Are you a Te Waipounamu / South Island poet who hasn’t published a full collection of poetry? This competition is for you!
Submissions are now open for the 2026 John O’Connor First Book Award! Deadline for submissions is midnight 16 January 2026. Open to anyone resident in Te Waipounamu / the South Island who has not yet published a full collection of poetry. For the purposes of the competition, a “full collection” is defined as 24 pages or more. A chapbook of 24 pages or fewer is fine. (If in doubt, contact us to check.)
Entry fee is $30, and the prize is publication by Sudden Valley Press (SVP) on National Poetry Day 2026, with as much fanfare as we can muster! Full conditions of entry can be read on their website along with helpful tips on how to format a manuscript for submission: https:// suddenvalleypress.com/joc-award/
Named after SVP’s co-founder, and offered in collaboration with the Canterbury Poets’ Collective, this biennial award offers publication to the best debut manuscript of a South Island poet.
The inaugural competition was judged by Elizabeth Smither, who chose ‘My thoughts are all of swimming’, by Rose Collins. The 2024 competition was judged by Harry Ricketts, who chose ‘not everything turns away’, by Philomena Johnson. The 2026 competition will be judged by Fiona Farrell.