| 
Nickolas
A. Butler of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has been chosen as the 2010 winner of the
first ever Roark Prize in Poetry. Butler, a former meatpacker and coffee roaster,
would like his work to be “both high art/poetry and something to be read while
fishing, or at a bar, or during a break at work.” Indeed, light beer drinkers
will find vindication in “In Defense of Light Beer;” there is sympathy
for those cold northern winters in “Bikini;” while “Half-Life of Textbook”
will have one reminiscing about school days, putting protective wrapping over
one’s books and covering them in graffiti. The issue featuring Butler’s poems
is slated for publication in June.
What
We're Looking For
Every person has a desire to connect with great
art, even if they've been told it's not for them, that they lack the education
or the socioeconomic background to participate. Art is one of man's finest means
of expression and communication. It defies all borders; it follows no mandates;
it simply exists because we do. And life's a bitch--we need art to survive.
The mission of The Lumberyard has always been to bring great poetry back
into the hands of the people. If you are a poet who is not afraid of breaking
traditional molds in the name of this mission, then you are a candidate for The
Lumberyard Roark Prize. So, What Do You Win?
The recipient of The Lumberyard Roark Prize will have a special summer
2011 issue entirely dedicated to her/his poems. The Roark Prize issue will be
designed and letterpressed by Firecracker Press, in the same style you've come
to expect from us (if you are not familiar with The Lumberyard and the
poems we publish, we highly recommend you read the magazine before submitting),
and the winner will receive $50 in prize money and ten complimentary copies of
the magazine. Winner will be notified no later than Feb. 1, 2011, and results
will be emailed to all entrants and available at that time on our website.
How Will the Winner Be Chosen?
The recipient will
be chosen through an anonymous, collaborative process. All entries will be reviewed
anonymously and a group of finalists chosen by the editorial staff of The Lumberyard.
The winner will be selected from that anonymous group of finalists by the staff
of Firecracker Press. No biographical information will be known to any of the
readers at any point, until the winner has been selected. How
to Enter
Follow all the below rules to assure your entry will be considered.
Failure to complete any of the below steps will disqualify your manuscript from
consideration; refunds will not be issued. Manuscripts cannot be returned so DO
NOT send originals. - Complete entry form found here.
- Send completed entry form along with 15-20 poems, unmarked
other than the poem and its title. Names should only appear on the entry form
and NOWHERE else in the manuscript. For the purposes of the magazine, shorter
poems (one page or less) are typically better suited to our pages.
-
Entry fee is $15, payable via credit card by clicking the "Add to Cart"
button below. Print out your receipt and send a copy along with your entry form
and manuscript. Failure to provide proof of payment will disqualify your entry.
No materials other than the above requested should
be sent along with the entry under any circumstance. No cover pages, no publication
or educational history, or any other biographical information! We mean it!
Mail entry form, payment receipt, and manuscript postmarked by November 15,
2010, to:
The Lumberyard Roark Prize in Poetry
c/o Bill Edmonds
7706 New LaGrange Rd.
Louisville, KY 40222 For questions or inquiries,
email: info@lumberyardmagazine.com.
| 
