Our “1970s Contest” Winners Featured in Latest Pub
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash.
Early in 2024, we announced SL’s “1970s Contest,” perhaps still marveling that it’s been been 50 years since the mid-1970s. We were lucky to bring two guest judges, both of them SL veterans and contest winners themselves, on board to judge the anonymous finalists. Jack Bedell and Sydney Lea also happen to be former state Poet Laureates.
In August, Bedell and Lea, picked their favorites… Robert Wallace for his essay, “Something to Do With Playing Ball,” and David J. Rothman for his poem, “A Sweet, Wild Passion.” Congrats to both of those winners, who each took home $500 prizes.
We appreciate all who entered the contest. For taking the chance, all writers and poets received back issues, as well as a two-issue subscription. We have no plans for a contest at the moment, but we are accepting work for our “30th Anniversary Issue,” which we anticipate coming out in late spring or summer.
Jack Bedell, our essay judge, served as Louisiana Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2019. A professor of English, Jack coordinates the Creative Writing program at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. His published work, in numerous journals, has been included in Best Microfiction and Best Spiritual Literature. His latest collection is Against the Woods’ Dark Trunks.
Sydney Lea, our poetry judge, served as Vermont’s Poet Laureate from 2011 to 2015. The author of 23 books, Syd was the 2021 recipient of his home state’s most prestigious artist’s distinction: the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. A former Pulitzer finalist and winner of the Poets’ Prize, he is the founding editor of New England Review.