GUIDELINES FOR THE NAOMI LONG MADGETT POETRY AWARD

• This competition is open to African American poets only. If you have already had a book published by Lotus Press, you are ineligible. However, inclusion in a Lotus Press anthology does not disqualify you.

• Any other serious African American poet, whether previously published or not, may submit a book length manuscript for consideration.

• Poems submitted by another person, anthologies, or collaborations by more than one poet are not eligible.

• The poems in the manuscript should total approximately 60‑90 pages, exclusive of a table of contents or other optional introductory material. Begin each poem on a new page, no matter how short it may be, and number the pages.

• Poems that have been published individually in periodicals or anthologies are acceptable, but we will not consider an entire collection that has been previously published, whether self‑published or not.

• Manuscripts entered in the Madgett competition may not be submitted to other publishers for general consideration but may be submitted to other competitions as long as you notify us that you have done so or plan to do so. If you are notified that your manuscript has won another competition, you MUST inform us of this immediately.

• Send two complete copies of your manuscript, typed or computer‑generated on white, letter‑size paper, with the pages consecutively numbered, to the address below. Do not include your name on any of the pages

• Include with each copy a cover sheet which contains the title of the collection only and no other information.

• On one separate sheet of paper, list: (1) the title of the manuscript; (2) your name, address, telephone number(s) and e‑mail address, if you have one; and (3) a brief statement signed with your legal name, indicating that:

  • (a) all the poems in the collection are original and uncollected (not appearing in a published volume of your work) and

  • (b) you are an African American.

• Keep a copy of your manuscript. Entries will not be returned. After the winner has been selected, all other manuscripts will be destroyed.

• Enclose a stamped, self‑addressed post card so that we may acknowledge receipt of your material.

• Mail your manuscript to the address below using first class priority mail.

• Award entries must be received between January 2 and March 31, 2010. You will be notified of the winner's and the judges' names no later than June 1, 2010. The decision of the judges is final.

• The award winner will receive $500 in cash and publication of the manuscript by Lotus Press, Inc. early in 2011.

 Mail material to:

LOTUS PRESS, Inc.

ATTN: Constance Withers

P.O. Box 21607

Detroit, MI 48221.

Adam David Miller, Forever Afternoon (1994)

Beverly V. Head, Walking North (1995)

Bruce A. Jacobs, Speaking Through My Skin (1996)

Bill Harris, Yardbird Suite, Side One: 1920‑1940 (1997)

Claude Wilkinson, Reading the Earth (1998)

Ruth Ellen Kocher, Desdemona's Fire (1999)

Jerry Wemple, You Can See It From Here (2000)

James R. Whitley, Immersion (2001)

Peggy Ann Tartt, Among Bones, (2002)

Monifa A. Love, Dreaming Underground (2003)

Mendi Lewis Obadike, Armor and Flesh (2004)

Anthony A. Lee, This Poem Means (2005)

Carolyn Beard Whitlow, Vanished (2006)

Remica L. Bingham, Conversion(2007)

Nagueyalti Warren, Margaret (2008)

Crystal Williams, Troubled Tongues (2009)

Edward Bruce Bynum, Chronicles of the Pig and Other Delusions (2010)