WEST HAVEN — The Connecticut Poetry Society is bringing back its Experimental Poetry Contest for its sixth year, inviting writers to submit their best work.

Submissions will be accepted through 6 p.m. on July 31st. A $15 reading fee is required to enter, and a $1,000 prize will be awarded to the best poem.

“We are seeking poems that explore the creative alchemy of words, form and visuals,” said Ed Dzitko, contest coordinator.

Writers can submit up to three previously unpublished poems, which should not include any personally identifiable information. Poems can be text, audio, or video files, “exploring entirely new forms, experimental existing forms, or radical subversions of tradition.” Entries created completely or in part by artificial intelligence will be disqualified.

The judge in the 2026 competition is Katherine E. Schneider, the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Northeast Coast literary journal. Schneider, who has published two poetry collections as well as several individual poems, is the poet laureate of Norwich, holds an MFA from Fairfield University’s Creative Writing Program, and is a co-founder and co-host of FUMFA Poets & Writers Live.

For more information on the contest, click here.

Expanded coverage of Fairfield County cultural events is made possible with support from the Fairfield University Quick Center for the Arts