The second ongoing competition is the SRCA Rock in the River Literary Series Open Poetry Chapbook Competition. Now in its fifth year, the competition currently opens for submissions every July and closes in September or October (October 15th this year). The blinded submissions have no identifying author information or credentials and are read by a panel of volunteer judges with experience in poetry. A winner is announced in early December and the chapbooks (which are thin, soft cover, printed books) launch in early spring. Winners receive 25 copies of their chapbooks and $50. All entrants also receive a complimentary copy of the winning chapbook. Every winner is invited to Kent to do a poetry reading and is honored, along with judges that can attend, with a complimentary area lunch. The most recent of these took place at the historic Pufferbelly in 2014. Like the shorts entries, chapbook entries also cover a gamut of topics and styles, some moody and exploratory and others comedic and dry with everything in between. Entries have focused on everything from war and
human rights to love, death, illness, and even bicycling! Since judges change, aesthetics, tastes, and topics have different impacts each year to keep the series fresh. As an example, the first chapbook competition winner, Jeff Fearnside, wrote of his experiences in the Peace Corps and as a relationship developed with his Kazakhstani wife. The Standing Rock Cultural Arts-published chapbook, Lake and Other Poems of Love in a Foreign Land, penned by Fearnside even went on to win an annual Peace Corps Award for Poetry. Subsequent winners who added to their vitae, Kelly Fordon and Rick Marlatt, moved on to additional chapbook publications with other renowned presses, such as Cleveland-based Kattywampus Press and Kentucky’s Finishing Line Press, respectively. In this way, SRCA has been able to support and promote literary artists and to broaden its literary arts base in Kent, which were goals of the competition at its inception.
A reading took place the evening of Saturday, October 4th in Kent with the most current winner, Elizabeth Kerlikowske of Michigan. The winner of the Fifth Annual Open Poetry Chapbook Competition will follow in December with the newest title becoming available to the public in Spring 2015. Copies are sold at the SRCA’s North Water Street Gallery and also at Last Exit Books on Main Street in Kent. Additional details and any updates can be found at www.standingrock.net under the Literary Series tab. In the now popular words of both famous literary and big screen adaptations of what has become a favorite well-known source (The Hunger Games), may the odds be ever in the favor of the competitors of SRCA’s competitions! To champion the arts including future competitions and programming, please consider donating a tax-deductible donation at www.standingrock.net via PayPal or contact SRCA at 330-673-4970 or by email at info@standingrock.net for other options. Your support is greatly appreciated!
2013 Winner, Rick Marlatt, reads from his winning chapbook.
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volume 4 | 2014 • www.aroundkent.net