Jasper Project announces call for BIPOC poets

The Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer Poetry Chapbook Prize

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Monday, February 28, 2022

In honor of the eponymous 20th century poet, the Jasper Project is delighted to announce a new project: the Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer Poetry Chapbook Prize for South Carolina BIPOC poets.

Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer (1868-1936) was a teacher and social activist in Orangeburg. Born in Pickens, she taught at the Normal and Grammar Schools at Claflin College for 40 years. Her published anthology of poems Prejudice Unveiled and Other Poems (1907) examined the Jim Crow South’s propensity for lynching, racism, and social injustice. Moorer was also an advocate for women’s suffrage in South Carolina, especially in the Methodist Church.

The purpose of the Lizelia August Jenkins Moorer Prize, affectionately called the Lizelia Prize, is to offer a first-time BIPOC poet from South Carolina a publishing contract with Muddy Ford Press to publish their debut chapbook under the guidance of an established poet. The brainchild of Dr. Len Lawson, who is a member of the Jasper Project board of directors and the author, editor, or co-editor of four books of poetry, Lawson will also serve as project manager as well as editor of the winner’s chapbook and will collaborate with the winner on the construction of the book.

South Carolina BIPOC poets who have yet to publish a book of poetry are invited to submit 30-40 single spaced numbered pages in Times New Roman 12-pt. font and include a cover sheet with your name and manuscript title. Your name should not appear on the manuscript. The winning submission will receive publication via Muddy Ford Press, a cash prize of $250, and ten author copies of the book. Submissions should be in MS Word format and should be sent to lizeliapoetry@gmail.com no later than Monday, February 28, 2022.