Central Avenue Poetry Prize 2026

Description

The 2026 Central Avenue Poetry Prize

Editor: Beau Adler

Winner: Alicia Cook

Runners-Up: Andrea Louise Thomas, Helen Billett, Michelle Halley

Finalists: Abbey Lynne Rays, Alannah Radburn, Alex Andrina, Alexandra Vincent, Allison Mei-Li, Alyssa Stein, Amanda Montoni, Amy Vaughn, Ana María Caballero, Anastasia Lindsey, Angela Liu, Annette Gagliardi, Beth Bolton, Brittany McCauley, Candace Kronen, Christina M. Rau, Deanna Theresa, Eman Alhaj Ali, Emily Jean Rosser, George Roberts, Jillian Callahan, Jillian Cypress, Jillian Stacia, JoRene Byers, Julia Eriksson, Kassandra Vilchis, Lacy Benton, Laura Jean Henebry, Lisa Conquet, Makayla Wamboldt, M. Hunt, Michelle Awad, Molly Ringle, Monique Ezeh, Nafi Grant, Naomi Azriel, Nicole Zwolinski, P. A. Albert, Paige Rindone, Parker Lee, Paul Stroble, Peter Wolrich, Rachel Beachy, Sarah Blakely, Sian Wilmot, Steph Percival, Stephanie Rochester, Susanna Lang, Taniya Gupta, Ted Bowman

“These poems practically hum with the energy of real things—yew trees, mangoes, pumpkin bread, a coat sewn from a great grandmother’s quilt. Curated and arranged with careful intention by Beau Adler, this year’s Central Avenue Poetry Prize anthology once again reminds us what we need to keep ourselves grounded in the actual world—this place we want to love, and hope to save. As Makayla Wamboldt movingly writes, we must each “reach for life while it’s slippery . . . like it’s a wet heart, willing to give what it can give.” With its collective push toward growth and a stretching of our own empathy, this collection gives and gives, singing its heart out with the turn of every new page.” — James Crews, editor of How to Love the World and The Wonder of Small Things

“The 2026 volume of The Central Avenue Poetry Prize is a collection that is beautifully crafted—tender, evocative, and deeply felt. It is a skillfully curated anthology in which distinct voices converse with one another, creating a resonant and unified whole.” — Harman Kaur, author of Call Me Home

Praise for Previous Volumes:

“It’s amazing when an anthology of different voices still manages to feel like a cohesive, breathing whole. These poems, together, are a choir, a song of hope and longing you will feel vibrating deep in your bones long after reading. “tell me everything you know / of tenderness” this book asks of its reader, and I am here, with my chest unlocked, ready to speak of it.” — Grant Chemidlin, author of What We Lost in the Swamp

“This collection reads like a secret, some whispered truth offered in hushed tone on the edges of a crowded room. It sticks with you that way, too. These poems, these raw and varied, diverse and vulnerable bits of ache, of joy, of sorrow, and mostly of beauty, burrow into your mind and keep the whisper going long after you’ve put it down. So much talent, I’ve never envied the judge of this contest less.” — Tyler Knott Gregson, author of Chasers of the Light