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In this episode of Curated Conversation(s): a Latinx Poetry Show, Benjamin Garcia speaks about the writing process for his debut poetry collection, Thrown in the Throat (Milkweed Editions, 2020), with his former teacher and mentor Dana Levin. For more Garcia, read his installment of Writers Recommend.
Forrest Gander’s poem “Pastoral,” published last month in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, begins with a scene of a couple gazing out a window that is interrupted by a stanza with a parenthetical meditation on the act of looking before the last lines complete the description of the scenery outside. The middle stanza in parentheses questions the language used in the first stanza’s description and moves away from the physical into the interiority of the speaker’s mind. Inspired by the poem’s form, write a poem about the act of looking. How can you subvert the expectations of the reader by leaving the scene to go into the interior of your mind?
“I need the volume of more than one trusted reader to hear suggestions over my own investment in being right.” —Donika Kelly, author of The Renunciations
“I have a bad habit of using random facts as a coping mechanism.” Watch this short film directed by Ryan Boyland featuring his poem “Rue,” which won the 2020 Button Poetry Video Contest for Emerging Writers.
Whether you are polishing a short piece or developing a full-length manuscript, there are several exciting writing contests accepting submissions into early May. These contests include financial support and a residency opportunity for a nonfiction writer working on a manuscript about the desert. All offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more and close on May 1, May 3, or May 5.
Atlanta Review International Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Atlanta Review is given annually for a single poem. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: May 1. Entry fee: $15.
Australian Book Review Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize: A prize of AUD $6,000 (approximately $4,681) is given annually for a story. A second-place prize of AUD $4,000 (approximately $3,121) and a third-place prize of AUD $2,500 (approximately $1,951) are also given. The winners will all be published in Australian Book Review. Gregory Day, Melinda Harvey, and Elizabeth Tan will judge. Deadline: May 3. Entry fee: AUD $25 (approximately $20).
Bristol Short Story Prize: A prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,390) and publication in Volume 14 of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology is given annually for a short story. Irene Baldoni, Tom Robinson, and Mahsuda Snaith will judge. Deadline: May 5. Entry fee: £9 (approximately $13).
Georgia Review Loraine Williams Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,500 and publication in Georgia Review is given annually for a single poem. Arthur Sze will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: May 1. Entry fee: $15 entry fee (no fee for current subscribers).
High Desert Museum Waterston Desert Writing Prize: A prize of $2,500 and a two-week residency at the PLAYA artists and scientists’ retreat in Summer Lake, Oregon, is given annually for a nonfiction work-in-progress that “recognizes the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and the human narrative, with the desert as both subject and setting.” The winner will also be provided with travel and lodging to attend a reception and awards ceremony at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, in September. Deadline: May 1. Entry fee: none.
Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Leapfrog Press is given annually for a short story collection, novel, or novella. Ann Hood will judge. Deadline: May 3. Entry fee: $35.
University of Nebraska Press Backwaters Prize: A prize of $2,000, publication by University of Nebraska Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. An honorable mention prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press will also be given. Huascar Medina will judge. Deadline: May 1. Entry fee: $30.
Wick Poetry Center Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize: A prize of $2,500 and publication by Kent State University Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection. The winner is also invited to teach a weeklong writing workshop at Kent State University and give a reading with the judge. Tracy K. Smith will judge. Deadline: May 1. Entry fee: $30.
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.
“To love yourself so much you don’t wanna exploit anybody. Can you imagine not wanting to exploit anyone?” says Sonia Sanchez in her lecture to students in this 1991 episode of Writers Uncensored presented by the Lannan Foundation. This vintage episode features Sanchez and Lucille Clifton reading from their work and talking about their respective paths as poets.
“To me all good poetry is experimental in some way,” says poet Susan Howe in this film about Emily Dickinson by poet and filmmaker Benita Raphan, filmed on location at the Morgan Library & Museum and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Raphan, a Guggenheim fellow known for her short experimental films, died at the age of fifty-eight on January 10, 2021.
“There are so many journeys I’d like to take” —Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Dialogues with Rising Tides
“In times of crisis, we must all decide again and again whom we love,” writes Frank O’Hara in his poem “To the Film Industry in Crisis,” in which the Beat poet writes an ode to his favorite movie stars and the magic of movies. Listing thirty actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood in relationship to one another, O’Hara describes, with humor, their personalities and appeal on the movie screen. “Mae West in a furry sled, / her bordello radiance and bland remarks, Rudolph Valentino of the moon, / its crushing passions, and moonlike, too, the gentle Norma Shearer,” he writes. Write an ode to your favorite movie or movie star. How can you employ techniques often seen on the screen through the language of the poem?
I am excited to share my thoughts after reading Christiana Castillo’s poetry chapbook, Crushed Marigold, illustrated by and Karla Rosas and published by Flower Press, a Detroit-based publishing practice centering womxn, femme, queer, and trans artists. Castillo is a Latina/Chicana poet, teaching artist, and gardener born in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil and living in the Detroit area. She is the recipient of fellowships from Room Project, Voices of Our Nation (VONA), and Disquiet International.
Castillo joined the Writing in Detroit virtual reading last October, sponsored by Poets & Writers, which offered an inspiring insight to her writing style and bright imagery. Crushed Marigold further expounds upon her writing with colors and textures juxtaposed against the theme of brown skin. In addition, the warm illustrations by artist Karla Rosas throughout the book leave the reader wondering what world we will be pulled into next with each poem.
A favorite poem of mine from Castillo’s collection is “Questions for the Moon,” which asks: “Does the Moon practice self care? / Does she have the time? / I know she controls the / tides / and the water within / us all / but / can she control herself?” The poem gently personifies the moon in a way that opens the reader’s mind to consider how the world around us not only responds to us, but how it responds to itself. The entire collection made me reconsider how we interact with the everyday aspects of our own cultures.
This collection also leaves me with a feeling of hope and perseverance with couplets like “in the midst of decay / there are always more seeds sprouting.” While Castillo touches on heavier topics such as colonization, there is always a sense of moving forward, of growth, of survival.
Crushed Marigold is available at Flower Press’s website and a percentage of the proceeds goes to American Indian Health and Family Services in Michigan, and Kooyrigs, an organization that provides resources to Armenian communities worldwide.
Photo: An open page of Crushed Marigold by Christiana Castillo, illustrated by Karla Rosas. Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.
