CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 2007 ROBERT WATSON POETRY AWARD

Spring Garden Press and The Greensboro Review invite submissions for the inaugural Robert Watson Poetry Award. Submission must be received between October 1st & April 2nd. The winning manuscript will be chosen in July 2007 and will be awarded with the publication of a beautifully designed, letterpress-printed, limited-edition chapbook. The edition is limited to 500 copies, fifty of which are reserved for the author and the remainder of which will be offered for sale through Spring Garden Press. The winning poet will also receive a cash award of $500 as well as an invitation from the MFA Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to read in their 2007-2008 Distinguished Visiting Writers Series.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please submit a collection, sequence of poems, or single long poem not to exceed 500 lines or 24 pages. The cover page should contain, on a single detachable page, the manuscript title, author’s name, address, phone number, and email. The author’s name should not appear anywhere else. A second title page should be provided without the author’s name or other identification. Please provide a table of contents and a separate acknowledgements page containing prior magazine or anthology publication of individual poems. Manuscripts should be bound with a simple spring clip.

NOTE: Poems may have appeared in journals or anthologies but not as part of a book-length collection.

Reading Fee: Please send a $10 check payable to Spring Garden Press. All entrants will receive a 1-year subscription to The Greensboro Review.

Please Include: A #10 SASE for notification of the winner; manuscripts will not be returned.

Deadline: Manuscripts must be postmarked between October 1, 2006 & April 2, 2007. Manuscripts postmarked before or after will be discarded.

For the 2007 competition, several groups of writers may NOT enter. These include former editors and staff of The Greensboro Review; friends, former professors, and family of current Greensboro Review editors and staff; former and current students of the MFA Writing Program at Greensboro.

Contest manuscripts are screened by qualified readers appointed by the Press. The final selection is made by a poet of distinguished achievement, who remains anonymous until the winner is announced in August.

Spring Garden Press subscribes to the principles laid out in the Contest Code of Ethics adopted by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP):

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to:

1. conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
2. to provide clear and specific contest guidelines defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
3. to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.

This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

Please send manuscripts to: Spring Garden Press, 5603B West Friendly Avenue, Suite 283, Greensboro, NC 27410

To submit electronically through our website, www.springgardenpress.com