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)
Christopher Soto |
Marcelo Hernandez Castillo |
Javier Zamora |
Erika L. Sánchez |
Christopher L. O’Dell |
Eduardo Gabrieloff |
Lauren Espinoza |
Joshua McKinney |
Brett Hall Jones |
Jordan W Reynolds |
Jose Antonio Rodriguez |
Kenzie Allen |
Diego Báez |
sally allen mcnall |
Eduardo C. Corral |
Laura Kasischke |
Urayoan Noel |
Barbara Brinson Curiel |
Brenda Hillman |
Darrel Alejandro Holnes |
Jessica Bergamino |
Lisa Jones |
Gloria Amescua |
Ching-In Chen |
Lynn Melnick |
Rigoberto González |
C. David Scronce |
Adam Fitzgerald |
francine j. harris |
Leah C Kaminski |
Manuel Paul López |
Rosebud Ben-Oni |
Rebecca Foust |
Rebecca Foust |
Lupe Mendez |
Tiffany Denman |
David Roderick |
Norma Elia Cantu |
Giuliani Alvarenga |
Lara Gularte |
Matthew Nienow |
Christopher Ross |
Robin Ekiss |
Stephen Burt |
Morgan Parker |
Anthony Cody |
Eugenia Leigh |
David Tomas Martinez |
Joseph Ross |
Roberto Tejada |
Joyelle McSweeney |
Johannes Göransson |
Francis Santana |
Amy Hoffmann |
Denise Dooley |
Brittany Bennett |
Cecilio Palacio Jr |
Rubi Hernandez |
Momo Manalang R. |
Yosimar Reyes |
Brittany Rabia Eshal |
José Guadalupe Olivarez |
Marisel Moreno |
Eva Trimarchi |
Kat Finch |
Peggy Robles Alvarado |
Sara Zavaleta |
autumn lynch |
Julia Allen |
Rachel Gonzalez Greene |
Bruce Lack |
Robert Siek |
Allie Tova Hirsch |
Brooke Ellsworth |
Jameson Fitzpatrick |
Francisco Aragon |
Suzanne Garcia |
C. Dale Young |
Joshua Duval |
Javier O. Huerta |
Lynda Letona |
Leon Salvatierra |
jos charles |
Angelica Isai Becerra |
Meg Withers |
Blanca Hernandez |
Christina Sisk |
Emily Nagin |
Roberto Montes |
Justin Sherwood |
Rae Paris |
Vanessa Alejandra Bailey |
Sarah Browning |
Mairead Small Staid |
Derrick Austin |
Tim Earley |
Amanda Rybin Koob |
Chris Wilson |
Adeeba Talukder |
Miguel Angel Angeles |
Richard Yanez |
Sarah Einstein |
Willy Palomo |
Ron Mohring |
Monica Sok |
Jonterri Gadson |
Gray Thomas |
John F. Buckley |
Natalie Scenters-Zapico |
Matthew Wimberley |
J.R. Martinez |
Naima Woods |
Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes |
Hieu Minh Nguyen |
DH Varma |
Mary Camille Beckman |
Baruch Porras Hernandez |
James Domingo Francisco Madrigal |
Miranda Cary |
Michael Powers |
Leah Falk |
Bret Nye |
Stephanie Ford |
Wo Chan |
Joanne Diaz |
Jose Skinner |
Alexander Yann |
Reem Abu-Baker |
K. Jane Childs |
Isaac Ginsberg Miller |
Zoe Mungin |
Joseph O. Legaspi |
Keith Taylor |
Carolina Silva |
Ryan Wong |
Jenna Le |
Jocelyn Sears |
TC Tolbert |
Miguel M. Morales |
Linda Rodriguez |
Nate Marshall |
Mitra Pedram |
Joseph Rios |
Jade Brooks |
Cristal M. Garcia |
Julia Harris |
Amanda Calderon |
Evan Chen |
Chase Berggrun |
Laura X |
Lauren Roberts |
Paco Marquez |
Henry Mills |
Elisa Gonzalez |
Brionne Janae |
Robreto Lovato |
Vickie Vertiz |
Danny Alexander |
Norma Liliana Valdez |
Nicholas Reiner |
Steve Werkmeister |
Darren J. de Leon |
Sebastian H Paramo |
michael sedano |
Carissa Garcia |
Eric McDowell |
Suzana Huerta |
Sonia Arora |
Jamaal May |
Marilyn Hackert |
Jade Cho |
Wilhelmina K. Yang-Xudonazarova |
Arman Singh |
Alice E. Ladrick |
Sharon Coleman |
Rose Simons |
Jenny Johnson |
D. Gilson |
Michelle Lin |
Sam Ross |
Lauren Russell |
Anis Shivani |
Christine Blubaugh |
Alicia Salvadeo |
Susan Schweik |
Pat Soberanis |
ryanKauffman |
Soren Stockman |
Marina Tristan |
Melissa Dias-Mandoly |
Lisa Lee |
Eloisa Perez-Lozano |
Cathy Linh Che |
Celeste Guzmán Mendoza |
Aida Salazar |
Ae Hee Lee |
Fatimah Asghar |
