PUB: Richard Snyder Memorial Poetry Book Contest

S N Y D E R   P R I Z E

The Richard Snyder Memorial Publication Prize

This poetry book series honors the memory of Richard Snyder (1925-1986), poet, fiction writer, playwright, and long-time professor of English at Ashland University. He served for fifteen years as English department chair, and in 1969 co-founded and served as co-editor of the Ashland Poetry Press. He was also co-founder of the creative writing major at Ashland University, one of the first at the undergraduate level in the country. In selecting manuscripts for this series, Ashland Poetry Press editors keep in mind Snyder's tenacious dedication to craftsmanship and thematic integrity.

Submissions to the Snyder Prize are screened by Deborah Fleming, Editor.  The 2010 Snyder Prize judge is David Wojahn.

The Winner of the Snyder Prize Receives:

  • $1,000.00
  • publication of winning manuscript in a paperback edition of 1,000 copies
  • 50 copies of the published book (in lieu of royalties)

Former Snyder Prize Winners:

The 2003 Snyder winner, The Moment's Equation by Vern Rutsala (published in December 2004), was a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award. 

The 2004 Snyder winner, Remorseless Loyalty by Christine Gelineau, was nominated by David St. John for the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry. 

The 2007 winner, Shimming the Glass House by Helen Pruitt Wallace, won the Bronze medal in the 2008 Florida Book Awards Poetry category.

2010 Submission Guidelines:

  • Book-length poetry manuscripts
  • Original collection of poems of 50 to 80 pages, with no more than one poem per page, single sided
  • Single spaced
  • Bound by a single clip: No Folders or Notebooks, Please
  • Two title pages: one with name, address, and phone number and one with title only
  • $25 reading fee made payable to The Ashland Poetry Press
  • Deadline: April 30, 2010
  • Translations are not eligible
  • Ashland University employees and their spouses are not eligible
  • Email one electronic copy to swells@ashland.edu with the Subject Line: "Snyder Prize Submission".  File should be saved as lastname_f and either .doc, .rtf, or .pdf file format. If an electronic copy is not submitted, the press will need to scan your hard copy into a PDF.
  • Mail one hard copy to:

Mail to:

The Richard Snyder Publication Prize 
The Ashland Poetry Press 
Ashland University 
Ashland, OH 44805

For notification, enclose a letter-sized self-addressed, stamped envelope.  All manuscripts other than the winning one will be recycled.

Look for our announcement in an upcoming issue of The Writers' Chronicle(AWP) and Poets & Writers.

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