Cold Moon Contests: LCP Spoken Word Award

Deadline: January 20, 2026

The winning poem will be featured in Spoken Word Saturday and on Poets.ca. The winning poet will receive a $500 cash prize.

The Cold Moon LCP Spoken Word Award is open for submissions of audio/video recordings of spoken word poems that blur genres and explore the possibilities of cross- and multi-media creativity. With a $500 prize, this prize will recognize a poem or suite of poems that center the performance, structure, and artistry of spoken word that pushes the boundaries of what we know to be "poetry". Spoken word poems without additional elements will be celebrated with the Summer Lovin' Contests in June 2026.

Visit poets.ca/awards/#spoken-word-award for additional information on eligibility, as well as for tips and examples on artist statements and artist bios.

You may provide your artist statement and bio as any of the following:

• One Word, PDF, or image file
• Two Word, PDF, or image files
• One video or audio file up to 5 minutes in length
• Text form submissions (below)

For text-based files: Artist statements must be fewer than 500 words, and artist bios must be fewer than 300 words.

For audio/video: The combined length of an artist statement and bio must not exceed 5 minutes.

Submissions that significantly exceed these limits will not be considered.

Please *either* upload your poem submission *or* include a link to the video.

Use this field to upload a video or audio file up to 10 minutes in length.

Poem videos longer than 10 minutes in length will not be considered.