VGNP Sixth Annual Poetry Contest Rules Announced
Poetry lovers, rejoice! The rules and dates for submission for the Village’s 6th Annual Poetry Contest are finally here! Starting immediately, residents 18 years of age and above from Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn, are invited to submit up to three unpublished poems, along with an entry fee, non-refundable, of $15. The entry fee can be payable by check or money order to Long Island Traditions. The poems may be on any subject, in any style, must have a title, and must not exceed more than 30 lines per poem. We also ask that poets type their poems in a single-space format. Additionally, poets must include two copies of each poem, one anonymous and one with the poet’s name and address below the poem. A cover sheet listing the poet’s name, address, phone number and email address, and title of each poem, must be included as well when submitting an entry.
Winners of the 6th Annual Poetry Contest will be announced on the Village’s website (click here) on March 31, 2016. An Awards Day reading will take place on Sunday, April 17, 2016, at 2 p.m., at the Great Neck Plaza court room. The first prize winner will receive $150 and a 20-minute reading at Awards Day, second prize winner will receive $75 and a 10-minute reading, and the third prize winner will receive $50 and a 5-minute reading. There will also be two awards for Honorable Mention; these poets will be invited to read their poems as well. Additionally, each of the three winning poems will be posted for one month on seven secure outdoor village sign posts, on the bulletin board in Village Hall, and in the waiting room of the Great Neck LIRR station. Honorable Mention poems will be posted for two weeks at the aforementioned locations.
This year’s judge will be George Held, a prolific poet and popular reader of his work. He is a retired Queens College English professor and was a Fullbright lecturer in Czechoslovakia. Author of poems, translations, stories, and book review, he has published in the New York Quarterly, Commonweal Confrontation, Review, among others. He had poems included in over three dozed anthologies. His twentieth poetry collection, Neighbors; The Water Critters, was published by Filsinger & Co. in 2015.
For additional information regarding the Village’s 6th Annual Poetry Contest, please feel free to contact Carolyn Raphael, poetry contest coordinator, via email, gnppoetry@yahoo.com, or Village Hall, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., at (516) 482-4500.
