A Little Less Cheer

The Time Is Now
12.21.23

In his sardonic essay “Santaland Diaries,” a reading of which NPR airs every year as a holiday tradition, David Sedaris tells the story of how he, as a struggling writer, spent a season working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s department store in New York City. In one scene describing the Santaland Maze, Sedaris channels the frustration and dark thoughts many retail workers experience during the holiday season. “I spent a few hours in the Maze with Puff, a young elf from Brooklyn. We were standing near the Lollipop Forest when we realized that Santa is an anagram of Satan. Father Christmas or the Devil—so close but yet so far,” he writes. Dip into the dark side of the holiday spirit and write an essay about a year when you experienced a particularly frustrating holiday season. Consider the feelings of stress and cheer that are often at odds at the end of the year.

Holiday Party

The Time Is Now
12.20.23

Whether full of work mixers, gatherings with relatives, community-centered potlucks, or festivities with friends, this time of year is often busy with social events of all kinds. This week write a short story that revolves around a seasonal get-together. Perhaps there are pressures present associated with themes that surface around the end of the year, such as the winter blues, religion, childhood traditions, and social expectations. Is a spare and stark tone more fitting for your story, or is a maximalist, ornate narration more suitable? Are your fictional party scenes imbued with an atmosphere of joy and cozy lights, or chilly temperatures and disappointed hopes, or both? Have fun adding a dash of humor or menace into your convivial gathering.

Winters

The Time Is Now
12.19.23

“Cold, moist, young phlegmy winter now doth lie / In swaddling clouts, like new-born infancy,” writes Anne Bradstreet in the opening lines of her 1650 poem “Winter.” In her seasonal poem, Bradstreet traverses from the month of December to “cold, frozen January,” and finally to “moist snowy February,” cycling through the movements of the sun, the length of day, and the sensation of warmth or chill on the body. Though we often think of winter as one portion of the year’s seasons, how do the individual months of winter feel to you? Write a poem that tracks your personal memories from multiple Decembers, Januaries, and Februaries (or Junes, Julys, and Augusts in the Southern Hemisphere), perhaps thinking of these months as smaller, concentric or overlapping circles within a larger one.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

G&A: The Contest Blog
12.15.23

What better way to end the year than by giving contests that recognize emerging and established writers in various genres a shot? Prizes with a December 31 deadline include $20,000 (and three $1,000 prizes for finalists) for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in the United States; $15,000 and travel and lodging expenses to attend an awards ceremony in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a book of fiction by an emerging African American writer; and $1,000 plus publication for a chapbook of short fiction, short nonfiction, or graphic narrative. Eleven contests consider all entries for publication. Read on to learn more, and best of luck!

American Library Association
W.Y. Boyd Literary Award 
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a novel published in the current year that is set in a period when the United States was at war. Entry fee: None.

Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence  
A prize of $15,000 is given annually to an emerging African American writer for a book of fiction published in the current year. The winner also receives travel and lodging expenses to attend an awards ceremony and participate in educational outreach events in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2024. Anthony Grooms, Edward P. Jones, Elizabeth Nunez, Francine Prose, and Patricia Towers will judge. Entry fee: None.

Before Columbus Foundation
American Book Awards 
Awards are given annually for books published in the United States during the current year to recognize “outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community.” Anyone, in addition to writers and publishers, may submit nominations for the awards. Entry fee: None.

Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Literary Awards 
Four prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a first novel, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) by African American writers published in the United States in the current year. The awards honor books that depict the “cultural, historical, or sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora.” Entry fee: None.

Boulevard
Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers 
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a short story by a writer who has not published a nationally distributed book. The editors will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $18.

Burnside Review
Press Book Contest
A prize of $1,000, publication by Burnside Review Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Arda Collins will judge. English translations of works originally written in another language are accepted. Entry fee: $25. 

Cleveland Foundation
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Three to four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published during the current year “that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity.” Rita Dove, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Joyce Carol Oates, Steven Pinker, and Simon Schama will judge. Entry fee: None.

Crosswinds
Poetry Contest 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Crosswinds is given annually for a single poem. April Ossmann will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $20.

Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry
Griffin Poetry Prize  
A prize of $130,000 Canadian (approximately $96,748) is given annually for a poetry collection published during the current year and written in, or translated into, English. Should the prize-winning book be a translation, 60 percent of the prize is awarded to the translator and 40 percent to the poet. Finalists each receive $10,000 Canadian (approximately $7,442) for their participation in the Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlist Readings held in Toronto. Entry fee: None.

Hub City Press
C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize 
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Hub City Press is given biennially for a short story collection. Writers who have not published more than one book in any genre and who currently reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or West Virginia and who have lived there for at least two consecutive years are eligible. Maurice Carlos Ruffin will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Lascaux Review
Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Lascaux Review is given annually for a short story. Previously published and unpublished stories are eligible. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $15.

