Friends of Acadia Nature Poetry Prize

“The future of this world lies in the relationship we have with it. Poetry helps develop an understanding and appreciation of—and a connection with—the world around us.”
—Kate Barnes, former Maine Poet Laureate

Submissions are invited for the 2012 FRIENDS OF ACADIA POETRY PRIZE

Established in 1998, the Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize is awarded biannually to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. Three winning poems will be published in the Friends of Acadia Journal (print and online), and awarded prizes by category:
1st place–$350
2nd place–$250
3rd place–$150

GUIDELINES:
Submit up to 3 nature-based poems, each of 30 lines or fewer. Entries must be original and unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are permitted; please notify us immediately if a poem is accepted for publication elsewhere. There is no fee to enter. Postmark deadline: January 30, 2012

Format: Submit each poem on a separate page. Include a cover sheet with your name, address, and the titles of the poems you are submitting. Do not include your name on manuscript(s).

For notification of results, include a business-sized SASE. Manuscripts will not be returned.

If you wish to receive a copy of the Friends of Acadia Journal in which the 1st place poem is published, include a self-addressed envelope, at least 9” x 12”, with $2.00 postage attached. (This is in addition to a business-sized SASE for notification.)

Please send all entries to:
Editor, Friends of Acadia Journal
PO Box 45, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
or editor@friendsofacadia.org

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.