The Ohio Poetry Day Association (OPDA) is now accepting nominations for Ohio Poet of the Year. Handed out annually since 1976, the award is given for a single collection of poems. The award is based on the one book and not on an aggregation of work published over some time.
Nomination guidelines:
- Poets may not self-nominate. Books can be offered by others: a publisher or editor, a college faculty or member thereof, a writers' or poets' organization, any other person of poetic standing in the state, or from the lists of books newly published that are put out by the Ohioana Library several times a year.
- The poet must be a native or a resident of Ohio, or if neither, must have lived in Ohio long enough to have formed serious ties to the state. (The list of former winners of Poet of the Year is below.)
- The nominated book must be longer than a chapbook (i.e., more than 48 pages) and not a "collected" or "complete" works.
- The book may be from a commercial or university press or self-published, but it may not come from a vanity press. Books nominated will be screened for quality and to ensure that there are not too many of them for judges to consider.
- The nominated book may have received previous awards or honors.
- Poets who previously were nominated may be so again, for a different book; but no one will be chosen a second time as POY.
- Nominations must be submitted by May 1, 2020. Mail a single copy of the book to:
Amy Jo Zook
3520 State Route 56
Mechanicsburg, OH 43044
For more background and a look at the history of the award, see the OPA blog article here.
