Poetry Prize
Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize
Closed on November 8, 2024. The winners are . . .
First Place - $500 Visa Gift Card
Sometimes in Fall by Matthew Spireng
Maybe a sleeve, maybe the back
of my coat, maybe my jeans
as I swung a leg between strands
of wire, barbed and waiting. Long ago
I followed my father in fall, through
woods, across boundaries strung
with wire, and I was caught, stuck—
or worse if I panicked and pulled, tore
skin or clothing I wore. Father
would come to free me with hands
and advice. But I never escaped
what I remember, caught
as we are in those moments
when something snags and holds.
Second Place - $140 Visa Gift Card
ODE TO MY INNER NUN by Kaecey McCormick
after Ross Gay
somewhere inside me my inner nun tugs
at her dark tunic secured tight by a woolen belt
so thick you could genuflect on it if you weren’t
looking for bruises—she has not removed her veil
since she was consecrated because she doesn’t want evil
inclinations to be revealed or tangled with temptation
(hers or mine)—she listens to music with a rosary
tucked inside her folded hands, and if the nun in me
sees two teenagers tilting together in the back pew
I think, not because they scare off the widows
or tie up the priest’s tongue, but more precisely
because she thinks it sacrilege, those restless lips
opening and closing for that earthy pleasure
in her sacred space, she will strike their smiles
with her scourge—I should tell you the nun in me
always carries a crucifix and a dove because she wants
to forgive the world since she needs forgiving
for who knows how many unforgivable things—
like the times as a girl she’d peel off her dress
and slip between fence posts to slide into the neighbor’s
pool or how she’d finger stolen rolls of her father’s quarters
instead of prayer beads or the spring day she snuck out
the back door to the cemetery and spent time with the boy
next door, naked skin steaming against the cold stones,
while miles away her sister lay chained by tubes to a hospital bed
sucking in a final breath, and above them Carolina wrens
chattered and my inner nun’s eyes drifted deep as the canyon
on the edge of which there she is right now, the nun in me—
tossing her crucifix into the chasm, flinging the dove
up to the sky, taking off her scapular and bathing her skin
in the sun
Third Place - $100 Visa Gift Card
Slow Ornithology by Jay McCoy
I thought Dad would visit as a crow. We
discussed the idea before he passed, but
I’m not sure he knew what he even was
saying. Maybe it was dementia &
the Lewy bodies – before we knew it
was, before we even knew about Lewy
Body, confined in all the grooves of grey
matter – talking out his mouth’s left side, not
him, not his mind, but his body. Before,
I bet Dad would manifest
as an iridescent corvid, so when
I saw the lady cardinal today, faded
brown, but decisive & chip chipping to
two brilliant carmine companions, I knew
she was Mother, by her grace, her attentive
disregard for me. First assuming
one of her escorts to be Dad, I could not
determine which one, seeming more kin
than husband – brother, not mate. When
I noticed the grackle, gregarious,
industrious, aside, & askew, I saw
my father. I think Dad chose the grackle
for the better. Maybe he didn’t know
the difference, or didn’t
have the words.
Honorable Mentions
“Space” by Cate Honzel
“we had no summer in Alaska” by Cassondra Windwalker
The Top Finalists who will be published below:
"Sundays" by Lyall Harris
"Summer of the Bear" by Matthew Fogarty
"WHAT A NICE THOUGHT" by George Drew
"Cobalt Dream" by H. Allen White
"Letter from Home #6: Ranting Flowers" by Elaine Fowler Palencia
"The Trucker's Lament" by Ali O'Rourke
"Still Life as Beverage" by Kelly Granito
"Hoff Street II" by Kari Martindale
"So it was You all along" by Michelle Langenburg
"An Attempt at Erasure" by Marianne Peel
$500 grand prize gift card, $140 second place gift card, $100 third place gift card.
Contest Guidelines
By submitting to the Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.
All entries must be original works by the entrant, in English.
Plagiarism, which includes the use of third-party poetry, song lyrics, characters, or another person’s universe, without written permission, will result in disqualification. We expect that all writers understand plagiarism and provide said written permission upon submission.
We can not publish concrete or shape poems. This includes calligrams, poems like Easter Wings, and poem with justified margins.
To submit to this contest, writers
- Must be over the age of 18.
- Have a United States Postal Address (USPS). This can be a family or friend's address. If you live abroad but have a relative's USPS address, that's fine too.
