About

Entrants send one or two unpublished poems through an online form; poems already published or under consideration elsewhere are ineligible, though poems with school honors qualify. Hollins creative writing faculty and MFA students read the entries, and winners are notified in March. First place receives $350, publication in Cargoes with ten copies, free tuition and housing for the Hollinsummer creative writing program, and a renewable Hollins scholarship of up to $5,000. Six second-place winners are published in Cargoes and receive a renewable scholarship of up to $1,000 and $500 toward Hollinsummer.

The contest is selective at the top: the 2025 round drew 432 entrants from 37 states and 14 other countries, and seven received the major awards, with 20 finalists and 76 Honorable Mentions named below them. The scholarships apply only if the winner enrolls at Hollins, and Hollinsummer is the university’s own program, so the prizes work partly as recruitment. The organizer publishes no scoring criteria.

A first or second place gives a student a published poem and a verified literary credential from a college writing program.