
Contests
The Peseroff Prize Poetry Contest
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Submissions window: March 1—May 1
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Prize: $1000 and publication in our next forthcoming issue
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Fee: $10
“Whenever something new develops in poetry, many will argue, ‘That’s not poetry.’ Think of the reception of William Carlos Williams . . . spoken word poets, poets who incorporate graphics, poets who write in code so robots can read them. It’s all poetry.” –Joyce Peseroff
The Peseroff Prize honors Joyce Peseroff’s work as a poet, teacher, editor, innovator, and mentor. She helped found the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Massachusetts Boston, served as its first director, and retired from teaching in 2014.
Submit up to three poems and a $10 entry fee. There are no restrictions on content or form: “it’s all poetry.” Poems should be previously unpublished. All entries will be considered for publication. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify Breakwater if submission is accepted elsewhere.
2022 FINALIST JUDGE: torrin a. greathouse
Winner and Finalists will be published in our next forthcoming issue.
Please do not submit your work if you are associated with the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston or the Finalist Judge.
The Breakwater Fiction Contest
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Submissions: October 1, 2022 - December 1, 2022
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Prize: $1000 and publication in our next forthcoming issue
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Fee: $10
We are seeking submissions for pieces that breathe freshness to the form. We are interested in previously unpublished prose ranging from 1,000 - 4,000 words, each with a $10 entry fee. All entries will be considered for publication. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify Breakwater if submission is accepted elsewhere.
2023 FINALIST JUDGE: Camille Bordas
Winner and Finalists will be published in Issue 33.
Please do not submit your work if you are associated with the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston or the Finalist Judge.

Recent Winners
2021
Breakwater Fiction Contest
Winner:
Christopher Berardino, Dog Bait, selected by Porochista Khakpour
Finalists:
Hanna Mahon, One Person Tent
Katherine Gutierrez, Handover Notes
Brenda Salinas Baker, Dearly Domesticated
The Peseroff Prize in Poetry
Winner:
Josh Cake, I am tired of being pizza, selected by Chen Chen
Runner-up:
Saleem Penny, the haints of the Jesús María visit their insurance agent...
Finalists:
S. Erin Batiste, Notes from Workshop: An Abecedarian
Ashley Dailey, Mismemory
Justin Davis, Ghazal for a Mid-2000s Snap Rapper
Jo Angela Edwins, Ecdysis
Stephanie Niu, Garbage Boogie
Connor Simons, a hospice erasure
tae min suh, Late August in Galveston, Texas
2020
Breakwater Fiction Contest
Winner:
Melissa Bowers, The Acquittal, selected by Susanna Kaysen
Finalists:
Krystal Song, Security
G.M. Monks, To Help You Experience My Feelings
The Peseroff Prize in Poetry
Winner:
Tarik Dobbs, Anti-Drone Niqab Made From Silver, selected by Oliver Baez Bendorf
Finalists:
Jose Luis Pablo, Ghazal for a Queer Boy's Hands
Monica Ong, Shooting Stars
Karah Kemmerly, once I was weightless
Elana Lev Friedland, Your Internet connection is unstable
Alex Chertok, Speech to Text
Sara Elkamel, The Book of Two Experiences