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Graybeal-Gowen Poetry Contest for Virginia Writers

The annual Graybeal-Gowen Prize will be awarded by Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Review for a single poem by a writer born in Virginia or with current established residence of more than a year in Virginia. The prize is for $500.

Entrants are invited to submit up to three previously unpublished poems. Send two copies of each poem (one with name and address and one without), a self-addressed stamped envelope and brief biographical note, which should confirm the basis for eligibility to:

The Graybeal-Gowen Prize
Shenandoah
17 Courthouse Square
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA  24450-2116

No entry fee is required. Entries should be postmarked between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15, 2012 and the winner will be published in Shenandoah, Sept. 2013.

Past winners have been Jennifer Key, currently of Dallas, Texas, for “Jefferson’s Daughters;” Elisabeth Murawski of Arlington, Va., for “Emma Hardy Speaks from the Grave” and Margaret Mackinnon of Falls Church, Va., for “Writing on the Window” which will appear in the next issue of Shenandoah. Past judges have included Betty Adcock (winner of The Poet’s Prize), Brendan Galvin (finalist for the National Book Award) and Kelly Cherry (former Poet Laureate of Virginia).

The Graybeal-Gowen Prize is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Priscilla Gowen-Graybeal’s father, Howerton Gowen (W&L ’30), a lifelong lover of poetry. The prize is donated by Mrs. Graybeal and her husband James (W&L ’49).

For more information, contact http://shenandoahliterary.org/graybeal-gowen or the magazine’s editor R.T. Smith at rodsmith@wlu.edu.

News Contact:
Julie Cline
News Writer
jcline@wlu.edu
540-458-8954