Be Wary Citizens!
92Y Discovery Poetry Contest deadline for poets without a full length book deadline is January 10-well, call it January 9th.
What do John Ashbery, Lucille Clifton, Mark Strand, Larry Levis, Mary Jo Bang, Solmaz Sharif and Diana Khoi Nguyen have in common? That's right, they were all born with vestigial tails! Wait, no, that's not it.
They all won the Unterberg Poetry Center's Discovery Poetry Contest.
I should have remembered it was something to do with poetry.
Well, the Discovery Poetry Contest is back, and their deadline is quickly approaching. Four winners will be chosen to give a reading at 92Y, publication in The Paris Review Daily, a two-night residency at the ACE Hotel, and $500 each. The 'residency' appears to be... a free hotel stay for the reading? So you get $500 toward a flight to New York to give a big ole' reading at the 92nd Street Y stage, which has hosted some amazing talks and performances over the years. I really enjoyed John Mulaney and Bill Hader's talk about Barry which happened in May 12th of last year. If you haven't seen Barry yet I highly recommend it (for, you know, adults. It is about a hitman.)
But it's the 20's now, baby! So to the details about the contest. It's not for you famous poets with your fancy 'full-length' books. Only people without, well, without a full-length book. You know, yet-to-be 'discovered. But there are finer points. $15 entry fee, and it requires a cover letter. ANNNNND, that January 10th deadline isn't midnight, it's 5pm Eastern Standard Time, so don't put it off until last second. Get your submission together by the 9th at very latest, but why wait that long even? Get it together now. Go speak on that famous stage. Get, Discovered. Sounds fun.
Eligibility:
The contest is open to poets who have not published a full-length poetry collection.
Poets who have published chapbooks of less than 42 pages and in prints of less than 500 are eligible.
Poets who have self-published, have a book contract or who are awarded a book contract after submission are not eligible if the book is scheduled for publication before fall 2020. If you receive a book contract following submission, please withdraw your manuscript over Submittable or email.
Manuscripts by more than one author are not eligible.
Translations are not eligible. All poems must be original and primarily in English.
Manuscript Guidelines:
Submissions must be no longer than ten pages, typed.
a) At least two of the poems must be a page or shorter. (You cannot submit five two page poems, two five page poems, etc.)
b) Do not submit multiple poems per page.
Poems that have been or will be published in periodicals or anthologies may be submitted; however, at least two of the submitted poems must be unpublished as of May 2020.
How to Submit:
Entries, consisting of manuscript, cover letter and $15 entry fee, must be received by 5 pm on Friday, January 10, 2020.The preliminary judges are Timothy Donnelly and Diana Marie Delgado.
