October is a big month for poetry prizes – far more than can fit into one post. Here”s another handful that are due during the month of October. Good luck!

Ledge Press
Poetry Chapbook Competition
A prize of $1,000, publication by Ledge Press, and 50 author copies is given annually for a chapbook-length poetry collection. Entrants receive a copy of the winning chapbook. Submit a manuscript of 16 to 28 pages with a $15 entry fee by October 31. Send an SASE or e-mail for complete guidelines.
Ledge Press, Poetry Chapbook Competition, 40 Maple Avenue, Bellport, NY 11713. Timothy Monaghan, Publisher.
tkmonaghan@aol.com

Elixir Press is sponsoring a poetry book competition with an October 31 deadline. The contest is open to all poets writing in English. There will be a Judge”s Prize of $2,000 and an Editor”s Prize of $1,000. Both winning manuscripts will be published by Elixir Press. All entries will be considered for publication. An outside judge, to be announced later, will make the final decision for the first prize. The editor will make the final decision for the second prize. Full guidelines available at Elixir Press guidelines page.

Dogwood Poetry Journal sponsors the annual Dogwood Poetry Prize. First prize of $1000 is given for a single poem. Submit up to three poems with a $10 reading fee to:
Kim Bridgford, Editor
Dogwood
English Dept.
Fairfield University
North Benson Rd.
Fairfield, CT 06824-5195

Deadline October 15. Full guidelines available at Dogwood.

National Federation of State Poetry Societies
Stevens Manuscript Competition
A prize of $1,000, publication by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry manuscript. Submit 35 to 60 pages of poetry and a $20 entry fee ($15 for NFSPS members) by October 15. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.
National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Stevens Manuscript Competition, 22614 North Santiam Highway, Lyons, OR 97358. Eleanor Berry, Chair.

The Providence Athenaeum, one of the nation”s oldest cultural societies, awards the Philbrick Poetry Prize annually to a New England poet who has not had a poetry book published. Manuscripts for the chapbook award should be between 15 and 25 pages. First prize is $500 and publication of the chapbook. Deadline for entry is October 15. Full submission guidelines on the Athenaeum web site.

Third Coast, the literary magazine published twice a year by Western Michigan University English Department, sponsors the annual Third Coast Poetry Competition. Submit up to eight poems for consideration with $15 entry fee. First prize is $1000 plus publication of the prize winning poem. Read the Full guidelines .

The American Poetry Review sponsors the annual Honickman First Book Prize in Poetry. The annual American Poetry Review /Honickman First Book Prize offers publication of a book of poems, a $3,000 award, and distribution by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium.

Each year a distinguished poet is chosen to be the judge of the prize and write an introduction to the winning book. The purpose of the prize is to encourage excellence in poetry, and to provide a wide readership for a deserving first book of poems. Deadline for submissions is October 31. The manuscript should be 48 pages or more. There is a $25 entry fee. This year”s judge is Brenda Hillman. See the full submisisons guidelines.

The Ohio University Press sponsors the annual Hollis Summers Poetry Prize for a previously unpublished book of poetry from either published or unpublished poets. Manuscripts of 60-95 pages must be submitted by October 31. The winning manuscript will be published by Ohio University Press and $1000 cash prize is awarded to the author. See full guidelines for further details.

Red Hen Press sponsors the annual Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award for a book length collection of poetry. Book length is 48 to 96 pages. There is a $20 entry fee. First prize is $3000 and publication of the book. See full guidelines for details.

Technorati Tags: poetry prizes, poetry contests, literary awards, poetry awards, poetry competitions

Looking for somewhere to submit your book of poetry, or just a few poems? Here”s a quick list of contests with deadlines coming up in the first half of October.

Women Poets at Barnard invites applications for the 2007 Barnard Women Poet”s Prize for an exceptional second collection of poems. The winner will receive an honorarium of $1,500 and publication of her manuscript by W.W. Norton & Co.

The prize is given for a book of poems by a woman who has already published one book of poetry (in an edition of 500 copies or more) and is seeking a publisher for her second collection.

