Contests
Adult Poetry Contest
Youth Poetry Contest
Split This Rock 2010 - 3rd Annual Adult Poetry Contest
Deadline Extended to Friday, January 22, 2010
Benefits Split This Rock Poetry Festival - Washington, DC, March 10-13, 2010
$1,000 awarded for poems of provocation & witness
Chris Abani, Judge
Prizes: First place $500; 2nd and 3rd place, $250 each. Winners will receive free festival registration, and the 1st-place winner will be invited to read the winning poem at Split This Rock Poetry Festival, 2010. First place $500; 2nd and 3rd place, $250 each. Winning poems will be published on www.SplitThisRock.org.
Exciting news! Potomac Review will publish the winning poem in its Fall 2010 issue.
Deadline: January 22, 2010 (postmark)
Reading fee of $25 supports Split This Rock Poetry Festival
Details:
Submissions should be in the spirit of Split This Rock: socially engaged poems, poems that reach beyond the self to connect with the larger community or world; poems of provocation and witness. This theme can be interpreted broadly and may include but is not limited to work addressing politics, economics, government, war, leadership; issues of identity (gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, body image, immigration, heritage, etc.); community, civic engagement, education, activism; and poems about history, Americana, cultural icons.
Split This Rock subscribes to the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Contest Code of Ethics.
Submission Guidelines:
Send up to 3 unpublished poems, no more than 6 pages total, in any style, in the spirit of Split This Rock (see above).
Postmark deadline: January 4, 2010
Include one cover page containing your name, address, phone number, email, and the titles of your poems. This is the only part of the submission that should contain your name.
Enclose a check or money order for $25 (made out to "Split This Rock") to:
Split This Rock Poetry Contest
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Simultaneous submissions OK, but please notify us immediately if the poem is accepted elsewhere. For more information, info@splitthisrock.org.
Judge's Bio:
Chris Abani will be featured at Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2010. His poetry collections are Hands Washing Water (Copper Canyon, 2006), Dog Woman (Red Hen, 2004), Daphne's Lot (Red Hen, 2003), and Kalakuta Republic (Saqi, 2001). His prose includes Song For Night (Akashic, 2007), The Virgin of Flames (Penguin, 2007), and Becoming Abigail (Akashic, 2006). He is a professor at the University of California-Riverside and the recipient of many awards, including the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, and a Guggenheim Award. www.chrisabani.com
Contact info@splitthisrock.org if you have questions.
3rd Annual "THE WORLD & ME" Youth Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Split This Rock - Accepting Submissions through January 29
Each year, Split This Rock seeks young people's poems on the theme,“The World & Me.”
- What about your neighborhood/city/country/planet makes you happy and proud?
- What makes you sad? If you were in charge, what would you change?
- Are there issues you care deeply about?
- Situations in the news or in your neighborhood that make you mad? Or glad?
Tell us in a poem!
Eligible Writers: Poets must live in or attend school in DC and qualify for either of the following contest groups:
- Ages 12 and under
- High school students ages 13 and up
Deadline: January 29, 2010 (extended)
Send us your poems with the application form.
We encourage you to post the contest flyer at your schools and in your communities. We have educators and volunteers to assist you with related programs. Our team can also provide workshops to get young poets excited and started on their poetry!
For more information, contact info@splitthisrock.org or call (202) 787-5210.