Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award

The winning poet will receive a two thousand dollar award and the winning poem will be published in Plough Quarterly. In addition, two finalists will receive two hundred and fifty dollars as well as publication in Plough.

This award honors the achievements of the great Dominican-American poet, translator, and public school teacher Rhina Polonia Espaillat. The Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award will be awarded for an original poem of not more than fifty lines that reflects her lyricism, empathy, and ability to find grace in everyday events of life without having to be explicitly religious.

• Meet the 2024 award winners or watch them read their poems during a livestreamed event.
• Meet the 2023 award winners or watch them read their poems during a livestreamed event
• Meet the 2022 award winners or watch them read their poems during a livestreamed event
• Meet the 2021 award winners or watch them read their poems during a livestreamed event

In contrast to most other poetry competitions, Plough will not contract out judging of this award to a prominent poet. Instead, Plough’s poetry editor, Jane Clark Scharl, will select approximately twenty poems for further consideration, and then the editors will reach a consensus on the winner and the two finalists.

Rhina Espaillat Photograph by Nicole Sanchez

2025 Submission Guidelines

The Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award is free to Plough Quarterly subscribers, and there is a $7.00 fee per poem for non-subscribers. If you prefer to skip the fee, please subscribe here before entering your poem.

Submit your work via the form below on or before March 30, 2025. Results will be announced in May 2025 on Plough.com, and by email to all contestants. Please follow these guidelines:

• All submissions must be previously unpublished, and may not be submitted elsewhere.
• Each contestant may submit up to three poems.
• Each poem must be submitted on a separate Microsoft Word document. Please do NOT put your name and email in the Word doc.
• In order to qualify, please ensure that your payment matches the number of poems submitted.
• Poems must be not more than fifty lines.

Due to the volume of submissions, we may not be able to contact you back or refund you if the work submitted does not meet these requirements. 

Feel free to contact us with any questions or problems.