The Reuben Rose Competition


Voices Israel holds an annual competition in memory of Reuben Rose, one of its founders and the founding editor of its annual Anthology.  Submissions are invited from members and non-members alike, living anywhere, and are judged by a panel of three independent judges. Cash prizes are awarded as well as publication of the winning poems and Honorable Mentions.  

The competition usually opens for submissions in mid-July of each year and the submission period runs for three months, until mid-October of that year.  We are usually able to announce the results in mid-December of that year. Three cash prizes are usually awarded, and ten Honorable Mentions.

For the exact dates of the submission period, the entry fees and prizes for the current year please see the Submit to the Reuben Rose page.

Prizewinners and all Honourable Mentions are published as a separate section in the next volume of the Voices Israel Anthology (e.g. winners and Honourable Mentions of the 2025 competition will be published in the Reuben Rose section of the 2026 Anthology).  Online texts of the winning poems are also posted here on our website. They can be accessed by year from the “Winners and Poem Texts” page of the Reuben Rose menu, above.

The judges for the 36th (2025) competition will be:

  • Judith R. Robinson – the 2024 First Prize winner.
  • Fran Levin – one of the 2024 Honourable Mention winners.
  • Baruch November, an acclaimed U.S. poet, our International Judge for 2025.

For the full results of the 35th (2024) competition, see our 2024 Reuben Rose Competition page.

For the Guidelines and Requirements for Entry, and to submit during the submission period only, please go to our Submit to the Reuben Rose page.

Please note: Poems published on this Voices Israel website and files linked to it, including in our newsletters, competition announcements, and workshop chapbooks, are sole copyright of the poets themselves. Voices Israel expressly does not give permission for reproduction or syndication elsewhere without the poets’ written permission.