Northeast Ohio Medical University’s 44TH Annual
William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition
Call for Submissions:
The 44th annual William Carlos Williams poetry competition, sponsored by Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), is now open and will accept submissions through December 31, 2025. We will be awarding prizes in two categories again this year: a medical student category, open to students enrolled in MD and DO programs in the US, Puerto Rico, or Canada, and a physician category, open to any rank of physician (MD or DO) at any career stage, from residency to retirement, in the US, Puerto Rico, or Canada.
Please preview the Submission Details and Eligibility criteria for each category below before submitting your work. Submissions will be judged on the merits of craft, originality, and content. First-, second-, and third-place winners in each category will receive a cash prize and will be considered for publication in the Journal of Medical Humanities. Winning poets will be notified by February 1, 2026.
Consult NEOMED's poetry competition website for more information and please direct all queries to wcw@neomed.edu.
Submission Details:
—Online submissions must be received before midnight (eastern time) on December 31, 2025.
—All entries will undergo blind review and should contain no identifying information other than the title of the poem; a cover sheet including name and contact information will be submitted separately.
—Entrants may submit up to three poems; one poem per page.
—Each poem submitted is not to exceed 750 words.
—Poems must be written in English.
—Poems may address medical and/or non-medical subjects.
Eligibility Criteria:
—Entrants for the Medical Student category must be actively enrolled in programs leading to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) degree in the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada.
—Entrants for the Physician prize category must have received their medical degree (MD or DO) prior to the submission deadline of December 31, 2025. Physicians at any career stage, from residency to retirement, and in any career role (patient care, education/academic medicine, administration, etc.) are welcome to submit.
—Submissions must be original, unpublished (with the exception of college publications), and must not have won a contest at the time of submission.
—Previous monetary winners of the William Carlos Williams poetry competition are not eligible to compete in the same category again in academic year 2025-2026. (Previous student winners who have since graduated are welcome to submit to the physician competition, however.)
