Leonard Cohen Poetry Prize
$1000 — Winner | $250 x 4 Runner-ups
Theme: Love, Faith & Sex
September 21, 2024 — November 7, 2024
Poet, novelist, singer/songwriter, artist, music producer, Buddhist monk, Leonard Cohen has won countless hearts.
I found his music six years ago and haven't listened to much else since. Now every morning when I drop my daughter off to preschool, she and I sing along to “Suzanne” on the way. Having spent countless hours with the Leonard Cohen Archive at the University of Toronto, I’m in awe of the devotion he had for his craft, blackening page after page.
His ability to blend the sacred and the profane, the spiritual and the sensual remains unmatched. We are indebted to him for bridging the world of literature with the world of music.
A couple of times in concerts, he sang this two-liner: “no, it wasn't any good, there's no reason why you should remember me” while having given us a million reasons to remember him.
We hope this will push people who are aware of Cohen's genius as a musician to turn to his poetry. It gives us deep honor to name this prize after the one and only Leonard Cohen and carry a part of his infinite legacy on our slim shoulders.
As Leonard would say, forgive the poverty of these words for they do not reflect the abundance of our gratitude.
—Karan Kapoor, Editor-in-Chief, ONLY POEMS
The Leonard Cohen Poetry Prize will open each year from September 21 to November 7 (LC’s birth anniversary to death anniversary).
$1000 will be awarded to a poem that explores the intersection of love, faith and sex. 4 finalists will each be awarded $250.
Submission Guidelines
Opening: September 21st
Send us up to 3 pages of poetry.
Each poem starts on a new page.
In the spirit of Leonard Cohen, we ask that your poems deal in some way with the intersections of Love, Faith, & Sex.
We only accept previously uncurated work. Please refer to this article for a more in-depth understanding of what that means.
We love cover letters and would prefer knowing whose work we are reading. You are welcome to share your love for Leonard Cohen, your publication history, if any, though that would not influence our decision. Please make sure that the document of your poems is stripped of any biographical information—use the cover letter field on Submittable for this.
Please withdraw your poems if they get accepted elsewhere.
We will respond to everyone by the end of this year. Winners will be announced and published in January.
Submission Fee: $15
Deadline: November 7, 2024 (no extensions)
The interlocking hearts symbol Leonard Cohen designed for Book of Mercy encapsulates his vision of unity and purpose. When I learned about his concept of the Order of the Unified Heart, I was deeply moved. “A kind of dream of an order,” as Cohen put it in his interview with Sarah Hampson. “There is no organization. There’s no hierarchy. There’s just a pin for people of a very broadly designated similar intent.” There’s something magical about how he could take such profound ideas and express them with disarming simplicity. I like to think this symbol merges all binaries and shows also the interconnectedness of poetry and music. Like the interlocking hearts, Cohen’s words continue to unify and inspire us.
The Leonard Cohen Family Trust does not endorse this award, ONLY POEMS, or the prize winners. It is for their generosity we are allowed to name this prize after Leonard Cohen, the Poet Laureate of the World.
Our Favorite Leonard Cohen PIECES to Inspire You
Suzanne from “Songs of Leonard Cohen” (Columbia Records, 1967)
For Anne
With Annie gone,
whose eyes to compare
with the morning sun?
Not that Idid compare,
But I do compare
Now that she's gone.
The Spice-Box of Earth, Leonard Cohen
(McClelland And Stewart 1961)
When you call me close
to tell me
your body is not beautiful
I want to summon
the eyes and hidden mouths
of stone and light and water
to testify against you.
“Beneath My Hands,” Selected Poems, 1956-1968 by Leonard Cohen (Bantam Books, 1971)
“Avoid the flourish. Do not be afraid to be weak. Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you’re tired. You look like you could go on forever. Now come into my arms. You are the image of my beauty .”
How to Speak Poetry by Leonard Cohen
“Deprivation is the mother of poetry.”
The Favourite Game, Leonard Cohen
(Secker & Warburg, 1963)
Here’s a Playlist of our favourite Leonard Cohen songs
“God is Alive, Magic is Afoot”
Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen (Viking Press, 1966)
Israel, and you who call yourself Israel, the Church that calls itself Israel, and the revolt that calls itself Israel, and every nation chosen to be a nation – none of these lands is yours, all of you are thieves of holiness, all of you at war with Mercy. Who will say it? Will America say, We have stolen it, or France step down? Will Russia confess, or Poland say, We have sinned? All bloated on their scraps of destiny, all swaggering in the immunity of superstition. Ishmael, who was saved in the wilderness, and given shade in the desert, and a deadly treasure under you: has Mercy made you wise? Will Ishmael declare, We are in debt forever? Therefore the lands belong to none of you, the borders do not hold, the Law will never serve the lawless. To every people the land is given on condition. Perceived or not, there is a covenant, beyond the constitution, beyond sovereign guarantee, beyond the nation’s sweetest dreams of itself. The Covenant is broken, the condition is dishonoured, have you not noticed that the world has been taken away? You have no place, you will wander through yourselves from generation to generation without a thread. Therefore you rule over chaos, you hoist your flags with no authority, and the heart that is still alive hates you, and the remnant of Mercy is ashamed to look at you. You decompose behind your flimsy armour, your stench alarms you, your panic strikes at love. The land is not yours, the land has been taken back, your shrines fall through empty air, your tablets are quickly revised, and you bow down in hell beside your hired torturers, and still you count your battalions and crank out your marching songs. Your righteous enemy is listening. He hears your anthem full of blood and vanity, and your children singing to themselves. He has overturned the vehicle of nationhood, he has spilled the precious cargo, and every nation he has taken back. Because you are swollen with your little time. Because you do not wrestle with your angel. Because you dare to live without God. Because your cowardice has led you to believe that the victor does not limp.
Book of Mercy, Leonard Cohen
(McClelland and Stewart, 1984)