University graduate students' final chance to submit poems for the Leonard Steinberg Poetry Prize -- an award the contest's organizer says is one of the most prestigious awards unpublished poets can win - is tomorrow.

"This is the best prize a young poet can win without having a book published," said John Balaban, a poet and University professor of English.

Graduate students in all disciplines are eligible to enter up to five poems in the contest, he said, adding that entries must be given to the English department graduate secretary in 144 South Burrowes by tomorrow.

The University's award is called the Leonard Steinberg Poetry Prize for the first time this year in memory of Steinberg, a 1940 Engineering graduate who loved poetry, Balaban said. Steinberg's wife, Pearl, donated this year's $100 prize, he said.

The $100 prize is one reason for poets to enter the contest, Balaban said, but the real motivation is that the winning poem is sent to the Academy of American Poets for consideration as part of an anthology edited every five years by one of the organization's chancellors. Two University students have won entry into the anthology in past years, he added.

There are no categories by which the poetry is judged, said Bruce Weigl, an associate professor of English and one of three judges. "We just choose the very best poems," Weigl said, explaining that poems are submitted anonymously to insure fairness. Weigl won an Academy of American Poets prize at the University of Utah.

Judging alongside Weigl are John Haag, associate professor of English, and Chris Klausen, head of the English department.

"The judging process is pretty democratic since there are three of us," Weigl said.

In past years, about 20 students have typically entered the contest, Balaban said, noting that he expects about the same number this year.

The famous poets Sylvia Plath, Louise Gluck, Tess Gallagher, Robert Mezey and Larry Lewis attained their first recognition through a prize from the Academy of American Poets, Weigl said.