Stump the Bookseller, Walcott Remembered, and More
Michelle Dean on the art of paying attention; young-adult novels and the Black Lives Matter movement; how Goodreads is changing the book market; and other news.
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
National Book Critics Circle Announces Award Winners
The winners of the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced. The annual awards are given for books of poetry, fiction, memoir, nonfiction, biography, and criticism published in the United States in the previous year.
The winners are:
Poetry: House of Lords and Commons: Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Ishion Hutchinson
Fiction: LaRose (Harper) by Louise Erdrich
Memoir: Lab Girl (Knopf) by Hope Jahren
General Nonfiction: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Crown) by Matthew Desmond
Biography: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (Liveright) by Ruth Franklin
Criticism: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide (Bloomsbury) by Carol Anderson
The award-winners were announced last night at a ceremony in New York City, during which the NBCC also honored the winners of three more prizes: Yaa Gyasi received the John Leonard Prize for her debut novel, Homegoing; Margaret Atwood received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award; and Michelle Dean received the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing.
The NBCC also announced the inaugural recipients of its Emerging Critics Fellowship, a new program that “aspires to identify, nurture, and support the development of the next generation of critics.” The fellows are Taylor Brorby, Paul W. Gleason, Zachary Graham, Yalie Saweeda Kamara, Summer McDonald, Ismail Muhamad, and Heather Scott Partington.
Established in 1974, the National Book Critics Circle is comprised of seven hundred working critics and book review editors throughout the country, and has administered its awards since 1975. The prizes honor “the best books published in the past year in the United States,” and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the publishing industry.
The winners are:
Poetry: House of Lords and Commons: Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Ishion Hutchinson
Fiction: LaRose (Harper) by Louise Erdrich
Memoir: Lab Girl (Knopf) by Hope Jahren
General Nonfiction: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Crown) by Matthew Desmond
Biography: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (Liveright) by Ruth Franklin
Criticism: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide (Bloomsbury) by Carol Anderson
The award-winners were announced last night at a ceremony in New York City, during which the NBCC also honored the winners of three more prizes: Yaa Gyasi received the John Leonard Prize for her debut novel, Homegoing; Margaret Atwood received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award; and Michelle Dean received the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing.
The NBCC also announced the inaugural recipients of its Emerging Critics Fellowship, a new program that “aspires to identify, nurture, and support the development of the next generation of critics.” The fellows are Taylor Brorby, Paul W. Gleason, Zachary Graham, Yalie Saweeda Kamara, Summer McDonald, Ismail Muhamad, and Heather Scott Partington.
Established in 1974, the National Book Critics Circle is comprised of seven hundred working critics and book review editors throughout the country, and has administered its awards since 1975. The prizes honor “the best books published in the past year in the United States,” and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the publishing industry.
NBCC Winners Announced, Derek Walcott Has Died, and More
Literary Twitter responds to Trump’s proposal to cut the NEA; the Miltonic precursor to the television antihero; Maine class action lawsuit hinges on Oxford comma; and other news.
Trump’s Budget Plan Proposes Eliminating the NEA, and More
Kevin Young will succeed Paul Muldoon as poetry editor of the New Yorker; women speak out against sexual assault in the literary world; a profile of memoirist and novelist Rachel Cusk; and other news.
Crossing Guard
In late February, frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians responding to early warm temperatures began migrating from their winter hideouts to vernal pools to begin the spring mating season. Some of the animals were chaperoned to safety by concerned volunteers across trafficked streets late at night in New York and other Northeastern states. Write an essay about a time in your life when you made a big decision or took a leap. Did someone arrive to accompany you or were you on your own? Was your emotional journey guided by a crossing guard who brought you to safety?
Literary Escapists, Booker International Prize Longlist, and More
Eleanor Catton sells rights to new novel; Lambda Literary announces finalists for 2017 awards; a literary map of the world; and other news.
Ozymandias Statue, Isabel Allende Novel, and More
Spuyten Duyvil releases protest poetry anthology; Oxford American rings in twenty-five years of Southern writing; Donika Kelly on loneliness and poetry; and other news.
Upcoming Fiction and Nonfiction Deadlines
Do you have a work of fiction or nonfiction ready to submit? Get this week started by submitting to the following contests—which offer prizes of up to $10,000 and have deadlines within the next two weeks.
Colorado Review Nelligan Prize: A prize of $2,000 and publication in Colorado Review is given annually for a short story. Richard Bausch will judge.
Deadline: March 14
Entry Fee: $17
Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest: A prize of $10,000 is given for an essay. Two $2,500 runner-up prizes will also be awarded. The winning essays will be published in Creative Nonfiction. The theme for the contest is “Dangerous Creations: Real-life Frankenstein Stories.”
Deadline: March 20
Entry Fee: $20
Ruminate William Van Dyke Short Story Prize: A prize of $1,500 and publication in Ruminate is given annually for a short story.
Deadline: March 15
Entry Fee: $20
The Pinch Literary Awards: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in the Pinch are given annually for a short story and an essay. Caitlin Horrocks will judge in fiction and Jill Talbot will judge in nonfiction.
Deadline: March 15
Entry Fee: $20
James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship: A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a novel-in-progress by a U.S. writer who has not published a novel. A selection from the winning work will be published in Provincetown Arts. Runners-up will each receive $1,000.
Deadline: March 15
Entry Fee: $30
Southampton Review Frank McCourt Memoir Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southampton Review is given annually for a personal essay.
Deadline: March 15
Entry Fee: $15
Prairie Schooner Book Prize: A prize of $3,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press is given annually for a short story collection. An editorial board will select finalists; Kwame Dawes will serve as final judge.
Deadline: March 15
Entry Fee: $20
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines and submission details. Visit our Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more upcoming contests in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
Poets to Hold Vigil for NEA, Long-Lost Fitzgerald Story, and More
Penguin Random House announces global publishers for Obamas’ forthcoming books; Melissa Febos on looking at hard truths; Robert James Waller has died; and other news.
Writers’ Favorite Words, Read 4 Refugees Campaign, and More
A new theory on Jane Austen’s death; writers weigh in on the future of music; the work of Instagram poet Reuben Holmes; and other news.
Pages
