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2026 CONTEST OVERVIEW

Submissions Open:

MAY/01/2026

Submissions Close:

AUG/01/2026

Finalists Announced:

OCT/19/2026

Winner Announced:

OCT/29/2026

Contest Judge:

Katherine Riegel

PRIZES

Winner: $350 (CAD), publication on MoonLitGetaway.com and publication in Harvest Moon, Volume Three (September 2027)
Runner-Up (x2): publication on MoonLitGetaway.com and publication in Harvest Moon, Volume Three (September 2027)

CONTEST ELIGIBILITY AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Work must be previously unpublished (including social media and personal websites)
One poem per submission (.docx or PDF file formats only)
The length of each poem must not exceed 100 lines
Identifying information (entrant's name, email, phone number, etc.) must not appear on the same document as the poem. Entrants' information is concealed during deliberations

Cover letter must include:
- Full name and mailing address
- Submission title
- Bio (max 600 words)

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but entrants must notify us immediately if their submission is accepted elsewhere. Multiple entries are allowed, but must be made as separate submissions.

Failure to comply with contest submission guidelines will immediately disqualify any entry, regardless of when the ineligibility is discovered in the process of adjudication.

No refunds for withdrawn or disqualified submissions.

RIGHTS

MoonLit Getaway secures First Canadian Serial Rights, meaning the poems should not appear in any print or digital publication before the release of the issue in which the work appears. All rights will revert to the author upon publication.

SELECTION

Finalists are chosen by MoonLit Getaway's Editorial Team and forwarded to the judge who selects one winner and two runners-up. All entries are judged anonymously.

ENTRY FEES

Canadian citizens or residents:

$5 CAD

International entrants:

$8 CAD

SUBMISSION FORMS

Submissions are open from May 1, 2026 through August 1, 2026.

CANADIAN

2026 CONTEST JUDGE: KATHERINE RIEGEL

Katherine (Katie) Riegel’s lyric memoir about her sister, Our Bodies Are Mostly Water, is available from Cornerstone Press and was released May 13, 2025. She’s also the author of the poetry books Love Songs from the End of the World (Main Street Rag Press, 2019), What the Mouth Was Made For (FutureCycle Press, 2013), and Castaway (FutureCycle Press, 2010); her prose poetry/creative nonfiction chapbook Letters to Colin Firth won the Sundress Press chapbook competition in 2015. Her work has appeared in Brevity, Cream City Review, The Gettysburg Review, The Offing, One, Orion, Poets.org, SWWIM, Tin House, and many other literary publications. After receiving an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers Workshop, she taught writing at various colleges and universities for almost 25 years, most recently the University of South Florida.

She is co-founder and managing editor of the literary magazine Sweet and teaches online classes in poetry and creative nonfiction. Having completed a professional course in creative grief support, she is happy to work with folks to help them express, process, and transform their grief. However, she has found that her regular workshops often serve that purpose as well.