A qualified applicant should submit two copies of her book-length manuscript with a cover letter naming the title and publisher of her first collection. Although a writer may submit a manuscript that has been submitted to other contests, any manuscript under option to another publisher is not eligible. (Please note that any entries that are encumbered will be disqualified.) Page-limit is not specified. Because the prize is given to a poet who has already published a first book the manuscripts are not read anonymously. Every qualified manuscript will be read with scrupulous care by the panel of judges and the chief judge, who changes every year.

The entry fee is $20, payable in check to Women Poets at Barnard. The deadline for submissions is October 15, 2006. Winners will be contacted directly in the spring of 2007. If you wish to be notified of the contest results, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Please send manuscripts and fees to Women Poets at Barnard, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027. Email questions to Saskia Hamilton at shamilton(at)barnard(dot)edu.

The
Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship is awarded annually under the conditions of the will of Amy Lowell, who died in 1925. The conditions of the will established a trust that is used to support a gifted American poet traveling abroad for the year. The award this year is expected to be in the neighborhood of $47,000. For more informations and instructions for applying, see the full instructions page. The completed application must be received by the trust by October 15.

Since 1999, Poets Out Loud has sponsored an annual competition for a full-length poetry manuscript, published each spring by Fordham University Press. The POL Prize awards $1000, publication by Fordham University Press, and a reading by the winning poet and judge in the POL series at Fordham-Lincoln Center. This year”s judge for the POL prize is Alice Fulton. For application and entry guidelines, check the full guidelines. Entries must be received by October 31. There is a $25 entry and reading fee.

Margie: The American Review of Poetry awards the Margie Strong Medicine Award annually to a single poem. This year”s judge is Laurence Goldstein, award winning poet and editor of the Michigan Review. Entries must be postmarked by October 31. See the full contest rules and guidelines for more information.

The North American Review annually awards the James Hearst Poetry Prize. First prize is $1000 and publication. This year”s judge is Ted Kooser, former Poet Laureate of the United States. The NAR offers the following tips for submission:

We have noticed that long poems rarely do well… too much can go wrong in a large space. Poems that have reached the finalist stage in our competition in the past are typically one to two pages. Winning poems always balance interesting subject matter and consummate poetic craft. We value both free verse and formal poems in rhyme and meter… both open and closed forms.

Full information is available at the NAR website.

For Milwaukee poets:

For the fifth year in a row, OnMilwaukee.com presents the city”s only “Milwaukee Poetry Contest.” The contest runs from Tuesday, Sept. 19 through Friday, Sept. 29.

Poems may be any length or style, but must be about Milwaukee or contain the word “Milwaukee.” Only one submission per poet, please.

The first prize is a $100 gift certificate from Schwartz Bookshops. The runner up receives an OnMilwaukee.com gift pack. Both winners will be featured in an OnMilwaukee.com article and have their poems published on the site.

Winners will be notified the week of Oct. 2.

Writers are encouraged to submit poems via e-mail to poetry@staff.onmilwaukee.com.

The OnMilwaukee.com editorial team will serve as contest judges.

“Every year we have been blown away by the level of talent in this city,” says OnMilwaukee.com writer and contest organizer, Molly Snyder Edler. “We hope this year”s contest will raise the bar even higher.”

The OnMilwaukee.com Milwaukee Poetry Contest started in 2002. Past winners include Susan Firer, Kate Kliner, Kathryn Gahl, Joanne Staudacher, Erich Ebert, Jessica Zierten, Tom Mollica, Charles P. Ries and Eva Stefanski.

“Who says poetry is dead? Poetry is alive and well in Milwaukee,” says Edler.

OnMilwaukee.com is the city”s only daily magazine and city guide, and has been in publication since 1998. Their annual poetry contest begain in 2001, and continues to be a popular annual event. Good luck if you”re from Milwaukee or wannabe!

