Independence Day

This past weekend, Independence Day was celebrated in the United States with barbecues, concerts, parades, picnics, and fireworks commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Amidst the celebration, the day has also become a reminder of what it means to uphold human rights. Write a poem reflecting on celebrating the country you grew up in and all the complicated feelings and memories that come along. For inspiration, read “Ghazal: America the Beautiful” by Alicia Ostriker, included in the archives of the Academy of American Poets’ website.

Submissions Open for Santa Fe Writers Project Book Award

The 2022 Santa Fe Writers Project (SFWP) Book Award is still open for submissions! Offered biennially for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction, the prize awards $1,500 and publication by the Santa Fe Writers Project, a publisher with global distribution. Writers from all around the world are welcome to apply, though submitted manuscripts must be written in English. Unpublished and self-published work as well as prose published with a micro or small press that has not received marketing support are eligible. Winners will receive a full developmental edit, collaboration with an in-house copy editor, and the opportunity to work closely with SFWP’s layout and design team.

Using only the online submission system, submit a story collection, a novel, an essay collection, or a memoir of any length with a $30 entry fee by July 18. Deesha Philyaw, author of the award-winning short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, will judge. Visit the website for complete guidelines

An independent press founded in 1998, Santa Fe Writers Project challenges “the norms by embracing short stories, novellas, translations, reprints, and the avant-garde.” Started two years after the press began, the SFWP Book Award has previously been judged by writers including Carmen Maria Machado, Emily St. John Mandel, and Benjamin Percy. Recent contest winners are A.A. Balaskovits (Magic for Unlucky Girls), Lilly Dancyger (Negative Space), Wendy J. Fox (If the Ice Had Held), and Joseph Holt (Golden Heart Parade). 

Feeling Musical

6.30.22

In the introduction to the anthology This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music (Hachette, 2022) edited by Kim Gordon and Sinéad Gleeson, which is featured in “The Anthologist” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, composer and guitarist Heather Leigh writes about how the authors of each essay acknowledge that “music somehow remains intangible” and how “we can try to explain and to rationalize it, but we’re seduced back by the song.” What music seduces and captures you? Using this question as a guide, write an essay that centers around the impact a certain song or musician has had on your life. Use tangible memories and details to add texture to the composition of your essay.

Sweltering

6.29.22

According to Merriam-Webster, the “dog days” are “the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere.” As the month of July begins this week, many may begin to experience extreme heat and the stress that arrives along with it. Write a story set during the dog days of summer. Perhaps your character is faced with a big decision on the hottest day of the year or is on an exciting summer trip. How can the harsh weather add pressure to your character’s behavior?

Paint a Portrait

6.28.22

“Today we’re going to get to work on the details / of your expression. And believe it or not, / the only colors we’re going to use will be / blacker than most blacks,” writes Terrance Hayes in his poem “Bob Ross Paints Your Portrait,” published in Paris Review’s Summer 2022 issue. In the poem, Hayes writes in the voice of American painter and television host Bob Ross, whose show The Joy of Painting aired on PBS in the 1980s and 1990s, as he delivers instructions on how to paint a portrait of the poet. This week, inspired by Hayes, write a poem in the form of a self-portrait. Try using instructional language to describe yourself, allowing any emotions that arise to make their way into the poem.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

According to some astrological predictions, the “Cancer season” we entered this week is particularly auspicious thanks to a new moon influenced by Jupiter, the planet of good fortune. So why not try your luck by applying to some contests with a July 15 deadline? Among the awards are a $20,000 prize for a published story collection; a $15,000 prize for a poem; a $1,000 prize for a poetry collection; a $1,000 prize for a novel; and $1,000 prizes for individual poems, short stories, essays, and works of flash fiction. All contests offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more. May Jupiter’s benefic beams shine upon you, writers!

Cincinnati Review Robert and Adele Schiff Awards: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Cincinnati Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Rebecca Lindenberg will judge in poetry, Michael Griffith will judge in fiction, and Kristen Iversen will judge in nonfiction. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $20.

Comstock Review Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Comstock Review is given annually for a single poem. Ellen Bass will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $27.50 (or $5 per poem via postal mail).

Ghost Story Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition: A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Ghost Story website and in the 21st Century Ghost Stories anthology is given twice yearly for a work of flash fiction with a supernatural or magical realism theme. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $15.

Narrative Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a poem or group of poems. The poetry editors will judge. All entries will be considered for publication. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $25.

Rattle Poetry Prize and Reader’s Choice Award: A prize of $15,000 and publication in Rattle is given annually for a single poem. A Reader’s Choice Award of $5,000 is also given to one of ten finalists. The editors will judge the Poetry Prize, and subscribers and entrants will judge the Reader’s Choice Award by vote. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $25. 

Regal House Publishing’s Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a novel. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Story Prize: A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a short story collection written in English and published in the United States in the current year. Two runners-up receive $5,000 each. The $1,000 Story Prize Spotlight Award is also given for an additional short story collection “of exceptional merit.” Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey will judge the three finalists and the Spotlight Award winner; three independent judges will choose the Story Prize winner. Entry fee: $75.

Word Works Tenth Gate Prize: A prize of $1,000, publication by the Word Works, and 30 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published at least two full-length books of poetry. Felicia Zamora will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Literature’s Fate

6.23.22

In a recent post on Instagram by the poet Mark Wunderlich, he shared an image of a greyish white book washed of its letters, peeled back of the paper’s layers, and frayed at the edges. The caption reads, in part, “Mary Ruefle keeps a decomposing book in her yard to remind herself of the fate of all literature, and how we write anyway because we must.” Write an essay inspired by Ruefle’s decomposing book that meditates on the “fate” of your own writing. What lasting impact would you like to make? Is this what drives you to write?

Inner Life

6.22.22

In a Q&A with Neil Gaiman by Michele Filgate from the July/August 2013 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, the prolific author reflects on his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane (William Morrow, 2013), which is written from the point of view of a seven-year-old boy. In his responses, Gaiman considers children’s unique perspective on life and how “kids really do know things that would terrify adults. I think it’s only a certain amount of amnesia that allows adults to function.” This week write a story with a child protagonist who has seen something life-changing. How do they cope, what are their private thoughts, and what are they willing to disclose to the adults around them?

Solstice

6.21.22

Today marks this year’s Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the date that officially signifies the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It has been documented that the day was observed as early as the Stone Age, and cultures around the world continue to celebrate the occasion through feasts, festivals, and music. Write a poem inspired by the longest day and shortest night of the year. For further inspiration, peruse this list of poems on the Summer Solstice from the Academy of American Poets’ website.

Deadline Nears for Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize

Conduit Books & Ephemera is now accepting submissions for its Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize. Awarded annually for a manuscript by a poet writing in English who has not yet published a full-length poetry collection, the prize offers a cash award of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and thirty author copies. Bob Hicok will judge.

Submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee by July 5. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Last year’s prize winner was Rachel Abramowitz for her poetry collection, The Birthday of the Dead. Previous winners include Suphil Lee Park, Meg Shevenock, and Michelle Lewis. Launched in 2018, the prize is named for Hicok’s grandmother-in-law. “Marystina Santiestevan loved poetry, labor unions, animals, plants, and poets,” says Hicok. “When I met her and Henry, her husband, I enjoyed a most un-American experience: I was immediately treated as an honored guest in their house, even made to sit in Henry’s chair, just because I was a poet.” Before submitting to the contest, writers are advised to familiarize themselves with Conduit, the biannual journal affiliated with the press which “champions originality, intelligence, irreverence, and humanity.”

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