[R. S. Gwynn]

Here is updated news about the 2017 Donald Justice Award. News of student awards is also on this page.

https://www.facebook.com/poetryconfe...rogramdirector

[Simon Hunt]

Link not working for me. I get a WCU error page.

[R. S. Gwynn]

https://www.facebook.com/poetryconfe...rogramdirector

[Maryann Corbett]

Will everybody be able to see the Facebook page Sam links to? Perhaps so, if it's a public page. But maybe it will be helpful to supply a link directly to the West Chester conference site. So here it is:

http://www.wcupa.edu/arts-humanities...stsAwards.aspx

[R. S. Gwynn]

Thanks, Maryann.

[Susan McLean]

Though I am sad to point out a flaw in a competition that has been a boon to formalists in the past, I have to warn entrants that the problems with distribution of the winning books, which from 2014 on have affected all of the winners, have not been resolved. The winning books are now sold at the West Chester Poetry Conference itself, but are not made available to any of the online booksellers, which gives the general public the impression that the books are actually out of print. If you want the prestige of being a prizewinner, you may wish to enter the contest. But if you want readers to be able to get hold of your book, you may want to think twice, unless you are willing to take on all duties of distributing your own book.

Susan

[R. S. Gwynn]

Susan is correct. Since the Poetry center has had only two part-time employees for the better part of the last two years, we (Ann Mascherino and I) have had to direct most of our energies toward planning and running the West Chester Poetry Conference. For the present, the back catalog of the Justice books remains in limbo; however, we remain confident of finding a press to take it over in the next year. The Justice prize is funded by its own endowment, and money for the cash award, publication, and a full scholarship to the 2017 Poetry Conference is available. We hope that by the time the 2017 winner is printed we will have a distributor for it and all past and future winners.

[Catherine Chandler]

I was fortunate enough to have purchased Susan's wonderful Donald Justice Award-winning book at Poetry by the Sea in 2015. I think it was the last copy! Anyway, it's good news Sam has about 2017. Thanks for the info.