South Dakota State Poetry Society

Deadline: February 1, 202
Please note: We do not accept previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you inform us immediately if your work is accepted somewhere else.
  Send one document with up to five poems. Use your contact information, including phone number and email address, as the header for each page. Please also add a brief bio (50 words or less) in the space for Cover Letter, highlighting any connection you have to South Dakota.
 We welcome poetry from all poets. If you are not a member of SDSPS, please use the form that says "Non-SDSPS Members." There is a submission fee of $15.00 for up to five poems. We are unable to offer a complimentary copy to non-members. Members receive a copy as a benefit of membership.
 For information on how to join SDSPS, please visit sdpoetry.org.  

Deadline: February 1, 2025
Please note: We do not accept previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Send one document with up to five poems, each on its own page. Use your contact information, including phone number and email address, as the header for each page.  Please also add a brief bio (50 words or less) highlighting your primary connection to South Dakota.
We welcome work from all poets. If you are not a member of SDSPS, please use the form that says "Open/Non-SDSPS Member Call." Thank you.
 

The South Dakota State Poetry Society selects TWO poets for its Poet of Merit awards each year in which a new poet laureate is not named - one award for a living poet and one posthumous award. 

Nominees must have been either born in South Dakota or have been a resident for five or more years. Ideally, if the nominee has moved out of state, he or she shall have maintained South Dakota ties.

The South Dakota Poet of Merit Award is a lifetime honor and may be granted regardless of whether or not the poet has served or may in the future serve as a South Dakota Poet Laureate.

Living South Dakota Poet of Merit Award winners will be invited to add copies of their work to the SDSPS Archives at SDSU’s Briggs Library.  Works of South Dakota Poet of Merit winners in the Posthumous category may be collected by the committee and submitted to the SDSPS Archives at SDSU’s Brigg’s Library.

Current SDSPS Members are eligible to submit nominations via Submittable for the Poet of Merit Award. If you are not a current member, but wish to join or renew, please do so via our website here: https://sdpoetry.org/shop/

To nominate a Poet of Merit in either or both categories (living or posthumous), SDSPS members should submit the following by April 1.

a) a cover letter stating why the poet deserves the honor;
b) a sample of the poet’s work, not to exceed 15 pages or 10 minutes of recorded audio and/or video. (If poems are published, indicate where and when.); and
c) a bio of the poet, not to exceed three typed pages. (Note: At their discretion, the committee may choose to further read or research  the Poets’ writing and accomplishments in addition to considering the submitted nomination materials.)

Pasque Press, under the board of direction of SDSPS, began publishing a series of full-length, single-authored poetry collections starting in 2021.

To submit a manuscript, a poet must be

· A current member of SDSPS; AND

· (1) A current resident of South Dakota writing about any topic/theme; OR (2) A South Dakota affiliated poet who has lived but is no longer living in the state but writing about South Dakota.

Selection Criteria:

• Excellence: Quality of craft; one manuscript will be selected for publishing by Pasque Press editor, Christine Stewart-Nuñez, and blind peer review: two people with at least one book published by a press with a national reputation.
• Commitment to Book Promotion: Upon manuscript submission, poet must outline commitment to marketing and promoting their book. This is important because publication of the next book in the series depends, in part, on profits of earlier books. The time between book publications depends upon the success of the previous book and results of any fundraising done by SDSPS.
• Submissions will be accepted via Submittable only. 
• There is no fee to submit your manuscript, but the submission guidelines listed here must be met. 

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

• 48-80 pages of poetry, with ONE poem per page unless a single poem takes more than one page.
• Individual poems may have been previously published in anthologies, chapbooks, print journals, online journals, etc., but cannot have appeared in any full-length collection, including self-published collections.
• Translations are NOT accepted.
• We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere.
• Spellcheck your manuscript carefully.
• Use one space after a period, not two.
• Paginate your manuscript.
• Use Times New Roman, 12 pt font, with one-inch margins on all four sides.
• Do NOT include photographs and drawings.
• Submit your manuscript in this order:

               o Full title page—with your name

               o Table of contents page(s)

               o Manuscript pages

               o Acknowledgments page 

               o About the Author—one-paragraph professional bio

In your cover letter, please affirm that you are a member of SDSPS and a South Dakota resident, OR you are a member of SDSPS and a South Dakota affiliated poet writing about South Dakota. If the latter, please describe your connection to the state and the ways you’re writing about South Dakota.

In addition, describe your commitment for promoting your book if it is selected. This could include plans for readings, book-signings, listing your book on your website and social media, etc. It could also include a description of your professional networks and how many books you anticipate buying (at a discounted author’s price) to sell on your own. If you’d like some advice and ideas, we highly recommend PR for Poets by Jeannine Hall Gailey. SDSPS will list your book on our website, include it in our proceedings at the South Dakota Festival of Books, and advertise it to the membership of the South Dakota State Poetry Society.