FENCE: Ottoline & Modern--open until 5/31

 

DON’T MISS THE DEADLINE! Send in your book-length poetry manuscripts by MAY 31st The FENCE MODERN POETS SERIES and OTTOLINE PRIZE portals are OPEN

Send in Your Manuscript HERE Hello dear Fence Books readers and writers, We look forward to reading and considering your manuscripts for the 2028 Fence Modern Poets Series and Ottoline book prizes. We really do read all manuscripts carefully and thoroughly. First readers are all either Fence editors or experienced Fence staff and volunteers. Thanks to a generous donor, we were able to offer 25 no-questions-asked fee waivers for each book prize, through the public Submittable portals. Those have all been claimed since submissions opened. As an independent small not-for-profit, we’re grateful that Fence was able to offer this! Find all details and guidelines through the linked headlines above, and copied from Submittable, below. If you’d like to read a couple recent Fence Modern Poets Series and Ottoline Prize books, check out this one, this one, this one, and this one in these mystery links! We look forward to reading your outriding work. Big Warmth, Emily Wallis Hughes Editorial Director & Fence Books Editor Delicia Daniels, Fence poetry editor & Fence Modern Poets Series judge Fence Books first readers The Fence Modern Poets Series Prize, founded in 2001, is open to full-length poetry manuscripts. An award of $2,000 will be paid upon publication. The selected book will be published in fall/winter 2028. The poet will be given a two-week residency at the T.S. Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The book will be distributed throughout North America. The author will receive 40 complimentary books and royalties, as part of the contract with Fence Books. The first printing of 1,000 will be printed offset at Versa Press in East Peoria, Illinois. First round readers are Fence editors and volunteers. Delicia Daniels, Fence poetry editor, will select the manuscript for the Fence Modern Poets Series Book Prize, and Fence Books Editor Emily Wallis Hughes will edit the book in collaboration with the author. The submission fee is $25, and all entrants receive a complimentary two-issue subscription or renewal to Fence. International applicants will receive a digital subscription to Fence through Exact Editions. GUIDELINES + ELIGIBILITY Submissions will be read in an identity-hidden process. Please remove your name and any identifying information from your manuscript. Manuscripts containing the author's name anywhere in the document will not be read, and will be disqualified. Open to full-length poetry manuscripts. Minimum 45 pages. No page limit. Poets at any stage in their writing life, published or unpublished, are eligible to submit. There are no citizenship limitations or requirements. Poets of all identities and genders are encouraged to submit their manuscripts. Collaborations and all kinds of poetry experiments are welcome, including those which incorporate visual art. Poetry in self-translation is welcome. Manuscripts may be submitted to other Fence Book submission calls simultaneously. Current or former students (within 10 years) and teaching colleagues of Delicia Daniels or Emily Wallis Hughes are ineligible to submit. Current Fence volunteers, editors, board members, and editorial advisors are ineligible to submit, as well as family and partners of the above-mentioned Fence community. The manuscript selected for publication will be announced by January 2027. Thank you for your patience during our careful reading process. The future Fence Modern Poets Series Book Prize judges are as follows: 2029: Cole Swensen, Fence Translation Editor 2030: Patricia Killelea, Fence Poetry Editor 2031: Rebecca Wolff, Founder of Fence Books 2032: Max Winter, Fence Poetry Editor 2033: Soham Patel, Associate Editor of Fence 2034: Emily Wallis Hughes, Editorial Director & Fence Books Editor The Ottoline Book Prize is open to full-length poetry manuscripts by any person who identifies as a woman and/or female, including trans women as well as people of variable gender who were Assigned Female at Birth. People who identify as men are not eligible for this prize. An award of $5,000 will be paid upon publication. The selected book will be published in fall/winter 2028. The poet will be given a two-week residency at the T.S. Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The book will be distributed throughout North America.   The author will receive 40 complimentary books and royalties, as part of the contract with Fence Books. The first printing of 1,000 will be printed offset at Versa Press in East Peoria, Illinois. First round readers are Fence editors and volunteers. Emily Wallis Hughes will select the manuscript for the Ottoline Book Prize, which she will edit in collaboration with the author. The submission fee is $25, and all entrants receive a complimentary two-issue subscription or renewal to Fence. International applicants will receive a digital subscription to Fence through Exact Editions. Please review the following: First, second, third, fourth, and beyond books are welcome. Poets at any stage in their writing life, published or unpublished, are eligible to submit. Poets living in any country are welcome to submit their manuscripts. There are no limitations on country of origin or immigration status. Manuscripts should be at least 45 pages. There is no maximum page limit. Multilingual poetry manuscripts are welcome, as well as self-translations into English. Manuscripts may be submitted to other Fence Book submission calls simultaneously. Poetry created through collaboration is welcome. Please provide the contact information of your collaborator(s) in the ‘cover letter’ field. Your collaborators need to also qualify based on the Ottoline guidelines. Current or former students (within 10 years) and teaching colleagues of Emily Wallis Hughes are ineligible to submit. Current Fence volunteers, editors, board members, and editorial advisors are ineligible to submit, as well as family and partners of the above-mentioned Fence community. The manuscript selected for publication will be announced by January 2027. Thank you for your patience during our careful reading process. Fence Books is an imprint of Fence Magazine, Inc., a small, fully independent literary publisher. The reading fees help cover the editorial labor involved in the serious, deep process of fully considering each manuscript we receive and may be allocated to various necessary operational expenses. Fence Magazine, Inc., a 501(c)(3) independent not-for-profit based in New York, is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses [CLMP]. While Fence does not have an identity-hidden reading process for this prize, the editors care deeply about editorial integrity and reading objectively; all Fence editors and readers agree to the "Editorial Guidelines and Code of Conduct" approved by the Board of Directors. Please write to fence.fencebooks@gmail.com with any questions.