2011 Winner

Emily Rosko, Prop Rockery

Akron Poetry Prize

Information

The Akron Series in Poetry was founded to bring to the public writers who speak in original and compelling voices. Each year, The University of Akron Press offers the Akron Poetry Prize, a competition open to all poets writing in English. The winning poet receives $1,500 and publication of his or her book. The final selection will be made by a nationally prominent poet. The final judge for 2012 is Dara Wier. Other manuscripts may also be considered for publication in the series.

Guidelines for Submission

1. Manuscripts must be typed and consecutively numbered, for a total length of at least 48 pages. Clear photocopies are acceptable. Please, do not send manuscripts bound or enclosed in covers.

2. Manuscripts must include a cover page (with author's name, address, phone number, and manuscript title), a title page (with no biographical information), and an acknowledgements page listing poems previously published in periodicals (if applicable). Please do not submit manuscripts that have the author's name on each page. Manuscripts go to the final judge blind.

3. Manuscripts must be postmarked between April 15 and June 15 of each year. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but The University of Akron Press must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

4. An entry fee of $25 is required for each manuscript submission. Make check or money order payable to The University of Akron Press. The canceled check will serve as notification of receipt.

5. Contest results will be posted on our website www.uakron.edu/uapress/poetryprizewinner by September 30. No manuscripts can be returned.

6. Books accepted for the Akron Series in Poetry must exhibit three essential qualities: mastery of language, maturity of feeling, and complexity of thought. The University of Akron Press is committed to publishing poetry that, as Robert Frost said, "begins in delight and ends in wisdom." Intimate friends, relatives, current and former students of the final judge (students in an academic, degree-conferring program or its equivalent) are not eligible to enter the Akron Poetry Prize competition.

Send manuscripts to:

The Akron Poetry Prize
The University of Akron Press
120 E. Mill Street, Suite 415
Akron, OH 44308

2012 Final Judge

Dara Wier's most recent book is Selected Poems. Other recent books are Reverse Rapture and Remnants of Hannah. She teaches poetry workshops and form & theory reading seminars in the University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA Program for Poets and Writers. She is co-director of the University of Massachusetts' Juniper Initiative for Literary Arts and Action and along with Guy Pettit and Emily Pettit, publisher and editor of Factory Hollow Press located at Flying Object in Hadley, Massachusetts. Her work has been supported by the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She's served as a poet-in-residence at Hollins University, University of Montana, University of Utah and University of Texas. New work can be found in Lungful, Make, Boston Review, notnostrums, Fou, Maggy, Matter, Oh No, Telephone, and American Poetry Review. She lives in North Amherst, Massachusetts.