The Louisville Review Announces Inaugural Frederick Smock Poetry Prize
Judged by Richard Taylor
Judged by Richard Taylor
Accepting submissions September 1 – November 1, 2025
We are thrilled to announce that Kentucky Poet Laureate Emeritus Richard Taylor will serve as distinguished judge for the inaugural Frederick Smock Poetry Prize! This national, first-book poetry prize invites Kentucky affiliated writers living in the United States who have not yet published a full-length book of poetry to submit manuscripts of 48-70 pages. All styles of poetry are welcome in this inclusive contest committed to representing the diversity of writers affiliated with the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Please Note: We broadly recognize a Kentucky affiliated writer as a person currently lives or has lived in Kentucky, or who has an affiliation with the Commonwealth through family, ancestry, education, or employment.
Winner will receive $1,000 and publication through The Louisville Review’s Fleur-de-Lis Press in fall 2026, 25 author copies, and online distribution through Barnes & Nobel and Amazon.
Finalists will receive publication of a selected, previously unpublished poem in The Louisville Review, and we will hold an online reading for the winner and finalists.
The reading fee of $25 includes a 1-year print subscription to The Louisville Review.
THE LOUISVILLE REVIEW'S FREDERICK SMOCK POETRY PRIZE
is a triennial contest that celebrates the life and legacy of Frederick Smock, a Kentucky Poet Laureate. Born in Kentucky and a lifelong resident of the Commonwealth, Frederick Smock published several volumes of poetry with Larkspur Press, Broadstone Books, and others, as well as volumes of literary essays, poetry in translation, and a memoir. A steadfast supporter of the literary arts and of The Louisville Review, he was published in the first issue of the journal in 1978 and continued to contribute to and support the journal, serving as both as an editor and an advisor. Frederick Smock was Founding Editor of The American Voice and was a long-time professor of English at Bellarmine University, Louisville.
is a triennial contest that celebrates the life and legacy of Frederick Smock, a Kentucky Poet Laureate. Born in Kentucky and a lifelong resident of the Commonwealth, Frederick Smock published several volumes of poetry with Larkspur Press, Broadstone Books, and others, as well as volumes of literary essays, poetry in translation, and a memoir. A steadfast supporter of the literary arts and of The Louisville Review, he was published in the first issue of the journal in 1978 and continued to contribute to and support the journal, serving as both as an editor and an advisor. Frederick Smock was Founding Editor of The American Voice and was a long-time professor of English at Bellarmine University, Louisville.
FREDERICK SMOCK POETRY PRIZE JUDGE RICHARD TAYLOR
is the author of numerous collections of poetry, two historical novels, and several books relating to Kentucky history, including Elkhorn: Evolution of a Kentucky Landmark, which received awards from the Kentucky Historical Society and the Thomas C. Clark Medallion. He is a Kentucky Poet Laureate emeritus and has received two creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as an Al Smith Award from the Kentucky Arts Council. Educated at the University of Kentucky (with bachelor's and Ph.D. in English), he also holds a master's degree (English) and a J.D. from the University of Louisville.
During graduate school he taught in high schools across Kentucky with the Poetry-in-the-Schools Program through the Kentucky Arts Council, editing an anthology of student writing called Cloud Bumping. A career educator, he taught Kentucky State University in Frankfort until retiring in 2008. Talyor taught in the Governor's School for the Arts as well as serving as Director of the Governor’s Scholars Program on two campuses, and he spent a year in Denmark as a scholar-teacher in the Fulbright Program and has taught university courses in Korea as well abroad in England and Ireland as part of a studies-abroad program.
Recently retired after fourteen years from Transylvania University as Keenan Visiting Writer, he was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame, he is co-owner of Poor Richard’s Books and lives on a small farm outside Frankfort, Kentucky.
is the author of numerous collections of poetry, two historical novels, and several books relating to Kentucky history, including Elkhorn: Evolution of a Kentucky Landmark, which received awards from the Kentucky Historical Society and the Thomas C. Clark Medallion. He is a Kentucky Poet Laureate emeritus and has received two creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as an Al Smith Award from the Kentucky Arts Council. Educated at the University of Kentucky (with bachelor's and Ph.D. in English), he also holds a master's degree (English) and a J.D. from the University of Louisville.
During graduate school he taught in high schools across Kentucky with the Poetry-in-the-Schools Program through the Kentucky Arts Council, editing an anthology of student writing called Cloud Bumping. A career educator, he taught Kentucky State University in Frankfort until retiring in 2008. Talyor taught in the Governor's School for the Arts as well as serving as Director of the Governor’s Scholars Program on two campuses, and he spent a year in Denmark as a scholar-teacher in the Fulbright Program and has taught university courses in Korea as well abroad in England and Ireland as part of a studies-abroad program.
Recently retired after fourteen years from Transylvania University as Keenan Visiting Writer, he was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame, he is co-owner of Poor Richard’s Books and lives on a small farm outside Frankfort, Kentucky.
FULL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
• A first book contest open to all Kentucky affiliated writers in the U.S. who have not yet published a full-length book of poems.
• A first book contest open to all Kentucky affiliated writers in the U.S. who have not yet published a full-length book of poems.
• We broadly recognize a Kentucky affiliated writer as a person currently lives or has lived in Kentucky, or who has an affiliation with the Commonwealth through family, ancestry, education, or employment.
• Accepting submissions through Submittable only from September 1 through November 1, 2025.
• Manuscripts should be 48-70 pages in length, excluding front matter/acknowledgements.
• $25 reading fee includes 1-year subscription to The Louisville Review.
• Judge reads all submissions blind.
• Do not put any identifying information or your name on your manuscript. Submittable will add your name to your file.
• List any poems previously published in journals or anthologies on an acknowledgments page at the end of the manuscript. List only the poem's title followed by the year of publication in parentheses. Do not include the title of the journal or anthology.
• Simultaneous submission of manuscripts under consideration by other publishers are eligible. (Please notify us as soon as possible if your manuscript is accepted by another press.)
• Have any questions you’d like to ask before submitting? Send us an email at associateeditor@louisvillereview.org.
