It's coming...It's coming...

Can you write under pressure without breaking a sweat?
Always telling friends that a crown of heroic sonnets comes easy?
Do you dream of perfect line breaks?
...& Do you dream of impressing a chick who digs poetry?

-Project Verse-

Dustin Brookshire, through I Was Born Doing Reference Work in Sin and Limp Wrist, is proud to announce Project Verse, the self-proclaimed "Project Runway" of the poetry world.

Project Verse is a free competition set to be a grueling but fun competition for poets. It's a 10-week competition, and the winner will be announced week 11. Each Monday, an assignment will be posted in I Was Born Doing Reference Work in Sin. Poets will have to complete and submit the assignment by noon Friday of the same week. The judges will read and score the assignments over the weekend, and the judgment will be posted in I Was Born Doing Reference Work in Sin the following Monday.

Who are the judges? Dustin Brookshire, Beth Gylys, and Dana Guthrie Martin are your weekly judges; however, it wouldn't be fun without a little variety. Each week, except for the first week of the competition, there will be a guest judge. Although their names are being kept secret for now, they range from Pushcart Prize nominees and winners to a Lambda Literary Award recipient to National Endowment for the Arts fellowship recipients.

And a competition wouldn't be complete without a prize! The winner of Project Verse receives the following prize package:
-a contract for a limited edition chapbook published by Limp Wrist
-a weeklong residency at Soul Mountain Retreat* (for the poet to revise and finish his/her chapbook)
-an interview with Joe Milford of "The Joe Milford Poetry Show"
-a review of the chapbook that will be published in Ouroboros Review & Limp Wrist

How do you apply to compete in Project Verse? See the complete guidelines here.

Deadline? March 1, 2009. Get to work!