Announcing the White Review Poet’s Prize 2019. The Poet’s Prize was founded in 2017 with support from Jerwood Charitable Foundation, and is for English-language poets who are at the crucial stage of creating their debut pamphlet or collection. The winning poet will receive a significant financial reward of £1700, expert, personalised professional and editorial advice, and publication of their entry in The White Review. The Prize is open to residents of the UK and Ireland.
The White Review Poet’s Prize only accepts entries of poetry portfolios (5 – 10 pages per portfolio), as opposed to single-poem entries.
The Poet’s Prize is also unique among UK poetry prizes in actively encouraging work which explores and expands the possibilities of the page-poetry form.
In its inaugural year the Prize was awarded to Lucy Mercer, whose portfolio was published in THE WHITE REVIEW No. 22. Last year the Prize was awarded to Charlotte Geater, whose portfolio was published in THE WHITE REVIEW No. 25.
The judges for the 2019 White Review Poet’s Prize are Rachael Allen, Kayo Chingonyi, and Ariana Reines.
An award ceremony will be held in London, in early December, to announce the winner.
The submission period is 6 September 2019 until 5.00pm on 7 November 2019.
THE JUDGES
Rachael Allen’s first collection of poems, KINGDOMLAND, is published by Faber & Faber. She is the co-author of a number of collaborative artists’ books, including Nights of Poor Sleep with Marie Jacotey, published by Prototype, and Almost One. Say Again! with JocJonJosch, published by Slimvolume. She hosts the Faber Poetry Podcast and is the poetry editor for Granta magazine and Granta books.
Kayo Chingonyi is poetry editor at THE WHITE REVIEW. He is a fellow of the Complete Works programme for diversity and quality in British Poetry and the author of two pamphlets, Some Bright Elegance (Salt, 2012) and The Colour of James Brown’s Scream (Akashic, 2016). His first full-length collection, Kumukanda, was published in June 2017 by Chatto & Windus. He was awarded the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and has completed residencies with Kingston University, Cove Park, First Story, The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, and Royal Holloway University of London in partnership with Counterpoints Arts. He was Associate Poet at the Institute of Contemporary Arts from Autumn 2015 to Spring 2016 and co-edited issue 62 of Magma Poetry and the Autumn 2016 edition of The Poetry Review. Kayo is also an emcee, producer, and DJ and regularly collaborates with musicians and composers both as a poet and a lyricist. He holds down a fortnightly show on Netil Radio called Keep It 100 which is a celebration of groove and feeling in music spanning from rockabilly ditties to afrobeats (with regular forays into R&B, Hip Hop, and House).
Ariana Reines is the author of five critically-acclaimed books and the Obie-winning play TELEPHONE. A SAND BOOK (Tin House: 2019) is her latest. She has created performances for the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim, Swiss Institute, Le Mouvement Biel/Bienne, and many others, has taught poetry at Columbia, NYU, Yale, UC Berkeley, & more, and teaches & performs regularly around the world. She astrologizes at www.lazyeyehaver.com.
HOW TO ENTER
Please first read all the terms and conditions below. Entries cost £12, or £20 with a copy of the latest The White Review. To enter, purchase a ‘Poet’s Prize Entry’ from our online store, and then email an attachment of the receipt, along with your submission as a PDF or word.doc, to poetry@thewhitereview.org, with the subject line ‘Poet’s Prize Submission’. Only entries with valid attached receipts will be considered.
There are also 50 free entries available to low income writers; if you are a low income writer and would like to apply for a free entry, please read the extra terms and conditions at the bottom of this page.
Link to Poet’s Prize Entry: https://thewhitereview.bigcartel.com/product/poet-s-prize-entry-2019
Email Submission: poetry@thewhitereview.org
TERMS OF ENTRY
1. The White Review Poet’s Prize will be open to all writers who have yet to publish a single-authored poetry collection or pamphlet (in any language), and who are residents of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
2. Poets who have published, or who have existing contracts for forthcoming, single-authored poetry collections or pamphlets are not eligible to enter.