Jia Oak Baker |
Henry W. Leung |
Angel Garcia |
Julian Day-Cooney |
Matthew Klam |
ire’ne lara silva |
Jacob Saenz |
Janine Joseph |
Paul Aponte |
Craig Rebele |
Farnoosh Fathi |
Jack Andrew Gillard |
Juan J. Morales |
Philip Metres |
Muriel Leung |
Sergio Rodriguez |
Jose Luis Ramirez, Jr. |
Eric Linsker |
Nicole Sealey |
Deborah Paredez |
Sergio Marin |
Shelagh Patterson |
zakia henderson-brown |
Dawn Lundy Martin |
Elizabeth Acevedo |
Karin Mak |
Brent Armendinger |
Fady Joudah |
Eddie Kim |
Emily Wallis Hughes |
Rusty Morrison, Omnidawn Publishing |
Alma Zaragoza-petty |
Bridget G. Dooley |
Alison Rosetta Barna |
Nayelly Barrios |
Johnny Sittisin |
Sheila Stowell |
Alex-Quan Pham |
Jayson Smith |
Elana Friedland |
Eric St. James Lopez |
Keetje Kuipers |
Ashley Edwards |
XinMing Chang |
Patricia Zambrano |
Jami Proctor-Xu |
Steve Fellner |
Nicole Robinson |
T Wynn |
Aracelis Girmay |
H. Melt |
Devon Branca |
Luke Hollis |
Fernanda Marroquin |
Lucy Biederman |
Nicholas Wong |
Catherine Pikula |
Jay Santa Cruz |
Nancy Rodriguez |
Juan Luis Guzmán |
Jai Arun Ravine |
Dianna Henning |
Mike Lala |
Ashley Romano |
Toby Altman |
April Flynn |
Martha Stromberger |
Liz Peters |
Christine Larusso |
Leora Fridman |
Lisa Hiton |
Christine Kanownik |
Sarah Jean Grimm |
Shanna Compton |
Ife-Chudeni A. Oputa |
François Luong |
ben rosenberg |
Metta Sáma |
lars palm |
Lauren Traetto |
Benjamin D. Alfaro |
Elisabeth Workman |
Saretta Morgan |
Maria Damon |
Rachael Katz |
Benjamin Goldberg |
Meg McKeon |
Adela Najarro |
Lynne Procope |
Amber Atiya |
Eduardo Martinez-Leyva |
Nick Lantz |
Andrea Blancas Beltran |
Robert Michael O’Brien |
Jose j Zamora |
Ivan Rosales |
Amanda McConnon |
Caolan Madden |
Paul Cunningham |
Greg Lewis |
Joey De Jesus |
Marina Weiss |
Solmaz Sharif |
Amanda Killian |
Sam Schreiber |
Rachel Richardson |
Jeffrey Pethybridge |
Kenneth Fields |
luz chavez |
Ana Flores |
Matthew Moore |
Stefa Marin Alarcon |
Kaveh Akbar |
gabriel schubiner |
Ari Banias |
Kaitlyn Greenidge |
Michael Shewmaker |
Adam Roberts |
Alex Guarco |
Levi Rubeck |
Camille Dungy |
Kara Candito |
Michael Brokos |
Aleksei Wagner |
Sam Hall |
Tom Carrigan |
Sahar Muradi |
Angel García |
Sophie Herron |
Allison Davis |
Hossannah Asuncion |
Nathan Kemp |
Jennifer Nelson |
Hannah Aizenman |
Gilda Ochoa |
Taylor Brady |
Carrie Ross |
Esther Lee |
Evie Shockley |
Jeffrey Boyle |
Paul Tran |
Paul Hlava |
Lisa Chen |
Anya Groner |
A. Hayes |
Sara Brickman |
Erica Charis |
Geraldine Leibot |
Rio Cortez |
Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib |
Maya Chinchilla |
Victoria McCoy |
Lauren Marks |
Maurisa Thompson |
Elisa Chavez |
Chrissy Anderson-Zavala |
Hafeez Lakhani |
Tarfia Faizullah |
Sarah Dayley |
Jason Bayani |
Antonio Ruiz-Camacho |
Amy Meng |
Steven Karl |
Chanelle Aponte Pearson |
Noel Pabillo Mariano |
Andrew Wilson |
Joseph Kane |
Taj Emilio Tucker |
Vanessa Huang |
David Hornibrook |
Viridiana Chabolla |
Temar France |
Jose Otero |
Brian Trimboli |
Mahogany L. Browne |
David Winter |
mónica teresa ortiz |
Joy KMT |
Sara Eliza Johnson |
Sarah Roth |
Ocean Vuong |
Ami Mattison |
Beck Gross |
J. Scott Brownlee |
Reginald Harris |
Adrienne Brock |
Anna Ríos |
Michael Nordenberg |
P.E. Garcia |
Joe Pan |
Julie McConnell |
Sam sax |
Amy Gerstler |
Tristan Beach |
Desiree Sparks |
Lizzy Sobiesk |
Cecca Ochoa |
Alexandra Watson |
Alberto V Hernández |
Stephanie Cawley |
Alok Vaid-Menon |
Maya Greenfield-Thong |
Nicholas C Fuenzalida |
N.Alea |
Victoria Kornick |
Lorraine Coulter |