Poetry Competition: The Kenneth and Geraldine Gell Poetry Prize

The Kenneth and Geraldine Gell Poetry Prize is awarded annually by Writers & Books for an outstanding unpublished book-length collection of poetry. The poet will receive an honorarium of $1000, publication of the collection (in paperback, in the fall following the award, with Big Pencil Press), and a one-week fellowship at the Gell Center of the Finger Lakes. This year, the final judge will be Cornelius Eady.

Eligibility: Open to poets who are citizens or legal residents of the United States, are at least 18 years of age, and are not employees or relatives of employees of Writers & Books, Inc.

Guidelines:
• Manuscripts must be postmarked December 1, to January 31, 2015. Any manuscripts mailed outside of that period cannot be accepted.
• Manuscripts cannot be accepted by email.
• Submit a book-length manuscript of poems (no illustrations), 50 to 100 pages in length.
• Download the entry form from www.wab.org, fill it out, and attach it to your manuscript. To receive an entry form by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Writers & Books at the address below.
• Manuscripts must be the author’s own original work. No translations, please.
• Include an entry fee of $25 (non-refundable) by check or money order payable to Writers & Books. If you send more than one manuscript, each must be accompanied by a separate entry form and a separate check.
• As work will be judged anonymously, each manuscript must include two cover pages. The first must have the book’s title, author’s name, and all the author’s contact information. The second must have the book title only, with no author’s name and no contact information. Do not include a bio note, or any other feature that might include the author’s real name or pen name.
• Format: Use regular white 8 ½ X 11” paper, black ink, with font of 11- or 12- points. One poem per page. Absolutely no handwritten manuscripts will be accepted.
• You must notify Writers & Books immediately by phone or by mail if your manuscript wins another competition, or is accepted for publication elsewhere.
• Poems in your manuscript may have been published in magazines, journals, on line, in anthologies, or in a chapbook. But the manuscript as a whole must be unpublished as a single book. Previously self-published books are not eligible.
• Winner will be notified not later than April 7, 2015.
• Include a self-addressed, stamped postcard if you want to be assured that the manuscript has been received.
• Include a self-addressed, stamped No. 10 business envelope if you want to receive contest winner notification.
• Once a book has been sent, do not send changes or new pages for insertion. If your manuscript wins, you will have a chance to make changes before publication.
• Manuscripts will not be returned; do not send postage stamps or mailer for the return of a manuscript.
• The foregoing information is the complete listed guidelines. Do not call Writers & Books for further information.

Send manuscript, check, and entry form to:

Gell Prize
Writers & Books
740 University Ave.,
Rochester, NY 14607