If you are a poet looking to place a manuscript of experimental or hybrid work, including work in translation, consider submitting to Mason Jar Press’s 1729 Book Prize. Given annually in alternating years for a book of poetry or a book of prose, this year’s contest offers a prize of $1,000 and publication by Mason Jar Press for a poetry collection that is at once “challenging” and “engaging.” Chen Chen will judge.
Using only the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of 50 to 75 poems or pages by July 31 (submissions will be capped at 500 entrants). There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
This year, Mason Jar Press has released titles including the debut poetry collections Glazed With War by Pantea Amin Tofangchi and trans [re]incarnation by Elias Kerr, as well as its literary journal’s most recent issue, Jarnal Volume 3: Transitions (edited by Tara Campbell). Founded by Micheal B. Tager and Ian Anderson—classmates from the University of Baltimore MFA program—the independent press has published handmade, limited-run chapbooks and full-length books since 2014. The 2nd annual 1729 Book Prize, offered in partnership with The Ivy Bookshop, will run in line with the press’s mission of publishing work that “is meant to challenge status quos, both literary and culturally,” while also having “merit in both those realms.”