The IRA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award is given every three years to a promising new poet of children’s poetry (for children and young adults up to grade 12) who has published no more than two books of children’s poetry. A book-length single poem maybe submitted. The award is for published works only. Poetry in any language may be submitted; non-English poetry must be accompanied by an English translation. The next award will be for poetry copyrighted from 2010-2012.

For additional information, please contact the committees@reading.org.

2013 IRA Lee B Hopkins Promising Poet Award Guidelines

2010

Gregory Neri

Chess Rumble (Lee & Low Books )

Neri is an award-winning filmmaker and new media producer from Los Angeles, where he also taught animation and storytelling to inner-city youth. Now living in Tampa, Florida, Neri writes for teens and children. Chess Rumble is his debut book. He says, “The end result of [Chess Rumble] is nothing like I could have imagined—a completely organic story that grew entirely out of a free-flowing process of discovery. At first, I was trying to write a picture book. But I found myself writing two stories: one about a tough chess mentor and the other about a troubled teen who was always getting into fights.”