We are looking for excellent poems that engage broadly with the theme of death and praying for or remembering the dead. While the contest is part of an event on Catholic poetry, the poem need not be explicitly Catholic. Send us poems that favor the concrete, the incarnate, the flesh, poems that consider questions about death itself, or that help unpack, challenge, reveal or unravel practices of remembering, speaking with, praying for, honoring, or caring for the dead, poems that are honest. Please submit only one poem that is no more than 50 lines.
Three winning poems will be selected by our guest judge, Billy Critchley-Menor, SJ. Winners will be published on JesuitMediaLab.org, receive a selection of signed books of poetry from members of the Jesuit Media Lab community and a stipend of $100.
Submissions must be original, unpublished work and may not have been previously published in print or online, including in books, journals, magazines, anthologies or other publications. Poems that have previously won, placed or received recognition in another contest are not eligible. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but please notify us promptly if your poem is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Submission deadline is November 5, 2026.
And don’t forget: Join the Jesuit Media Lab online on November 19, 2026 to discuss the role and impact of Catholic poetry today. Register for the event here.
About the Judge:
Billy Critchley-Menor, SJ, is a Jesuit currently studying at Boston College. He is the author of the collection of poetry, “As It Is: Poems,” from One Subject Press. He writes on Substack at fromeveryside.substack.com and is originally from Duluth, Minnesota.