The 2014 Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition is open for submissions

Press release

The 2014 Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition is now open for submissions. This contest awards the first-place winner $200 and publication in storySouth.

The 2014 Randall Jarrell Competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Submissions should be one poem only (40-line limit). The contest deadline is March 1.

The final judge is Jillian Weise, author of The Book of Goodbyes (BOA Editions, 2013), which received the 2013 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, which recognizes a superior second book of poetry by an American poet. Her debut poetry collection, The Amputee’s Guide to S*x, was published by Soft Skull Press in 2007. Weise is also the author of the novel The Colony (Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press, 2010). Her other honors include a Fulbright Fellowship and the 2013 Isabella Gardner Poetry Award from BOA Editions. She teaches at Clemson University and lives in Greenville, South Carolina.

storySouth is an online literary journal dedicated to showcasing the best poetry (and fiction and creative nonfiction) that writers from the “new south” have to offer. Facilitated by the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at UNCG, storySouth aims to prove that “the internet is not just a medium of flash and style; that excellent writing can attract attention without programming gimmicks and hard-to-read fonts.” storySouth believes the American South today is a “mix of traditional and new, regional and international.” Published poets include Cathy Smith Bowers, Al Maginnes, Dannye Romine Powell, and Elizabeth Swann.

This competition honors the work and legacy of the poet and critic Randall Jarrell, who taught at what is now UNCG for nearly eighteen years. The competition is administered by Terry L. Kennedy and the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at UNCG.

Alan Michael Parker won the 2013 Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition for his poem, “The Ladder.” Joseph Mills, Katherine Soniat, and Ross White received honorable mentions. All four finalists were published by storySouth in a supplemental section of the journal.

Here are the complete guidelines:

The competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
The contest deadline is March 1.
Submissions should be one poem only (40-line limit).
Poem must be typed (single-spaced) and stapled in the left-hand corner.
Author’s name should not appear on the poem. Instead, include a separate cover sheet with author’s name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and poem title.
Poem will not be returned. Include a self- addressed stamped envelope for a list of winner and finalists. The winner and finalists will be announced in May.
An entry fee must accompany the poem. Multiple submissions are accepted, one poem per entry fee: $10 for NCWN members, $15 for nonmembers.
You may pay member entry fee if you join NCWN with your submission. Checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
Send submissions to:
Terry L. Kennedy
MFA Writing Program
3302 MHRA Building
UNC Greensboro
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.