The Helena Whitehill Book Award includes a cash award of $1,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, a book launch, national and international distribution by the University of Chicago Press, a one-week residence at Gentle House on the Olympic Peninsula, and unlike our other prizes, open to submissions of poetry, chapbook or full length, no page limit, and also open to creative non-fiction, no page limit. Manuscripts are judged anonymously and all finalists will be considered for publication. Please read the complete guidelines before submitting your manuscript.
Sally Whitehill, an extraordinarily generous member of the Tupelo Press Board of Directors, has underwritten a new book prize in honor of her mother, Helena Whitehill. This prize supplants the Sunken Garden Chapbook Award, and is provided for manuscripts of poetry (of any length) as well as manuscripts of creative nonfiction, including memoir, essays, and hybrid work. The Helena Whitehill Book Award will open for submissions between August 15th and October 31st of each year.
The Helena Whitehill Book Award is a prestigious national poetry prize for adult writers. Established in 2002, the Prize has drawn submissions from around the country that have been judged by renowned poets such as Martha Collins, Patricia Smith, and Tony Hoagland.