Good news, poetry lovers—you now have until Feb. 29 to submit your original poetry as part of the village’s 6th Annual Poetry Contest. The Village of Great Neck Plaza, in conjunction with Long Island Traditions and Poetry Coordinator Carolyn Raphael, has extended the deadline for submitting poetry. Entries must be postmarked by the 29th to the Village of Great Neck Plaza, 2 Gussack Plaza, PO Box 440, Great Neck, NY, 11022, Attn: Poetry Contest.
Poetry submissions can also be submitted in person at Village Hall during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. There is also a one-time nonrefundable entry fee of $15 payable to Long Island Traditions, which must be included with submissions. Poets 18 and older from Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn and Queens are invited to submit up to three original unpublished poems as part of the contest. Poems must be single-spaced and typed, with one poem per page. Each poem should have a title and contestants may submit poems of any subject or style with a maximum of 30 lines. Two copies of each poem should be submitted, one anonymous and one with the poet’s name and address below the poem. A cover sheet listing the poet’s name, address, phone number, email address and poem title should be included with each entry.
George Held, a prolific poet and popular reader of his work, will judge. He is a retired Queens College English professor and was a Fulbright lecturer in Czechoslovakia. Author of poems, translations, stories and book reviews, Held has published in the New York Quarterly, Commonweal, Confrontation and The Notre Dame Review. His twentieth poetry collection, Neighbors: The Water Critters, was published by Filsinger & Co. in 2015.
Winners of the 6th Annual Poetry Contest will be announced Tuesday, March 31, on www.greatneckplaza.net. An Awards Day reading will be held on Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m. at the Great Neck Plaza courtroom. The first prize winner will receive $150 and a 20-minute reading at Awards Day, second prize winner will receive $75 and a 10-minute reading, and the third place winner will receive $50 and a 5-minute reading. There will also be two awards for Honorable Mention; these poets will be invited to read their poems as well. Each of the three winning poems will be posted for one month on seven secure outdoor village sign posts, on the bulletin board in Village Hall and in the waiting room of the Great Neck LIRR station. Honorable Mention poems will be posted for two weeks at the same locations.
For additional information, contact Carolyn Raphael, poetry coordinator, at gnppoetry@yahoo.com, or Brian Hetey, mayorsassistant@greatneckplaza.net.
Submitted by the Village of Great Neck Plaza
