2023 will be the sixth year of The Test Site Poetry Series. Thanks to a generous gift, we’re delighted to announce that in 2023 and going forward, Interim will choose two winning books for the series—one title publicized as the winner of The Test Site Poetry Series and the other as the Betsy Joiner Flanagan Award in Poetry. Both winners will receive $1,000 and their books will be published by the University of Nevada Press.

Winning Books:

2018, Refugia, Kyce Bello (Test Site Poetry Prize)

2019, The Mouth of Earth, Sarah Strong (Test Site Poetry Prize)

2019, Riddle Field, Derek Dew (Test Site Poetry Prize)

2020, A Sybil Society, Katherine Factor (Test Site Poetry Prize)

2020, Femme d’Intérieur, Stephanie Berger (Betsy Joiner Flanagan Poetry Prize)

2021, Joyful Orphan, Mark Irwin (Test Site Poetry Prize)

2021, The Reckoning of Jeanne d’Antietam, Matthew Moore (Betsy Joiner Flanagan Poetry Prize)

2022, The Dove of the Morning News, Bruce Bond (Test Site Poetry Prize)

2022, Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter, Hannah Dierdorff (Betsy Joiner Flanagan Poetry Prize)

Interim editors and poets Claudia Keelan and Andrew S. Nicholson serves as series editors. The winning book will be chosen by Claudia Keelan and an advisory board, which includes poets Sherwin Bitsui, Donald Revell, Sasha Steensen, and Ronaldo V. Wilson.

We're looking for manuscripts that engage the perilous conditions of life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. The winning book will demonstrate an ethos that considers the human condition in inclusive love and sympathy, while offering the same in consideration of the earth. Because we believe the truth is always experimental, we'll especially appreciate books with innovative approaches.

Along with Witness and The Believer, Interim is affiliated with Black Mountain Institute and housed in the Department of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Established by the late Wilber Stevens in 1944, Interim is one of the longest-running "little" literary magazines in the country.

Please submit manuscripts through Submittable https://interimmagazine.submittable.com/submit with a $25 reading fee.

The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2023. The winning manuscript is announced in February and published in the fall of 2024.

Interim's Judging Protocol

We Subscribe to the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Contest Code of Ethics

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

1. Please submit your manuscript with two title pages. One title page should include your name and contact information. The other title page should include only the title of your book. Your name and contact information must not be included anywhere else in the manuscript or it will be disqualified (this is called a “blind" process). This is done to insure the transparency of the selection process.

2. In the event that a manuscript belonging to an individual editor's relative, student, or former student manuscript is selected by a majority of the series board as a finalist, that individual will recuse him or herself from voting on the manuscript.