Annual Poetry & Prose Contest
Since 2017, Puerto del Sol has named one poetry and one prose piece as the winners of our annual contest. Contest winners receive publication in the next Spring issue of Puerto del Sol as well as $750 cash prize, and runner-ups will receive $250. Winning pieces are selected with the help of well-known writers, serving as final judges. Contest submissions are open from March 1st to September 1st each year.
Contest submissions are NOW OPEN and will close August 1, 2025
2025 Judges
For our ninth annual Puerto Del Sol Poetry & Prose Contest, we are so very pleased to announce our judges;
Sylvia Chan and Danielle Dutton.
Sylvia Chan: Poetry Judge
Sylvia Chan is an amputee-cyborg writer, educator, activist, and author of We Remain Traditional (Center for Literary Publishing 2018). Her poetry and essays appear in Poetry Foundation, Zócalo Public Square, The Cincinnati Review, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading, among others, and have been named National Poetry Series finalist and Best American Essays Notable. Chan has received fellowships and support from the Poetry Foundation, Zoeglossia, and The Center for Art and Advocacy's Right of Return. Born in Hayward, California, Chan is based in Tucson, Arizona, where she works with crossover and foster youth, and towards juvenile justice, disability justice, and humane foster care.
Danielle Dutton: Prose Judge
Danielle Dutton's most recent books are Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other and Margaret the First. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Believer, BOMB, Noon, etc. She is co-founder and editor of Dorothy, a publishing project.
Previous Winners & Judges
2024 POETRY: "Park Fire Minor Arcana" by Matthew Woodman | Judge: Diana Khoi Nguyen PROSE: "163 Tings" by Morgan Christie | Judge: Ruben Degollado 2023 POETRY: "July Fourth Parade" by Tom Laichas | Judge: Wo Chan PROSE: “These and Other Fine Ingredients” by Matthew Pitt | Judge: Amanda Goldblatt 2022 POETRY: "I have never seen a wild poetic loaf of bread" | Judge: Anthony Cody PROSE: "Exoticolalia" | Judge: Kali Fajardo-Anstine 2021 POETRY: "The Stain" by Bernardo Wade | Judge: Todd Dillard PROSE: "Mother's Milk" by Alexa Dodd | Judge: Eileen Pollack 2020 POETRY: "American Sonnet for My Medical History" by Babette Cieskowski | Judge: Rodney Gomez PROSE: "is the watermelon sweet?" by Emily Yang | Judge: Vi Khi Nao 2019 POETRY: "The Room Divider" by Rainie Oet | Judge: Emily Pérez PROSE: "The Misdeeds of the Root" by Bridget Brewer | Judge: Camille Acker 2018 POETRY: “Langauge in Question” by Benjamin Garcia | Judge: Farid Matuk PROSE: “How I Came to Live Here Now” by Sean Alan Cleary | Judge: Danielle Dutton 2017 POETRY: “Cuadrado de Sabzeh” by Natalie De Paz | Judge: Carmen Giménez-Smith PROSE: “The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln” by Shane Kowalski | Judge: Lily Hoang