A new award has been established at Hope College for student poets.
Beginning this spring, one Hope student each year will be recognized with The Academy of American Poets Prize. Selection is competitive, and the award is open to any full- time Hope student.
The winning poet will receive a cash prize of $100 and acknowledgement in the academy's newsletter. The winning poem will also be forwarded to the academy for publication consideration in the organization's national anthology. This year's entry deadline is Thursday, Feb. 7.
The award is through the University and College Poetry Prize program of the Academy of American Poets. The academy began the program in 1955 at 10 schools, and now sponsors nearly 180 annual prizes for poetry at colleges and universities nationwide.
The academy has awarded more than $350,000 to nearly 10,000 student poets since the program's inception. Poets honored through the program have included Diane Ackerman, Toi Derricotte, Mark Doty, Alice Fulton, Tess Gallagher, Louise Gluck, Allen Grossman, Jorie Graham, Kimiko Hahn, Joy Harjo, Robert Hass, Li-Young Lee, Brad Leithauser, J.D. McClatchy, Heather McHugh, Gregory Orr, Robert Pinsky, Sylvia Plath, Mark Rudman, Mary Jo Salter, Gjertrud Schnackenberg, George Starbuck, Mark Strand and Charles Wright.
Submissions may be about any topic and in any poetic form; each participant may submit up to five poems or seven pages of poetry. There is no entrance fee, and the review is anonymous.
Additional information concerning how to submit work for consideration may be obtained from Dr. Susan Atefat Peckham, who is an assistant professor of English and coordinator of the Academy of American Poets Award program at Hope.