By Staff Reports
(Honolulu) — Hawai‘i Pacific University’s annual James A. Vaughan Award for Poetry celebrates local writers and the literary arts. This year’s contest offers a $250 cash prize and publication in HPU’s literary magazine Hawai‘i Pacific Review. Deadline is December 30.
Assistant Professor of English Adele NeJame will judge the contest. NeJame is an award-winning poet, author of four books of poems, as well as many national and international publications.
The award began in 2000 and is named for James A. Vaughan, who established a fund to enhance the poetry programs at the university. Vaughan was NeJame’s former student. Together, they shared many literary discussions. She said the class impacted him in a way that led him to generously contribute to support poetry at HPU and the community. NeJame credits James as a “great personal inspiration.”
To participate, send three poems — hardcopy only — with a 60 line limit each, along with name, address, phone number, email address, names of the poems on a cover page, and a five-line biography to: Adele NeJame/James A. Vaughan Award for Poetry, 1188 Fort Street, MP 201-E, Honolulu, HI 96813.
No author identification on the poems, please. Poems must be typed and in standard format (left justified margin and no unorthodox spacing) to be considered. Participants must have resided in Hawaii for at least one year. No previously published work may be submitted. Submissions must be postmarked by December 30, 2015. For more information on the contest, contact NeJame at anejame@hpu.edu.
The winner will be announced in January 2016. The award and a celebratory reading will take place at HPU’s annual Ko‘olau Writers Workshop, scheduled in spring of 2016. This event is supported in part by the Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.
Founded in 1965, Hawai‘i Pacific University has grown to become the state’s leading private, non-profit university, with a student population of nearly 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and nearly 80 countries around the world. It has campuses in Downtown Honolulu, Kaneohe, and Makapu‘u. USA Today has named it the most diverse university in the nation.