Laura Boss was a celebrated New Jersey poet who left us in 2021. In addition to her seven books and her founding and editing of Lips magazine for 40 years, she spent an enormous amount of time mentoring and inspiring other poets. As a tribute to Laura and in an effort to continue her mission of supporting poets and poetry, the Laura Boss Poetry Foundation will sponsor:
The Laura Boss Narrative Poetry Award - The winning manuscript will be awarded a cash prize of $5000 and book publication by NYQ Books. The submission period is January - March.
Lips poetry magazine - an annual publication. submissions are accepted September - November each year.
The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation and all donations to support its work are tax-deductible.
Lips was founded in 1981 by Laura Boss. Now entering its fifth decade, it has published poems by Robert Bly, Allen Ginsberg, Ruth Stone, David Ignatow, Marge Piercy, Michael Benedikt, Nicholas Christopher, Anne Waldman, Ishmael Reed, Gregory Corso, Lyn Lifshin, Ted Berrigan, Paul Hoover, Jana Harris, Toi Derricotte, Joseph Bruchac, Alice Notley, Warren Woessner, Robert Phillips, Hal Sirowitz, Theodore Weiss, Alicia Ostriker, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Stanley H. Barkan, Michael Weaver, Molly Peacock and Richard Kostelanetz.
We recommend that contributors review a copy of the magazine before submitting poems. You might obtain a copy at your library, or by purchasing a copy of the latest issue or a back issue here.
The submission period runs from January 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025, at 11:59 pm EST.
The submission fee is $25. This fee may be waived for entrants experiencing financial hardship. Email laurabosspoetryfoundation@gmail.com with an explanation and the subject line "fee waiver request"
Submit up to 10 sample narrative poems from your manuscript, not to exceed 10 pages total, with each poem starting on a new page. Do not include any identifying information on the submitted poems. The entries will be read blind, and any poems that contain identifying information will be discarded without being read and the submission fee will not be returned.
Provide a separate cover letter with your name, contact information, and a brief bio in the designated spaces on the Submittable form.
Manuscripts can include individual poems that were previously published as long as the manuscript itself has not been published.
Revision of sample submissions is not allowed during the submission period. You are welcome to withdraw and resubmit your sample, but a new submission will require a new entry fee.
Semi-finalists will be announced on or before June 1, 2025, and asked to submit a full manuscripts (70-90 pages) by 11:59 pm June 30, 2025. Five finalists and the winner will be selected by our final judge, Joe Weil, from the semi-finalist manuscripts, and notifications will go out in September 2025.
Full guidelines at https://laurabosspoetryfoundation.org/award