The Awards will honor new and emerging poets and prose writers. Our two judges are Ocean Vuong, in poetry, and Jaquira Diaz, in prose. Like other Winter Tangerine ventures, the Awards will be judged blindly, so the focus is on the merit of the work rather than the prestige of the writer’s name.
We will be accepting free submissions of unpublished poetry and prose from April 1st to June 1st, 2015.
We want to use this award to give writers the opportunity for recognition without imposing (sometimes restrictive) reading or contest fees on them – we want to make the WT Awards as inclusive of a competition as possible. We are very much interested in recognizing emerging writers specifically, so we will only accept submissions from writers who have not yet published a chapbook, collection of short stories, or a novel.
After going through an initial screening by WTR readers, the top 10 pieces in each category will be forwarded to the judges by June 5th for the final call of one winner and four finalists. The winners will be announced on July 1st. The winner in poetry and the winner in prose will receive a cash prize of $250 each, as well as a small box of (gently used) books and (never used) cookies.
Past features by WTR include Hands Up Don’t Shoot (guest-edited by Danez Smith, Alysia Harris, Sam Vernon & other extraordinary black writers), which explored what it means to be black in America, and Fragments of Persephone (guest-edited by Alexandra Levasseur and Jeanann Verlee) which explores the spectrum of femininity. We are truly dedicated to amplifying voices that deserve to be heard and we hope you join us in this effort.
For more information please visit: www.wintertangerine.com/wt-awards
Creative Writing Contests 