SPRING 2020 POETRY CONTEST FOR NORTHEAST OHIO WRITERS
The deadline for the Spring 2020 Poetry Contest for Northeast Ohio Writers has been extended to April 15, 2020.
Please read on for important information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please read on for important information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Update 3/30/20: While we plan to publish Issue 6 of Gordon Square Review and hold our Spring 2020 Poetry Contest for Northeast Ohio Writers as planned, we're aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our local literary community. We stand in solidarity with our local writers, literary organizations, and independent bookstores, and we plan to continue championing literature while also recognizing that many writers are not in a position to pay contest fees right now. In order to support local writers experiencing hardship due to the pandemic, we're offering a limited amount of fee-free entries for the Spring 2020 Poetry Contest for Northeast Ohio Writers.
To apply, please email gordonsquarereview@gmail.com with a brief description of why you're seeking a fee-free entry. Please do not email your entry; if you qualify, you will receive additional submission instructions from a Gordon Square Review editor. Requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to availability. All fee-free entries will be read blind and are subject to the same guidelines as regular entries. Writers must live in, be from, or have a strong connection to Northeast Ohio to be eligible.
Please read the full contest guidelines below. Most of all, stay safe and healthy. We hope to raise a glass with you in the future to celebrate our writers and the resilience of our literary community.
Final Judge: Kisha Nicole Foster
Gordon Square Review is pleased to announce the 2020 Poetry Contest for Northeast Ohio writers. Submit up to three poems of any length with an $8 entry fee. The winner will receive $250, publication in Issue 6 of Gordon Square Review, an invitation to read at the Issue 6 launch party, and a voucher for a free Literary Cleveland class or workshop. One runner-up will also be selected for publication and invited to read at the Issue 6 launch party. Entries open on January 15, 2020, and the contest deadline has been extended to April 15, 2020.
Our annual Fall Prose Contest for Northeast Ohio Writers will open for entries on July 15, 2020, with a deadline of October 1, 2020. Please check back then for details surrounding the Prose Contest.
SPRING 2020 POETRY CONTEST FOR NEOHIO WRITERS GUIDELINES
Gordon Square Review is pleased to announce the 2020 Poetry Contest for Northeast Ohio writers. Submit up to three poems of any length with an $8 entry fee. The winner will receive $250, publication in Issue 6 of Gordon Square Review, an invitation to read at the Issue 6 launch party, and a voucher for a free Literary Cleveland class or workshop. One runner-up will also be selected for publication and invited to read at the Issue 6 launch party. Entries open on January 15, 2020, and the contest deadline has been extended to April 15, 2020.
Our annual Fall Prose Contest for Northeast Ohio Writers will open for entries on July 15, 2020, with a deadline of October 1, 2020. Please check back then for details surrounding the Prose Contest.
SPRING 2020 POETRY CONTEST FOR NEOHIO WRITERS GUIDELINES
- To be eligible, writers must reside in Northeast Ohio—that includes the Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Youngstown, Kent, and Lorain areas—or must have a strong previous tie Northeast Ohio. Please note your location (or an explanation of your connection to Northeast Ohio—that you lived or studied here previously, etc.) in your cover letter.
- Contest entries will be read blind. Please do not include your name or any identifying information anywhere on the document or in the document file name. (It is acceptable to include your name/personal information in your cover letter.)
- The fee for each entry is $8. All entries will be also considered for publication.
- Contest entries must be previously unpublished in either print or online venues, including personal blogs.
- Entries may consist of up to three poems of any length submitted within a single document. Prose poetry and hybrid work is welcome. Writers may submit more than one entry, but a separate fee is required for each entry.
- Writers are welcome to make a separate general submission in addition to a contest entry. There is no need to submit the same writing to both the contest and the general submission pool, as all contest entries will be considered for publication. The editors will individually notify any contest entrants selected for general publication.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but we ask that you withdraw your work immediately through Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere. Entry fees will not be refunded in the event of a withdrawal.
- All entries must be submitted via Submittable. Print or emailed entries will not be accepted. Entry fees are nonrefundable.
- The winner will receive $250, publication in Gordon Square Review, promotion through Literary Cleveland’s channels, and a voucher for one Literary Cleveland class or workshop. Vouchers are non-transferrable and must be used within one year.
- Gordon Square Review editors will read submissions blind and select finalists to send to the judge, who will decide the winner and runner-up. Writers with a close personal or professional relationship with the judge (such as current or past students) are not eligible.
- Entries open on January 15, 2020. The contest deadline is April 15, 2020. Results will be announced in May 2020.
Final Judge: Kisha Nicole Foster
Kisha Nicole Foster is a mother, poet, and an arts administrator. Foster is the recipient of the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize for Emerging Artist in Literature. She is the author of Poems: 1999-2014 and Bloodwork. Foster is also in her fourth year as Regional Coordinator for Poetry Out Loud, a program of The Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, sponsored through The Ohio Arts Council. She is a two-time Pink Door Fellow, and currently the Literary Cleveland Fellow/Cleveland Stories program coordinator. Foster was commissioned to craft a poem for the Tamir Rice Foundation and their event, “Arts, Activism, and Legacy,” at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and The Soul of Philanthropy Cleveland Closing Celebration at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Foster, a senior at Cleveland State University, uses her locution as a conduit towards healing and fostering truth within language. She is a fan of a good documentary.
Kisha Nicole Foster is a mother, poet, and an arts administrator. Foster is the recipient of the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize for Emerging Artist in Literature. She is the author of Poems: 1999-2014 and Bloodwork. Foster is also in her fourth year as Regional Coordinator for Poetry Out Loud, a program of The Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, sponsored through The Ohio Arts Council. She is a two-time Pink Door Fellow, and currently the Literary Cleveland Fellow/Cleveland Stories program coordinator. Foster was commissioned to craft a poem for the Tamir Rice Foundation and their event, “Arts, Activism, and Legacy,” at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and The Soul of Philanthropy Cleveland Closing Celebration at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Foster, a senior at Cleveland State University, uses her locution as a conduit towards healing and fostering truth within language. She is a fan of a good documentary.
* * *
