The Waywiser Press is now accepting submissions of poetry manuscripts for the tenth annual Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize.

Collections may be submitted online (in which case the deadline is midnight on December 1st 2014) or by post (in which case the postmark deadline is December 1st 2014).

The Winner Receives

1) £1,750 or US$3,000, paid in May 2015.

2) Publication of the winning manuscript by Waywiser both in the UK and in the USA in the autumn of 2015.

3) A reading with the judge at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., in autumn 2015.

Eligibility

1)     Entrants should be at least 18 years of age.

2)     Entrants should not have published more than one full-length previous collection of poems, though they may have published an unlimited number of books belonging to other genres.

3)     Individual poems from the collection may have been published in: (a) magazines, journals, or anthologies; (b) chapbooks and pamphlets of 36 pages or less (the count to include poems and exclude back and front matter); or (c) self-published items of 32 pages or less (the count to include poems and exclude back and front matter).

4)     Nobody who has a book published by or forthcoming from Waywiser may enter.

5)     Manuscripts should be in English, and the original work of the entrant, though as much as one sixth of the manuscript may consist of public domain translations (i.e. translations from poems whose authors have been dead for 70+ years). 

6)     Entrants submitting hard copies of their manuscripts should be able to send the press a digital copy (in Doc, Docx or PDF format) if and when requested to do so.

7)     Entrants who reach the semi-finals of the contest should be able to send the press a hard copy of their manuscript (a second hard copy in the case of those entrants who have submitted by post), and this copy, stripped of anything that would identify the author, should otherwise correspond in every particular to the original.

8)     Entrants should be willing to read from their collections at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., in autumn 2015, if they are chosen as the winner.

 

Judging

The final judge’s decision will be made known in April or May 2015, and the news will be posted on this website at that time.

Guidelines

(i) Format

1)     Manuscripts should be a minimum of 48 and a maximum of 88 pages (the count to include poems and exclude back and front matter). 

2)     Manuscripts should be typed or word-processed – preferably in 11-point type – on standard paper.

3)    Pages should be numbered consecutively, and a table of contents, as well as a list of acknowledgements (where appropriate), should be included.

4)     The author’s name and contact details (i.e. physical address, phone number and email address) should appear on the front page of the manuscript.

5)     No illustrative material should be sent.

6)     A list of previous poetry book, chapbook or pamphlet publications should be included, and with it a list of the magazines in which you have had poems published.

7)     Entrants may submit a manuscript elsewhere simultaneously, but should immediately notify Waywiser of its withdrawal from the competition if it is accepted for publication by another organization. 

8)     Once submitted, a manuscript may not be altered, though the winner of the prize will be given the opportunity to revise before publication.

9)     Waywiser cannot accept responsibility for missing submissions. 

10)    If the judge is not satisfied that a high-enough standard has been met, the press reserves the right not to award the prize in a particular year.

 

The decision of the judge is final.

Submission of a manuscript will be deemed to constitute acceptance of
all of the provisions set out above.

 

 

(ii) Entry Fee

1)    Online submission: US $27, or the equivalent in whatever currency your card draws on. (Please note that the difference between this and the postal submission fee shown below is to cover the online submission administration costs.)

2)    Postal submission: £15 or US $25

(iii) Submission Procedure

(a) Online

1)    Manuscripts should be submitted by midnight on December 1st 2014.

2)    Only single file submissions can be accepted, so if your manuscript is stored in multiple files, they will need to be amalgamated.

3)    We can accept files in three different formats: Doc, Docx and PDF. Please do not lock the file you submit (i.e. make it impossible for us to print or cut and paste from it).

4)    You will need to have your credit or debit card or PayPal account details ready, since you will only be allowed to submit after the entry fee has been paid.

5)    When you are ready to upload your manuscript, please click on the link below:

  Submit to The Tenth Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize 

6)     If you wish to withdraw your manuscript for any reason, please contact us directly rather than using the submission manager. Fees cannot be refunded.

 

(b) Postal 

1) Please complete the entry form (see below for instructions on how to obtain this), combine it with your stamped self-addressed postcard and/or envelope (if desired), your manuscript and a cheque for your entry fee made payable to THE WAYWISER PRESS. You should post everything to one of the two addresses shown below. As stated above, the postmark deadline for submissions is December 1st 2012, and no late entries will be accepted.

Residents of the UK and all other non-USA residents should send to:

The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize, The Waywiser Press, 29A, Carr Hill Road, Upper Cumberworth, Huddersfield, HD8 8NW, UK.

Residents of the USA should send to:

The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize, The Waywiser Press, P.O. Box 6205, Baltimore, MD 21206, USA. 

2)    Manuscripts should be bound with a spring- or bulldog-clip (no paperclips or staples, please, and no folders, files or boxes).

3)    If you would like notification of receipt of entry, please include a stamped self-addressed postcard with the words “Hecht Prize: Entry Received” appropriately entered.

4)    If you would like notification of the results, please include a stamped self-addressed envelope. 

5)    Manuscripts cannot be returned. As a result, we strongly advise all entrants to keep a copy of their submission.