Author: Bernadette Geyer

With more than 20 years of public relations/marketing/editorial experience, Bernadette Geyer is a communications and content expert. Geyer’s marketing and editorial skills are rounded out with experience providing editorial feedback for mobile apps, and services to translate business texts from German to English.

Contests for Already Published (Poetry) Books – Updated October 2025

by Bernadette Geyer, posted in Articles, Contests

Contests-for-poetry-books

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If anyone knows of additional contests for already published books (or galleys), please post a comment and I will add to the list.

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Recent update in October 2025: Added the Edna Meudt Poetry Book Award and Julie Suk Award. Removed the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award and the Milton Kessler Poetry Book Award. Fixed some broken links.

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BOOK AWARDS FOR POETRY BOOKS

Note: advice of most of these contests is to submit book as soon as possible during submission period.

Continue reading “Contests for Already Published (Poetry) Books – Updated October 2025” →

South Dakota Review publishes “Rib”

by Bernadette Geyer, posted in Poems

Very excited for my third appearance in South Dakota Review, which published my poem “Rib” in issue 59.1 in Fall 2024. Just got my contributor copy last week and am happy to see my work alongside that of Susan L. Leary, Michael Meyerhofer, Stella Wong, and many other fine writers.

Lamp Lit publishes my poem “The Most Beautiful Clown in the Circus”

by Bernadette Geyer, posted in Poems

My poem “The Most Beautiful Clown in the Circus” appears in the inaugural issue of Lamp Lit. The poem was inspired by my visit to the David Bowie exhibit at Gropius Bau several years ago, where I got to see his Pierrot costume. Bowie had told the designer to make him “the most beautiful clown in the circus.” How could I pass that up for inspiration?

You can download a copy of the issue or read it for free online at this link.

Dos and Don’ts When Seeking Book Blurbs

by Bernadette Geyer, posted in Articles, Tips for Writers

I wrote the featured article for the 6 June 2025 issue of FundsforWriters, published weekly by Hope Clark, in which I offer tips based on my own experience soliciting blurbs for my books and writing blurbs for others. Below is a short excerpt.

Continue reading “Dos and Don’ts When Seeking Book Blurbs” →

Developing a More Efficient Submission Process

by Bernadette Geyer, posted in Articles, Tips for Writers

I wrote the featured article for the 4 April 2025 issue of Funds for Writers, published weekly by Hope Clark, which shines a light behind the curtain of how I changed my process for submitting writing to magazines to open more time for writing. Below is a short excerpt.

Continue reading “Developing a More Efficient Submission Process” →

Poetry – Medicine for the Soul Podcast episode celebrating responses to Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons

by Bernadette Geyer, posted in Uncategorized

I recently had the pleasure of reading as part of a celebration of From the Belly Volume II: Food, a collection of poetry responding to Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons.

The event was for the “Poetry–Medicine for the Soul” series, sponsored by Topsham Public Library and curated by John Gillespie. I read with Karren Alenier (editor), Tara Betts, Aaron Caycedo-Kimura, and Fred Marchant, who all also contributed to the anthology.

The reading has been edited and produced into a podcast episode, which is now available for your listening pleasure.

Click here to listen to this delightful conversation about poetry, food, Gertrude Stein, and inspiration.