Winner of the 2011 Vella Poetry Prize

We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2011 Vella Poetry Prize, selected by Leah Nielsen:

Winner: “Chiaroscuro,” by Danielle Jones-Pruett
Honorable Mention: “Assessment,” by George Guida
Honorable Mention: “St John’s, Oregon, Soon After My
Grandfather’s Death,” by Nathan Hunt

This year’s judge, Leah Nielsen, said of the winning poem that “Chiaroscuro skillfully weaves together images from an exterior world to capture the speaker’s interior state. Everything about the poem– the address to the moth, the nighttime setting, the quiet musicality–subtly underscores the speaker’s solitude.”

Paper Nautilus would like to congratulate Danielle, George, and Nathan for their fine work, as well as Leah Nielsen for judging the contest entries.

We would also like to thank all of you who submitted your work to the contest, which not only helps support this publication, but also all the contributors within its pages by helping us give them a place to celebrate their work.

The issue will be ready this October, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed of when it’s officially available. And remember: while it may take us a few months before we have an opportunity to read them, our submission manager is currently open for submissions in all genres. So send us more of your work, and please encourage all the writers in your lives to send some of their work our way, too.

xoxo,
Paper Nautilus