Bridesmaid Revisited

The major way nonsuperstar poets get their books published is by entering them in contests, usually being forced to pay a small fee, say $25, for the consideration.

Often the finalists and even the semifinalists are announced when the winner is.

It sometimes takes a while to hit the jackpot, as happened to Tony Barnstone, a professor at Whittier, with a couple of poetry collections and a handful of scholarly books to his credit already.

Red Hen Press in Los Angeles has finally published his ms., The Golem of Los Angeles, which, he acknowledges, "was a finalist for the Dorsett Prize, 2005, the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry, 2005, the May Swenson Poetry Prize, 2005 and 2006, the 2nd Annual Robert E. Lee & Ruth I. Wilson Poetry Book Award, 2005, the Ashland Poetry Prize, 2005, and the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry, 2004; it was a runner-up for the Cleveland State University Poetry Center Open Competition, 2005, and the Main Street Rag Chapbook Contest, 2002; and it was a semi-finalist for the Ohio State University Press/The Journal Award in Poetry, 2006, the Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry, 2005, and the Brittingham Prize, 2004 and 2006."