Our Spring 2026 issue will be out in April, and will feature many of the winners of last year’s ekphrasis competition. Brandon Krieg is guest-editing the Fall 2026 issue, which will be published in October.
The Soft Black Stars
Congratulations to TRP’s Prose Editor, Matthew Buckley Smith, winner of the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize for The Soft Black Stars.
“The title poem is heartbreaking. This will be your new favorite chapbook.” – TRP Editor Helena Feder
While the journal is online and now free for all to read, we are grateful for donations. We take donations from $50 to $500 through our Submittable page linked on the donations tab. For donations over $500, please email the Editor, Attn: Donation at tarriverpoetry@gmail.com.
Tar River Poetry is online! A selection from Spring 2025, our final print issue, is online, and we are entirely online from the Fall 2025 issue on. The journal is now free for all to read (we are no longer taking print subscriptions, but donations are always welcome). Current subscribers will be able to submit to the journal for free, with an expedited response time, for the duration of their subscription; after that, the normal submission fees will apply. Our reading periods will continue to be September and January.
Tar River Poetry‘s First Competition
Thank you again to all who submitted poems to our first competition, generously sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of Art: “The Tar River Poetry Ekphrasis Competition.” We were overwhelmed with the response and the wonderful quality of the work. We are proud to announce the winners and honorable mentions:
First place, Dean Tuck, “After St. Matthew and the Angel” Second place, Adam Tavel, “After Rain I” Third place, Wynne Morrison, “In the Last Room of the MoMA Kollwitz Show”
Honorable Mentions Jesse Curran, “Ronde I” Gina Ferrara, “January 2025 (One Hundred Year Snowfall)” Jon Savage, “Winter 1946”
Congratulations!
The Tar River Poetry Ekphrasis Competition Reading
Authors from “The Tar River Poetry Ekphrasis Competition” were invited to read their work at the Tar River Poetry Ekphrasis event at the NCMA End Paper Festival on Sunday, September 21st at 11am. The event was free and open to the public.
We thank everyone who was able to make the event. We were glad to see you there! Please also look for these poems in the Spring 2026 issue of Tar River Poetry.
