UPDATE ON THE 2021 erbacce-prize for poetry
At last we have a result!
Do remember that we had a final total of 12,500+ submissions worldwide; take a minute to think about that... more than twelve thousand five hundred submissions worldwide... some of the finest poets writing today entered the erbacce-prize for poetry which we take as a resounding vote of support for our determination to dispatch to the dustbin of history those hundreds of phonies who set-up poetry-competitions as a money-making enterprise and charge poets extortionate sums by way of a 'submission-fee' or a 'reading-fee'.
The erbacce-prize for poetry is FREE TO ENTER and that is how it will remain!!!
Just a reminder; all the selections were read BLIND; none of the selection panel members knew the name or anything at all about the poets; all they were sent was the poetry in files identified only by a number.
After more than three weeks of debate and discussion, often heated, (I spent this morning mopping up the blood) the selection team have arrived at a decision which is as follows:
WINNER of the 2021 erbacce prize:
Petra Hilgers of Mühlheim an der Donau, Germany
Petra wins a contract to publish a very high quality perfect-bound copy of her selected work with
'Winner of the 2021 erbacce-prize for poetry' on the front cover. We will supply free copies and will carry all
expenses for purchasing the ISBN and bar-code, designing the cover, typesetting, editing, printing, registering the book with
major libraries, registering with Nielsen etc.
Runner-up:
Art Allen of Edinburgh, Scotland
Art also wins a contract to publish a very high quality perfect-bound copy of his selected work. We will supply free
copies and will carry all expenses for purchasing the ISBN and bar-code, designing the cover, typesetting, editing, printing, registering
the book with major libraries, registering with Nielsen etc.
Four featured poets:
Elena Croitoru of Kent, UK
Stephen Holden of Preston, UK
Holly Harrison of Armoy, N.Ireland
Kierstin Bridger of Placerville, USA
Each of the above poets will be published as 'featured-poets' in our 66, 67, 68 & 69 journals over the coming year; their work will be presented prominently and will be accompanied by an interview conducted by a member of the selection panel who particularly liked their work. The work of other poets who made the long list will also be included in the next four journals; to see who these are please read on
But first, he team have asked that I say something about a submission made by Holly Harrison. We presume that if poets send their submission to a competition whose prize is the publication of a substantial perfect bound book of their work, that they will have enough poetry to fill such a book. Initially Holly was under consideration as a possible winner or runner-up; the panel found her poetry original, fresh, rejuvenating and all-round exciting, there is a flare in her work which is exhilarating... However we discovered later that she is a new, young poet with only a small portfolio of work available. SO; we have decided to offer her, in addition to her 'prize' as a 'featured poet', the opportunity to have her work published by erbacce in her own book, possibly a chap-book but maybe a perfect-bound, when she has had time to add to her portfolio; we believe that she is a tremendously talented poet and look forward to working with her in the future. BUT there is a lesson here for poets submitting in the future isn't there?
We will also publish in our erbacce poetry journal many of the poets below who made our long-lists and of course they will be sent a copy of our new perfect-bound journal (published bi-annually) which their poetry appears in. The team have already made selections for Journals 66 & 67 to be published at the end of this year and these are indicated below with 'J66' or 'J67' following their names... we are also preparing those poets selected for inclusion in Journals 68 & 69 and will add these later... as always we recommend you bookmark this page.
Finally; there are no losers in the erbacce-prize for poetry because there is no entrance fee, so book-mark our site and start preparing a submission for the next year; we open for submissions on January 1st 2022 ...our heartfelt thanks to all who support our co-operative and we do hope that many of you will take out a subscription to the journal; full details HERE. Please do take a look at the special offer we have to subscribe to the erbacce-poetry journal and of course by reading the journals you'll become more aware of the style of poetry the selection-panel favour.
The others whom we discussed and debated about over the past weeks are listed below. We can't emphasise enough that ALL these poets are very talented and special, after all they were selected, blind, from 12,500+ submissions from virtually every country in the world. We consider ALL these poets to be 'highly commended'.
