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Award-winning poet Harryette Mullen reads from her manuscript of haiku and is introduced by poet and literary critic Stephen Yenser at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles for this reading copresented by the UCLA Department of English.
In this 2016 lecture for the Greater Good Science Center’s conference, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass discusses the history of awe and wonder in world literature, the root of the word “catharsis,” and the power poetry has to captivate and transform its readers.
Award-winning and former U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic, who died last week at the age of eighty-four, was best known for his surrealist and often devastatingly funny poems. His poem “The Voice at 3 A.M.” reads in its entirety: “Who put canned laughter / Into my crucifixion scene?” In “Eyes Fastened With Pins,” Simic depicts a scene in which death is looking for “Someone with a bad cough, / But the address is somehow wrong, / Even death can’t figure it out.” Inspired by Simic, write a poem that mixes dark humor with a serious subject matter. How does integrating humor help balance and enliven the voice in your poem?
In David Kirby’s poem “The Hours,” published in the latest issue of the Bennington Review, the poet reflects on a subject that feels more significant at the start of a new year: the presence of time. “I’m going to rely on you hours to lead me, / to open one door after another and beckon / me through. Look it’s time to make lunch. / Look, it’s time to go back to work. Look, / it’s time to rub cat Patsy’s belly again,” he writes. This week, write a poem that ruminates on the presence of time in your life. How does your perception of the passing minutes change from season to season?
Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Charles Simic discusses his writing process of using various writing instruments—including envelopes, notebooks, and printed paper—in this brief interview for Poetry Breaks, a series created by Leita Luchetti in the 1980s and 1990s presented in partnership with the Academy of American Poets.
In this video for the Poets House Hard Hat Reading series, Asiya Wadud, author of No Knowledge Is Complete Until It Passes Through My Body (Nightboat Books, 2021), reads from Inger Christensen’s alphabet (New Directions, 2001), translated from the Danish by Susanna Nied, followed by her own poem “L.”
Start the year off right by submitting to writing contests with deadlines of January 15, 24, and 30. Prizes include $5,000 for creative nonfiction that evinces a passion for the desert, $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond for a published first or second book of poetry, $1,500 for a poetry collection, $1,000 for a short story or a self-contained novel excerpt, and more. All awards offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more. Good luck in 2023, writers!
Asheville Poetry Review
William Matthews Poetry Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. Diane Seuss will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $20.
Ellen Meloy Fund
Desert Writers Award
A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy’s writing” to spend creative time in a desert environment. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $15.
New American Press
New American Poetry Prize
A prize of $1,500, publication by New American Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Writers of any citizenship working anywhere in the world are eligible, though the work should presume English-language readers. Jamaica Baldwin will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $25.
North Carolina Writers’ Network
Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay “that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The winning essay will also be considered for publication in Ecotone. Writers who are legal residents of North Carolina or who are members of the North Carolina Writers’ Network are eligible. Julia Ridley Smith will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $12.
North Carolina Writers’ Network
Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story or a self-contained novel excerpt. Judy Goldman will judge. The winning work of fiction will also be considered for publication in Thomas Wolfe Review. Deadline: January 30. Entry fee: $25 entry fee ($15 for NCWN members).
Poetry Society of Virginia
North American Book Award
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the previous year. The winner is also invited to read at the organization’s annual Spring Poetry Festival, held at the Richmond Public Library in May. Self-published books and books that have previously received a post-publication award are ineligible. Bill Glose will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $36
Sixfold
Poetry and Short Story Awards
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Deadline: January 24. Entry fee: $5.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Levis Reading Prize
A prize of $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is given annually for a first or second book of poetry published during the previous year. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: none.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.
In his poem “The Wellfleet Whale,” Stanley Kunitz elegizes the majestic presence of a finback whale beached and dying on the shores of Cape Cod. The narrator of the poem, which is written in five sections, speaks to the whale in second person and recounts the last moments of its life. “You have your language, too, / an eerie medley of clicks / and hoots and trills, / location-notes and love calls,” writes Kunitz in the first lines. The rare sight is then celebrated through the awe of the spectators: “We cheered at the sign of your greatness / when the black barrel of your head / erupted, ramming the water, and you flowered for us / in the jet of your spouting.” This week write a poem that celebrates an animal of your choice. Whether through elegy or ode, which animal speaks to your senses?
Here’s a new year’s resolution for you: Give your book a fighting chance to get published! For poets in the Upper Midwest, there’s no better way to get the ball rolling than by submitting to Milkweed Editions’ Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry, which offers $10,000 and publication of a collection by a poet currently residing in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin.
Using only the online submission system, submit one unpublished poetry manuscript of at least forty-eight pages by January 15. There is no entry fee, and poets may be at any stage in their career. Maggie Smith will judge. View the website for complete guidelines.
Established in 2011, the Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry aims to support outstanding poets from the Upper Midwest by bringing their work to the attention of a national audience. In addition to the financial award and publication, the winning poet will receive a standard royalty contract, national distribution, and a robust marketing and publicity campaign by Milkweed Editions, a nonprofit literary press based in Minneapolis. The 2022 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry went to K. Iver for Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco, selected by Tyehimba Jess and featured in the current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine in Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin.
Pulitzer Prize–winning poet James Merrill’s “Christmas Tree” is a wonderful example of a concrete poem, in which graphic patterns of words, letters, and symbols create a visual impact. Written in the shape of a Christmas tree and from its point of view, the poem captures the brief life of an iconic holiday decoration. “To be / Brought down at last / From the cold sighing mountain / Where I and the others / Had been fed, looked after, kept still, / Meant, I knew—of course I knew— / That there was nothing more to do,” writes Merrill. Taking inspiration from Merrill, write a poem from the perspective of a short-lived and celebrated object. If ambitious, try to incorporate a graphic element for more impact.
