Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Recently, while leafing through the introduction of a collection of short stories by Jewish women, I was surprised and rather disheartened to read that ‘no prestigious awards exist’ for women writing short stories in Britain. There was no mention at all of the Asham Award – all the more astonishing when more than 700 unknown entrants submitted their works to the 2003–2004 competition.

   Established in the mid-1990s by the Asham Literary Endowment
Trust, the award aims to encourage and promote new women writers. The biennial competition is the only prize in Britain dedicated to stories by women and it is open to UK residents who have not published a novel or a collection of short stories. One of the most exciting elements of the award is that winning stories are published in an anthology alongside those written by wellknown writers; past contributors have included AL Kennedy, Michele Roberts and Lesley Glaister. In 2006, the tenth anniversary anthology, published by Bloomsbury, will feature, amongst others, Lynne Truss, Helen Dunmore and Marina Warner.

   Second Light, the network for women poets aged around 40 plus, has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Alongside organising readings and workshops, most notably the three-day conference at Launde Abbey in Leicestershire, it publishes a twice-yearly newsletter and runs an annual poetry competition. Its members include poets such as Anna Adams, U A Fanthorpe, Mimi Khalvati, Myra Schneider and Hilary Llewellyn-Williams.

   In the past five years it has added another string to its already
impressive bow by editing and publishing three poetry anthologies:
Parents (Enitharmon 2000), Making Worlds (Headland 2003) and Four Caves of the Heart (Second Light 2004). The network is looking for submissions for a new anthology, Images of Women: An Anthology of Poetry by Contemporary Women Poets to be published next year.

   Poems must be written in English and should be submitted after 1
June 2005. They can be of any form or length but should be specifically about aspects of womanhood. There is a handling charge of £3, however there is no limit to the number of poems that can be
submitted. Two copies of each poem are required, with your name
and poem title written on each page. Cheques, postal orders or
international money orders are made payable to Second Light.
Scripts cannot be returned. For further information about the
Second Light network or the poetry competition, contact Dilys Wood: [email protected]