Submissions are currently closed. The annual reading period for this series is March 1 – April 15.
Last year’s guest judge, Judith Barrington, selected the co-winners of the 2011 Robin Becker Chapbook Prize: Ellen Goldberg’s chapbook, Each Perfect One, and D. Gilson’s Catch & Release will be published this spring as #7 and #8 in the Robin Becker Chapbook Series. Thanks to everyone who entered work and helped spread the word about this series. We couldn’t do this without you.
2012-13 Guidelines:
SEVEN KITCHENS PRESS announces the 2012 ROBIN BECKER CHAPBOOK PRIZE for an original, unpublished poetry manuscript in English by a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered or Queer writer.
Prize: 50 copies (a $350 value).
Submission deadline: Postmarked between March 1 and April15, 2012.
Eligibility: Open to all L/G/B/T/Q poets writing in English (no translations, please).
Please note: Two manuscripts will be selected as co-winners: one by a writer with no previous book or chapbook, and one by a writer with previous book or chapbook publication.
Please read the guidelines carefully; the complete guidelines are posted on the Seven Kitchens site and we are not responsible for other versions of the guidelines that may be posted, in whole or in part, elsewhere.
COMPLETE GUIDELINES:
Any poet who identifies as L/G/B/T/Q is eligible to submit to the Robin Becker Chapbook Prize.
- The manuscript itself need not address L/G/B/T/Q themes, though such work is welcome.
- The final judge for this year’s series will be announced here on this page.
- Submit a paginated manuscript of 16-24 pages (plus front matter such as table of contents, acknowledgments, or notes).
- Include two cover pages: one with the manuscript title, author name, address, e-mail and phone number; the second cover page should have the manuscript title only.
- Include a table of contents page, if appropriate.
- The collection may contain a series of poems or one single chapbook-length poem.
- Include, if applicable, an acknowledgments page for work previously published.
- Please include, on a separate page, a brief (100-150 words) biographical note, including a statement of any previous book or chapbook publication.
The author’s name must not appear in the manuscript.
- Collaborative works are accepted. Should a winning manuscript be collaboratively written, the author copies will be shared equally.
- All manuscripts will be blind judged, meaning all identifying material will be separated from the manuscripts as they are logged in.
- Manuscript titles and their log numbers will be posted on the Seven Kitchens website [http:// sevenkitchenspress dot com] as they are processed.
This year’s judge is Elena Georgiou.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us promptly by email if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
- Submissions must be posted between March 1 and April15, 2012.
- The winning manuscripts will be announced on or before September 15, 2012 and will be published in early 2013.
- Manuscript finalists will also be announced, and may be eligible for publication by Seven Kitchens Press.
Manuscripts will not be returned. E-mailed submission is preferred, but you may send via regular mail.
- If sending by mail, do not staple or bind your manuscript; please use a binder clip and mail flat in an 8.5 x 11 envelope. Please do not use expedited delivery services; your postmark date is sufficient to ensure your entry qualification, and we will allow 7-10 days for receipt of all mailed entries after April 15. Use First-Class Mail and consider spending the money you’ve saved on a chapbook from a small, independent press! Mail your manuscript to: Seven Kitchens Press, Robin Becker Chapbook Prize, PO Box 668, Lewisburg PA 17837.
- If you are sending by e-mail, please send one document in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx files); you must include the words “Robin Becker Chapbook” in the subject line of your e-mail to get past our spam filter. Send to sevenkitchens at yahoo dot com.
- Include a $12 reading fee with each manuscript (multiple submissions are welcome). IMPORTANT: Checks should be made payable to Ron Mohring. Online payment may be made via PayPal to seven kitchens at yahoo dot com. It is okay to send the ms. via e-mail and the check separately by regular mail.
- Each entrant will receive one copy of either winning chapbook (entrant’s choice of which title), to be published in early 2013.
- Each co-winner will receive fifty (50) copies of her or his chapbook. Additionally, the publisher will distribute ten review copies and will solicit online reviews of each title.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
This chapbook series honors Robin Becker, whose continuing accomplishments as a poet, professor, and mentor of lesbian and gay writers deserve wider acclaim. Becker serves as poetry editor for the Women’s Review of Books and is a professor of English and Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of six collections of poems, including Giacometti’s Dog (1990), All-American Girl (1996), The Horse Fair (2000), and Domain of Perfect Affection (2006), all from the University of Pittsburgh Press, and of the chapbook Venetian Blue (Frick Art & Historical Center, 2002).
ABOUT THE JUDGE:
Elena Georgiou is the author of Mercy Mercy Me (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003) and Rhapsody of the Naked Immigrants (Harbor Mountain Press, 2009) and co-edited, with Michael Lassell, the anthology The World in Us (St. Martin’s Press, 2001) She is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellowship, Astraea Emerging Writers Award, and Lambda Literary Award. Visit her blog, Under a Public Skin, here.
Titles in this series to date:
- Lost Lands by Judith Barrington (2008 winner)*
- Postcard from P-Town by Steven Riel (2008 runner-up)*
- Scavenge by RJ Gibson (2009 co-winner)**
- Inland Sea by Erin R Bertram (2009 co-winner)**
- Radiantly We Inhabit the Air by Christina Hutchins (2010 co-winner)***
- The Mystery of Horses by Austin Gray (2010 co-winner)***
- Each Perfect One by Ellen Goldberg (2011 co-winner; forthcoming in spring 2012)****
- Catch & Release by D. Gilson (2011 co-winner; forthcoming in spring 2012)****
* selected by Robin Becker.
** selected by Ruth L Schwartz.
*** selected by Eloise Klein Healy.
**** selected by Judith Barrington.
Does a self published book count as a published poetry book?
Melinda, I suppose it depends on how many copies were distributed. If less than, say, 25, then I don’t know that it would “count” in any official estimation. But some presses (including Seven Kitchens) publish limited-edition chapbooks in print runs of less than 50, and I believe those definitely count. Of course some folks don’t count self-published work at all, but that’s a gray area as well.
Either way, your manuscript is eligible. Just provide as much detail as you can about the previous publication and we’ll put it into one or the other category.
Ron