Marginalia.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MARGINALIA WINNERS!

Top 3.

1. “南京市 TAKES INVENTORY” by K. Zilin2. “Bamboo” by Kate Yunseo Choi3. “Portrait of a Duck on Fire” by lexi m.

JUDGE ZIYI'S COMMENTS1. Every image in “南京市 TAKES INVENTORY” is both precise and devastating.
Language feels small in the face of atrocity, but also essential.
This poem is layered and deftly wrought. It is a treasure.2. “Bamboo” comes in one smooth, evasive movement.
Language and image are not enough to erase the body, or bring it back.
This poem is meant to be read again and again, like the threading of an impossible needle.3. “Portrait of a Duck on Fire” is lush, maximalist, and completely absorbing.
The speaker of this poem is breathless, infested with the world.
At first, this poem describes a kind of fire. Then, the language itself is set ablaze.

Shortlist.

“Missionaries Show Me and My Mother How to Pray” by Chloe Xu“upcoming” by Angel Pinnock“CIR(C)ADIAN LOGIC” by Madeline Lee“Illiteracy” by Kate Yunseo Choi“月亮” by Alaina Jamal“at some point my bravery lost a few of its bones / absolve me” by Chloe Xu“the ouroboros that eats itself” by Oliver“MIYAZAKI” by Sophia Xiong“tonight we feast” by Angel Pinnock“Songbirds” by raina

FOUNDED BY A TEEN FRUSTRATED with current art and writing competitions, Marginalia is a poetry contest made by youth, for youth.From the very beginning, we created it to address the concerns young writers had raised regarding existing competitions.
These include entry fees and waiver issues; short feedback and slow responses; a lack of judging transparency & communication; and more.As such, Marginalia is turning the page. Judged by poet Ziyi Yan, this contest aims to avoid the vague, inconsistent standards that characterize similar opportunities. We are committed to transparency at every stage of the submission process, from judges’ conditions to applicants' expectations.More importantly, though, we are committed to challenging the monopoly that large, legacy institutions have over opportunities for teen writers.

That's why our contest is structured like this:

1. NO ENTRY FEES.
2. SUBMISSION VIA GOOGLE FORMS.
3. PEER FEEDBACK.
Each submission receives 2+ lines of feedback from our Team.4. JUDGE EVALUATION.
Our Judge will select the Top 3 winners in Poetry.5. AWARDS.
Winners receive monetary prizes of $50, $40, and $30, respectively.
A shortlist of 5-10 writers will also be posted.6. CONSISTENCY.
We define the conditions in which submissions are read:
"I'll read the pieces individually in a random order, noting down my favorites, and then go through and read those ones again, comparatively."7. COMMUNICATIONS.
We provide clear, detailed answers to all questions.8. RESPONSE TIMES.
We guarantee responses to all questions within 48 hours.9. NON-EXTRACTIVE PUBLICATION.
Submissions do not need to be written solely for Marginalia, and winning pieces may still be published elsewhere, provided that you secure the rights with other platforms. This means you can submit both previously published or simultaneous pieces. In addition, when publishing, we do not seek exclusive rights: our goal is to support, not to confine, teen writers.10. FEEDBACK.
Marginalia is an evolving project, so we want to hear your feedback! For more information, please see Contact.

Guidelines.

SUBMISSIONS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED.

Timeline.

SUBMISSIONS OPEN on 02.14.2026
..SUBMISSIONS CLOSE on 04.18.2026SUBMISSION PERIOD 63 DAYS (~9 WEEKS).RESULTS OUT on 08.01.2026
PUBLICATIONS OUT on TBD

Team.

Contact.

kindly direct questions and feedback to:discord yoursnevermine
g–mail [email protected]✎﹏chillsubs marginaliaprizes
instagram marginalia_official

THANK YOU TO
jiahan tang, founder
xiyan zeng, editor
vienna lui, editor
joy yin, editor
dela, editor
ogemdi uhegwu, editor
pinefresh, social media managerfor making Marginalia happen!

WITH SUPPORT FROMHoCoPoLitSo
The Kelly Writers' House
The Muse Writers Center
The National English Honor Society
English Matters
Project Write Now
Urban Word
The U.S. Youth Poet Laureate Program
Young Poets Network
Young Poets Workshops
Ziyi Yan🍓

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