Text and Community Poetry Contest

Two First Prizes available:

publication and $100 for the best undergraduate poem
$100 for the best graduate poem

Louise Glück will be the final judge. Poems should respond directly to the poems in The Wild Iris, for instance, you might write a poem that is a dramatic monologue, whether or not the speaker is a flower, a gardener, or a god. You might write a poem whose tone derives from the direct confrontational tone of some of Glück's poems. You might write a poem in the form of a hymn or a prayer, a matin, a vesper, or a poem spoken at one of the other canonical hours. You might write a poem that uses the natural world as a means of meditating upon an idea. These are just some suggestions. It is not necessary in your poem to imitate everything about Glück's poems. The object is not parody. You should write an original, personal poem in the mode of the poems in The Wild Iris.

The poem should be no more than 50 lines in length. Beyond this, there are no formal guidelines or suggestions. All entries should be typed, single-spaced on 8 x 11 paper. Put your name, current address, phone number, email address, and whether you are a graduate or undergraduate student in the upper right hand corner of your poem. One poem per student.

Submissions deadline is 4:30 p.m. on April 7, 2000.

Please bring the poem to English Department Office
A487 Robinson Hall.

Text and Community is a program of the English Department at George Mason University. Text and Community web site is sponsored and created by the New Media Group in English.