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A prize of $1,750; publication in Brooklyn Rail and Moko as well as on the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF) website; and an invitation to partici
The 29th annual Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) Postgraduate Writers’ Conference will be held from August 3 to August 9 on the Champlain College campus in Burlington, Vermont. Designed for writers with graduate degrees or equivalent experience, the conference features workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as readings, craft talks, and one-on-one consultations with faculty members. Each workshop is limited to five or six participants. The faculty includes poets Eduardo C. Corral, Kathleen Graber, A.
Vermont College of Fine Arts Postgraduate Writers’ Conference, 36 College Street, Montpelier, VT 05602. Ellen Lesser, Director.
Spring ephemerals are plants—generally wildflowers native to deciduous forests such as tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths—that bloom only for a very short period in the early spring during the brief window of time when the sun’s light and warmth can extend to the forest floor while the trees have bare branches. Once the overhead canopy is full for the season, the flowers usually die back to dormancy with only their underground parts intact for the remainder of the year. Write a short story that revolves around the theme of an occurrence with a similarly limited time span—and one that happens only rarely. Does knowledge of its fleeting nature compel your characters to perceive or value it in different ways? Is there the possibility of a reoccurrence, however infrequently?
Dedicated to “boundary-breaking prose,” Split/Lip Press is on the hunt for work that raises questions about the status quo and fits their punk aesthetic. The press publishes four titles a year, all selected from open submissions.
In this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, written, directed, and executive produced by Steve Zaillian, the eight-episode limited Netflix series takes place in the early 1960s with the title character entering a life of deceit, fraud, and murder.
The author of Short War ponders the ways research can deepen a fiction project—and how to know when enough is enough.
In this 2001 Lannan Foundation event, John Barth speaks about the ways in which self-confidence and temperament play a role in his writing in a conversation with literary critic Michael Silverblatt. Barth died at the age of ninety-three on April 2, 2024. For more from Barth, read “All Trees Are Oak Trees: Introductions to Literature” from the January/February 2004 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
In the 1989 science fiction thriller film The Abyss, a search and rescue team descends thousands of feet into the depths of the ocean after a U.S. nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks in the Caribbean Sea. The word abyss could refer to both the oceanic zone that lies in perpetual darkness and to the more general space of mystery, fear, and awe in the face of the seemingly infinite expanse that the crew encounters, including an encounter with an alien being. Write a story that revolves around characters who find themselves in conflict with something deeply unknown and unfathomable. How might feelings of isolation surface or be exacerbated in such a situation? Play around with the pacing and order and quantity of revealed information to create a feeling of suspense.
“I consider Delany not only one of the most important science fiction writers of the present generation, but a fascinating writer in general who has invented a new style,” writes Umberto Eco. Samuel R. Delany discusses his novel Dhalgren, his childhood in Harlem, and the journey that led him to become the 2013 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master of science fiction in this clip from Open Road Media.
The author of Short War contemplates the rewards of modeling minor characters on real people.
