Undocupoets Petition Against Contest Discrimination

We are proud to publish a petition from Undocupoets, the group fighting to end citizenship-based discrimination in poetry publishing and contests. 

Too often, the submission guidelines read “Proof of US Citizenship” or “Legal Residents Only.” This small, but powerful, statement serves to exclude 11.7 million undocumented people (according to the Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project in 2013) from participating in a multitude of poetry opportunities—from first book contests to applying for major grants.

Most documented poets and organizers justify this discrimination by saying something along the lines of “large poetry organizations cannot include undocumented people because they (the large poetry organizations) receive government funding and must follow government regulations.” But this should be no excuse for exclusion. We must strive, as a poetry community, to allow ALL of our comrades the same opportunities that documented poets are afforded. No poet should have their opportunities limited because of their immigration status!

What we are asking for is simple—give us the best poems (regardless of the author’s citizenship)! It should be the duty of poetry organizations to find ways to support poets, not to mimic the nation state.

The immediate action which we would like to see take place, is this: We want poetry publishers to open grants and first book contests to people who live in the United States under DACA and TPS.

DACA and TPS are both non-citizenship / non-permanent resident statuses which allow people to live in the United States with a social security number (meaning they can open a bank account, work, and pay taxes in this country). There are a number of government grants which allow people with these statuses to receive funding. If poetry organizations do NOT allow non-citizens / non-residents to apply because of government funding, then we are asking them to check about the eligibility of funding for people with DACA and TPS. This does make a difference!

As of July 2014, there are 587, 366 young people in the U.S. who were given DACA (according to The Center for American Progress). Also, there are another 340,000 people in the United States who hold TPS (according to the Migration Policy Institute in 2014).

Here is a short list of (some) first book prizes that DO NOT allow undocumented poets to apply:

Walt Whitman Poetry Contest

The Yale Series of Younger Poets

The National Poetry Series

Crab Orchard First Book Prize

A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize (BOA Editions)

American Poetry Review (Honickman First Book Prize)

Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry (Sarabande Books)

Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize (Persea Books)

Our long-term goal for this project is to completely eliminate “proof of citizenship” or “permanent residency” as a requirement to poets applying for first book prizes. We know that this is possible because there are already a number of established publishers which withhold from such passport checks. Some of the organizations (that are UNDOCUPOET-FRIENDLY) include:

Cave Canem Poetry Prize

Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize (University of Norte Dame Press)

Four Way Books Intro Prize in Poetry

The Iowa Poetry Prize

The Ottoline Prize from Fence Books

Omnidawn Poetry Book Contest

Pearl Poetry Book Prize

It is time for a change! We must begin to discuss alternatives to the status quo. We must look for ways to open all first book contests (and grants and residencies) to Undocupoets. Please consider how Undocupoet-friendly organizations find funding, how these organizations are capable of supporting all poets (regardless of status). Please stand in solidarity with ALL UNDOCUPOETS who are asking for the opportunity to share their writing with the world. We need these passport checks to stop now!

Below this essay is a petition of 400+ signatures from poets, publishers, critics, academics, and some of our friends. We hope that you will bring this petition into your organization (if they ask for proof of US citizenship / permanent residency) and begin discussing alternatives to documentation checks. Your voice matters!

With Many Thanks,

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Javier Zamora, Christopher Soto

(& All Undocupoets)