I loathe contests. Especially contests for the publication of poetry. I'll give a pass to those that don't charge an entry fee, but then why call it a contest? Why not make it known your press is looking for poems then publish or celebrate those that you like the most? There's a new site that wants to blow the lid off the contest scam: Foetry!
Good luck.
When I spoke with Michael Martin yesterday morning (he in Amsterdam, me in Berkeley), he said every year he chooses work from his magazine to nominate for a Pushcart Prize. Having read the Pushcart anthology three or four years in a row (this was 15 years ago or so) I can't say as I understood Mike's agonizing over his choices. Sending work on to the Pushcart judges means you're giving your contributors another chance at publication, this time in a rather nifty-looking anthology. If anything gets in the anthology the magazine of first publication gets a little notice. Other than the silly "best" designation I don't see any harm or anything to agonize about. The editors of the Pushcart anthologies have their tastes, tastes which sometimes coincide with mine. What they publish is what they like, best or whatever. If I were a magazine editor I'd nominate some poems (or stories or ...), or I'd intend to, but I wouldn't have much expectation Bill Henderson would love what I love. I've seen other poets crow about "being nominated for a Pushcart Prize." Well, yay for them. It means the editor of the magazine that published the poem liked the poem a lot. Something like that happened to me.
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