Bart Baxter Contest for Poetry in Performance

The Washington Poets Association
is pleased to announce the opening of
submissions for the 10th Annual
Bart Baxter Contest for Poetry in Performance

Entrants are asked submit two poems for consideration by a panel of judges and eight finalists will compete in a series of one-on-one Poetry Bouts on Tuesday April 10th, 2007 at the Richard Hugo House (a 2006 event co-sponsor). Finalists will be determined based on how their poetry works on the page and on April 10th three different judges will determine the best poem in each one-on-one bout, leading to a single Champion.

Last year¹s champion was Lyn Lifshin. The fast-paced elimination rounds means the two finalists will read a total of 3 original poems each. The top three finalists will earn a total of $500 in cash prizes: 1st place - $300, 2nd - $125 and 3rd - $75.

There is no entry fee, but poets must be current members of the WPA. Annual membership is $15.

Deadline for entries is March 1, 2007. Finalists will be notified by March 15th.

The Washington Poets Association and Bart Baxter created the contest a decade ago to recognize and reward performance poets regardless of whether or not they had been published in print.

Bart Baxter, a longtime supporter of the Washington Poets Association, placed first in the 1994 MTV Poetry Grand Slam and the 1998 Seattle Grand Slam. In 2001, he was Seattle¹s first Poet Populist. His books of poetry include A Man, Ostensibly (Egress Studio Press, 2004), The Man with St. Vitus' Dance (Floating Bridge Press, 2000), Sonnets from the Mare Imbrium (Floating Bridge Press, 1999), and others.

Washington Poets Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the creation and appreciation of poetry. Besides the annual poetry contests, the group puts on Burning Word, (April 28, 2007) an annual poetry festival that highlights Washington poets, and publishes a judged journal of member poetry yearly.

Membership and contest entry information can be found at <http://www.washingtonpoets.org/>.

Contact: Paul Nelson--Contest Chair
Washington Poets Association
253.735.6328 or pen@splab.org
http://www.washingtonpoets.org/