Poetry Detroit: 2022 Winner of the Motown Mic Spoken Word Contest & Broadside Lotus Press Publications

 Since 2014, as a board member of Broadside Lotus Press, I have served as one of the judges in collaboration with the Motown Mic Spoken Word Contest held at Hitsville, the Motown Museum in Detroit, MI. Each poet must write a spoken word piece that focuses on either the history of Motown records, its founder Berry Gordy, the music, or the social impact the record company had on the globe.

Congratulations to Ben Will, the 2022 Motown Spoken Word Artist of the Year! Ben Will won with his poem " Griot's Tale:  The Blue Building on the Boulevard." His poem will be published on a broadside by Broadside Lotus Press.

See this year's Grand Finale competition and Ben Will here: https://youtu.be/BigRbrp8FBY

Past Motown Mic Spoken Word Artist of the Year winners and published Broadside Lotus Poets include:

2014: Rosemarie Wilson a.k.a. One Single Rose for "Motown Blues"  https://youtu.be/bEER0cZaG8w?t=23

2015: Tamyra Rene for "Motosomes" https://youtu.be/Ell3yAK5LCM

2016: Omari Barksdale for "Dance of Revolution". Grand Finale performances: https://youtu.be/5G8lwjKp2LE

2017:  William T. Langford IV for "Shop Around" https://youtu.be/Fk2fJqLGbEQ

2018:  Microphone Phelps a.k.a. Mic Phelps for "We Still Here" https://youtu.be/opUiTT7qCK4

2019: Mikhaella Norwood for "Dear James Gordy" (this poem had a family "secret") https://youtu.be/1Ov554ZtcLs

2020: Cancelled due to Covid 19 pandemic

2021 Kyle Mac for "Young America". Grand Finale performance: https://youtu.be/tzPQSJdHx9M

The Grand Prize-Winning Act will receive:

• The title of 2022 Motown MIC: The Spoken Word Artist of the Year
• $3,000 Cash Prize  
• Engagement with Motown Records Black Forum Label executives
• Published on a literary broadside through Broadside Lotus Press  
• 2 hour studio session in Hitsville NEXT Stern Recording Studio  
• Be featured in a nationally released Press Release for the Grand Finale, and be taken on a Media Tour as well as continued promotion of the winners’ achievements through our social channels, website, and e-Newsletter
• Your performance featured on the Motown Museum website and YouTube Channel  
• Opportunity to perform at various events throughout the year for Hitsville NEXT and its affiliates 

The competition is now in its 8th year. Learn more about the annual competition here:  https://www.motownmuseum.org/program/motown-mic/#:~:text=Motown%20Mic%3A%20The%20Spoken%20Word%20was%20created%20to%20pay%20homage,for%20Black%20expression%20and%20education.

Poetry Detroit: 2022 Broadside Lotus Press Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award Winner

 Broadside Lotus Press Announces

2022 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award Winner

Sheri Flowers Anderson has won the 2022 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award with her manuscript entitled House and Home. Ms. Anderson is retired and lives in San Antonio, TX. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in business management, with a minor in creative writing, at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. For many years she developed her writing abilities in her spare time while working professionally as a human resources specialist. She has won numerous awards for memoir and short story writing as well as for poetry. Her poems have been published widely over the last several decades, including in Voices International Magazine, and in Voices Along the River, The Dream Catcher and Inkwell Echoes anthologies. We are happy to welcome Ms. Anderson into the Broadside Lotus Press legacy.

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2022 Detroit MLK Day Rally and March Jan 17th Update

Update to the Public from the Detroit MLK Day Rally and March Committee.

The Annual Detroit MLK Day Rally and March for Jobs, Peace, and Justice While Protecting Water, Climate, and Communities will take place on Monday, January 17, 2022, virtually at MLKdetroit.org  or on Facebook at facebook@MLKDayDetroit from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

We will have local and international speakers with local poets and musicians on this program.

https://www.facebook.com/events/237248801821088

The 2:00 p.m. in-person rally has been canceled due to the rise of Covid variants.

For more information go to MLKdetroit.org or our Facebook page.

To make a donation, go to:   gofund.me/61fbb5ea  Copy and paste this link into your browser or Cash app at $DetroitMLKDay

2022 Jan 1: Call for Submissions. Broadside Lotus Press Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award

 Broadside Lotus Press

2022 Guidelines for the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award

Winning Manuscript Announced Summer 2022

Book Published Winter 2023

• This competition is open to African American poets only. If you have already had a book published by Lotus Press or Broadside Press, you are ineligible. However, inclusion in a Lotus Press or Broadside Press anthology does not disqualify you.

• Any other serious African American poet, whether previously published or not, may submit a book-length manuscript for consideration. Do not include illustrations, essays, short fiction, or other material that is not poetry.

• Poems submitted by another person, anthologies, or collaborations by more than one poet are not acceptable.

• There is no reading fee; no payment is required.

• The poems in the manuscript should total approximately 60-90 pages, exclusive of a table of contents or other optional introductory material. Begin each poem, single-spaced, on a new page, no matter how short it may be. If the poem is long, it may be continued on the next page(s).

• Use an easy-to-read font such as Times or Times New Roman, size 12 point. Single-space except between stanzas.

• Poems that have been published individually in periodicals or anthologies are acceptable, but we will not consider an entire collection (or a significant portion of an entire collection) that has been previously published, whether self-published or not.

• Manuscripts entered in this competition may not be submitted to other publishers for general consideration, but may be submitted to other contests, as long as you notify us that you have done so or plan to do so. If you are notified that your manuscript has won another competition, you MUST inform us of this immediately.

• Send two complete copies of your manuscript, typed or computer-generated, on white, letter-size paper, with the pages consecutively numbered, to the address below. Do not include your name on any of the pages.

• Include with each copy a cover sheet that contains the title of the collection only and no other information.

• On one separate sheet of paper, list: (1) the title of the manuscript; (2) your name, address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address, and (3) a brief statement signed with your legal name, indicating that (a) all the poems in the collection are original and uncollected (not appearing in a published volume of your work) and (b) you are an African American.

• Keep a copy of your manuscript. Entries will not be returned. After the winner has been selected, all other manuscripts will be destroyed.

• You may enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard so that we may acknowledge receipt of your material.

• Mail your manuscript to the address below using first class priority mail.

• Award entries must be received between January 2 and March 1, 2022. You will be notified of the winner's and the judge’s names in June, 2022. The decision of the judge is final.

• When the winner is notified, he/she must be prepared to submit the manuscript digitally upon request.

• The award winner will receive $500 in cash and publication of the manuscript by Broadside Lotus Press within the first three months of 2023, as well as free copies and discounts.

• Broadside Lotus Press reserves the right to declare no winner in any year that none of the manuscripts submitted meets Broadside Lotus Press literary standards.

• Failure to comply with these guidelines may cause your entry to be disqualified without notification.

• If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us for clarification.

• Mail your submission to: BROADSIDE LOTUS PRESS c/o Dr. Gloria House, 8300 East Jefferson Avenue, Apt. 504, Detroit, MI 48214. Address inquiries to BroadsideLotus@gmail.com.

Except for entries for this award, Broadside Lotus Press is not considering unsolicited manuscripts.

We publish books of poetry only, not individual poems.