GUIDELINES FOR THE 2016 NAOMI LONG MADGETT POETRY AWARD

  • This competition is open to African American poets only. If you have already had a book published by Lotus Press, you are ineligible. However, inclusion in a Lotus Press anthology does not disqualify you.

  • Any other serious African American poet, whether previously published or not, may submit a book-length manuscript for consideration. Do not include essays, short fiction, or other material that is not poetry.

  • Poems submitted by another person, anthologies, or collaborations by more than one poet are not acceptable.

  • There is no reading fee; no payment is required.

  • The poems in the manuscript should total approximately 60-90 pages, exclusive of a table of contents or other optional introductory material. Begin each poem, single-spaced, on a new page, no matter how short it maybe. If the poem is long, it may be continued on the next page(s).

  • Use an easy-to-read font such as Times or Times Roman, size 11 or 12 point. Single-space except between stanzas.

  • Poems that have been published individually in periodicals or anthologies are acceptable, but we will not consider an entire collection (or a significant portion of an entire collection) that has been previously published, whether self-published or not.

  • Manuscripts entered in this competition may not be submitted to other publishers for general consideration but may be submitted to other contests, as long as you notify us that you have done so or plan to do so. If you are notified that your manuscript has won another competition, you MUST inform us of this immediately.

  • Send two complete copies of your manuscript, typed or computer-generated, on White, letter-size paper, with the pages consecutively numbered, to the address below. Do not include your name on any of the pages.

  • Include with each copy a cover sheet which contains the title of the collection only and no other information.

  • On one separate sheet of paper, list: (1) the title of the manuscript; (2) your name, address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address, if you have one; and (3) a brief statement signed with your legal name, indicating that (a) all the poems in the collection are original and uncollected (not appearing in a published volume of your work) and (b) you are an African American.

  • Keep a copy of your manuscript. Entries will not be returned. After the winner has been selected, all other manuscripts will be destroyed.

  • You may enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard so that we may acknowledge receipt of your material.

  • Mail your manuscript to the address below using first class priority mail.

  • Award entries must be received between January 2 and March 1, 2016. You will be notified of the winner's and the judges' names no later than June 1, 2016. The decision of the judge is final.

  • The award winner will receive $500 in cash and publication  by Broadside Lotus Press within the first three months of 2017 as well as free copies and discounts.

  • Broadside Lotus Press reserves the right to declare no winner in any year that none of the manuscripts submitted is up to Broadside Lotus Press literary standards.

  • Failure to comply with these guidelines may cause your entry to be disqualified without notification.

  • If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email us for clarification.

  • Mail material to:

Broadside Lotus Press

Attn: Gloria House

8300 East Jefferson Avenue - #504

Detroit, MI 48214 

(313) 736-5338  

 broadsidelotus@gmail.com 

www.BroadsideLotusPress.org

When notified the winner is must be prepared to submit a digital manuscript upon request.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

OF THE

NAOMI LONG MADGETT POETRY AWARD

 

Adam David Miller, Forever Afternoon (1993).

Beverly V. Head, Walking North (1994).

Bruce A. Jacobs, Speaking Through My Skin (1995).

Bill Harris, Yardbird Suite, Side One: 1920-1940 (1996).

Claude Wilkinson, Reading the Earth (1997).

Ruth Ellen Kocher, Desdemona's Fire (1998).

Jerry Wemple, You Can See It from Here (1999).

James R. Whitley, Immersion (2000).

Peggy Ann Tartt, Among Bones (2001).

Monifa A. Love, Dreaming Underground (2002).

Mendi Lewis Obadike, Armor and Flesh (2003).

Anthony A. Lee, This Poem Means (2004).

Carolyn Beard Whitlow, Vanished (2005).

Remica L. Bingham, Conversion (2006).

Nagueyalti Warren, Margaret (2007).

Crystal Williams, Troubled Tongues (2008).

Edward Bruce Bynum, Chronicles of the Pig & Other Delusions (2009).

Carmen Gillespie, Jonestown: A Vexation (2010).

Sheila Carter-Jones, Three Birds Deep (2011).

Esperanza Cintrón, What Keeps Me Sane (2012).

Austin Alexis, Privacy Issues (2013)

R. Flowers Rivera, Heathen (2014)