2021 Sundog Poetry Book Award open for submissions until Sept. 30

Submissions judged by Vievee Francis

The Sundog Poetry Book Award is open to all Vermont-based poets who have not published more than one full-length collection. Final judge Vievee Francis will select the winning manuscript and write an introduction for the book. The winning poet will receive a cash prize of $500, 50 copies of the book, and assistance with promotion through a featured book launch and a handful of readings scheduled throughout the state. Manuscripts should be between 48 and 64 pages. Proof of Vermont residency will be requested along with a $20 application fee online via Submittable. Submissions for this book award will close on Sept. 30.

Vievee Francis is the author of three books of poetry: “Blue-Tail Fly,” “Horse in the Dark,” and “Forest Primeval” (Northwestern University Press, winner of the Hurston Wright Legacy Award and the 2017 Kingsley-Tufts Poetry Award). She is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. The first-readers include Vermont poets Benjamin Aleshire, Stephen Cramer, and Adrie Kusserow, as well as three members of the Sundog Poetry board.

Sundog Poetry Center is committed to publishing work by Vermont authors and has had a long-term partnership with Vermont-based publisher Green Writers Press, located in Brattleboro and run by publisher and poet Dede Cummings. A sample of past titles published through this partnership include the winning collection from the 2020 Sundog Poetry Book Award, “The Blue-Collar Sun” by Lucas Farrell; an anthology on poetic craft, “Vermont Poets and Their Craft,” edited by Neil Shepard and Tamra Higgins; and an anthology of poems about music, “Turn It Up! Music in Poetry from Jazz to Hip-Hop,” edited by Stephen Cramer. For more information, visit sundogpoetry.org/sundog-book-award.