‘The way you hear it, is the way you sing it.’ Jan Steen, circa 1665.
Huzzah! Indiana Review’s annual poetry prize is open for submissions! You have until April 1 to submit your poetry, but before you do, I thought it my duty as Associate Editor to—lift the velvet rope, pull back the papyrus curtain, turn the glossy cover, lead you by the hand “behind the Blue Light”—reveal How Contests Work.
You submit a packet of three poems to Poetry Contest 2013. What happens next?
In case you haven’t heard, 2011 National Book Award nominations were released in mid-October, and among the five titles (the winner will be announced November 16th in New York) named is Nikky Finney’s latest collection, Head Off & Split. I read the book this summer after attending a workshop with her, but have been surprised to discover many of my colleagues do not know her work at all.
In Head Off & Split, Finney invokes many influential African-American figures–Rosa Parks, and Condoleezza Rice, for example, in addition to a girl struck by lightning and a woman stranded in the floods of Katrina. While the collection deals with particular historical moments and people, and while she engages in a specific dialogue, these are in no way limiting; rather her collection serves as a much needed light in contemporary American poetry. Finney’s dedication to what can be salvaged, her unfaltering consciousness and conscientiousness, and her dedication to the sublime power of language demand our attention. This fourth book is stunning, a definite must-read. 
You can find more of her work here, or listen to her read the poem “My Time Up With You” from Head Off & Split
