AWARDS & PRIZES


2011 OBOH PRIZE WINNERS

Final Judge: Kelli Russell Agodon

     1st Place:    "Rumors of Her Death Were Greatly Exaggerated" by Karen Skolfield
     2nd Place:  "Caution Exotic Animals," by Joanna Pearson
     3rd Place:   "The Scientist and the Monster," by Stephanie Cawley

Kelli Russell Agodon was our 2011 Oboh Prize judge. She is the author of Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, winner of the White Pine Press Poetry Prize judged by Carl Dennis. Her book won ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Prize in Poetry and was chosen as a Finalist for the Washington State Book Awards.

She recently edited Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry with Annette Spaulding-Convy. Kelli is also the author of Small Knots (2004) and Geography, winner of the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award.

Kelli was born and raised in Seattle and educated at the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University's Rainier Writing Workshop where she received her MFA in creative writing. Currently, she lives in the Northwest with her family. She is the editor of the literary journal, Crab Creek Review, the co-founder of Two Sylvias Press, and the co-director of Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Writing Retreat for Women. She loves the outdoors, mountain biking and desserts, except for cheesecake. You can follow her on Twitter @kelliagodon or visit her online at www.agodon.com


How Oboh Prize Works

  • At the end of the year, the list of finalists and Peer Award winners will be handed off to a respected external judge who will choose the top three poems of the year. The judge will read and make his/her decisions through a blind reading -- all personal information will be withheld. After coming to his/her decisions, the judge will notify the staff of Boxcar Poetry Review who in turn will contact the winning poets and arrange for the prize moneys to be sent to them.
  • By following this format, we can reward more poets and give each contributor a voice in this process. We feel that by rejecting the traditional contest model and relying on a combination of peer review and an external judge, this process empowers poets, artists, and reviewers and allows them to reward and recognize the work they admire.
  • 1st Place - $500; 2nd Place - $250; 3rd Place - $100


2012 BOXCAR PEER AWARD WINNERS

Winning poems are listed here. The two runners up for each issue are included in the full listing of contenders for the Oboh Prize (see below).

How Boxcar Poetry Review's Peer Award System Works

  • Each contributor (past and present) can nominate 3 poems from the current issue as the "best of the issue" (it's easy, just pick your three favorites). If you have a poem in the current issue, we will assume you are using one of your votes for yourself, please nominate one additional poem (for a total of 3).
  • Votes are tallied at the end of the month and the poem with the most votes is announced the first week of the following month.
  • The author of the winning poem will be awarded $25 and the poem will be indicated as having won a Peer Award.
  • The top three poems from each issue will be added to a list of finalists for the Oboh Prize. This means, that even if your poem is not chosen for a Peer Award, there is still a possibility that it could win the year-end prize. By the end of the year, there should be 12 finalists total, not including possible ties.




2012 OBOH FINALISTS

2012 PUSHCART NOMINATIONS



Boxcar Poetry Review - ISSN 1931-1761