Call for Submissions: Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize

The Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize is awarded annually to an unpublished manuscript of original Anglophone poetry by an author of Asian heritage residing anywhere in the world. The winner receives book publication and $1,000 USD.

Past winners were The Experiment of The Tropics by Lawrence Lacambra Ypil and Autobiography of Horse by Jenifer Sang Eun Park, selected by Wong May; and Play for Time by Paula Mendoza, selected by Vijay Seshadri.

This year the prize judge is the poet, fictionist, and critic Cyril Wong. Cyril Wong is the Singapore Literature Prize-winning author of poetry collections, Unmarked Treasure and The Lover’s Inventory. A past recipient of the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award for Literature, his poems have appeared in anthologies by Norton and Everyman’s Library, and have been translated into various languages.

Five finalists will be announced in July 2020, and the prizewinner in August 2020. The winning manuscript will be published in Spring 2021 by Gaudy Boy, an imprint of the NYC-based literary nonprofit Singapore Unbound.

Established in 2017, Gaudy Boy publishes poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction of extraordinary merit by Asian voices. Our name is taken from the poem “Gaudy Turnout” by Singaporean poet Arthur Yap about his time abroad in 1970s Leeds, UK. From the Latin “gaudium,” meaning joy, Gaudy Boy seeks to delight our readers with the various powers of art.

Submissions are due by May 15, 2020.

Click here to learn more and review the guidelines for submission.