Submissions for the 18th annual narrative poetry contest are open July 1 – Sept. 1, 2026. Mary Beth Hines will judge. Guidelines and general submission information are below.

Mary Beth Hines, is the author of Winter at a Summer House (Kelsay, 2021). Her prize-winning poetry and Pushcart-nominated fiction and short non-fiction appear in dozens of literary journals and anthologies nationally and abroad, and recent manuscripts were finalists in Fool-for-Poetry’s and Comstock Review’s chapbook contests. An annual Assets for Artists writing resident at MASS MoCA, she lives in Massachusetts and enjoys wild swimming, hiking, friends, family, and travel. Mary Beth won Naugatuck River Review’s 17th annual narrative poetry contest. Visit her at www.marybethhines.com

CONTEST GUIDELINES:

We accept ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS ONLY through Submittable during the contest submission period, July 1 – Sept. 1, and the open (no fee) submission period Jan. 1 – Feb. 1.

During the contest submissions, a fee of $20 (per 3 poem submission) will be required. Contest fees cover the contest, publication costs, shipping, and publicity for the year. Unpaid submissions will be disqualified. Emailed submissions and mailed submissions will not be considered.

Please submit no more than 3 unpublished NARRATIVE poems of no more than 50 lines per poem (not including stanza breaks). Please put all three poems in ONE MSWord file (.doc or .docx or .rtf only, no pdf please). Please remove your name from your word file, as the poetry is read blind by our editorial staff and contest judge. We know it is yours by your Submittable profile. Questions ONLY: Feel free to email us at naugatuckriver@aol.com.

All poems will be considered for publication. Winners (3) will receive prize money and all finalists and semi-finalists will be rewarded with publication and a copy of the journal.

Multiple submissions (submitting more than one time) are discouraged, but simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you inform us in a timely manner if your work is published elsewhere. We claim First North American Publication Rights, so rights revert to the author after the initial publication period, just please give us credit.  We will only consider work that has not been previously published. Original work in English only. All poems will be blind-read. Member CLMP.

WHAT IS NARRATIVE POETRY?
We get this question quite often. What NRR is looking for are poems that tell a story, or have a strong sense of story. They can be stories of a moment or an experience, and can be personal or historical. A good narrative poem that would work for our journal has a compressed narrative, and we prefer poems that take up two pages or less of the journal (50 lines max). We are looking above all for poems that are well-crafted, have an excellent lyric quality and contain a strong emotional core. Any style of poem is considered, including prose poems. Poems with very long lines don’t fit well in the format. Hope this helps.

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Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Contests Code of Ethics

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.