Genre: Poetry

Summer Morning

Caption: 

“I know all the dark places / Where the sun hasn’t reached yet...” Charles Simic reads his poem “Summer Morning,” which he says needs no introduction, in this video for an installment of Poetry Breaks, a series created by Leita Luchetti in the 1980s and 1990s presented in partnership with the Academy of American Poets. The Pulitzer Prize–winning poet died at the age of eighty-four on January 9, 2023.

Genre: 

Scents

6.18.24

“We tend to treat odor in general as a sort of taboo,” writes Scott Sayare in a New York Times Magazine article about a woman who discovered she could smell Parkinson’s disease, in some cases over a dozen years before medical diagnosis. “Modern doctors are trained to diagnose by inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation; ‘inhalation’ is not on the list, and social norms would discourage it if it were.” This week, focus your attention on your sense of smell as you go about your days, perhaps even ignoring social norms as you inhale all the odors around you. Then, write a poem that focuses solely, or primarily, on smell—perhaps juxtaposing scents that are in your everyday life now and those from a more distant past.

Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House Library

Caption: 

Watch this short video offering a glimpse of the miniature books handwritten by revered authors in the library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House at Windsor Castle, the residence of the British royal family in the eponymous English town. Read more about the miniature library in “The Written Image: Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House Library Books” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Open Poetry Book Contest

Omnidawn Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
August 31, 2024
A prize of $3,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Katy Peterson will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 40 to 120 pages with a $27 entry fee from July 1 to August 16. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

First Book Award

Academy of American Poets
Entry Fee: 
$35
Deadline: 
September 1, 2024
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Graywolf Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has not published a book of poetry in a standard edition. The winning book will also be distributed to over 5,000 members of the Academy of American Poets. Alberto Ríos will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $35 entry fee (fee waivers may be requested via e-mail) from July 1 to September 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award

Comstock Review
Entry Fee: 
$28
Deadline: 
July 15, 2024
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Comstock Review is given annually for a single poem. Charles Rafferty will judge. Submit up to five poems of no more than 60 lines each with a $27.50 entry fee (or $5 per poem via postal mail) by July 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Experimental Poetry Contest

Connecticut Poetry Society
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
July 31, 2024
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Connecticut River Review is given annually for an innovative poem. Claire Donato will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of no more than 80 lines each composed using a new form, an existing experimental form, or a radical subversion of a traditional form with a $15 entry fee by July 31. Audio and video recordings are also eligible. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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