V Dolors Alberola Poetry Prize

V Dolors Alberola Poetry Prize

This page is a historical reference for the V Dolors Alberola Poetry Prize, organised by Editorial DALYA. The V edition is closed. Editorial DALYA’s official English rules give 15 February 2026 as the entry deadline, and the official prize pages I checked do not announce a later Dolors Alberola edition or a new application deadline. Do not treat the submission link on this page as evidence that the closed round is still accepting manuscripts.

The archive remains useful because the prize had unusually concrete publication terms. It was not a cash-only competition and it was not a call for individual poems. It asked for one complete, unpublished poetry collection. The winner was promised translation into another European language, publication as a bilingual edition, 50 copies of the book, and royalties on the publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights. Finalists were offered publication in a Spanish edition, 10 copies, and royalties on the publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights.

V edition at a glance

What the prize offered

The main award was a publishing opportunity attached to a manuscript, rather than a stated cash payment. Editorial DALYA’s rules describe four parts of the winner’s package:

1. The collection would be translated into another European language.
2. The collection would be published in a bilingual edition.
3. The winner would receive 50 copies of the published book.
4. The winner would receive royalties on the publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights.

The finalist package was different but still publication-based. A finalist’s collection would be published in Spanish, the finalist would receive 10 copies of the book, and the finalist would receive royalties on the publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights. The official rules do not state a cash prize, grant, stipend, travel budget, or production budget. Applicants evaluating the opportunity should therefore read it as a route to publication and translation, not as a conventional funded award.

The rules also say that awarded entrants commit to signing a Publisher-Writer Agreement on Editorial DALYA’s customary terms. The organisation commits to publish awarded works within twelve months, subject to force majeure. The rules say that publication would not require the winner or finalist to pay expenses, co-edition charges, or similar costs. Those are important terms to review carefully in any eventual contract, especially the scope and duration of rights, royalty accounting, translation approval, language editions, and subsidiary rights.

Eligibility for the closed round

The V edition was open internationally. Editorial DALYA states that the competition was open to all writers worldwide and intended participation to be equal regardless of nationality, gender, or language. The official Spanish bases add that adults could participate and that minors needed authorisation from a parent or guardian. The manuscript could be written in any official language of the world.

The rules set several boundaries around the work itself:

• Each writer could submit only one work.
• The entry had to be a full-length poetry manuscript or collection, not a single poem.
• The collection could use any subject, form, or style.
• The manuscript had to contain 500 to 800 verses or lines.
• The work had to be typed.
• A translation of another author’s poems was not eligible.
• The collection had to be original, unpublished in any form, and not previously awarded before the jury’s decision.
• Participation was free, with no hidden costs for entrants.

The phrase “unpublished in any form” deserves caution. A writer considering a future edition should not assume that a collection remains eligible merely because it has not appeared as a traditional print book. The official wording is broader than that. If a manuscript has already been issued as an ebook, chapbook, self-published volume, or another complete collection, the writer should ask Editorial DALYA about eligibility before submitting it to a later round.

The 500-to-800-line requirement is also a manuscript requirement, not a rough suggestion. Line count matters more than page count because page layout, font, and spacing can change the number of pages substantially. A writer preparing a comparable future submission should count the actual verses or lines in the final document and keep a copy of the count for their records.

How entry worked in the V edition

The official rules directed writers to submit the collection through the link provided at poetry.edalya.com or through Editorial DALYA’s website. The historical submission page accepted a single electronic document and described DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF, and TXT as accepted file formats. Because the V round is closed and no later round is announced on the official pages checked, these instructions should be read as the documented process for the archive, not as a current invitation to upload.

The manuscript package was deliberately simple:

1. Prepare one typed document containing the complete poetry collection.
2. Put the title of the collection on the front page.
3. Put the author’s name, pseudonym, or slogan on the front page, matching the identity used in the form.
4. Submit the one file through the official entry form when a live edition is announced.
5. Enter the title, author identity, and email address requested by the form, select the work, and submit it.
6. Keep the confirmation email. Editorial DALYA’s rules say the author would receive an email acknowledging receipt of the entry.

The historical form also instructed entrants not to change the contest category, because the contest year was set by default. That detail may change in a later edition, so a future applicant should follow the form displayed for that edition instead of relying on the old form’s controls.

There is no indication in the V-edition rules that an entry required a biography, photograph, cover letter, synopsis, recommendation, or payment. The first page needed the collection title and author identity. If a manuscript reached the finalist stage, the rules required the selected writer to resubmit the work with personal details, a headshot, address, nationality, and bio-bibliography on the front page.

Published V-edition timeline

The official rules provide three milestones for the V edition:

• 15 February 2026: entries closed.
• 31 March 2026: the jury was expected to select the finalists.
• 30 April 2026: the jury was expected to select the winner.

The rules describe the finalist and winner dates as targets rather than an absolute guarantee. They say the final decision could be delayed if translation work meant the finalist manuscripts were not ready for the jury. Finalists were to be notified by email. The winner’s decision was to be communicated to the finalists and announced through Editorial DALYA’s website, social networks, and media channels.

The organisation also reserved the right not to award the prize if it did not receive enough qualified submissions. The jury’s verdict was final. A finalist could reject publication, but the rules required that decision to be communicated by email within three months. Entrants also had to tell the organisation about any award or publication their submitted collection received before the jury announced its decision.

Preparing a manuscript for a future edition

Although no new cycle is confirmed here, the V-edition requirements provide a clear preparation checklist for a writer who wants to watch for a later call. Start with the manuscript rather than the application form. The collection should read as a book: its poems should have a deliberate order, a sustained voice, and enough variation to keep the sequence alive without feeling random. The official rules leave subject, form, and style open, so the manuscript does not need to imitate a particular school of poetry. It does need to meet the collection-length, originality, and format rules.

Read the manuscript from beginning to end in the order in which it would be submitted. Check whether the opening establishes the work’s voice and whether the final section feels intentional. Remove poems that repeat an idea without adding pressure or perspective. Read line breaks aloud. A poem can be visually neat and still sound unfinished when spoken.

Then make a clean submission file. Use one consistent document, remove tracked changes and comments, verify that every poem is present, and make sure the title and author identity on the first page agree with the form. Count the lines after the final formatting pass. Keep the original file and the submitted copy separate so that later edits do not make it impossible to identify the version entered.

Finally, check the official Editorial DALYA pages again before sending anything to a future edition. Confirm the new edition number, deadline, accepted formats, language rules, award terms, and submission link from the new rules themselves. This archive records the V edition only; it does not establish a future deadline.

Bottom line

The V Dolors Alberola Poetry Prize was a free, international call for one typed, unpublished poetry collection of 500 to 800 lines. Its value was publication, translation, physical copies, and royalties rather than a stated cash award. The round closed on 15 February 2026, with finalist and winner milestones listed for 31 March 2026 and 30 April 2026. No subsequent Dolors Alberola cycle is confirmed on the official Editorial DALYA pages checked for this update, so this page is retained as a historical reference and should not be used as an active application notice.