Alfred G. Bailey Prize

Poetry Manuscript

      • 48 to 96 pages
      • Individual poems can be previously published, but the manuscript
        must be unpublished
      • First Prize $350, Second Prize $200, Third Prize 1 year WFNB membership

      The 2022-23 Judge: Alice Burdick 

      Alice Burdick lives and writes poetry, essays, and cookbooks in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. She is the author of one book of selected poems: Deportment, 2018, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, and four full-length poetry collections: Book of Short Sentences, 2016, Mansfield Press; Holler, 2012, Mansfield Press; Flutter, 2008, Mansfield Press; and Simple Master, 2002, Pedlar Press. Her practice often includes collaboration, and most recently her poetry has been used in Woodlight, a series of films created by Hear Here Productions, with a dancer and musicians. 


      The 2021-22 judge: Trevor Corkum

      The 2021-22 Winners:

      First Prize: Amy Murphy, Cliffs and Piles

      Second Prize: Phillip Crymble, The Rowan Berries of Winter

      Third Prize:  Jane Tims, persist, perish, escape

      Honourable Mention: Bryn Harris, The Anthem of the White-Throated Sparrow 



      I won First Place in the Bailey Prize category in 2016, Third Place in 2020 and 2022. I am so proud to be able to report this in the author and cover descriptions for my various books, knowing that people unfamiliar with my work will recognize the honour and confidence expressed through the winning of these awards.

      --Jane Tims

      Winning the Alfred G. Bailey prize for best poetry manuscript has encouraged me to continue to improve my manuscript, to create new works, and even to explore writing new genres.  I am motivated to regularly submit to contests, and I have become both more open and more discerning in how I consume all art forms, with a heightened appreciation for process. --Amy Murphy, First Prize, 2022

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      Territorial Acknowledgement

      The Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick acknowledges that the land on which we live, work and gather is the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples, and we honour the spirit of our ancestors’ Treaties of Peace and Friendship.

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