What distinguishes The Word Works Washington Prize, an award
of $1500 and book publication, from other book-length poetry manuscript prizes?
THE WASHINGTON PRIZE BENEFITS EVERY ENTRANT
Every entrant gets a copy
of the winning book. The winning book is selected in the late summer and
then, after undergoing our attentive editorial process, published in late
January or February.
Entrants whose manuscripts progress to second readers and
final judges are offered the opportunity to request comments. Therefore,
semi-finalists and finalists can get constructive
feedback from a reader and possibly a final judge. We have heard that
entrants getting such feedback have gone on to win other prizes and for that,
we are pleased because The Word is in the business of supporting contemporary
poetry.
The Washington Prize is a blind judging. We read manuscripts without identifying information
and if one of our readers or judges recognizes the work, that reader or judge
recuses him- or herself.
The final judges comprise a panel of five poets, some of
whom are members of The Word Works editorial board with at least one judge who
did not participate the year before or is new to the prize. This ensures that
we do not pick the same kind of manuscript year after year. In fact, The Word
Works prides itself on being open to any
style of poetry and on any subject. We are just looking for the best
manuscript.
WHO HAS WON THE WASHINGTON PRIZE?
In 1987, the
prize moved to book publication. The first book published in the Washington
Prize imprint was Stalking the Florida Panther by the prolific and
highly successful Enid Shomer. Stalking the Florida Panther was her
first full-length book of poetry. The title of her book was also the title
of the winning poem in 1985. Consider these lines from that Washington
Prize-winning poem, “What I know:/ that desire spreads like light/ without
doctrine.”
1988, the first
official year of the Washington Prize as a book contest, the Word Works judges
selected a funky page-turner by
Christopher Bursk. His original title was
replaced with
The Way Water Rubs Stone.
The book rapidly sold out to his already established following. After all, this
was his fourth book with his first—
Standing Watch—having been published
by Houghton Mifflin in 1978.
The Way Water Rubs Stone dared to
tackle questions about masculinity and homosexuality in a time when these
subjects were just barely seeing the light of day. In the poem "Dorks,
Nerds, Wimps," Bursk relates conversations with his son that let it all
hang out: "My children laugh when I tell them/ how in fifth grade I
was voted best girl./ My sons howl in delight, knowing/ they’re nothing
like their father."
With the launch of
B. K. Fischer's
St. Rage's Vault at the Associated Writing Programs (AWP)
Bookfair in March 2013, Word Works counts 26 books in the Washington Prize
imprint.
St. Rage's Vault is an all ekphrastic set of poems that detail from
inception to conception the birth of a child real or imagined. One of the poems
scans two pages. Except for the endnotes, a reader would not know each poem was
inspired by a work of art. Here are the last lines: “Hewn from darkness,/
the
minutes rise as you open///your hand to touch the ladder H/ and spin it
sideways into I.”
Every book in the Washington Prize imprint is a carefully
sculpted gem. The author gets 15 percent of the print run, which has often
results in the author receiving 150 books as his or her royalty payment.
Additionally, Word Works provides 30 review copies and helps the author
distribute these copies. Some Washington Prize authors like Fred Marchant, author of
Tipping Point, go into second editions. For a
complete list of Washington Prize winners, visit
our webpage at WordWorksBooks.org.