LitMag
Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction 
A prize of $2,500 and publication in LitMag is given annually for a short story. The winner will also have their work reviewed by agents from Bankoff Collaborative, the Bent Agency, Brandt & Hochman, Folio Literary Management, InkWell Management, Sobel Weber Associates, and Triangle House Literary. The editors will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $20.

Livingston Press
Tartt Fiction Award 
A prize of $1,000, publication by Livingston Press, and 60 author copies is given annually for a first collection of short stories by a U.S. citizen. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: None.

Michigan Quarterly Review
Jesmyn Ward Prize in Fiction 
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review is given annually for a short story. David Lynn will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $25.

Michigan Quarterly Review
Laurence Goldstein Prize in Poetry  
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review will be given annually for a single poem. Lawrence Joseph will judge. All entries will be considered for publication. Entry fee: $20.

The Moth
Poetry Prize 
A prize of €6,000 (approximately $6,572) and online publication in the Irish Times is given annually for a single poem. Three runner-up prizes of €1,000 (approximately $1,095) each and online publication in the Irish Times are also given. The four shortlisted poets, including the winner, will also be invited to read at an online awards ceremony in spring 2024. Hannah Sullivan will judge. Entry fee: €15 (approximately $16).

Ohio University Press
Hollis Summers Poetry Prize 
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Ohio University Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Entry fee: $30.

Plentitudes
Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry 
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Plentitudes will be given annually for a single poem, a short story, and an essay. Mahtem Shiferraw will judge in poetry, Joss Lake will judge in fiction, and Daniel Allen Cox will judge in nonfiction. All entries will be considered for publication. Entry fee: $20.

Poetry Society of America
Four Quartets Prize 
A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in the United States in a print or online journal, a chapbook, or a book during the current year. Three finalists, including the winner, will receive $1,000 each. Entry fee: None.

Poetry Society of America
Robert H. Winner Memorial Award 
A prize of $2,500 and publication on the Poetry Society of America website is given annually to a poet over 40 who has published no more than one book. Nathan McClain will judge. Entry fee: $15 (there is no entry fee for PSA members). Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poetry Society of America
Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award 
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Poetry Society of America website is given annually for poetry from a manuscript-in-progress. Lucy Ives will judge. Entry fee: $15 (there is no entry fee for PSA members).

Press 53
Award for Short Fiction 
A prize of $1,000, publication by Press 53, and 53 author copies is given annually for a story collection. Claire V. Foxx will judge. Entry fee: $30.

Tupelo Press
Dorset Prize 
A prize of $3,000, publication by Tupelo Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner also receives a two-week residency at Gentle House in Port Angeles, Washington. Shane McCrae will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $30.

University of Tampa Press
Danahy Fiction Prize 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Tampa Review will be given annually for a short story. All entries will be considered for publication. Entry fee: $25 (which includes a subscription to Tampa Review).

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.

A New Me

The Time Is Now
12.14.23

The work of French novelist Édouard Louis concerns itself with capturing the past and its indelible effect on the present, as the author explores the facts of his life through novelistic means. In his first autobiographical novel, The End of Eddy (FSG, 2017), translated by Michael Lucey, Louis details the experience of growing up poor and gay in a homophobic, working-class French town; in History of Violence (FSG, 2018), translated by Lorin Stein, Louis endures a brutal attack and then overhears his sister telling her husband about the assault; and in A Woman’s Battles and Transformations (FSG, 2022), translated by Tash Aw, Louis tells the story of his mother’s moving to Paris to live a new life on her own terms. Inspired by Louis’s autobiographical novels, write an essay that considers a time in your life in which you felt the urge to change or become someone new. Try to capture the intricacies of the past—the difficulties, the hopes, the dreams—through a form that reflects the transformative urgency of that moment.

Air of Mystery

The Time Is Now
12.13.23

While a character’s backstory can often provide the engine to a plot, how much backstory is too much? In “The Case Against the Trauma Plot,” published in the New Yorker in 2022, Parul Sehgal discusses the prevalence of the “trauma plot,” which relies on a character’s past trauma to move the story forward. Citing examples such as Hanya Yanagihara’s novel A Little Life (Doubleday, 2015), Jason Mott’s novel Hell of a Book (Dutton, 2021), and the television series Ted Lasso, Sehgal argues that the trauma plot “flattens, distorts, reduces character to symptom, and, in turn, instructs and insists upon its moral authority.” In contrast, Sehgal cites instances in which omitting backstory provides an effective air of mystery to a character, or what Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt calls “strategic opacity.” Taking inspiration from this critique, write a story in which the backstory of your character is kept from the reader. What happens when you resist explanation for a character’s choices? What tools other than backstory can you use to create a dynamic character?

