POET HUNT 31

Guest judged by Nandi Comer, featured in vol. 41.2! The contest opens on April 1 and closes on June 15.

• One (1) First Place Winner will receive a prize of $500 and publication.

• Up to two (2) Honorable Mentions may also be recognized and published.

• Each entrant will receive one free issue of The MacGuffin that includes the winners of POET HUNT 31.

• Grand Prize Winners from the previous 10 years, former Poet Hunt guest judges, and past and present staff members and their families are not  eligible to participate.

• To enter via post, visit https://schoolcraft.edu/macguffin/contest-rules. To enter here via Submittable, continue reading.      

To Enter: 

1. Please send your poems as a .doc or .docx with each poem beginning on a new page. 
2. An entry may consist of up to 5 poems at no more than 200 lines per individual poem. If more than 5 are sent, only the first 5 will be considered. Do not include your name, contact info, or other identifiable information on the poems themselves to preserve the anonymous review process.
3. There is a $15 entry fee.
4. Poems submitted may not be previously published and must be the original work of the contestant. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but the author is responsible for notifying The MacGuffin if their work is accepted before the contest closes. Please try to send all withdrawals if at all possible by July 31, 2026.
5.  Entries will be initially screened by The MacGuffin's staff through an anonymous review process. Based on an anonymous vote, around 25 finalists will be sent to the guest judge for a final anonymous review with one (1) first place winner and up to two (2) honorable mentions ultimately being selected from this pool. 
6.  Winners will be announced in September 2026. 

Please direct all questions to Gordon Krupsky, managing editor, via email at macguffin@schoolcraft.edu. Happy writing and good luck!