Two Judges Say Go Deep - Don't Play It Safe

I read two blog posts today that touched on poetry contests and I noted a similar view help by two people who have been contest judges and I thought they were worth mentioning.

I have note entered a lot of contests - I maybe average one to two entries a year so I'm one one who has a lot of personal experience with the contest circuit.

One of the two pieces that I'm talking about was an interview in Ploughshares of Mary Biddinger by Victoria Chang. I've met Victoria at a reading in Kansas City I believe in 2008. I've read two of her books Circle and Silivinia Molesta. I enjoyed both but was much impressed by Circle as a first book.  Biddinger I've never met or heard read but I have her book Saint Monica which I was so in love with I I can hardly contain myself in wait for her next book O Holy Insurgency. She is the queen of Catholic poetic culture.

The second piece that I read was a blog post by Susan Rich. I've never met Susan either but have her book The Alchemist's Kitchen. One thing that I've appreciated about Susan is that she is a poet who not only has a strong social consciousness but will on occasion allow it the gently permeate her work.

So insight of interest did I glean from these two sources? Rich pointed out, "...all the poems that were sent on to me were quite competent. However, competent is not enough to win a contest. The poems that startled me, that made me want to read then and re-read them, the poems that could not be nailed to a chair in terms of their meaning."  Her advise specifically was to, "Choose to send your poems that take risks."


Mary Biddinger said  she loves  "Poems with teeth... poems that aren't afraid to use their teeth." For Biddinger, she would rather see "a manuscript that makes a few missteps, but dose so with bravery, versus a highly-polished competent, yet safe collection."


If you take to heart what these two poet/judges have to say on the subject, it comes down to being willing to take the risk.  I suppose this really should come as no surprise because it really is the poem that stands up and dares to be different that gets noticed. I can recall shuffling through pages of work in the past and  pulling from it the pieces that seemed the most polished. I will try to not make that mistake again.

Call for Submissions & few upcoming contests

Passing along to others a Call for Submissions I got this week from Dale at Right Hand Pointing. They have previously published me, and I though this this request looked interesting, so here it is:

Hello RHP Friends, NEW! The 5×7 Project. Here’s a brand new project which I think will take about a year to put together, so only patient people need apply. If it comes together, the issue will be called “Five by Seven.” I think. This will be an issue of work appearing on 5X7 index cards. Accepted works will appear as scanned images on the website. These can be handwritten poems, art, mixed media, anything–pretty much–that you can get on a 5×7 card. Anything that’s, you know, cool. As you prepare work to be submitted, keep in mind that it will likely appear on computer monitors as a bit smaller than 5×7, so you might want to avoid very small writing or text. You can submit one card, or up to five cards. I’d also be open to work that’s designed to be presented as a “set,” but not more than 5 or 6 cards. It’ll take some experimenting. These can be submitted either as scanned images in the jpg format or can be mailed to me via snail mail. If you snail mail, and you want your work back, you’ll need to send a SASE suitable for mailing back what you send. I hate going to the post office, on account of the whole “disgruntled” thing, so it’s important that you give me what I need to return your work via my home mailbox. Whether submitting electronically or via snail mail, though, please email me (righthandpointing — at– gmail.com ) to inquire and we’ll go from there. No hard deadline on this because I plan to accumulate these over the course of a year or so. I’d recommend you try to get something to me in the next six months. If there’s not enough participation to warrant a full issue, I’ll make this 5x7 thing a section of an upcoming regular issue. Write if you have questions. Thanks! Oh, and don’t reply to this email address. Email me at righthandpointing (at) gmail.com. Thanks again. / Dale /Right Hand Pointing

A Few Poetry Contest Deadlines Coming Up:

TUSCULMU REVIEW - March 15
$1,000 prize and publication in Tusculmu Review for a poem or group of poems. Submit 3 to 5 poems any length. Mary Jo Bang will judge. $15 entry fee. Details

FOUR WAY BOOKS - Intro Prize in Poetry - March 31
$1,000 prize and an invitation to participate in the Readings at the Bowery series in New York City - to a U.S. poet for a first poetry collection. Manuscript of 48 to 100 pages. $25 entry fee. Brigit Pageen Kelly will judge. Details

Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize - April 30
$1,000 prize and publication by Marsh Hawk Press for a poetry collection. Submit manuscript of 48 to 70 pages. Thylias Moss judge. Entry fee $25, Details

Lost Horse Press - Idaho Prize for Poetry - May 15
$1,000 prize and publication for a poetry collection, Submit at least 48 pages of poetry. $25 entry fee. Details

San Diego Poetry Annual call for submissions!

Passing this along to those who are eligible to submit. Came in my e-mail from Cecilia Woloch

The San Diego Poetry Annual will be published in February, 2008. It will include poems written in 2007 by poets who live, study, work or who were born or raised in San Diego County.

If selected, your poems will be published alongside celebrated poets, including:
Anne Wilson, Sam Hamod, Brandon Cesmat, Megan Webster, Trish "The Dish" Dugger and Ellen Bass!

There is NO entry fee!!! Poets send up to two (2) poems of any length.Send poems in body of email to: sdpasubmissions@gmail.com by: November 1, 2007.Special Idyllwild section! We are pleased to include an Idyllwildsection in our upcoming edition. Poets that went to any of the Summer Poetry in Idyllwild 2007 events or were featured readers at these events, please submit up to 2 poems to sdpasubmissions@gmail.com with the word "Idyllwild" included in the subject line of the email. The deadline is November 1st, 2007.

