THE GATEWOOD PRIZE

(This news courtesy of Rhonda Browning White)

***There are important changes to our contest this year. Please read the new guidelines carefully.***

The Gatewood Prize is Switchback Books' annual competition for a first or second full-length (48-80 pp.) collection of poems by a woman writing in the English language. It is named after Emma Gatewood, the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.

JUDGE: Cathy Park Hong

CATHY PARK HONG's first book, Translating Mo'um, was published in 2002 by Hanging Loose Press. Her second collection, Dance Dance Revolution, was chosen for the Barnard Women Poets Prize and was published in 2007 by W.W. Norton. Hong is also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Her poems have been published in A Public Space, Paris Review,Poetry, American Letters & Commentary, Denver Quarterly, Jubilat, and other journals, and she has reported for the Village Voice,The Guardian, Salon, and Christian Science Monitor. She now lives in New York City and is an Assistant Professor at Sarah Lawrence College.

READING PERIOD: March 1 - June 1, 2010

GENERAL TERMS:

Poet must be a woman; our definition of "woman" is broad and includes transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, and female-identified individuals.

Entry fee of $15 must accompany each submission; scroll down for PayPal button under "Payment."

We no longer accept cash, check, or money orders.

Multiple submissions are acceptable, but each manuscript must be entered under separate cover and fee.

You must let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted by another publisher while under our consideration.

No revisions to submitted manuscripts will be considered; the winning manuscript may be revised before publication.

Translations ineligible.

Manuscripts by close friends and former students of the judge are ineligible. If the judge would recognize your manuscript for any reason, please wait until next year to enter the contest.

Co-written collections are eligible provided both poets meet all eligibility requirements.

Submissions will be read by Switchback editors and staff members. We will select ten manuscripts to send on to the judge, who will choose the final winner.

Manuscripts remain anonymous until a winner is selected. Please remove any identifying references from your manuscript (including those in the body of the manuscript).


Entries that do not meet these terms may be disqualified. Please email becca [at] switchbackbooks [dot] com with any questions.


MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS:

Manuscripts should be between 48 and 80 pages, paginated.

Please include a cover page with ONLY the title of the manuscript.

No acknowledgments page.


NOTIFICATION:

You will be notified of the winner and finalists of the contest via email.


PAYMENT:

Please submit your $15 entry fee via PayPal here:
http://www.switchbackbooks.com/contest.html


SUBMISSION FORMAT:

Create an account at ManuscriptHub (http://www.manuscripthub.com/users/index.php) and upload your manuscript in .PDF (preferred) or .DOC format. Find Switchback Books among the listed venues and choose to submit to the Gatewood Prize.

***Please note: There is a $2 handling fee for using ManuscriptHub. This fee is separate from our contest fee, and is payable to the good folks who run the ManuscriptHub system.

DEADLINE: Manuscripts will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. on June 1st, 2010.


We strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with our aesthetics before submitting a manuscript to our contest. You can do this by reading sample poems on our website, or checking out the work of previous contest winners and finalists:

http://www.switchbackbooks.com/contest.html