2024 Guidelines for the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award

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Broadside Lotus Press is happily to accepting submissions for the

Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award until March 24, 2023 Deadline

Winning Manuscript Announced Summer 2023

Book Published Winter 2024

  • This competition is open to African American poets only. If you have already had a book published by Lotus Press or Broadside Press, you are ineligible. However, inclusion in a Lotus Press or Broadside Press anthology does not disqualify you.
  • Any other serious African American poet, whether previously published or not, may submit a book-length manuscript for consideration. Do not include illustrations, essays, short fiction, or other material that is not poetry.
  • Poems submitted by another person, anthologies, or collaborations by more than one poet are not acceptable.
  • There is no reading fee; no payment is required.
  • The poems in the manuscript should total approximately 60-90 pages, exclusive of a table of contents or other optional introductory material. Begin each poem, single-spaced, on a new page, no matter how short it may be. If the poem is long, it may be continued on the next page(s).
  • Use an easy-to-read font such as Times or Times New Roman, size 12 point. Single-space except between stanzas.
  • Poems that have been published individually in periodicals or anthologies are acceptable, but we will not consider an entire collection (or a significant portion of an entire collection) that has been previously published, whether self-published or not.
  • Manuscripts entered in this competition may not be submitted to other publishers for general consideration, but may be submitted to other contests, as long as you notify us that you have done so or plan to do so. If you are notified that your manuscript has won another competition, you MUST inform us of this immediately.
  • Send two complete copies of your manuscript, typed or computer-generated, on white, letter-size paper, with the pages consecutively numbered, to the address below. Do not include your name on any of the pages.
  • Include with each copy a cover sheet that contains the title of the collection only and no other information.
  • On one separate sheet of paper, list: (1) the title of the manuscript; (2) your name, address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address, and (3) a brief statement signed with your legal name, indicating that (a) all the poems in the collection are original and uncollected (not appearing in a published volume of your work) and (b) you are an African American.
  • Keep a copy of your manuscript. Entries will not be returned. After the winner has been selected, all other manuscripts will be destroyed.
  • You may enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard so that we may acknowledge receipt of your material.
  • Mail your manuscript to the address below using first class priority mail.
  • Award entries must be received by March 24, 2023. You will be notified of the winner’s and the judge’s names in June, 2023. The decision of the judge is final.
  • When the winner is notified, he/she must be prepared to submit the manuscript digitally upon request.
  • The award winner will receive $500 in cash and publication of the manuscript by Broadside Lotus Press within the first three months of 2023, as well as free copies and discounts.
  • Broadside Lotus Press reserves the right to declare no winner in any year that none of the manuscripts submitted meets Broadside Lotus Press literary standards.
  • Failure to comply with these guidelines may cause your entry to be disqualified without notification.
  • If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us for clarification.

Mail your submission to: BROADSIDE LOTUS PRESS c/o Dr. Gloria House, 8300 East Jefferson Avenue, Apt. 504, Detroit, MI 48214. Address inquiries to BroadsideLotus@gmail.com.

Except for entries for this award, Broadside Lotus Press is not considering unsolicited manuscripts.

We publish books of poetry only, not individual poems.