Wick Poetry Chapbook Competition for Ohio Poets

Poets currently residing in Ohio may enter the Open Chapbook Competition. Poets currently enrolled in Ohio institutions of higher education may enter the Student Chapbook Competition.

Two to four manuscripts from each category are chosen each year to be published by Kent State University Press. In addition, the winners are invited to give a reading on the Kent State campus. Maggie Anderson is general editor of the series. The winning entry in the 2006 Student Competition was Matt McBride’s The Shore of Night’s Ocean and Jason Gray’s How to Paint the Savior Dead. They will be published by Kent State University Press in early 2007

Entry Requirements:

1. Poets may enter only one of the competitions. There is a $10 reading fee for each manuscript sent to the Open Competition. A check or money order for this amount should be made payable to the Wick Poetry Center. There is no reading fee for the Student Competition.

2. Manuscripts must include no fewer than 15 and no more than 25 pages of poetry, typed on one side only, with no more than one poem included on a page. Only clean, legible copies are acceptable.

3. Two title pages should be included. The first must list the poet’s name, address, e-mail, and phone number, as well as the title of the manuscript and the name of the contest to which the manuscript is being submitted (either Open Competition or Student Competition). Poets entering the Student Competition should indicate the name of the school in which they are enrolled. The second title page should include the title of the manuscript only. The poet’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself.

4.The manuscript as a whole should not have been published previously, but it may contain poems that have been published individually; these should be listed, with publisher, on a separate acknowledgments page. If the manuscript is accepted, the poet must obtain permissions from previous publishers.

5. The manuscript may be submitted simultaneously to other publishers, but poets must notify the Wick Poetry Center immediately if the manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere.

6. All manuscripts will be recycled after judging. For notice that the manuscript has been received, poets should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard; for notice of the final winning selections, poets should enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Winners will be announced early in 2007 and will be posted on our website.

Manuscripts must be postmarked between August 31 and October 31, 2006. No late entries will be considered.

Entries should be sent to:

Wick Poetry Chapbook Competitions
Wick Poetry Center
301 Satterfield Hall
Kent State University
P.O. Box 5190
Kent , Ohio 44242-0001

PH: 330-672-2067
http://dept.kent.edu/wick/publications.html