Flip Kelly Poetry Prize 2010 Winner Announced

Dear Readers & Writers;

2010 was a great year for Amsterdam Press. In this third year for the Flip Kelly Poetry Prize, judge Amy L. Sargent had more than 60 entries to peruse, making her decision very difficult.   

Ultimately, all of us here agree that Amy has fabulous taste.  

The winning chapbook for the Flip Kelly Poetry Prize from 2010 "Bedtime Stories" by Joshua Gage.  He will receive an honorarium of $200 upon publication with our Gob Pile Chapbook Series. The following is a poem from his manuscript: 

A Mother Speaks

Here's the truth of it.  There was no witch,

no house of gingerbread, no trail of crumbs.

No, there was only us, the woods, and the gnaw

of cold.  Your father was the first to slip

into the shadows stretching from the trees.

The dark would echo with your screams and we

hungered. Some bones hold only so much meat

but at least we didn't starve.  The sun returned

and soon the days were warm, and we forgot

the night until it crept into our corners

and the wind wound round the house.  We huddled close

to the oven’s warmth, but even fires go out:

There was no wood, no coal, no food, until

your fingers grew as thin as chicken bones.

I watched you shiver in your cribs, carried

back to when I held you in my belly

swollen as the moon.  I can ignore

the breath in sleep that isn't there, scrub away

the blood.  But now I feel you, children,

pressing at my ribs like prisoners

fingering the bars of their cage.

Judge Amy Sargent recognized three finalists, in no specific order. 

“Dreaming of Lemon Trees” by Francis DiClemente
“Jewel” by Ellen La Fleche

“On the Production of Distance” by Jesse Nathan

This year, our editorial staff also chose two manuscripts to receive an Editors’ Choice Honor.  We have yet to determine a name for this honor, but we'll announcing it anyway.  These two manuscripts will also receive offers of publication.  They are:

“Alphabetica: The Other Side of Love” by Cedrick Mendoza-Tolentino

“Life Models” by Andrew Rihn

 

Every poet who entered the contest will receive a year’s subscription to Plain Spoke, the literary magazine project published by Amsterdam Press and a snail-mail announcement including this same information.

Our sincere thanks to everyone who supports our literary endeavors,

The Editorial Staff at Amsterdam Press

Questions, concerns, and comments can be directed to editor-AT-amsterdampress.net