Whether you missed it or want to relive the fun, this year's Birdy Poetry Prize event recording is now available! Thank you to everyone involved, and congratulations again to all semi-finalists, finalists, and Zachary Lundgren for his winning poetry collection, Turkey Vulture!
About the Winner:
Zachary Lundgren was born in California and received his MFA in poetry from the University of South Florida. He has been published in several literary magazines and reviews, including The Columbia Review, The Wisconsin Review, Clockhouse, Beecher’s Magazine, and The Louisville Review. He received his PhD in rhetoric and composition from East Carolina University and now resides in Denver, Colorado.
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The winner of the contest will receive $1,000 cash and publication by Meadowlark Books, including 50 copies of the completed book. All entries will be considered for standard Meadowlark Books publishing contract offers, as well. Meadowlark welcomes entries from across the U.S.
Full-length poetry manuscripts (55 page minimum, 90+ pages preferred) will be considered. Poems may be previously published in journals and/or anthologies, but not in full-length, single-author volumes. Poets are eligible to enter, regardless of publishing history. Previous winners are NOT eligible to enter.
Previous winners and finalists include:
Submission Deadline: Dec. 1
Submission Fee: $25
This week, as part of our Poetry Month celebration, we are sharing some audio excerpts from Valentine, poems by Ruth Maus.
The title poem:
Wry and rue---it sounds like the recipe for a craft cocktail. But those are really the main ingredients in Ruth Maus’s sly wise and expansive book, even or especially in the poems that really are about cocktails. Most of her poems are short—and a lot bigger than they seem, poems marked by gallows humor and a poker face, and with just a twitch of a tell that reveals how much lies beneath their surface.
Tomorrow is the event we've all been waiting for! Starting at 6 p.m., hear from each of the previous winners and finalists of the Birdy Poetry Prize, including JC Mehta (Selected Poems 2000-2020), Brian Daldorph (Kansas Poems), Carol Kapaun Ratchenski (A Certain Kind of Forgiveness), and Ruth Maus (Valentine), and be there for the announcement of the 2021 Birdy winner and finalists! Grab a glass of champagne, some popcorn, get comfy on the couch, and indulge in all the excitement of tomorrow's event. Remember, if you haven't yet registered, please do so at tinyurl.com/birdypoetryprize.
To cap off our Birdy video series, today, you have Carol Kapaun Ratchenski, author of A Certain Kind of Forgiveness reading from Valentine by Ruth Maus!
In recognition of the virtual Birdy Poetry Prize event, 6 p.m. on March 13, each of the previous winners and finalists will be reading and discussing one of their fellow Birdy poet's poems in these special videos. Today, you have Ruth Maus, author of Valentine, reading from A Certain Kind of Forgiveness by Carol Kapaun Ratchenski.
In recognition of the virtual Birdy Poetry Prize event, 6 p.m. on March 13, each of the previous winners and finalists will be reading and discussing one of their fellow Birdy poet's poems in these special videos. Today, you have JC Mehta (Selected Poems) reading from Kansas Poems by Brian Daldorph.
Please join us in celebrating the 2019, 2020, and 2021 winners and finalists of the Birdy Poetry Prize! Our illustrious Birdy authors you are familiar with--Carol Kapaun Ratchenski (A Certain Kind of Forgiveness), Ruth Maus (Valentine), JC Mehta (Selected Poems 2000-2020), and Brian Daldorph (Kansas Poems)--will each be reading pieces from their books.
To top it off, the 2021 Birdy winner and finalist will be announced for the first time ever, live, by a secret, beloved guest judge!
Register for the event at tinyurl.com/birdypoetryprize.
More Birdy Event Details
Sure! You could buy flowers, chocolates, a flimsy paper valentine for your true love on Valentine's Day. Or you could give the gift of poetry! We have just the poet for the season.
Enjoy these poems from Ruth Maus, author of Valentine. You buy get the whole book at the Meadowlark bookstore (use the coupon code "VALENTINE" in the month of February for 10% off any/all poetry books) (and anywhere you love to shop for books!) Valentine is also available as an ebook and audiobook. (Links for audio & ebook below.)
Happy Friday! As some of us wrap up the work week and others begin a new one, let's take a moment to sit quietly with a good book -- ahh, a little escape from our own reality and a portal into our protagonists' realities.
Publisher Tracy Million Simmons is making her way through the Kansas Notable Books and is currently reading The Topeka School by Ben Lerner. "This is a great time of year for Kansas readers!" she said. (Dobby agrees.)
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| Tracy and Dobby in their happy place. |
Publicist Linzi Garcia loves to start and finish her week of teaching by reading Meadowlark books in her quiet office. Today, she's neck-deep in the mystery of Opulence, Kansas by Julie Stielstra. This weekend, she'll spend time with Headwinds by Edna Bell-Pearson, The Big Quiet by Lisa D. Stewart, and Valentine by Ruth Maus. "I love where these narrators -- fictional and real -- take me," she said. "I'm always on an adventure."
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| Linzi is always surrounded by books -- complete and in progress. |
What and where are you reading this weekend? Do you read one book at a time, or are there multiple books on your nightstand? Books in the car? In the bathroom? Wherever you may be, we hope you enjoy your reading time!
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| illustration by Ruth Maus |
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| Feb. 13, 6:30pm* date changed due to weather |
Ruth Maus has been getting some wonderful coverage of her book of poetry, Valentine. Her interview with Ralph Hipp on The Red Couch Show, WIBW, aired on Friday, November 15. |
