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“Poetry gave me a way to express myself in a language that was very difficult for me initially.” In this Poetry.LA interview with Mariano Zaro, poet Teresa Mei Chuc, author of Red Thread (Fithian Press, 2012) and Keeper of the Winds (FootHills Publishing, 2014), speaks about her family’s experience as Vietnamese refugees and how encountering poetry offered a freedom to express herself through the English language.
Submissions are being accepted for the second Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize. Given biennially for a debut poetry collection by a writer age seventy or older, the prize includes $3,000 and publication by Passager Books. This year’s judge is poet, musician, and educator David Keplinger. The winner will be revealed by April 1.
Submit a manuscript of 30 to 40 poems with a $25 entry fee by January 30. Online and hard copy submissions are accepted. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Honoring the poetic legacy of Henry Morgenthau III, who published his first collection at the age of ninety-nine, this prize furthers the mission of Passager Books and their journal Passager “to honor the voices of older writers.” The winning poet will have their manuscript published within one year of the judge’s decision. The previous winner, and first recipient, of the Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize was Dennis H. Lee, for his collection, Tidal Wave.
“Believe it or not, lyric is all about time management.” Educator and former poet laureate of Utah Katharine Coles discusses how time is related to lyric, rhyme, and metaphor in the writing of poetry in this virtual 2021 TEDxParkCityWomen lecture.
“She is the speed of darkness— / witness her mystery, not her gown,” writes Christopher Gilbert in “Muriel Rukeyser as Energy” from his poetry collection Across the Mutual Landscape (Graywolf Press, 1984). The poem serves as a kind of ode to the influential poet Muriel Rukeyser, whose five-decade literary career is characterized by her involvement in political activism and mentorship. Through the anaphora of “she” and use of surreal imagery, Gilbert creates a mythological portrait that reaches beyond biography and reflects both Rukeyser’s influence and poetic character. Write a poem about a writer whose influence on you is significant. What imagery and syntax will you employ to properly reflect the character and impact of their work?
Close out the first month of the new year by applying to contests with deadlines of January 30 or January 31. Eight of these opportunities are for fiction writers looking to submit anything from a short story to a novel-in-poems to flash fiction with a supernatural theme! All contests offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more, with one contest awarding a debut poet, age 70 or older, $3,000.
AKO Caine Prize for African Writing: A prize of £10,000 (approximately $13,794) is given annually for a previously published short story by a writer of African descent. Shortlisted writers will receive £500 (approximately $690). Writers who were born in Africa, who are African residents, or who have a parent who is African by birth or nationality are eligible. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: None.
Black Lawrence Press Big Moose Prize: A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a novel. The contest is open to traditional novels as well as “novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, or other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.” The editors will judge. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: $27.
Crazyhorse Writing Prizes: Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Crazyhorse are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge in poetry, Venita Blackburn will judge in fiction, and Matt Ortile will judge in nonfiction. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: $20.
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 flash fiction piece with a supernatural or magical realism theme. Tara Lynn Masih will judge. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: $15.
Iowa Review Awards: Three prizes of $1,500 each and publication in Iowa Review are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Donika Kelly will judge in poetry, Louisa Hall will judge in fiction, and Inara Verzemnieks will judge in nonfiction. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: $20.
Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Individual Artist Grants for Women: Grants of up to $1,500 each are given in alternating years to feminist poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who are citizens of the United States or Canada. This year grants will be awarded to fiction writers. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: $25.
New Millennium Writings Awards: Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in New Millennium Writings are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a work of flash fiction, and a work of creative nonfiction. Previously unpublished works or works that have appeared in a journal with a circulation of under 5,000 are eligible. The editors will judge. Deadline: January 31. Entry fee: $20.
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. Crystal Wilkinson will judge. Deadline: January 30. Entry fee: $25 ($15 for NCWN members).
Passager Books Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize: A prize of $3,000 and publication by Passager Books will be given annually for a first book of poems by a writer age 70 or older. David Keplinger will judge. Deadline: January 30. Entry fee: $25.
Poetry Northwest James Welch Prize: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Poetry Northwest will be given annually for a single poem by an Indigenous poet. The winners will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to read with the judge in the fall. Writers who have published no more than one full-length book and who are community-recognized members of tribal nations within the United States and its territories are eligible. Elise Paschen will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: January 31. 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, and creative nonfiction.
In this 2017 event, poet and novelist Fanny Howe reads from her rewritten novel, The Wages (Pressed Wafer Press, 2018), and poet and fiction writer John Keene reads from his story collection, Counternarratives (New Directions, 2015), for the Woodberry Poetry Room’s Vocarium reading series at Harvard University.
“There are days we live / as if death were nowhere / in the background from joy / to joy to joy, from wing to wing,” reads Li-Young Lee from his poem “From Blossoms,” included in his debut collection, Rose (BOA Editions, 1986), for this installment of Poetry Breaks, a series created by Leita Luchetti in the 1980s and 1990s presented in partnership with the Academy of American Poets.
In John Keene’s poem “Phone Book,” from his poetry collection Punks: New and Selected Poems (Song Cave, 2021) and published on Literary Hub, the speaker flips alphabetically through a Rolodex remembering the lives of each person listed: “Yamil bending / ear to lips to read the laments, with care, tells me that Zachary, the Rolodex / Z, now gone, no longer fears those dark days. In any light, trust, the dead can see.” Mixing rhythm and narrative, Keene seamlessly threads together the names of contacts with their respective stories, never losing the threads of their often fleeting lives. This week, make a list of names from A-Z of people from your past and then weave them together in a loose abecedarian poem that tells their stories.
“A lot of my life has been unconventional, but it has led to this point and I wouldn’t have reached this point if I’d given up.” In this Penguin Books UK video, Booker Prize–winning author Bernardine Evaristo speaks with her longtime editor Simon Prosser about her writing career and books, including her new memoir, Manifesto: On Never Giving Up (Grove Press, 2022).
“I had a body and it was good / until you gave it meaning,” reads Ari Banias, author of A Symmetry (Norton, 2021), from his poem “Tautology” in this Poetry Project reading with Silvina López Medin, author of Poem That Never Ends (Essay Press, 2021).
