A compelling fourth showcase of diverse voices, highlighting the poets shaping contemporary poetry today.

Volume Four of The Central Avenue Poetry Prize continues to grow, bringing together a wider and more diverse range of voices. This collection features both emerging and established poets, each offering their own perspective and way of seeing.

The poems move through grief, love, longing, curiosity, and the small details of everyday life. Some are quiet and reflective, others more direct, but each holds a moment that lingers and stays with you. There’s no single style or voice that defines this anthology. Instead, it’s shaped by its range: different backgrounds, different approaches, and different ways of telling the truth. That variety is what gives the collection its depth.

Now in its fourth year, The Central Avenue Poetry Prize continues to offer a space for poets to be read alongside one another, building a collection that reflects where contemporary poetry is right now—and where it’s going.