The Premise

Born of a desire to bring the many members of the North Texas poetry community into conversation with each other, The Common Language Project places participants in the same room and turns them loose to dream. United by a list of shared words and confined only by the space of a page, the poems of the project illuminate a collection of radically divergent experiences that sing, simmer and singe. Together, these poems give us a place to come together, somewhere from which we can start, from which we can thrive.

The theme of this year's Common Language Project is Time. Impartial or racing, stretching away or frozen, the very measure of existence can be simultaneously cosmic and instantaneous. We invite you to wield the power of its wheel, bend a universal arc, capture a single moment; hide a secret within history or shine a light of truth that only time can tell.

Guidelines

Submissions are open to anyone. Thirty winners will be selected for publication in the Common Language Project 2026 anthology, which will be available for free download. Hard copies will be available for purchase. Winners will also be invited to share their work at the Common Language Project reading during the Dallas Is Lit! literary festival, held May 9th, 2026.

• SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

• All thirty keywords must be used.

• The keywords may be used in any order but without changes in tense or form (for example, using "lustrous" instead of "luster" or "smile" instead of "smiling" would not count toward the thirty keywords). Changes in capitalization or the use of italics are fine.

• The poem must be no more than thirty lines of text in length (excludes title).

• Submissions will be presented to our judges anonymously. Please do not include your name anywhere in the text of your submission document.

• Once you have submitted your poem (see guidelines and where to submit in the next section), you will be prompted to fill out a google form with relevant information. You must fill out this form to complete your submission. Information required in the form includes the title of your poem, your name, contact information, bio, and demographic info (not required but appreciated).

• The Common Language Project is open to all ages, and we hope all ages of readers and writers will participate in the contest and read the anthology. Work with extreme language, violence or adult content will not be considered.

• No multiple submissions. Only the first submission will be accepted.

• You may not re-submit without invitation.

• Submissions close March 31st at 11:59pm CDT.

Submission Formatting

In a contest where restrictions are part of the pleasure of the work, we've set formatting guidelines to help make sure that if your poem is chosen for publication, there is minimal disturbance to how it appears on the page as a result of formatting. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

• Poems should be submitted in Times New Roman font, 11 point.

• Page margins should be set to 2-inches on the left and right, and 1-inch top and bottom. If you're working in Microsoft Word, this is the "Wide" margin setting (under the "Layout" menu); if you're working in Google Docs, you can change the settings under "Page Setup."

• PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SUBMISSION TO [email protected]. Submissions should be formatted as .doc or .docx; submissions in other formats will not be judged.

30 Winners Receive

• Publication in the Common Language Project 2026 anthology, and 2 contributor copies

• $100 cash prize

• Invitation to read their work at the Common Language Project reading during the Dallas Is Lit! literary festival, held May 9th, 2026