Good news for poetry lovers. You now have another few weeks to submit your original poetry as part of the Village of Great Neck Plaza’s fifth Annual Poetry Contest. The Village of Great Neck Plaza, in conjunction with Long Island Traditions and Poetry Coordinator Carolyn Raphael, has extended the deadline for submitting poetry until Saturday, Feb. 28. Poetry entries must be postmarked by Jan. 28, to the Village of Great Neck Plaza, 2 Gussack Plaza, PO Box 440, Great Neck, NY 11022, Attn: Poetry Contest. Note, this is a change from the original Jan. 31 deadline.
Poetry submissions can also be submitted in person at Village Hall during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. There is also a one-time entry fee of $15 (nonrefundable), payable to Long Island Traditions, which must be included with any material submitted. Poets 18 years of age or older from Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn and Queens counties are invited to submit up to three original unpublished poems as part of the contest. Poems must be single-spaced and typed, with one poem per page. Poetry contestants may submit poems on whatever subject and style desired, as long as each poem does not go above a 30-line maximum. Each poem should have a title as well. Contestants should 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, should be included when submitting any entry.
The judge will be Joshua Mehigan, a prize-winning poet whose first book, The Optimist (Ohio, UP), won the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize. His second book, Accepting the Disaster, was published this July by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. His poems have appeared in many periodicals including The Paris Review, The New Yorker and Poetry.
Winners of the poetry contest will be announced on the village’s website, www.greatneckplaza.net, Tuesday, March 31. An Awards Day reading will take place on Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m., at the Great Neck Plaza courtroom. 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 place winner will receive $50 and a five-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 waiting room. Honorable mention poems will be posted for two weeks at the aforementioned locations.
For any additional information, contact Carolyn Raphael, poetry coordinator, gnppoetry@yahoo.com, or Brian Hetey, mayorsassistant@greatneckplaza.net.