Technorati Tags: poetry contests, poetry, milwaukee poetry

I spent some time this morning dropping back in on folks I”ve written about in the past thanks to Frank Wilson at BooksInq, who graciously helped put out the word about Carlos Contreras, the New Mexico teacher looking for poems to hand out to his students. The followup on that – Carlos is still looking, and thanks those that have sent poems. He says that subject matter and language are not a concern – “These kids have seen everything,” he told us over at GotPoetry. If you write and still haven”t done it, email Carlos ( soothxsayer@yahoo.com ) a poem of yours along with a short blurb of who you are and what you are about.

What was even neater was that the very next item on Frank”s blog was about Mike Snider, the sonnet blogger, who has prettied up his blog recently and given it a whole new face. Mike writes a new sonnet every week. Being a lover of poetry in form, I had to order his chapbook 44 Sonnets. He responded immediately and graciously and I had the lovely book in my hands within a week. And it is lovely – Snider”s sonnets are refreshingly modern – an example of what you can do with an old form in fresh language. Definitely a keeper.

Quickmuse is now up to 18 poets who have responded to the challenge of writing a poem in 15 minutes based on a piece of writing with which they are presented. New battles take place every two weeks. The next one is coming up on September 20, between Paul Muldoon and Andrew Motion.

You”ve got three weeks left to get in your entries to the Poetry Superhighway 2006 Contest. Remember, entry fee is $1 per poem. The collected entry fees will be shared among the top three poets – 50% to the winner, 30% for second place and 20% for third. The judges for the contest have been chosen, and short bios are on the site. The deadline for receipt of the poem and entry fee is October 7. Last word was over 250 paid entries as of August 26th.

Dropped into my mailbox this morning – an update from the Poetry Superhighway that says:

Over 250 Paid entries have been received so far in this year”s Poetry Contest!

Remember – the PSH is structured so that every poet who enters wins a prize. It may not be money, but you can score some cool poetry books or memberships to poetry sites that have been contributed by other members of Poetry Superhighway. If you haven”t entered yet, DO click on the link below and send some poetry.

The rest is a direct quote from the newsletter – enjoy the info.

Enter the contest! Click on “2006 Poetry Contest” from the main PSH menu for all the details or e-mail Guidelines@PoetrySuperHighway.com to have them automatically e-mailed to you.

Thanks to all of our sponsors for helping to insure that everyone will get a prize just for entering, in addition to the cash prize to the top three scoring poets!

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THE POETRY SUPER HIGHWAY WEEKLY VIRTUAL UPDATE
http://PoetrySuperHighway.com/
ISSN: 1523-6587
August 28 – September 3, 2006

this week:

This week featuring poets from Pittsburgh, PA and Tuscon, AZ

2 new poetry and writing related links added this week.

The Literary Press and Magazine Directory 2006/2007: The Only Directory for the Serious Writer of Fiction and Poetry (Clmp Directory of Literary Magazines and Presses) by Council of Literary Press and Magazines featured this week in the Poetry Resource Books section of the PSH Bookstore.

Poetry / Writing related Classified Ads.

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POETS OF THE WEEK
This week”s featured poets are: Sankar Roy and Barbara Hasanat:

Sankar Roy (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a winner of PEN USA Emerging Voices, associate editor of international poetry anthology, Only the Sea Keeps: Poetry of the Tsunami (Rupa & Co, Bayeux Arts) which was one of the three finalists for 2006 Benjamin Franklin Award and winner of Skipping Stone Honor Award. His poems have appeared or forthcoming in Bitter Oleander, Blue Color Review, Color Wheel, Diner, Pittsburgh City Paper, Runes and Whiskey Island. Sankar”s recent project is creating an international website ( www.writersalliance.net ) to create a worldwide artistic and literary response against the genocide in Darfur.

Barbara Hasanat (Tuscon, Arizona) doen”t have a biography, just a life. She has read great literature all of her life-almost all of Dostoevsky before she was 12. Her favorite poets are Haiku poets Issa, Buson and Basho. She also likes many Chinese poets and Walt Whitman, Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson. She began writing poetry 4 months ago about one year after becoming a Buddhist and beginning her practice of daily meditation. Barbara was born and lived in the great city of Chicago most of her life but now lives in Tucson, Arizona

Click on “FEATURED POETS” from the main PSH menu to read their work.