Aaron Saint John; Sheffield, UK J68
Abdulmueed Balogun Adewale; Oyo State, Nigeria
Adam Phillips; Idaho, USA J69
Ailish NicPhaidin; Palm Bay, USA
Alan Coombe; London, UK
Albert Pellicer; London, UK
Allison Whittenberg; Philadelphia, USA
Amlanjyoti Goswami; Alaknanda, India
Andrew Shaw; Lincs, UK
Art Allen; Edinburgh, Scotland
Barnaby Smith; Leura, Australia J67
Basil Aurelian; Milton Keynes, UK J66
billy cancel; NY, USA J66
Bruce McRae; Salt Spring Island, Canada
C. T. Holte; Albuquerque, USA
Caitlin Cacciatore; NY, USA
Carson Pytell; NY, USA
Christian Ward; London, UK J67
Ciaran Dermott; Stirling, Scotland
Claire Thom; Andalucia, Spain J68
Claire Wimbush; Leeds, UK J67
Clive Gresswell; Luton, UK
Clover Peake; London, UK
Coralie Ruston; Salisbury, UK
Cornelia Fick; Maraisburg, S. Africa
Craig Coyle; Wishaw, Scotland J69
Dasa Kruzlicova; London, UK
Dave Kurley; Leiria, Portugal
David Banks; Plougonvelin, France
David Belcher; Kinmel Bay, Wales J69
David Ford; London, UK
David Frankel; Kent, UK
David Holper; California, USA
David Lohrey; Green Cove Springs, USA
David Punter; Backwell, UK
Derek Sellen; Kent, UK
Des Mannay; Newport, UK
Dustin Pickering; Houston, USA
Elaine Lambert; Gloucestershire, UK
Eleanor Burleigh; Hampshire, UK
Elena Croitoru; Kent, UK
Eleanor Rai-Johnson; Goring by sea, UK
Elizabeth Chidsey Hulick; NY, USA
Elizabeth Train-Brown; Lancaster, UK J67
Eran E Eads; Alexandria, USA
Ferida Ducic; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina J68
Fiona Sinclair; Broughten under Blean, UK
Frank McMahon; Cirencester, UK J68
Fred McIlmoyle; Bangor, N. Ireland
Gary Bills; Ledbury, UK
Georgia Louise Luckhurst; Durham, UK J66
Gerald Nikolai Smith; Alva, Scotland J66
Ginger K. Hintz; Oakland, USA
Gloria Nixon-John; Oxford, USA
Graham Buchan; London, UK
Graham Pugh; Teddington, UK
Hector McCormick; London, UK
Holly Harrison; Armoy, N.Ireland
Ian McDonough; Edinburgh, Scotland
Iris Lewis; Kempsford, UK
Jake Street; Kent, UK
James B. Nicola; NY, USA
James Fountain; Ilkley, UK
James Penha; Bali, Indonesia
Jane Katherine Angué; Boussagues, France J67
Jane Newberry; Cornwall, UK
Jareen Imam; Boynton Beach, USA
Jefferson Carter; Tucson, USA
Jennefer York Cole; Kremlin Bicetre, France J67
Jenny Robb; Liverpool, UK
Jeremy Grant; Leicestershire, UK
Jericho M. Hockett; Topeka, USA J66
Jessica Sticklor; South Newfane, USA
Jocelyn Simms; St Andre sur Sevre, France
John Baker; Amersham, UK
Josef Krebs; NY, USA
Kathryn Rose Newey; Hertfordshire, UK J68
Kelly C. Davis; Maryport, UK J69
Kerry J. Bell; Toronto, USA
Kierstin Bridger; Placerville, USA
Kristan Spencer; London, UK
Lara Frankena; London, UK
Larry Lefkowitz; Modiin, Israel
Lee Waddington; Gomersal, UK
LindaAnn LoSchiavo; NY, USA
Liz Hufford; Phoenix, USA
Louise M. Hart; Birmingham, UK
Lucía Orellana Damacela; Darien, USA
Luc Schneider; Wassenaar, The Netherlands J68
Luke Bateman; Blackpool, UK
M P Castro; Lake City, USA
Mai Nizar Serhan; Cairo, Egypt
Mantz Yorke; Manchester, UK
Martin Heavisides; Toronto, USA
Martin Rieser; Bristol, UK
Maurice Franceschi; Glasgow, Scotland
Megan Watts; Norfolk, UK
Megha Sood; New Jersey, USA
Miranda Evangelina Alegría Villegas; Sonoro, Mexico
Miriam Mason; Banbury, UK
Nicholas Paparoidamis; Yvelines, France J69
Noel Sloboda; York, PA, USA J69
Oliver Keuning; Auckland, New Zealand
Paula Puolakka; Helsinki, Finland
Petra Hilgers; Donau, Germany
Philip Brennan; Reading, UK
Priyanka Kelly Burns; Axminster, UK
Rachel Jung; Surrey, UK
Randy Lee Gross; Pennsylvania, USA J68
Richard Mullen; Madrid, Spain
Robbie Campbell; Crewe, UK
Roderick Manson; Perthshire, Scotland
Roger Elkin; Biddulph Moor, UK
Roy Duffield; Barcelona, Spain
Ruth Taaffe; Manchester, UK
Samman Akbarzada; Kabul, Afghanistan
Sanjeev Sethi; Mumbai, India J67
Sarah Davies; Bedford, UK
Sarah Drayton; Cambridge, UK
Sarah Hina; Athens, USA
Senthil Kumaran Raja Kumar; Selangor, Malaysia
Sian Maciejowski; London, UK
Siobhan Logan; Leicester, UK
Sreemanti Sengupta; West Bengal, India
Stephen Holden; Preston, UK
Steve Denehan; County Kildare, Ireland
Stuthi Iyer; Great Falls, USA
Sylvia Anne Telfer; Rutherglen, Wales
Tegan Blackwood; Tatamagouche, Canada
Thomas Davison; Ohio, USA
Tim Tricker; Aberdeen, Scotland
Tom McLaughlin; London, UK
Tracey Hope; Brindisi, Italy J69
Trevor Kyle Graumann; Winnipeg, Canada J66
Widaad Pangarker; Cape Town, South Africa
Will Staveley; London UK J66
William Harold John Reynolds; Southampton, UK