Arrowsmith Press, in partnership with The Derek Walcott Festival in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, announces the first annual Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry to be awarded to a full-length book of poems by a living poet who is not a US citizen (green card holders welcome) published in the previous calendar year.

The book must be in English or in English translation, and may have been published anywhere in the world.

Sir Derek Alton Walcott, courtesy of Arrowsmith Press’ website

The prize includes a $1,000 cash award, along with a reading at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in Boston, the publication of a limited-edition broadside by Arrowsmith Press, and a week-long residency at Derek Walcott’s home in either St. Lucia or in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, during the annual Walcott Festival. In the case of translations, the prize money is to be shared by the poet and the translator.

Publishers are invited to enter books published between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019. Submissions must be received by February 15, 2020. Find out more about the prize and submissions on the Arrowsmith Press website!