The Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry 2011

Sandy CrimminsThe 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 2012 and publication in the Spring 2012 issue.
•    The second place winning poet will receive a $250 cash award and publication in the Spring 2012 issue.  
•    Two honorable-mention winning poets will receive publication in the Spring 2012 issue.

Contest Submission Guidelines:

1.    Submission period: June 1-December 15, 2011, midnight, Eastern Time.
NOW CLOSED. Check back after June 15, 2012 for details about the 2013 contest.
2.    Previously unpublished works of poetry (up to 5 pages).  
3.    Multiple submissions will be accepted for the contest only. Simultaneous submissions are also accepted, however, we must be notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.  
4.    Poets currently residing in or originally from the United States are eligible.   
5.    Submissions will only be accepted via the website.  
6.    There is a $10 reading fee for each submission.  
7.    All entrants will receive a complimentary one-year membership to Philadelphia Stories.

Major JacksonAbout the 2011 judge: Major Jackson is the author of two collections of poetry: Hoops (Norton: 2006) and Leaving Saturn (University of Georgia: 2002), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Hoops was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literature - Poetry. His third volume of poetry Holding Company is forthcoming from W.W. Norton. He is a recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress. He served as a creative arts fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and as the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence at University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Major Jackson is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at University of Vermont and a core faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars. He serves as the Poetry Editor of the Harvard Review.

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):

FIRST PLACE: Jeanann Verlee. Jeanann is a former punk rocker and author of Racing Hummingbirds,
which earned the Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal for
poetry. Jeanann wins the first place prize of $1,000, publication, and
an invitation to an awards event on May 20, 2012 at the Swedish Museum
in Philadelphia.


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.