Judges for Carolina Prize Contest Announced: Jaki Shelton Green, C. Hope Clark & Clina Polloni

The annual Carolina Prize Writing Contest. Source: Kim Beall, Franklin County Writers' Guild
The annual Carolina Prize Writing Contest. Source: Kim Beall, Franklin County Writers' Guild

The Franklin County Writers’ Guild is pleased to announce the judges for the seventh-annual Carolina Prize contest. The poetry judge will be Jaki Shelton Green, North Carolina’s Poet Laureate. Prose will be judged by C. Hope Clark, author of more than a dozen novels. Cover art will be judged by contemporary artist Clina Polloni.

Each judge will read and rate contest entries in their category, selecting the winner and any honorable mentions.

Said Donna Campbell Smith: “I am thrilled at the wonderful lineup of judges for this year’s contest. I feel like Franklin County Arts Council’s Writers Guild has hit the bigtime!”

Carolina Prize Judges

Poet Jaki Shelton Green will Judge this year's Carolina Prize writing contest "Poetry" entries. Source: Franklin County Arts Council Writers' Guild
Poet Jaki Shelton Green will Judge this year’s Carolina Prize writing contest “Poetry” entries. Source: Franklin County Arts Council Writers’ Guild

Poetry Judge: Jaki Shelton Green

Jaki Shelton Green, ninth Poet Laureate of North Carolina is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate.

She is a 2019 Academy of American Poet Laureate Fellow, 2014 NC Literary Hall of Fame Inductee, 2009 NC Piedmont Laureate appointment, 2003 recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature. Jaki Shelton Green teaches Documentary Poetry at Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and has been named the 2021 Frank B. Hanes Writer in Residence at UNC Chapel Hill.

Her publications include: Dead on Arrival, Masks, Dead on Arrival and New Poems, Conjure Blues, singing a tree into dance, breath of the song, Feeding the Light, i want to undie you. On Juneteenth 2020, she released her first LP, poetry album, The River Speaks of Thirst, produced by Soul City Sounds and Clearly Records. Jaki Shelton Green is the owner of SistaWRITE providing writing retreats for women writers in Sedona Arizona, Martha’s Vineyard, Ocracoke North Carolina, Northern Morocco, and Tullamore Ireland.

 

C. Hope Clark Poet Jaki will Judge the "Prose" entries for this year's Carolina Prize writing contest
C. Hope Clark will Judge the “Prose” entries for this year’s Carolina Prize writing contest

Prose Judge: C. Hope Clark

C. Hope Clark was born and reared in the South, from Mississippi to South Carolina with a few stints in Alabama and Georgia. Hope holds a B.S. in Agriculture with honors from Clemson University and 25 years experience with the US Department of Agriculture to include awards for her management, all of which enable her to talk the talk of Carolina Slade, the protagonist in most of her novels.

Her love of writing, however, carried her up the ranks to the ability to retire young, and she left USDA to pen her stories and freelance. Her novels include Lowcountry Bribe, Tidewater Murder, and more, plus the six-book Edisto Island Mystery Series. Hope and her husband live on the rural banks of Lake Murray outside of Chapin, South Carolina, forever spinning tales on their back porch, bourbon and coke in hand.

She is published by Bell Bridge Books.

“C. Hope Clark’s newsletter has been extremely helpful to me as I looked for contests to enter and for publishers who might be open to new authors,” said Writers’ Guild member Jackie Dove-Miller

 

Clina Polloni will Judge the "Cover Art" entries for this year's Carolina Prize contest by FCAC Writers' Guild
Clina Polloni will Judge the “Cover Art” entries for this year’s Carolina Prize contest by FCAC Writers’ Guild

Cover Art Judge: Clina Polloni

Clina Polloni is a contemporary artist born in Chile. Her passion is to express herself in colorful paintings, inspired by her love for people, animals and nature.

She enjoys impressionism as well as realism and was able to develop her own unique style, equally at ease portraying the people in their environment and activities, a dialogue with nature’s light and colors. Teaching is something that fascinates Clina, to be able to transfer all this knowledge of art in her painting classes.

Clina lives in Franklinton, NC. In this beautiful farm is where she has her ART studio, exhibiting her paintings and providing painting classes.

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Carolina Prize Details

The Franklin County Writers’ Guild will be accepting submissions for its annual Carolina Prize Writing Contest until March 15, 2021. The Carolina Prize Writing Contest submissions must be previously unpublished  — not in print nor online.

Submissions may be poetry, short stories, essays or creative non-fiction, and cover art (paintings, drawings and photography).

This year, three $100 (US dollars) prizes will be awarded: one for prose, one for poetry and one for the cover photo. Winners will also receive publication in the 2022 County Lines: A Literary Journal, published in time for the holidays in late 2021; plus two free copies of the journal. Up to five honorable mentions may also be named; they will receive publication in County Lines and one free copy.

The contest is open to all, not just those who live in North Carolina, and the Carolina Prize is open to all ages. Entrants do not have to be members of the Franklin County Arts Council Writers’ Guild, though are invited to join.

Contest entry fee in all categories is $10 per entry. Entries must be emailed, and payments must be postmarked, by March 15, 2021. Contest proceeds are used to pay prizes and support the Writers’ Guild. Refunds are not available.

Carolina Prize Writing Contest Guidelines are available on the Franklin County Arts Council website.

The Writers’ Guild is part of the Franklin County Arts Council, based in Louisburg, North Carolina. Visit www.fcacarts.org or Follow the arts council on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

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About Kay Whatley 2309 Articles
Kay Whatley serves as Editor and Reporter with The Grey Area News. Kay is a published author with over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. Kay Whatley is wife to Frank Whatley, founder of The Grey Area™ newspaper and The Grey Area News online news website.