- Have the ability to accept and use the reward, which is a gift card, usually a Visa gift card purchased from Kroger. This will be mailed to the USPS address that you provide.
- Use the Submittable link below to submit to this contest. We can not accept submissions by email or by snail mail. If writers do not have an account with Submittable, it is free to set up but an account is required.
- Electronically submit no more than three (3) original, unpublished poems in any style, length or genre but in English. These poems must be typed and submitted as a Word file. PDFS will be disqualified.
- Pay $10 U.S. dollars by using the Submittable button at the bottom of the page by the deadline of November 8, 2024. Paypal can be used. There are no exceptions to the fee. We have other contests that are free.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but poems printed elsewhere in the U.S. will not be included in contest. We want first North American Serial Rights. Writers will need to withdraw their entire submission packet on Submittable. Money will not be refunded.
- Writers should provide a cover page/cover letter that includes name, address, email, and a 30-40 word biography with the poems in one Word document. Bios over 40 words will be edited.
Edits/Changes
The most common edit that THRP makes for poets is shortening the bio.
We can not accept changes to the poem once it is submitted. If you would like to make changes, please withdraw your first submission and submit a new one but be advised that we may have reached our cap and that another fee will be required. All resubmissions must follow the same guidelines.
Reward/Prize
- We will announce the 3 winners, around 2 honorable mentions, and about 10 finalists no later than the end of March.
- It takes up to 90 days to process the prizes, which are gift cards. These will arrive by USPS to the address provided.
- Each winner, honorable mention, and finalist (about 20) will receive a free copy of the Spring issue of The Heartland Review wherein winners and finalists will be published. This is mailed via USPS to the address provided in Submittable. Writers are responsible for updating their address in Submittable.
- Writers can purchase more copies through Amazon.
- THRP retains first North American serial rights and may use the submitted material to promote The Heartland Review and website in perpetuity. Upon publication, rights return to the owner. We asked to be credited in the future.
- THRP is not an independent press. We are subject to the governance of our college, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, which in turn is part of a larger entity, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. As such, we are not able to enter into a legally binding agreement with our writers, but we've been doing this contest for over 20 years. Although we have hiccups from time to time, our volunteer staff is dedicated and tries to make your experience publishing with us a pleasant one.
$500 grand prize gift card, $140 second place gift card, $100 third place gift card.
Meet the 2025 Judge: Libby Falk Jones
Libby Falk Jones is a life-long writer of poems, stories, and essays. She’s authored or co-authored four books of poems, and her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in more than 25 journals and anthologies. She’s a member of Bluegrass Writers Studio (Eastern Kentucky University) and a past president of Kentucky State Poetry Society. Currently, she co-directs Coming of Age, a grant-funded writing project for Kentucky women over 60 and serves as a writing coach at Western Kentucky University’s Mountain Workshops (photojournalism) and as Writer Workshops Coordinator for Shadelandhouse Modern Press. She holds degrees from Duke University (BA, history) and Stony Brook University (MA and PhD, English). An Emerita Professor of English at Berea College, she’s taught a wide range of courses in writing and literature, including creative writing, contemplative writing, experimental writing, nature writing, journalism and technical writing, and critical and research writing. She’s taken students to study writing, literature, and photography in the Southwest and abroad (Austria, Denmark, France, and Turkey) as well as serving a term as Visiting Lecturer at National University of Ireland in Galway.
History
Joy Bale Boone (1912-2002) was an American poet best known for her devotion to the arts. Born in Chicago, where she received inspiration from poet Harriet Monroe, Boone spent most of her life in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She was active in the women's liberation movement, having formed the League of Women Voters in Hardin County, KY in 1944. Throughout her life, she served on numerous committees and boards in hopes that more people would have the opportunity to experience the arts in the way that she had. Her most significant work was The Storm's Eye: A Narrative in Verse Celebrating Cassius Marcellus Clay, Man of Freedom 1810–1903. She served as Kentucky's Poet Laureate from 1997-1998.
From Joy
ZEN
Happiness is yet the essence of a moment--
be still for this!
Resist kaleidoscopes,
the mad twirling of colors,
and the hunter's horn.
Fleet is the moment
its essence shy
can wait forever . . .
only we die.
Thank you for supporting The Heartland Review and remembering Joy!
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