oldseventycreekpress.books.officelive.com/Contests.aspx

Old Seventy Creek Press would like to announce our first annual Poetry Prize.

Submissions should be between 48-80 pages, with a font size of 12 in Verdana or Ariel.

Each page of the manuscript should be formatted 6 X 9 inches.

There is a $20.00 reading fee for each manuscript.

Checks should be made out to Old Seventy Creek Press and sent to: Old Seventy Creek Press
P. O. Box 204
Albany, KY 42602-0204.

Post-mark deadline is April 3, 2009.

1st prize will be $250.00 and publication by Old Seventy Creek Press.

Contest open to poets who have not published a first book of poetry.

What we are looking for…

The collection must have a theme that defines the book.

Travis Blair’s book Train to Chihuahus is an excellent example of poetry that is held together by a common thread.

Frank X Walker in The Journey of York conjures the voice of York.

Rudy Thomas conjures the voices of Frank and Jesse James in Stealing Women & Robbing Trains.

POEMS OF STEPHEN CRANE COMPILED BY GERALD D. McDONALD is excellent.

A Garden in Kentucky by Jane Gentry Vance, Kentucky Poet Laureate is also illustrative of a theme the runs through a work.

Rearranging Memory by Rudy Thomas is another example.

Flower & Hand by W. S. Merwin is also illustrative of themes in the reprint of out of print books of poetry in one collection.

Copperhead Cane by Jim Wayne Miller is an excellent book of poetry with a theme.

Collected Poems 1957-1982 by Wendell Berry is a collection of great clarity and sureness.

Raphael Rudnik, a New York poet, said that poets have to design books with a central theme.

Edgar Allen Poe said that the death of a beautiful woman was the best theme for poetry.

You should have your own favorite poets, but you must own a voice.

Let us hear yours.

Word of Caution:

Do not allow the suggested poets listed above to cause you to stilt your work. Voice and the art and craft of poetry must be evident in your manuscript.

For additional information contact the press at: mtpoet@hotmail.com.