The 2015 Ballard Poetry Prize collection is out -- Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River

We are thrilled to announce the official release of our newest prize-winning poetry collection, Sarah McCartt-Jackson's Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River.

Larry D. Thomas, former Texas Poet Laureate and member of the Texas Institute of Letters, judged the contest and found the collection both realistically and luminously depicted. "The brutality of life is brilliantly counterpointed by the elegance of lyrical diction," Thomas said. "It's a memorable collection."

The poems form a narrative about Ora, a woman living a hard existence, who works through the loss of her children, a grief that McCartt-Jackson calls, "unending but not life-ending."

McCartt-Jackson, who is the current poet-in-residence for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, recognizes that a lot of people don't read poetry. "I knew I wanted to make a collection with a narrative arc to show readers, even non-readers of poetry, that reading a collection of poems can be equivalent to--or even better--than reading a novel."

The book is available in both paperback and ebook form at the following retailers and bookstores:

Amazon
Powell's Bookstore
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Google Play
Kobo

The Winner of the 2014 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize is Sarah McCartt-Jackson

We are pleased to announce the winning chapbook: Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River by Sarah McCartt-Jackson.

Sarah McCartt-Jackson
photo by Karin Partin Wells

Sarah calls Kentucky home. She is currently the artist-in-residence for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She has published another chapbook called Vein of Stone.

Her works have been published in Indiana Review, Journal of American Folklore, The Fourth River, and NANO Fiction. Tidal Basin Review selected her as their inaugural Poetry Series Center Feature poet.

Our 2015 judge was Larry Thomas. Thomas is a former Poet Laureate of Texas, an inductee to the Texas Institute of Letters, and has published multiple volumes of poetry, most notably, Where Skulls Speak Wind. He has been nominated for five Pushcart Prizes.

Thomas said of Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River, "The brutality of life 'on the wrong side of the river' is brilliantly counterpointed by the elegance of lyrical diction and unforgettable imagery."

Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River will be released in April 2015 as both a paperback and digital edition.