Ilya Kaminsky to Judge Parnell Poetry Contest

COMPASS ROSE is pleased to announce poet Ilya Kaminsky will judge the sixth annual Pat Parnell Poetry Contest. Kaminsky was born in Odessa, former Soviet Union in 1977, and arrived to the United States in 1993, when his family was granted asylum by the American government. Ilya is the author of Dancing In Odessa (Tupelo Press, 2004) which won the Whiting Writer's Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Metcalf Award, the Dorset Prize, the Ruth Lilly Fellowship given annually by Poetry magazine. Dancing In Odessa was also named Best Poetry Book of the Year 2004 by ForeWord Magazine.

In addition, Ilya writes poetry in Russian. His work in that language was chosen for "Bunker Poetico" at Venice Bienial Festival in Italy. In late 1990s, he co-founded Poets For Peace, an organization which sponsors poetry readings in the United States and abroad with a goal of supporting such relief organizations as Doctors Without Borders and Survivors International. To learn more about Kaminsky, please visit his website at ilyakaminsky.com.

Contest Guidelines
Please submit no more than five (5) poems between August 1 and November 15, 2008. The contest fee is $5 for each poem ($10 for two poems, $15 for three poems and so on). Please do not put any personal information on the poems themselves; instead enclose a cover letter with your name, titles of your work, and contact information. All entries are read blind. Poems that include personal information will not be read and fees will not be refunded. Make checks payable to COMPASS ROSE.

Please send all submissions via postal mail to:
Pat Parnell Poetry Contest
c/o Prof. Jenn Monroe
Chester College of New England
40 Chester Street
Chester, NH 03036

We will not accept email submissions, but are happy to answer questions that way. Contact us at compass.rose@chestercollege.edu.