3. Poets may only submit one entry each, written in English (no translations).
4. Poems submitted must not have been previously published, either online or in print.
5. Entries must be in the form of portfolios; a portfolio must contain between 5 – 10 pages of poetry. A ‘page’ contains a maximum of 42 lines (excluding the title). Each individual poem will appear on a new page. For example, a submission of 5 poems that each stood at 60 lines would total 10 pages; a submission of 10 poems that each stood at 42 lines would total 10 pages. Portfolios that are not between 5 – 10 pages of poetry will not be eligible.
6. Please include, on the first separate page of your submission, a cover letter which lists the titles of the poems in your submission, the number of poems in your submission, your name, your postal address, and your email address. Please do not provide any additional information about your work or biographical history. Entries must be sent in the following formats only: .pdf, .doc, .docx.
7. There is a £12 entry fee (£20 with an issue of The White Review). All proceeds go to The White Review (Charity Number: 1148690), which ‘specialises in the publication of artistically or educationally meritorious works of new or emerging artists and writers’, and will help to ensure the future viability of the Poet’s Prize.
8. Entrants must pay the entry fee of £12 (or £20 with an issue of The White Review) in order to be eligible, except for low-income entrants.
9. Entry fees and submissions must be made in the following manner: pay for an entry via The White Review’s online store; you will receive an email receipt once payment has been made; email your submission to poetry@thewhitereview.org and attach the email receipt.
10. Only submissions received and paid for by 17.00 (GMT) on 7th November 2019 will be considered.
11. Entries that are not paid for, incomplete, are corrupted or submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
12. The entry must be the entrant’s own original creation and must not infringe upon the right or copyright of any person or entity.
13. Writers who have published books of prose (fiction or nonfiction) are eligible to enter.
14. Extracts from the shortlisted portfolios will be published online, on The White Review website.
15. The winning entry will be published in a print issue of THE WHITE REVIEW.
16. The winning poet will receive a cash prize of £1700, to be paid in full no later than 90 days after the awarding of the prize.
17. The winning poet will receive creative feedback on their work.
18. Shortlisted entrants will be notified by email when they have made the list.
19. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted.
20. No editorial feedback will be provided to unsuccessful entrants.
21. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.
22. The White Review will have the exclusive right to publish the winning and shortlisted portfolios for eight months from first publication in The White Review. After eight months, the rights will revert to the authors, who may publish the poems elsewhere so long as they appropriately credit The White Review.
23. Only submissions which meet all Terms and Conditions will be considered.
24. By entering this competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
FREE ENTRY FOR LOW INCOME WRITERS
The White Review is offering free entry to the Poet’s Prize for 50 low income writers. If you are a low income writer and would like to apply for free entry, please follow the below application guidelines. We will receive applications for free entries for 3 weeks, from Friday 6 September 2019 until Friday 27 September 2019. The White Review will grant eligible applicants free entry on a first come first-served basis.
FREE ENTRY TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Free entry for the White Review Poet’s Prize is offered to UK-based writers who are on a low income – for example receiving benefits such as Job Seeker’s Allowance, Working Tax Credits, Universal Credit, Disability Living Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance or those who are earning less than the National Living Wage of £8.21 per hour.
To apply, email poetry@thewhitereview.org, with the email subject line ‘Poet’s Prize Free Entry Application’. In the body of the email, please include:
¥ Your full name
¥ Your email address
¥ Your postal address
¥ A short written statement describing how you are eligible
Applications for free entries will be open for 3 weeks, from Friday 6 September 2019 until Friday 27 September 2019 at 5.00pm. Eligible applicants will be granted free entry on a first-come first-served basis; all applicants will be informed whether or not their applications are successful by the end of Friday 27 September 2019. Any application submitted before the opening date or after the closing date will not be read.
Only one free entry will be granted per applicant.
Applicants must wait to see if their application is successful before entering the Poet’s Prize; The White Review will not grant refunds on already paid-for entries.
All entries will be judged in the same, anonymous way. The White Review Poet’s Prize terms and conditions apply to both paid-for and free entries.
We are grateful to Spread The Word for inspiring and helping to provide the guidelines for this free entry offer to low income writers.
