Over the past nine years, more than 350 Dorothy Prizes ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 have been awarded to promising young poets under the age of 40. We- Mary and Barr Rosenberg- have been able to run the contests ourselves with the help of fine judges who served without compensation and the efforts of our friends, so that nearly 100% of the funds have gone toward prize money. To us the best measure of the success of the competition has been the consistently high quality of the lyric poetry submitted, and we congratulate our winners and offer our thanks to everyone who has helped out or entered the competition.
We are not getting any younger, and now it is time for the balance of Marvin's bequest to be deployed in a long lasting way for the benefit of promising young poets. We have accordingly granted the balance of the funding for the Dorothy Prizes to the Poetry Foundation, keeping back sufficient funds to run the contest for a tenth year this Fall. (Entries are due October 5th.) We are delighted to make this gift on Marvin's behalf to the Poetry Foundation, so that the funds can continue to be entirely dedicated to the poets themselves. This is exactly what Marvin would have wished to bring about in Dorothy's memory.
At the same time, seeing the high quality of the submissions to the Dorothy Prizes, we hope that it may be possible for others to step forward and carry on the administration of the competition with much less generous prizes, but nonetheless in something like its present form. The first competition in a new format would accept entries in October 2014, and we invite proposals from any groups or individuals who might want to take this project on. We will offer our assistance to whoever volunteers to undertake this, and we may be able to provide funding up to one tenth of the level of the first ten years.
Please e-mail communications or proposals to Mary Rosenberg at