Face It

3.28.24

How do you tell the tale of your nose, lips, teeth, eyes, brows, and cheeks? This week, study yourself closely in a mirror, and write a memoiristic essay that relays the backstories of your facial features. Are there elements that have shifted, scarred, or been modified in some way with orthodontics, makeup, surgery, or the natural processes of aging? Have there ever been parts of your countenance that you’ve disliked or preferred, and has that changed over time? Take a long, hard look at yourself and reflect on the memories that come up and how your facial expressions and textures have evolved. You might decide to cover just one or two features, or be inspired to cover each part of your face and how they all have a story.

Deadlines for Five April Contests Are Fast Approaching

April Fool’s Day may be just around the corner, but your writing deserves to be taken seriously. Consider submitting your poems, essays, and short stories to these prizes and fellowships, all with April 14 and 15 deadlines (and one with no entry fee). Don’t forget to carefully read the contest guidelines before entering, and good luck!

Desperate Literature
Short Fiction Prize

A prize of €1,500 (approximately $1,628), publication in the Desperate Literature prize anthology, and a weeklong residency at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation’s castle in the Umbria region of Italy is given annually for a work of short fiction. Winners also receive a consultation with literary agent Charlotte Seymour (Johnson & Alcock Literary Agency), an editorial meeting with the Literary Consultancy, and the opportunity to give readings at Desperate Literature in Madrid and Burley Fisher Books in London. Megan McDowell, Ottessa Moshfegh, Samanta Schweblin, and Alejandro Zambra will judge. Entry fee: €20 (approximately $22).

Florida Review
Editor’s Prizes

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Florida Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $25 (which includes a subscription to Florida Review). 

New Ohio Review
Literary Prizes

Three prizes of $1,500 each and publication in New Ohio Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $22 (which includes a subscription to New Ohio Review). 

Poetry Foundation
Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships

Five fellowships of $27,000 each are given annually to U.S. poets between the ages of 21 and 31. Entry fee: None.

University of Arkansas Press
Etel Adnan Poetry Prize

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Arkansas Press is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a writer of Arab heritage. Series editors Hayan Charara and Fady Joudah 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, creative nonfiction, and translation.

Raring to Go

3.27.24

This spring brings a rare occurrence of cicadas to the eastern United States: the simultaneous emergence of two separate broods, Brood XIII (the seventeen-year cycle Northern Illinois Brood) and Brood XIX (the thirteen-year cycle Great Southern Brood). Though otherwise harmless to humans, male cicadas serenade females at a range of up to ninety decibels, making for a pretty noisy season. In celebration of this double brood, write a short story set against the backdrop of an infrequent or unusual natural occurrence. How can you play with the imagery or symbolism of the phenomenon to expand on what your characters are experiencing? Do their actions reflect or contrast in some way with what’s happening in the background environment?

Seeing Shapes

3.26.24

“I read Call It in the Air, / Ed’s book about his painter sister & her death / at 44, like Billie Holiday, & I start to consider / 44. No. Not the death, just the conch of it, / how it whorls & opens, limelights / —44 limelights a woman,” writes Shamala Gallagher in her poem “‘The New York Times’ Says Aloe Is a Hoax,” published in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. The lines in the poem shift from lightness to darkness, and the image of recursion and spiraling reappear as the speaker allows her mind to wander freely after a long day. Write a poem that experiments with a recurring shape that you’ve observed. Consider the connotations or associations with this shape, whether it be a number, ray of light, or plant. How might a simple form inspire you to think about the shape of time in your life?

Daily Grind

3.21.24

Day Jobs, an exhibition currently on display at Stanford University’s Cantor Art Center in California, examines the impact of day jobs on artists. Showcasing the work of three dozen visual artists, the accompanying catalogue offers first-hand accounts of how their employment in places like a frame shop, hair salon, and museum helped inform their creativity. The exhibit deconstructs the romanticized image of the artist and draws attention to how one’s economic and creative pursuits are often intertwined. Write a personal essay that considers how one of your day jobs unexpectedly influenced your own writing projects. How might something undertaken because of financial necessity also provide valuable ideas to explore in your art?

Order and Disorder

3.20.24

Sheila Heti’s new book, Alphabetical Diaries, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in February, is just that—rearranged sentences in order from A to Z made up of the author’s diaries kept over the course of a decade. By placing previously composed sentences into this structure, patterns emerge, and unexpected juxtapositions reveal fresh connections that form a new kind of narrative. “Basically it’s a crazy year, that’s what Claire said, this is going to be a crazy year. Be a pro, Lemons said. Be a woman. Be an individual, he suggested. Be bald-faced and strange. Be calm,” Heti writes. Take this idea of reordering your writing and use sentences from a story you’ve written in the past to create a new story. Experiment with different constraints, whether alphabetizing or grouping by another type of category, perhaps using recurring images or places. See where these arrangements take you.

