Call for submissions: 2011 Robert Watson Poetry Award

Spring Garden Press and storySouth invite submissions for the 2011 Robert Watson Poetry Award chapbook competition. Submissions must be received during the month of April. The winning manuscript will be announced in October 2011 and will be awarded with $500 and the publication of a beautifully designed, letterpress-printed, limited-edition chapbook. The edition is limited to 500 copies, twenty-five of which are reserved for the author and the remainder of which will be offered for sale through Spring Garden Press.

Submission guidelines

Please submit a collection of poems not exceeding 24 pages—including title page, dedication, epigraph, brief bio, and acknowledgments. Each page may contain a maximum of 30 lines of copy, including stanza spacing. The cover page should contain the manuscript title, author's name, address, phone number, and email address. The author's name should not appear on any of the poems. Please provide a table of contents.

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

There is a $15 entry fee.

Submitting

To enter the contest, use the Spring Garden Press Submission Manager.

Small print

Contest manuscripts are screened by the editors of Spring Garden Press as well as 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 October.

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.


For more information:

Spring Garden Press · 5603 B West Friendly Avenue · Suite 283 · Greensboro, North Carolina 27410-4252