White Pine Poetry Book Prize! Manuscripts Wanted! Deadline: Nov 31 #poets

Here's a poetry book prize I recommend! 

The White Pine Press Poetry Book Prize, Deadline: Nov 30, 2012.

Photo of me immediately after opening my first box of books (sadly, I was the only one home and had to take the photo myself.  My dog celebrated with me though...)

I've included the details below for you.  But here's what  you need to know, especially if you are cynical of poetry prizes, who knows whom, and judges choosing their students or people they've worked with before--

My book, Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, was chosen by poet Carl Dennis, someone who I have never met in my life.

Actually, I had never met anyone from this press and sent in my manuscript only because I loved the way their books looked, I wanted a press that has been around for a while (they are celebrating their 40th anniversary this spring!) and I had been told the editor, Dennis Maloney is a kind, wonderful guy.  All true.

One thing I like about this press is that they don't tell you who is judging (also, they alternate between a male & female judge each year).  

But regarding not knowing who was the judge, I'll be honest--had I seen that Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Dennis was judging, I wouldn't have submitted.  Why would an older Pulitzer Prize winning male like my work?, I would have thought to myself. I guess the answer is "why not?" because he did.

As writers, sometimes we make very bad assumptions about our work and our readers.  
My advice to you is simple:  Submit to the presses you want to be published by and try not to pay too much attention to who is judging.

There are not many poetry prizes I can recommend to you with the complete faith that this prize is run honestly and thoughtfully.  But this one, I can.

So if you have a poetry manuscript that is looking for a home, you have until November 30th.

Here are the details--

White Pine Press Poetry Prize

The Seventeenth Annual White Pine Press Poetry Prize CompetitionThe Seventeenth Annual White Pine Press Poetry Prize competition will open for submissions on July 1. The award consists of a $1,000 cash award and publication by White Pine Press.

Manuscripts must be between 60 and 80 pages in length. Poems must be original, but may have appeared in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks. Translations are not eligible.

Manuscripts must be postmarked by November 30th. They must be typed and should include a table of contents. The author’s name, address, email address, and telephone number should appear on the cover sheet only. Manuscripts will be recycled at the end of the competition. Please include a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope with your submission if you wish to be notified of the results.

Manuscripts must include a $20 entry, reading, and processing fee. Checks should be made out to White Pine Press. The manuscript, along with a self-addressed, stamped postcard for notification that it has been received, if so desired, should be sent to:

White Pine Press Poetry Prize
P.O. Box 236
Buffalo, New York 14201 
If you send the manuscript via express mail services, the manuscript should be sent to:

White Pine Press Poetry Prize
5783 Pinehurst Court
Lake View, NY 14085 

Manuscripts are screened by the editorial staff, and a poet of national reputation makes the final selection. The name of the final judge is not revealed until the end of the competition. We alternate between a male and a female poet each year as final judge.

Due to the large number of entries received, manuscripts cannot be returned.

Previous Winners:
1996 - Nancy Johnson, Zoo & Cathedral
1997 - Doborah Gorlin, Bodily Course
1998 - Jacqueline Johnson, A Gathering of Mother Tongues
1999 - Joel Long, Winged Insects
2000 - David Keller, Trouble in History
2001 - Stephen Frech, If Not for These Wrinkles of Darkness
2002 - Sandra Castillo, My Father Sings to My Embarrassment
2003 - John Sorowiecki, Watching Cartoons Before Attending A Funeral
2004 - Frances Richey, The Burning Point
2005 - George Looney , The Precarious Rhetoric of Angels
2006 - Roy Bentley, The Trouble With A Short Horse in Montana
2007 - Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, Paper Pavilion
2008 - Al Maginnes, Ghost Alphabet
2009 - Ansie Baird, In Advance of all Parting
2010 - Kelli Russell Agodon , Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room
2011 - Alexander Long, Still Life
2012 - , Notes from the Journey Westward

Copies of these books should be available from your local bookseller. If you cannot find them, they may be ordered directly from the press for $12.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. 

~ Kells 


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