Gunpowder Press hosts several annual poetry prizes, from awards for individual poems to full-length books.
Barry Spacks Poetry Prize
The Spacks Prize honors Santa Barbara’s first Poet Laureate and our beloved friend, Barry Spacks. The Spacks Prize is awarded annually. Manuscripts accepted January 1-April 30. Previous winners include:
- 2015: Catherine Abbey Hodges, Instead of Sadness (selected by Dan Gerber)
- 2016: Kurt Olsson, Burning Down Disneyland (selected by Tom Lux)
- 2017: Aaron Baker, Posthumous Noon (selected by Jane Hirshfield)
- 2018: Michelle Bonczek Evory, The Ghosts of Lost Animals (selected by Lee Herrick)
- 2019: Glenn Freeman, Drinking with O’Hara (selected by Stephen Dunn)
- 2020: Meghan Dunn, Curriculum (selected by Jessica Jacobs)
- 2021: Todd Copeland, Like All Light (selected by Lynne Thompson)
Michael Dryden Prize
The Michael Dryden Prize recognizes a full-length book by a middle- or high-school teacher. Nan Cohen was awarded the inaugural prize for Unfinished City (2017).
Alta California Chapbook Series
The Alta California Chapbook Series is edited by Emma Trelles and is focused on publishing Latinx poets living in California. The first two chapbooks were published in 2022: Nicholas Reiner‘s Levitations and Crystal AC Salas‘s Grief Logic.
Carol Decanio Abeles Young Poets Prize
The Carol Decanio Abeles Young Poets Prize is award for individual poems by elementary school-aged poets who have participated in the California Poets in the Schools program in Santa Barbara County. The Young Poets Prize honors Santa Barbara poet Carol Decanio Abeles.
Carol Decanio Abeles Emerging Poets Prize
The Carol Decanio Abeles Emerging Poets Prize recognizes extraordinary poems by adult poets in Santa Barbara County who have not yet published a full-length book of poems. The Prize honors Santa Barbara poet Carol Decanio Abeles.
