The Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry is a national poetry contest made possible by the generous support of Joseph Sullivan. The prizes are as follows:
• The first-place winning poet will receive a $1,000 cash award, an invitation to an awards event in Philadelphia in Spring 2013 and publication.
• The second place winning poet will receive a $250 cash award and publication.
• Two honorable-mention winning poets will receive publication.
Click HERE for a press release about the 2013 winners of the contest.
Contest Submission Guidelines:
1. Submission period for 2014: TBA
2. We will only consider work previously unpublished in print or online.
3. There is a $10 reading fee for every submission.
4. Simultaneous submissions are also accepted, however, we must be notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
5. Poets currently residing in the United States are eligible.
6. Submissions will be accepted via the website. If you have any trouble uploading to the site, please email christine@philadelphiastories.org.
7. We will accept up to five pages of poetry. You may submit one 5-page poem, five 1-page poems, or any other combination within the five-page restriction. No more than one poem per page.
8. All submissions should use a 12 pt font and standard typeface (not Comic Sans or Impact, etc.). Author's name should appear on each page.
9. You may enter multiple submissions of up to five pages for the additional fee of $10 per submission.
10. All entrants will receive a complimentary one-year membership to Philadelphia Stories.
2013 Winners
Debora FriesFirst place: Debora Fries’ “Marie in America.” Debora receives a $1,000 cash award, an invitation to our happy hour PARTY LIKE A POET event April 19, 2013 at the Center for Architecture in Philadelphia, and publication in the Spring 2013 issue. Poetry Editor Courtney Bambrick calls the winning poem "an evocative and transformative piece that exemplifies a commitment to storytelling through image and momentum."
Second place: Kelly Andrews’ “Asterism.” Kelly receives a $250 cash award and publication in the Spring 2013 issue.
Three honorable-mention winning poets receive publication in the Spring 2013 issue. These are: Debora Gossett Rivers, Amy Small-McKinney, and Nissa Lee.
Dottie LaskyAbout the 2013 Judge: Dorothea Lasky is the author of three full-length collections of poetry: Thunderbird (forthcoming, Wave Books, 2012), Black Life (Wave Books, 2010), and AWE (Wave Books, 2007). She is also the author of six chapbooks. Born in St. Louis, her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Columbia Poetry Review, among other places. She is a graduate of the MFA program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and also has been educated at Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and Washington University. She has taught poetry at New York University, Wesleyan University, Columbia University, Fashion Institute of Technology, Heath Elementary School, and Munroe Center for the Arts.
About Sandy Crimmins
Sandy Crimmins served on the Philadelphia Stories board from 2005 to 2007. Sandy was a poet who performed with musicians, dancers and fire-eaters at bars, bookstores and festivals. After earning a master’s in fine arts from the University of Ohio, Sandy moved to New York and became a stage manager for several theaters, and, in 1985, married Joseph Sullivan. Four years later, she earned a master's in nonprofit management from the University of Detroit. She, her husband and their two sons moved to West Mount Airy in 1989, and she began to write poetry and fiction focused on family issues. Her short stories and poems were published in a variety of journals, and her book, String Theory, was published by Plan B Press.
About the 2012 Winners (read a full release HERE):
Jeanann VerleeFIRST PLACE: Jeanann is a former punk rocker and author of Racing Hummingbirds, which earned the Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal for poetry.
SECOND PLACE: Steven Harbold. Steven is a writer and editor living in South Jersey. He is a graduate of Rowan University. Steven wins the second place prize of $250 and publication.
HONARABLE MENTION: Alexander Long. Alexander’s third book, Still Life, won the 2011 White Pine Press Poetry Prize.
The winning poems, judged by poet Major Jackson, appeared in the Spring 2012 issue of Philadelphia Stories.
Click here to see a slideshow from the 2012 awards celebration.
Philadelphia Stories magazine gives the Crimmins contest deadline as November 1, while your website says November 15. Trying to verify if submissions can be made until November 15. Thanks.
We extended the deadline until November 15, midnight, ET.
Philadelphia Stories magazine gives the Crimmins contest deadline as November 1, while your website says November 15. Trying to verify if submissions can be made until November 15. Thanks.
how do you submit if you do not have a paypal account ?
Same answer applied to 2013 contest: If you do not have a PayPal account, please email your poem to christine@philadelphiastories.org and mail your check to: Philadelphia Stories, 93 Old York Road, Ste 1/#1-753, Jenkintown PA 19046 (Deadline: 11/15/12, midnight, ET). Thanks!
Do online blogs count as being published? Must I take them down before submitting?
Yes, blogs online count as being "published." We expect the work we include in our magazine (including work that wins contests) to be completely new to our public. A password-protected or private group would be a different story - depending on the size and scope of the group.
Thank you for your question!
I'm a writer of both prose and poetry, trying to decide what I should submit. If I were to sign up for the poetry contest, would that prohibit me from also sending a short story to Philadelphia Stories for the general submissions? Would that be considered multiple submissions? I'd really like to do both. Please let me know as soon as possible. I'm itching to send something, haha.
You are welcome to simultaneously submit to the magazine as well as the contest.
1. Aside from the restriction of "no more than 3 poems, not to exceed 36 lines each," do all other general submissions guidelines apply -- (12 point font, double-spaced, filled-out submissions form, etc.)? And would you like us to write a title page for each individual poem (that would not be included in the page count -- e.g., five poems, one-page each, plus five title pages (for a total of 10 pages)?
2. If a poem runs a few lines onto a second page, and we wish to submit another poem (that is separate/unrelated to the previous one), do you prefer that we start on a fresh page, or can we use the blank space left on that hypothetical second page to begin the next poem?
3. For the question "how many words, pages or lines," which would you like us to answer? Number of lines or words? Or are we able to write "five poems / five pages" or "four poems / five pages"?
Thanks!
1. Yes -- the other submission guidelines apply -- BUT poems can always be single spaced. You would submit one title page for the whole submission.
2. Start a new poem on a new page -- we would end up moving the poem onto its own page anyway so that we could read it on its own.
3. Lines, but that is for general submissions and isn't applicable to this contest.
Thank you for your inquiry -- hope this helped!
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