Jaded Ibis Press Accepting Submissions From Historically Marginalized Writers for Uplift Voices Nonfiction Book Award Until March 31

Jaded Ibis Press is currently accepting submissions of book-length creative nonfiction manuscripts, including memoir, essays, and reporting, for its Uplift Voices Nonfiction Book Award, given to a writer who identifies as a historically marginalized voice. The deadline to enter the contest, which awards $1,500 and publication by Jaded Ibis Press, is March 31

Using only the online submission system, submit 45,000 to 75,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee. Myriam Gurba, whose most recent book is the essay collection Creep: Accusations and Confessions (Avid Reader Press, 2023), will judge. All entries will be considered for publication. 

Jaded Ibis is a feminist press committed to publishing socially engaged literature with an emphasis on the voices of people of color, people with disabilities, and other historically silenced and culturally marginalized voices. Recently published titles include Mei-Mei Holland’s poetry and prose collection Year of the Cicada and Nada Samih-Rotondo’s memoir, All Water Has Perfect Memory, both of which were acquired by Jaded Ibis acquisitions editor Lisa Pegram, who says she’s interested in “submissions from authors who have a distinctive voice and write books that explore the lives and concerns of those who identify as women and/or people of color.”

About the Uplift Voices Nonfiction Book Award, the editors say it “is more than a literary contest; it’s an opportunity have your book lovingly edited, designed, produced as both an e-book and print edition, marketed, and submitted to eligible literary awards and prizes.” They add: “Join us in amplifying voices that need to be heard, and submit your manuscript for a shot at making a powerful impact. Your story matters, so let it be uplifted!” Visit the website for more information. 

Dinner Out

3.19.24

Anne Carson’s 2017 poem “Saturday Night as an Adult,” which had a viral moment on X last summer, is structured as a short block of text recounting observations and thoughts around a dinner date with two couples. “We really want them to like us. We want it to go well. We overdress. They are narrow people, art people, offhand, linens,” writes Carson. “We eat intently, as if eating were conversation.” While the existential despair may seem tragicomic, Carson conveys an honest vulnerability that touches upon disappointment at the potential smallness of life. Write a poem that builds upon your observations of a mundane social encounter in order to capture larger concerns on your mind, perhaps using sharp, terse statements as Carson does in her poem. Is there humor to be found in these minute details?

Opposite Effects

3.14.24

In her groundbreaking 1962 book, Silent Spring, biologist Rachel Carson foretold of “a spring without voices.” Documenting the harmful effects of chemical pesticides used in the agricultural industry, her book sparked an awakening to the environmental crisis in the 1960s and 1970s and launched a movement that brought about the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency. “The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings,” she writes. “Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species—man—acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.” Write an essay that begins by examining how the environment, whether natural or manufactured, has molded you. Then consider how you have modified your surrounding environment—the nature of your world.

Two Weeks Left to Enter One of Six Contests Offering Cash Prizes and Publication

Seeking the recognition you deserve—as well as a little extra cash—for an unpublished poem, story, or essay? Hoping to circumvent the tedious process of finding a publisher for a book-length manuscript? Consider submitting to one of the following six contests that offer generous cash prizes on top of publication by a highly reputed journal, press, or competition website, all with a deadline of April 1. Remember to carefully read the guidelines before you enter—and good luck!

Gemini Magazine
Short Story Contest
 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a short story. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $8. 

Nimrod International
Journal Nimrod Literary Awards
 
Two prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Nimrod International Journal are given annually for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category receives $1,000 and publication. The winners and runners-up will also participate in a virtual awards ceremony and conference in the fall. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $20 (which includes a subscription to Nimrod International Journal). 

North American Review
Terry Tempest Williams Creative Nonfiction Prize
 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for an essay. Lyric essays, memoir-style essays, and literary journalism are eligible. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $23 (which includes an issue of North American Review). 

Orison Books
Prizes in Poetry and Fiction
 
Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication by Orison Books are given annually for a poetry collection and a book of fiction. Ellen Bass will judge in poetry and Kaveh Akbar will judge in fiction. Entry fee: $25. 

Saturnalia Books
Poetry Prize
 
A prize of $1,500, publication by Saturnalia Books, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Carmen Giménez will judge. All entries are also considered for the Alma Book Awards, which offer two prizes of $1,000 each and publication. Entry fee: $30 entry. 

Winning Writers
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
 
A prize of $2,000, a gift certificate for a two-year membership to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website is given annually for a humorous poem. A second-place prize of $500 is also awarded. Jendi Reiter will judge. Unpublished and previously published works are eligible. 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.

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