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YellowJacket Press |
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Established in 2005, YellowJacket Press (YJP) is an independent small poetry press and currently the only publisher of poetry chapbook manuscripts in Florida. YJP sponsors the annual YellowJacket Press Chapbook Contest for Florida Poets. Renowned across the state, the annual contest identifies the state’s most vital and vibrant poets and brings their exhilarating, well-crafted poems to the public eye. |
Past News |
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Help YJP continue to publish Florida Poets. Any amount is greatly appreciated. |
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This is the seventh year of the YellowJacket Press (YJP) Chapbook Contest. A chapbook is a small collection of approximately 20 pages of poetry by a single poet. YJP founder and editor Gianna Russo created the contest while directing the creative writing department at Blake School of the Arts, a magnet high school. No longer affiliated with the school, YJP continues to acknowledge and support adult poets across the state and has garnered acclaim as the only statewide publisher of poetry chapbooks.
Previous winning chapbooks were Florida Straits by Gregory Byrd of Clearwater (2005), Music in Arabic by Mary Jane Ryals of Tallahassee (2006), and Night Windows by Susan Lilley of Orlando (2006), Many Loves by Michael Hettich of Miami (2007) and Our Keen Blue House by Michael Trammell of Tallahassee (2008) and Better Accidents by Kate Sweeney of Tampa (2009). |
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Laura Sobbott Ross of Sorrento won the 6th Annual YellowJacket Press Chapbook Contest for Florida Poets.
A Tiny Hunger was selected from dozens of submissions from across the state. The craft and sensitivity of the poems and the unity of the manuscript as a whole made it easy to pick this collection to represent the YellowJacket name, which has established a reputation for quality. We are proud to add Laura's work to our catalog.
Runners-up:
Paradise Sun by David Delisle (Boynton Beach)
Rush by Anne Meisenzahl (Tallahassee)
Flotilla of Light by Christopher Tozier (Eustis)
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The Peter Meinke Prize in Poetry |
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THANK YOU to everyone who helped YJP raise $1,820 for Florida poetry and The Poets Laureate Project!!
YellowJacket Press is thrilled to announce that The Poets Laureate Project was successfully funded through a spring campaign on Kickstarter. Thanks to the generous support of 56 backers, YellowJacket Press will publish chapbooks by Tampa Bay Area’s two Poets Laureate, James Tokley, Poet Laureate of Tampa, and Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg. YJP is the first press to publish chapbooks simultaneously by these two iconic poets. Both poets will read and sign their books at this year’s Happy Hour and Prime Time Show.
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Peter Meinke,Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg |
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YellowJacket Press (YJP) will celebrate National Poetry Month a little late with the 3rd Annual Poetry {after}Party on Friday, May 11, 2012 from 6:30-8:30 pm at The Mermaid Tavern, 6719 N. Nebraska Ave, in Seminole Heights, Tampa.
The Party will feature poetry readings by favorite local and YellowJacket Press poets, music, and artwork by Phyllis McEwen, and raffles of literary oddities and keepsakes throughout the evening. A suggested donation at the door of $5.00 goes to support YellowJacket Press and provides for Happy Hour drink prices during the event..
Silvia Curbelo, Charles Flowers, Nyssa Hanger, Jeff Karon, Eric Pfeiffer, Katie Riegel, will read original works. They will be joined by the winner of the 2012 YellowJacket Press Poetry Contest for Florida Poets, Liz Robbins of St. Augustine, and by finalist Christopher Tozier of Eustis. Robbins’ chapbook Girls Turned Like Dials and Tozier’s chapbook A Little Book of Light History: from Delft to Ocean Park will debut at the Party. |