We look forward to your submissions! For more info, visit sandiegopoetryannual.com

7th Annual A. Poulin, Jr Poetry Prize

Passing along this information I received from Cecilia Woloch.



BOA EDITIONS, LTD.

SEVENTH ANNUAL A. POULIN, JR. POETRY PRIZE

Judge: Jean Valentine


The A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize is awarded to honor a poet's first book, while also honoring the late founder of BOA Editions, Ltd., a not-for-profit publishing house of
poetry and poetry in translation.

WINNER RECEIVES:
A $1,500 Honorarium, paid in March 2008, and book publication by BOA Editions, Ltd. in March, 2009, in The A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America Series.

ELIGIBILITY:
* Entrants must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States.
* Poets, who are at least 18 years of age, who have yet to publish a full-length-book collection of poetry.
* Translations are not eligible.
* Individual poems from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines, journals, anthologies, chapbooks of 32 pages or less, or self-published books of 46 pages or less, but must be submitted in manuscript form. Published books in other genres do not disqualify contestants from entering this contest.
* Employees, volunteers and board members of BOA Editions, Ltd., or their partners or spouses, or their immediate families, or immediate family of the judge are not eligible.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES REQUIREMENTS:
Send one copy of the manuscript, our entry form, and the $25 entry fee, to BOA Editions, Ltd., between August 1, and November 30, 2007, at the address listed below. Make check or money orders payable to BOA Editions. Do not pay by cash or credit card.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT:
* Minimum of 48 pages, maximum of 100 pages of poetry.
* At least 11pt. font.
* Name address and telephone number must appear on the title or cover page of the manuscript.
* Do not send artwork or photographs.
* Typed or word-processed on standard white paper, on one side of the page only.
* Paginated consecutively with a table of contents.
* Bound with a spring clip (no paperclips, please).
* Attach publications acknowledgments if any.
* Include a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt of manuscript.
* Do not send by FedEx or UPS.
* Electronic and fax submissions will not be accepted.
* Neither late nor early manuscripts will be accepted.
* Contestants may submit the manuscript elsewhere simultaneously, but must notify BOA Editions immediately, by mail in an envelope (not by postcard or e-mail) if a manuscript is accepted by another publisher.
* Once submitted, manuscripts cannot be altered. Winner will be given the opportunity to revise before publication.
* Contestants may submit more than one manuscript, but a separate entry fee and entry form must accompany each manuscript.
* Manuscripts mailed from foreign countries risk not being received before final selections have been made.


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES SUGGESTED:
* Send manuscript in a plain or padded envelope. Please no boxes.
* For notification of competition results, include a business-size SASE.
* Keep a copy of your manuscript, as manuscripts will not be returned.
* We advise that you send your manuscript by first class or priority mail.

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
* The winner will be announced by March 1, 2008.
* Honorarium will be awarded within two weeks of a signed contract between the winner and BOA Editions.
* Winning manuscript will be published in March, 2009, in an original paperback edition in the A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America Series.
* The winner will retain full copyright of his or her work.
* The paper from all manuscripts will be recycled after the winner is announced.

BOA Editions assumes no responsibility for loss of manuscripts.

Send manuscripts, postmarked between August 1, and November 30, 2007, with entry fee, to:

BOA Editions, Ltd.
PO Box 40490
Rochester, NY 14604

14th Annual Juried Reading / Poetry Center of Chicago

14th Annual Juried Reading

Literary activist and award-winning poet E. Ethelbert Miller will be the final judge for The Poetry Center of Chicago's 14th Annual Juried Reading Competition. First prize winner will receive $1,500; second prize, $500; third prize, $250; five finalists will receive $50. Poetry by the eight finalists will be published in a chapbook by Dancing Girl Press, and all eight poets will be invited to read at an award ceremony in the spring of 2008.

The Juried Reading is open to all poets residing in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Poets may be unpublished or have published no more than one full-length book of poetry, not including self-published books. All submissions are blind; the jury and the judge will have no access to identifying information about the submitting poets.
Click here for more information and full competition guidelines

Stir Up Trouble... Who Me?

And so here it is, June 30th. I put together my contest mailing and made a b-line to the post office and watched the postman dutifully hand cancel the postage with the June 30 postmark and once again, just ahead of the buzzer my work is off to the judges. ::heavy sigh::

If you want to see a yet another mouthpiece in the thickening gravy that has been served up to cover the great debate over Poetry Magazine, I would encourage you to read the John Casteen peace in the Virginia Quarterly Review that can be found here.

Reminder: you can subscribe to these post and receive them directly in you e-mail each day. See the box in the sidebar.

A Certifiable Contest Head Case

I am not a big contest person. I have entered a few, but they have not been a compelling force in my work. On the other hand, I am fairly good about submitting work to literary venues.

When I do submit to a contest, I usually know well in advance that I am doing it and for some reason, I find myself always scrambling to get the entry off in the final couple of days before the deadline. Such is the case again this month. Here is a contest I’ve known about since, well the last time I entered it a year ago. I’m not waiting to write something new at the last minute. I will send a couple of pieces already written. It is a matter printing out clean copies and doing all the correct cover letters, etc.

I’m not sure what it is about contests that seem unique from other submissions. I’m sure there must be something very psychosomatic about the whole thing. Meanwhile, I have a few poems to pull together and get to the post office…