Editor Interview: Maureen Seaton Poetry Prize

“Reinventing the Soul”

Anhinga Press, Black Lawrence Press, Bridwell Press, Carnegie Mellon University Press, CavanKerry Press, Extra Virgin Press, Jackleg Press, Ravenna Press, Redacted Books, Small Harbor Publishing, University of Iowa Press (Yes, they are some of the many who published Maureen)

Maureen Seaton, Samuel Ace, Denise Duhamel, Aaron Smith, Julie Marie Wade

This poetry prize was created at the request of Maureen Seaton shortly before she passed in 2023.

It helps to be familiar with Maureen's poetics.
Let the life and work of Maureen Seaton be your guide.

Here is an exchange between Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton describing the ideal submission:
DD: Emily Dickinson famously wrote “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
MS: I love how Emily expressed her visceral reaction to poetry, but the top of my head has never blown off… I have felt, however, a sensation where I describe a poem as filling my mouth with flowers. I remember reading Marilyn Hacker’s “Rune of the Finland Woman” for the first time, or it could have been Robert Hass’s “Meditation at Lagunitas” or Ntozake Shange’s “I Live in Music.” Finding these poems long ago in a Manhattan bookstore, my mouth filled with flowers for the first time, and I knew what poetry was to me.

Writers often assemble a packet and submit that same packet everywhere. Eligible submissions for the Maureen Seaton Poetry prize contain one (1) single poem of three (3) pages or less, and cannot include the writer’s name anywhere on the pages of poetry.

This contest is open to the LGBTQIA+ community. Otherwise, let the poetry speak for the writer. Neither the readers nor the judge will see anything in the cover letter/bio box.

Every bit of it.

The readers score the submissions. Then the final judge considers the top scorers and chooses first place and honorable mentions.

In a passion project like this, the editor wears many hats. Daily responsibilities include monitoring the submissions, social media, artwork, layout, i.e., everything it takes to keep the project on track and deliver the final presentation.

Because this is a contest, there is no editing other than basic copy editing.

Yes, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc.

Self-funded, no submission fees, no grants, etc.

The Winner and Honorable Mentions are published in SoFloPoJo and publicized on Social Media.