Creative Writing Program
Creative Writing Program

The Courtney Kampa Poetry Prize

Kampa Prize Flyer 2026

Our program awards this $4000 annual poetry prize in memory of Courtney Kampa, a poet and alumna of our Area Program in Poetry Writing. 

Eligibility:

  • Entrants must be UVA students enrolled in our MFA Program, our undergraduate concentrations in creative writing, or our undergraduate creative writing minor.
  • The writer must be a currently enrolled UVA student (students on a leave of absence or in an affiliated status are not eligible).
  • The work submitted must be original, unpublished poetry. Poems may be under consideration elsewhere.

Submission Requirements:

Judging and Announcement:

Our poetry faculty helps select a prize judge each year. The prize judge remains anonymous until they have selected a winning submission. Our Kampa judges are almost always practicing poets, and they are often a faculty member at a peer institution who teaches both undergraduate and graduate writers. We typically announce our Kampa Prize in the first two weeks of May and will email all entrants our results.

Additional Information:

Courtney Kampa Photo by Taylor Kampa