Tennessee Tech University

The Lora A. Printz Memorial Poetry Prize is an annual contest which recognizes student achievement in poetry writing on the Tennessee Tech University campus. The contest was initiated in 1970 by Mrs. Dorothy Pennebaker, a former TTU professor, in memory of her mother, the late Mrs. Lora A. Printz (1891-1970), who sought to instill her lifelong love of poetry in her children and grandchildren. In 1990 The Lora A. Printz Memorial Prize was permanently established by a generous gift made by Dr. Martha Osborne, the daughter of Mrs. Pennebaker and granddaughter of Mrs. Printz, in order to continue her grandmother's legacy of fostering interest in poetry among young people. Dr. Osborne is professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Drop off your entries in the English Department Office (Henderson 320) no later than 4 pm, Friday, March 22, 2013 (the first Friday after Spring Break). Winners will be announced on the Department website on or about April 5, 2013.

Contest Rules:

1. The contest is open to all students enrolled in a degree program at Tennessee Tech during the 2012-2013 academic year.
2. Students may submit five poems of any length. All subjects, all styles and forms are welcome. This includes both traditional metrical verse as well as free verse.
3. Poems which have won previous substantial monetary awards are not eligible for this contest.
4. Each poem must be typed, single-spaced, on one side only of 8 ½ by 11 inch sheets of white paper. Please use a 12 point Times New Roman ONLY. No other font is acceptable. Poems may be of any length, but do not put more than one poem on a page. Each poem must have a title. 
5. Do not put your name on the entry itself. Instead staple to the entry a note card bearing the title of the poem, your name, Tech ID number / Eagle Account number, campus box number, email address, and telephone number. If you submit more than one poem, you must attach a separate card to each entry.
6. Make copies of your poems. Entries cannot be returned. 
7. All poems will be considered for publication in future issues of Homespun, Tennessee Tech's student literary e-magazine. If you do not wish to have your work published in Homespun, please do not submit it to the contest!

Judging:

Judging will be based not only on what you write about but how you write about it – the angle or perspective you take, word-choices, phrasing, details, imagery. Try to tell and show readers something they haven’t heard or seen before. If it’s something they’ve already heard and seen before, then tell and show it in some new or different way! Previous winning entries have contained a lively imaginative “spark”; honest emotion; expressive but also skilled use of words and grammar; inventive form and structure; animated rhythm along with deft timing and pacing; conscientious craftsmanship, and the like. Don’t be afraid to try something new or different! 

Questions about the contest may be directed to:

Winners 2012-2013

First Place 
Rowan Lumb, "a scarecrow's deck of cards"

Runners-up (in alphabetical order):
Alex Swartz, "Work"
Robert Novick, "How I Learned"