Rohit Bhargava & Henry Coutinho-Mason
The Future Words
Poetry Prize
We believe art is how language comes alive. Pick one of the words we coined for Future Words and bring it to life through poetry.
The Backstory
Poetry & Futurism?
The annals of art history have a mixed relationship with futurism. The term was first coined by an Italian poet named Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in his Manifesto of Futurism published in 1909. It was a time of cars, flight, wireless telegraphs, and speed. So he and a circle of Italian writers built a new way to describe the tension of their reality through what they called parole in libertà (words in freedom).
Some of their most radical ideas, like destroying museums and disapproving of feminism, were rejected by time. Still the link between poetry and the words we use to imagine the future remained. Writers and poets over the decades, from Mina Loy to Octavia Butler, have been central to this journey.
Future Words is a book about naming the experiences we have no words to describe. These words we have coined will only come to life through art. So, we decided to seek the help of poets.
The Future Words Poetry Prize is a challenge for artists to explore the meanings behind our words and an invitation to imagine the future through these words. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
100 Words, One Poem
Which future word
will you write?
Use one future word, or as many as you like, in an original poem. Here are a few to get you thinking — all 100 words you can choose from are inside the book.
The ache for a memory that was AI-generated and never actually lived through.
More words like these live on the Future Words book page.
Prize & Timeline
$2,500 grand prize,
one winning poem.
Open to poets anywhere in the world, age 18 and older. Full rules below.
Our Promise To Poets
Someone has to write the future.
We think it should be poets.
We believe creativity is human work and deserves to be treated that way. Too many contests quietly take more than they give. Ours won’t. Here is a promise from us: no fine-print tricks, no borrowed ideas, and no surprises about how your work gets used.
Your poem is yours
You keep full copyright, before and after the contest. Entering never transfers ownership to us.
We won’t steal your ideas
We will never take your lines, images, concepts or interpretations of a word and use them in our own books, marketing or products without your written permission.
We won’t use your work to train AI
Your poem will not be fed into any AI model or dataset.
You decide how public you want to be
Every entrant chooses their own spotlight level (see below), and we will honor that choice.
If we publish it, we pay for it
Your poem will never appear in a compilation without your agreement and fair compensation.
We will celebrate you
Every entry is a creative act worth honoring, not just the winning one.
How It Works
How to enter.
Get The Book
Buy one hardcover copy of Future Words (retail $24). You can buy it from any bookstore or online retailer, where you may find it for less, or directly from us for $20 at www.futurewordsbook.com. The 100 words you can choose from are all inside the book.
US-based poets: get a jumpstart with the $17.91 early entry. One hardcover, free shipping, and it covers your entry fee.
Choose Your Word(s)
Use one future word, or as many as you like.
Write Your Poem
Use your chosen word or words directly in an original poem of up to 100 lines.
Choose Your Spotlight Level
Choose how you want to be featured if you are not the winner.
Submit By December 15, 2026
Enter through the entry form, and upload your proof of purchase for the hardcover.
The Winner Is Chosen
Our judging panel selects one winning poet. The winner receives $2,500, and we will be in touch personally to arrange the payment and plan how to showcase their work together.
Your Choice
Choose your spotlight level.
Full Privacy
We will not share your name or your poem in any publicity. Your entry is read by the judging panel and no one else.
Name Only
We may name you, tag you on social media, and celebrate you as an artist and entrant in roundups. We will NOT publish any part of your poem.
Poem With Compensation
You set the price you would accept for us to include your poem in a compilation we may create later. If we would like to include it, we will contact you first and pay your price. If we don’t take it up, we will treat your entry as Name Only.
Full Publicity
We may share your name and your poem in any of our publicity efforts. If we feature your poem in a compilation, you receive the standard rate we pay to every featured poet. That rate will be set fairly based on how many poets we include.
The Fine Print
The rules.
- Open to poets anywhere in the world, age 18 and older.
- One entry per person.
- Entry requires proof of purchase of one hardcover copy of Future Words, uploaded with your submission.
- Your poem must be your own original, unpublished work. It must be written by you, not generated by AI.
- At least one future word from the book must appear in the poem. Using more than one is welcome.
- Maximum length: 100 lines.
- The judging panel’s decisions are final. Only the winner will be contacted directly.
- All submissions are final. Your poem and spotlight level cannot be changed once your entry is sent.
- We may disqualify entries that are plagiarized, hateful, or infringe on someone else’s rights.
Questions? Email [email protected].
The Book Behind The Prize
About Future Words.
Future Words is a non-obvious glossary of 100 terms that don’t exist yet, but soon will — 100 coined words for the tensions already reshaping relationships, identity, work, money, health, technology, leisure, parenting and travel. By Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason. Out November 10, 2026.
