The University of Georgia Press, established in 1938, is the oldest and largest book publisher in the state. We currently publish 60-70 new books a year and have a long history of publishing significant scholarship, creative and literary works, and books about the state and the region for general readers.
Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award
The University of Georgia Press is proud to be the publisher of the Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award series. Each year, one manuscript is selected for publication with UGA Press and a prize of $1000. More than seventy short fiction collections have appeared in the series, which was established to encourage gifted emerging writers by bringing their work to a national readership. The first prize-winning book was published in 1983; the award has since become an important proving ground for writers and a showcase for the talent and promise that have brought about a resurgence in the short story as a genre. One winner is selected through an annual competition. Past winners of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction include such widely read authors as Ha Jin, Antonya Nelson, Andrew Porter, Molly Giles, and Amina Gautier. See the latest books publish this series and learn more about this year's judges here. Edited by Lori Ostlund, the contest is open for submissions from April 1 to May 31 each year and all submissions materials must be anonymized.
Crux: The Georgia Series in Literary Nonfiction
Named for intersections, and for the heart of the matter, this series publishes literary nonfiction by diverse writers working in a variety of modes, including personal and lyric essay, literary journalism, cultural meditation, and memoir. Engagement with the world, dedication to craft, precision, and playfulness with form and language are valued. The series is open to non-American writers and experiences as well as American. All submissions are evaluated by series editor, Nicole Walker, and acquiring editor, Sarah Shermyen. See the latest books published in this series here. Submissions are open twice a year to completed manuscripts of approximately 40-100k words in length. The next submission cycle runs November 1 - December 15.
The Georgia Poetry PrizeIn partnership with Poetry@Tech at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia, the University of Georgia Press has established the Georgia Poetry Prize, a national competition that celebrates excellence in poetry. Each year, one manuscript is selected for publication with UGA Press and a prize of $1000. Supported by the Bruce and Georgia McEver Fund for the Arts and Environment, the Georgia Poetry Prize is open to unpublished, original collections of poems written in English by residents of North America. Winners are selected through an annual competition. The prize has been established through a generous gift from Bruce McEver, a graduate of Georgia Tech and member of the Advisory Council of the University of Georgia Press, in memory of his late wife, Georgia McEver. The contest is open for submissions from October 1 to November 30 and all submissions materials must be anonymized.
Dates for submission: Manuscripts may be submitted between 9:00 a.m. EST on October 1 and 11:59 p.m. EST on November 30. Winners will be announced in early March. Contest queries can be directed to submissions@uga.edu. The press will not accept phone calls regarding The Georgia Poetry Prize. If you encounter any technical difficulties while using the submissions manager, don't hesitate to contact our submission manager support: support@submittable.com and/or phone: (855) 467-8264, ext. 2. The $30 entry fee can be paid online via credit card or PayPal. At this time, we are unable to waive submission fees under any circumstances. Selection process: Manuscripts are first read by 2-3 preliminary judges, with these manuscripts being split evenly between the judges. The preliminary judges select five to ten finalists each (number of finalists is at the discretion of the main judge); the pool of finalist manuscripts is read by an annually designated chief judge, who makes the final selection of one winning manuscript and a list of up to four (4) runners-up. The author of the winning manuscript receives a cash award of $1,000, and their collection is subsequently published by the University of Georgia Press under a standard book contract. The winner has ten days to accept the award and ten days to sign the contract following receipt of the initial contract draft. If you have a question about your submission, please contact submissions@uga.edu. Eligibility: The competition is open to writers in English, whether published or unpublished. Previous winners of this award are not eligible to win again. Writers must be residents of North America.
- Conflict of Interest: No submissions will be accepted if a submitter is related to the head Judge in any of the following forms: friends, family, colleagues, and current or former students. In service to that, the Press instructs submitters to refrain from submitting if they are related in any the aforementioned ways. The Press reserves the sole right to disqualify that submission without reimbursement of the entry fee if the submitter is in violation of the conflict of interest.
- AI Policy: Manuscripts that have employed the use of generative-AI during any stage of the writing process including, but not limited to, drafting, ideating, or editing will not be considered. AI grammar and spell check tools, such as Grammarly, are permitted, but any AI-use must be disclosed upon submission.
Manuscript Guidelines
- Manuscripts are recommended to be a minimum of 50 pages to a recommended maximum of 100 pages of original poetry. No more than one poem should appear on a page.
- Please be sure manuscript pages are numbered.
- Please include a table of contents.
- Please use a standard, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman in twelve-point size.
- Poems included in the submission may have appeared previously in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks, but may not have been previously published in a book-length collection of the author’s own work.
- Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition for consideration as long as no material is duplicated between submissions. Each submission will require a separate entry fee.
- Manuscripts under consideration for this competition may be submitted elsewhere at the same time. Please withdraw your manuscript if it is accepted by another publisher and should no longer be considered for The Georgia Poetry Prize competition. Withdrawal can be completed via the submissions manager website. Entry fees are not refundable.
All manuscript materials must be anonymized. The intent of this contest is that manuscripts will be considered on the merits of the poetry and that judges will not be aware of the names or publication records of the authors. Judges will also not be privy to cover letters. Please do not include your name on the pages of the manuscript—only in the form boxes of the electronic submission manager. The first page of the manuscript should include the title of the collection only.
If any identifying information is included in the manuscript or material, the Press reserves the sole right to disqualify that submission without reimbursement of the entry fee. In service to that, the Press instructs submitters to refrain from identifying themselves in the pages of the manuscript and to exclude any previous publication acknowledgments; if a judge recognizes the work of the submitter, they will recuse themselves and the submission will be reassigned.
Confirmation of receipt and notification: You should receive an e-mail confirmation immediately after submission. An announcement of winners and finalists will be sent to all entrants via e-mail in early March. Statement of Integrity: The University of Georgia is thoroughly committed to academic integrity in all of its endeavors, and the University of Georgia Press adheres to all University of Georgia policies and procedures. To help ensure the integrity of the competition, manuscripts are judged independent of authorial identity. Judges in The Georgia Poetry Prize competition are instructed to avoid conflicts of interest of all kinds.