Donald Justice Poetry Prize

The Donald Justice Poetry Prize (appears as Donald Justice Prize on book covers) is a national prize^[1]sponsored by the Iris N. Spencer Poetry Awards of the West Chester University Poetry Center. Given annually since 2006 to one American poet for an unpublished book-length manuscript of formal poetry, the award includes $1000 and publication.^[2] Winners are presented with the award at the West Chester University Poetry Conference. The prize is named after poet Donald Justice.

Judging

The contest runs in two-year cycles. In a competition year, two unpublished manuscripts are selected for the award;^[3] one is published the following spring, and the other a year later. The winning manuscripts are judged blindly and selected by a notable poet who works in traditional forms. Past judges have included R. S. Gwynn, David Mason,^[4]A. E. Stallings,^[5]and Marilyn Nelson.

The competition is open to all American poets regardless of whether they have published in the past.

Past Winners

The following are the winners of the Donald Justice Poetry Prize:^[6]

• 2006 — Kate Light, Gravity's Dream: New Poems and Sonnets
• 2007 — Kim Bridgford, In the Extreme: Sonnets about World Records
• 2008 — John Poch, Two Men Fighting with a Knife^[1][7]
• 2009 — Julie Kane, Jazz Funeral^[8]
• 2010 — Ned Balbo, Trials of Edgar Poe and Other Poems^[5]
• 2011 — Amit Majmudar, Heaven and Earth
• 2012 — Joanna Pearson, Oldest Mortal Myth
• 2013 — Anne-MarieThompson, Audiation
• 2014 — Susan McLean, The Whetstone Misses the Knife
• 2014 — Stephen Gibson, Rorschach Art Too
• 2014 — Jeff Hardin, Restoring the Narrative
• 2014 — Pat Valdata, Where No Man Can Touch

References