“Discovery” / Boston Review 2011 Poetry Contest
Deadline: Friday, January 14, 2011
Judges: Cornelius Eady, Brenda Hillman, D.A. Powell
Four Prizes: $500Now in its fifth decade, the “Discovery” Poetry Contest, formerly “Discovery” / The Nation, is designed to attract large audiences to poets who have not yet published a book. For the fourth year, the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center is proud to partner with Boston Review. Four winners are awarded a reading at the Poetry Center (set for Monday, May 9, 2011, at 8:15 pm), publication in the May/June 2011 issue of Boston Review, and $500 each.
Timothy Donnelly, poetry editor at Boston Review, coordinates the contest, and three leading poets are invited to judge. Many winners of this contest have gone on to distinguished careers as poets, among them Marilyn Hacker, Katha Pollitt, Mary Jo Salter, and Mark Strand.
Read winning poems from 2010, 2009, and 2008.
Complete guidelines:
1. The contest is open to poets who have not published a book of poems (self-published chapbooks do not count as published books). Those who have a book contract at the time of submission or who are subsequently awarded a book contract are not eligible for the contest if their book is scheduled for publication before fall 2011. Individual poems that have been or will be published in periodicals or anthologies may be submitted; however, at least two of the submitted poems must be unpublished and under two pages in length.
2. Submit four identical sets of a typed ten-page manuscript. Each set is to contain the same ten pages in the same order. Include no more than one poem per page. NO personal identification should appear on any of the poems; no copyright attributions for previously published poems should appear on the poems.
3. Photocopied manuscripts are acceptable. However, in the case of previously published poems, do not send photocopied pages of the periodical or book in which the poem(s) originally appeared.
4. Please staple each manuscript; do not use paper clips.
5. Enclose ONE cover letter including your name, address and day and evening telephone numbers, as well as a list of the submitted poems in the order in which they appear, with copyright attributions for published poems. Do not attach this cover letter to the manuscripts.
6. An entry fee of US $10.00 must accompany the submission. Please make checks (drawn on U.S. banks only) or money orders (in U.S. currency only) payable to the 92nd Street Y, and attach them to your cover letter. DO NOT SEND CASH.
7. All poems must be original and in English (no translations).
8. No contestant may submit more than one entry. No corrections can be accepted after receipt of the contest submission.
9. Entries must be RECEIVED by January 15, 2011. Please note this is not a postmark deadline. If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your manuscript, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard (not envelope) and allow several weeks for its return. Due to the large number of submission received, manuscripts cannot be returned. Winners will be contacted by telephone in early March 2011; all contest entrants will be mailed the names of the winners and of the judges shortly thereafter.
10. No phone queries can be taken, either to inquire about contest deadlines, the status of your entry, or to request the names of winners. If you wish to hear a recording of the guidelines, or to receive another set of these guidelines in the mail, call 212.415.5759.Mail submissions to:
“Discovery”/ Boston Review 2011 Poetry Contest
Unterberg Poetry Center
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10128