights have reverted to the author, these books MAY be submitted during our Open Reading period.
- Translations are only accepted during out Open Reading period, and submissions must identify the rights holder to the work being translated. Submissions where the rights have been acquired by translators are preferred.
- Poetry manuscripts must be 48-120 pages of poetry (excluding title page, table of contents, and all front matter), written in English by a poet residing within the U.S.; creative nonfiction manuscripts must be more than 48 pages long.
- No submissions from those living outside of the United States and/or those unwilling to participate in appearances and readings in the United States for at least one full year following the publication of the manuscript.
- No submissions are accepted that are written by someone who is deceased.
- Reading fees are not waived for contests for any reason, as those funds are used to pay the costs of the contest and the publication of the winning books. We encourage those who cannot afford the reading fee to send us work during the Open Reading period in June, when reading fees are waived for those who earn less the $50K per year.
- Submissions generated using generative AI, in full or in part, are prohibited. We publish 100% human generated books.
- Manuscripts should be submitted in one Word or PDF file. Trio Award and Bogan Award entries must be stripped of all information identifying the author by first and last name. Aurora Polaris Award manuscripts and manuscripts submitted during the Open Reading Period need not be stripped of identifying information.
- Include and upload your cover letter with your bio and contact information in the cover letter option area. Please include links to your webpage, social media, or other online presences.
- Include an acknowledgement page of individual poems or essays or excerpts published within the manuscript. The manuscript as a whole must not be previously published.
- Multiple award submissions are accepted as long as a $25 fee accompanies each award submission.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as we are notified immediately if your manuscript is chosen elsewhere, and you withdraw your manuscript on Submittable at that time.
- Relatives and current or former students of judges are not eligible for awards or publication during our contest submissions period. Authors previously published by Trio House Press are also ineligible to enter our contests, but are welcome to submit outside of our normal submission periods.
- No edits can be made to manuscripts after you submit your manuscript. However, if chosen for award or publication, edits can be made prior to final proofs.
- In the unlikely event that, due to unexpected illness or life events, that a judge is unable to select an award winner, a member of the Trio House Press Editorial staff will select the award winner for the poetry contests.
- Your submission acknowledges that you understand and agree to all guidelines.
- Entrants will be notified on Submittable of the status of their submissions when finalists are chosen, usually within a month of the closing date of the contest. Finalists and winners will be announced on our website and on social media.
The Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award is open to ALL living authors, regardless of publication history.
The 2026 Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award will be judged by a panel of previous winners of the award: Deborah Derrickson Kossmann, Samina Najmi, and Jason Prokowiew.
Notification of our winners and finalists is posted on our web page and announced through social media during the summer months. Please check our website for results. If you are a finalist, semi-finalist, or the winner, you will be personally notified.
- Manuscripts must be 45,000 - 80,000 words of creative nonfiction (excluding title page, table of contents, and all front matter), written in English by a person residing within the U.S.
- No submissions from those living outside of the United States, unless they plan to reside in the US for the year following the publication of the book.
- No submissions are accepted that are written by the deceased.
- Submissions generated using generative AI or LLM in whole or in part are prohibited.
- Translations are not eligible for publication, nor are previously published or self-published books. If the book has an ISBN, it is considered to be published.
- Manuscripts must be sent in a single file. We accept Word and PDF files.
- Include and upload your cover letter with your bio and contact information in the cover letter option area.
- Include an acknowledgement page of excerpts published within the manuscript. The manuscript as a whole must not be previously published.
- Multiple award submissions are accepted as long as a $25 fee accompanies each award submission.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as we are notified immediately if your manuscript is chosen elsewhere.
- Trio House Press judges, editors, staff, or Board members are not eligible for awards or publication during our contest submissions period. Relatives, current or former students, and close friends of the judges are also not eligible for awards or publication.
- No edits can be made to manuscripts after you submit your manuscript. However, if chosen for award or publication, edits will almost certainly be made prior to final proofs.
- Your submission acknowledges that you understand and agree to all guidelines and to being contacted via our distribution list.
Trio House Press editors Kris Bigalk and Natasha Kane have extensive experience editing poetry collections and creative nonfiction for Trio House Press and others. Kris has edited poetry collections, including but not limited to Dressing the Bear and More Flowers by Susan L. Leary; Live in Suspense by David Groff; Glassful of Prayer by Anthony Ceballos, Material by Ana Maria Caballero, The Cosmos and Me by Lucille Lang Day, and Public House by Dylan Weir. She has also edited creative nonfiction works, including Sing Me a Circle, the celebrated essay collection by Samina Najmi, and assisted with developmental editing for Lynette Reini-Grandell's Wild Things: A Trans-Glam-Punk-Rock Love Story (Minnesota Historical Society Press). Natasha has edited Unceded Land by Issam Zineh; The Bamboo Wife by Leona Sevick; Four Fields by Dorinda Wegener; Rooms for the Dead and the Not Yet by Rhoni Blankenhorn, Girl in a Forest by Elline Lipkin, and the forthcoming My Wise Little Ghost by Emily Hyland, Continental Drift by Mai-Linh Hong, Daughter of Salt by Leila Farjami, and Mother Wound by Gauri Awasthi.
We are pleased to offer poets and creative nonfiction writers consultations on full-length and chapbook manuscripts. To avoid conflict of interest, we will not consult on manuscripts under active consideration by Trio House Press.
Manuscript Consultations include the following:
* A careful reading of the manuscript as a whole, with global comments and suggestions for revision
* Poem-level or chapter-level comments where revisions are suggested or errors are found
* Suggestions on possible places to submit the work
* Suggestions for improving or growing a platform to receive more attention for the work
* A 30 - 45 minute Zoom call to go over suggestions, answer questions, etc.
Pricing is as follows:
poetry or creative nonfiction chapbooks or manuscripts up to 50 pages: $500
poetry manuscripts 50 - 120 pages: $1000
creative nonfiction manuscripts 150 - 400 pages: $1200
We do not automatically accept every manuscript submitted for possible review, as we want to ensure that we review manuscripts we feel we can offer meaningful feedback on. If you would like to submit your manuscript for consideration for a manuscript review, please send it our way! We would love to see it.
Poetry Glow-Up (Kris Bigalk) -- Wednesday, May 13, 6 pm - 8 pm CDT
Bring your problem poems to this workshop, and we will give them a makeover! Participants will share poems with the group and learn techniques to add tension, imagery, and structure to poetry they can take forward into their drafting and revision practice, and will also create some new work.
Making an Entrance and an Exit (Kris Bigalk) -- Tuesday, May 19, 3 pm - 5 pm CDT
This class focuses on creative nonfiction and memoirs, specifically on how the opening to an essay collection or creative nonfiction book is essential to its success. Participants will submit their manuscripts a week ahead of the workshop, and bring their current "entrance" and "exit" for critique and guidance.
Memoir or Essay Collection? Let's Edit​ (Kris Bigalk) - Sundays, 4 - 6 pm CDT, May 31, June 7, 14, and 21
Many of the creative nonfiction submissions we receive are somewhere between an essay collection and a memoir - they don't seem to know what they want to be. If you have a manuscript like this, we can help. This small workshop will involve analyzing which format works best for your topic and your style, and then implementing editing techniques to move it towards either an essay collection or a memoir. Both group workshops and individual meetings are included.