Inverted Syntax’s
Sublingua Prize for Poetry 

Dorothea Lasky will judge Inverted Syntax’s inaugural
​Sublingua Prize for Poetry 
The Inverted Syntax Sublingua Prize for Poetry awards a cash prize of $1,000 and publication in our print issue for a group of exceptionally crafted, previously unpublished pieces by a writer who has not yet published a full-length manuscript nor a chapbook exceeding 44 pages. The awe-inspiring poet Dorothea Lasky will judge. All submission entries are also considered for publication.
About the Judge
Dorothea Lasky was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She earned a BA at Washington University and an MFA at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has published five collections of poetry with Wave Books,  Milk, AWE (2007), Black Life (2010), and Thunderbird (2012). She’s also the author of ROME (Liveright/W.W. Norton), as well as several chapbooks, including Snakes (Tungsten Press, 2017), the polemical Poetry Is Not a Project (Ugly Ducking Presse, 2010). She is the co-editor of Open the Door: How to Excite Young People About Poetry (McSweeney’s, 2013). Her poems have appeared in a number of prominent publications, including POETRY, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, and Boston Review. “Known for her colloquial, even slangy style and dramatic readings, Lasky acknowledges that “there is a kind of arrogance, a kind of supreme power, that when infused with a little real humility and expertise, makes a poem. Because the poem is always about the speaker.”” Lasky was awarded a Bagley Wright Fellowship in 2013, and she is an Associate Professor of Poetry at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where she directs the Undergraduate Creative Writing Program, acts as a co-Faculty Advisor for Columbia Artist/Teachers (CA/T), and organizes the summer writing program. Lasky lives in New York City.
The Sublingua Prize for Poetry Guidelines:
  • Though it’s called the Inverted Syntax Sublingua Prize for Poetry, we accept work that celebrates hybridity, resisting genre-specificity. Whatever poetry means to you, send it our way.
  • We will accept submissions between March 1 and May 31, 2019. The winner will be announced in October.
  • Please send no more than five poems, not exceeding six pages.
  • The $20 submission entry fee includes a subscription to Inverted Syntax’s Winter 2020 issue, which will feature the winning poems.
  • We read submissions blind. Submissions with identifying information will not be considered. 
  • We accept submissions only though Submittable.
  • Upload up to 5 pieces (not to exceed 6 pages) into a single file. Be sure to  use page numbers and 12-point font (preferably Garamond or Times New Roman), in .doc, .docx, pdf. or .rtf format.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions.
  • We accept multiple submissions, but each submission must be accompanied by its own fee.
  • Anyone affiliated with Regis University or Inverted Syntax is not eligible to submit to the contest.
  • The Sublingua Prize is only open to those residing in USA because of the complexities related to international financial transactions (in the event the winning writer resides outside the USA).
  • The initial reading/selection will be done by all journal readers and editors including interns. Our editorial staff is comprised of MFA graduates, MFA candidates as well as undergraduate interns in varying fields. ​