Postmark Deadline: November 15 (annual)
Submissions Accepted: October 1 – November 15
The Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest is open to poems written by members of the United States Armed Forces, active duty or reserve, with a close connection to North Carolina: place of birth, current or former residence, current or former posting. Poems are not limited by length or subject matter. The Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest honors Gerald Barrax and Ronald Bayes, poets and military veterans, and seeks to encourage creative writing among members of an essential but often overlooked segment of our state’s population. The contest is administered by the MFA in Creative Writing Program at North Carolina State University. The winner receives $250 and possible publication in the North Carolina Literary Review.
Eligibility and Guidelines
· The competition is open to anyone currently serving in the United States Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard), whether active duty or reserve, who has a connection to North Carolina: place of birth, current or former residence, current or former posting.
· Entries must be unpublished single poems.
· Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
· To submit online, go to https://ncwriters.submittable.com/submit. Do not include a cover sheet with your document; Submittable will collect and record your name and contact information.
· If submitting by mail, submit two copies of each poem, single-spaced on single-sided pages, in black 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins.
· If submitting by mail, do not include the author’s name on the poem(s). Instead, include a separate cover sheet with name, military branch, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, and poem title(s).
· Entrants must be enlisted or commissioned in a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces at the time of submission.
· To submit by USPS:
Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest
NCWN
PO Box 21591
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
· Entries will not be returned.
· The winner will be announced before the end of January on ncwriters.org.
For questions, please contact ed@ncwriters.org.