The 2021 James Ligon (JL) Price III Memorial Prize in Poetry contest is now receiving submissions through Nov. 15. The JL Price is an annual poetry contest held during each fall semester with winners announced during the Moving-Up Day, a SLU tradition that celebrates remarkable student achievements in academics and co-curricular activities, held in-person every spring.
Writing about the contest, Associate Professor of Poetry, Sarah Barber describes the Price Poetry Contest as “a wonderful opportunity for young writers to submit their work for recognition. It is sponsored by the family of James Ligon Price III in that student’s memory, so it’s a wonderful way to honor him.”
Moreover, the contest is co-sponsored by the Academy of Poets in New York City, and therefore, the winning selections are submitted to their college prizes as well, in what Barber calls “a double opportunity.”
“We have had winners both from students who have taken courses in creative writing and students who never have, which is wonderful,” Barber explains. “Since all submissions are reviewed blindly, often I only know the winning poem, and I don’t usually know much about the winning writer. There is so much talent amongst our student body!” This may come as a relief to students who may want to be divorced from their work.
The rules are simple, SLU students hoping to enter the contest should submit one to three poems in a sealed envelope to Mary Ann in Richardson 102. Students should attach a cover sheet indicating the title(s) of the submitted poem(s), the author’s name, email and an on-campus mailbox number. “It’s important to be sure that there is no identifying information on or in the poems themselves,” stresses Barber.
When asked about the kind of submissions expected, Barber responds, “All kinds of poems on all kinds of subjects are welcome this year and every year! Short, long, experimental, formal, prose poems—you name it, we just want to see your best work.”
So what happens after Nov. 15? Submitted poems will be judged by J. Drew Lanham, an award winning poet and environmentalist. J. Drew Lanham is also the Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department at Clemson University. His memoir, “The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature,” won the 2017 Southern Book Prize, and the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Come Moving Up day (Sunday, April 30, 2022), winners will be announced with the first place receiving a cash award and a one-year membership in the Academy of American Poets (AAP). The first and the second runner up will also get cash awards.
“While we can’t respond to submissions, sharing your work with someone else is an important step for young writers to take that can also be a bit scary the first few times. But you have to do it in order to publish, so this is a great, low-stakes way to try out submitting your work—just like the Laurentian Magazine, which is another place I encourage writers to submit!” Barber advises.
More information can be found on Presence (https://stlawu.presence.io/)