Joy Bale Boone (1912-2002) was an American poet best known for her devotion to the arts. Born in Chicago, where she received inspiration from

poet Harriet Monroe, Boone spent most of her life in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She was active in the women's liberation movement, having formed the League of Women Voters in Hardin County, KY in 1944. Throughout her life, she served on numerous committees and boards in hopes that more people

would have the opportunity to experience the arts in the way that she had. Her most significant work was The Storm's Eye: A Narrative in Verse

Celebrating Cassius Marcellus Clay, Man of Freedom 1810–1903. She served as Kentucky's Poet Laureate from 1997-1998.

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              From Joy

              ZEN

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              Happiness is yet the essence of a moment--

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               be still for this!

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              Resist kaleidoscopes,

              the mad twirling of colors,

              and the hunter's horn.

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              Fleet is the moment

              its essence shy

              can wait forever . . .

              only we die.

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2023 Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize

Now Open!

August 5-December 15, 2022

$750 Grand Prize
Please read the guidelines  below.

Contest Guidelines

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1. Submit no more than three (3) original, unpublished poems and donate $10.

2. Poems should be typed, 12 point font and submitted as a Word file (no pdfs). Any style and/or length are accepted.  

3. ​Simultaneous submissions accepted, but poems placed elsewhere will not be included in contest. It is the writer's responsibility to inform us when or if this happens.

4. Each finalists (there's usually about 20) will receive a free copy of the Spring 2023 issue of The Heartland Review wherein winners and finalists will be published.  All entrants, regardless of publication, can receive a discount on the publication cost by contacting us.  

5. Entrants should provide a cover page/cover letter that includes name, address, email, and a 30-40 word biography with the poems in one Word document. Personal information on the manuscripts results in immediate disqualification.

6. The deadline for entries is December 15, 2022.  Writers should use the submit link below, which uses Submittable. There is a file below containing instructions with pictures of what to expect in the screens.   

7.  Winners will be announced in February 2023.

8. There is a $10.00 submission fee/donation.  Your donation supports the prize for this competition

Thank you for supporting our journal and remembering Joy!

Meet the Judge

Bernard Clay is a Louisville, Kentucky, native who grew up in the shadow of the now demolished Southwick housing projects on the “West End” of town. He has spent most of his life in Kentucky cultivating an appreciation, over the years, for the state’s disappearing natural wonders and unique but sparse urban areas. 

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Bernard received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Kentucky Creative Writing Program and is a member of the Affrilachian Poets collective. His work has been published in various journals and anthologies. He currently resides on a farm in eastern Kentucky with his herbalist wife Lauren (founder of Resilient Roots). English Lit is his first book. 

The pdf file here provides step by step instructions for how to submit using the Click Here to Submit button. It shows pictures of what to expect in the coming pages.