The Passionfruit Poetry Prize is back for 2026!
Judge: Aaron Poochigian
The theme is love – and it’s yours to interpret as broadly, as interestingly, and as tenuously as you wish.
1st prize £600
2nd prize £150
3rd prize £50
9 × COMMENDED POEMS £15 EACH
All prizewinning and commended poems will also be published in a special issue of The Passionfruit Review. You can see our last contest special issue here.
Deadline for submissions 23:59 (BST) 30th September 2026. Results will be announced within a month of the deadline.
A Note from the judge
Love, love, love—what better theme can there be? Love can expand outward into most anything and still be what it is. As Chaucer’s Madame Eglantine’s brooch pin says: Amor vincit omnia (Love conquers all).
ABOUT THE JUDGE
Aaron Poochigian earned a PhD in Classics from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University. His latest collection, American Divine, winner of the Richard Wilbur Award, came out in 2021. His work has appeared in Best American Poetry, The Paris Review and POETRY.
He was also a contributor to Issue 5 of The Passionfruit Review.
Submission Guidelines
- Entry fee: £4 for 1 poem, £6 for 2, or £7 for 3.
- Please submit up to three poems in a single document.
- Submissions are open to all poets writing in English.
- Poems must be previously unpublished.
- Strong language is fine – abusive or discriminatory language is not.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome – just let us know promptly through the submissions manager if you need to withdraw any of your poems.
- Poems up to 40 lines – including spaces – will be considered (we consider longer poems as general submissions!)
- Please do not include any identifying information on your attached document.
- All unsuccessful entries will also be considered for future publication in The Passionfruit Review.
- By submitting you confirm that this writing is your own and is not AI-generated. If you have engaged AI in the course of your writing, please get in touch with us at editor@passionfruitreview.com to check your eligibility.
- Please note: we have a limited number of fee waivers available. If the entry fee prevents you from participating in this contest, get in touch with us at editor@passionfruitreview.com
