Friends of Acadia Nature Poetry Competition

Established in 1998, the Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize is presented biannually
to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. The three top-ranked poems are awarded cash prizes, and will be published in the Friends of Acadia Journal (print and online).

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Poetry Competition:

First Prize
Elaine Zimmerman
Hamden, Connecticut
“Combing Out”

Second Prize
Sarah McCartt-Jackson
Lexington, Kentucky
“Kentucky Rose”

Third Prize
David Sloan
Brunswick, Maine
“Leaving”

 Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order):

“Gulch” by Sarah McCartt-Jackson of Lexington, KY

“Wind Shear” by Mary Elizabeth Parker of Greensboro, NC

“The Sky Broke with Blue Birds” by E. P. Schultz of Soldiers Grove, WI

“China by the Sea” by Richard Schiffman of New York, NY

“blue:” by Jeanie Tomasko of Middleton, WI

“Plate 345 Seaside Sparrow” by Jeanie Tomasko of Middleton, WI

“Jackdaws Turning” by Elaine Zimmerman of Hamden, CT

The competition was judged by Maine poet Jeffrey Thompson, author of three collections of poetry including Renovation, published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in 2005. His awards and honors include a Poetry Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, an Individual Artists Fellowship in the Literary Arts from the Maine Arts Commission, and the Academy of American Poets Prize. Jeffrey Thompson is on the faculty of the B.F.A. in Creative Writing program at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The next competition will be in 2012.

Guidelines: We will accept nature-based poems of 30 lines or fewer. Each author may submit only 3 poems for consideration. Entries must be original, unpublished, and not submitted elsewhere.

Please submit each poem in Times New Roman (default font), single-spaced, one poem per sheet of paper. Please include a cover sheet stating your name, address, and the titles of the poems you are submitting. Do not include your name on manuscript(s).

There is no fee to enter. Top-ranked poems will be published and awarded cash prizes.

Please send all entries formatted per guidelines to:

Editor, Friends of Acadia Journal
PO Box 45, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
or editor@friendsofacadia.org

If you have any questions about the Friends of Acadia Nature Poetry Competition, please contact editor@friendsofacadia.org or 207-288-3340.