Love’s Thorns

The Time Is Now
12.12.23

Love poems have a long and storied literary history. “The Love Song for Shu-Sin,” composed in ancient Mesopotamia for use in fertility rituals, is considered by some to be the oldest love poem found in text form. “Song of Songs” from the Old Testament of the Bible celebrates the romantic and sexual love between two people. In more recent times, poets have been testing the limits of the love poem. Nate Marshall’s “palindrome” imagines an estranged lover’s life rewound like a film as the subject becomes “unpregnant” and the speaker “unlearn[s]” her name. In Sharon Olds’s “The Flurry,” two parents discuss how to tell their children they’re getting a divorce. Think of a relationship in your life that resists easy categorization and write a love poem that attempts to capture this complexity. Whether the subject is the distant love of a parental figure or the one who got away, resist the easy associations that come with the emotion and dive into love’s thorny contradictions.

That Was Then

The Time Is Now
12.7.23

Last month, musician André 3000, best known as one half of the Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast, released his first solo album, New Blue Sun. The instrumental jazz album features the artist playing flute on songs improvised in real time, a surprising turn for fans of the renowned and reclusive rapper whose last album with Outkast was in 2003. In a recent GQ video interview, the music legend speaks about authenticity as a creator and how he doesn’t feel compelled to rap about anything in his life. “I’m forty-eight years old,” he says. “And things that happen in my life, like, what are you talking about? ‘I got to go get a colonoscopy.’” Write a personal essay about how your own literary output has evolved over the years. How can you connect your creative predilections and urgencies at specific times in your life with the state of your physical body or physical space?

Whiting Foundation Announces 2023 Creative Nonfiction Grant Winners

G&A: The Contest Blog
12.6.23

Ten writers have won the Whiting Foundation’s Creative Nonfiction Grant for 2023. Now in its eighth year, the $40,000 prize aims to support multi-year book projects. Unlike the $50,000 Whiting Awards for emerging writers, authors can apply for the Creative Nonfiction Grant; judges award applicants whose work “displays singularity of voice, arresting narrative vision, a clear contribution to our culture at large, and in-depth, quality research,” according to a statement from the foundation.

The winners include Nicholas Boggs for James Baldwin: A Love Story, a consideration of Baldwin’s relationships with his mentor, lover, and two artistic collaborators, forthcoming from Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Eiren Caffall for The Mourner’s Bestiary, which investigates the loss of marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine and the Long Island Sound alongside the story of a family’s battle with a serious illness and the author’s own family history of a genetic kidney disease, forthcoming from Row House Publishing; Sarah Chihaya for Bibliophobia, a blend of literary criticism and memoir examining readers’—including the author’s—affective relationships with books, forthcoming from Random House; Alexander Clapp for Waste Wars: A Journey Through the World of Globalized Trash, a journalistic examination of the international garbage business and its geopolitical consequences, forthcoming from Little, Brown; Kendra Taira Field for The Stories We Tell, which investigates African American family narratives from the Middle Passage to the present, forthcoming from W. W. Norton; Molly O’Toole for The Route: The Untold Story of the New Migrant Underground, which explores a migrant passage from Brazil to the U.S.–Mexico border, forthcoming from Crown; Dom Phillips with collaborators for How to Save the Amazon: Ask the People Who Know, a “character-driven” narrative of travel through the imperiled rainforest, forthcoming from Manilla Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books in the United Kingdom; Carrie Schuettpelz for The Indian Card: A Journey Through America’s Native Identity Problem, about the nuances of Indigenous ethnicity in the U.S., forthcoming from Flatiron Books; Sonia Shah for Special: The Rise and Fall of a Beastly Idea, which troubles the notion of human exceptionalism among other animals, forthcoming from Bloomsbury; and Reggie Ugwu for Brilliance Is All We Have: Black Filmmakers and the Fight for the Soul of America, a deep-dive into the history of Black American cinema, forthcoming from Bloomsbury.

Each of the winning projects underwent two first-round readers, who considered the “substance, narrative skill, quality of research, and impact” of the work. Sixteen finalists were evaluated by a panel of four judges, who chose the final ten grantees based on how the grant would contribute to the book. Experts in the field of work under consideration, readers and judges served anonymously to keep them from feeling pressure to choose any one work over another.

“This year’s grantees are doing venturous work, reporting from often hostile places on complex matters of deep import to us all,” Courtney Hodell, Whiting’s director of literary programs, said in a statement. “For some, the journey is an inward one. All these writers are animated by a drive for beauty as well as truth, and this combination is what makes books endure. Whiting is thrilled to support such risk-taking.”

To learn more about the Whiting Foundation’s Creative Nonfiction Grant, visit the foundation’s website. Check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation. 

Photo credits: Boggs: Rachel Eliza Griffiths; Caffall: Jacob Hand; Chihaya: Beowulf Sheehan; Clapp: Markos Kovaios; Field: Alonso Nichols; O’Toole: Beth Mickalonis; Phillips: Alessandra Sampaio; Schuettpelz: Jess Barnett; Shah: Glenford Nuñez; Ugwu: Tony Cenicola.

Vibes

The Time Is Now
12.6.23

“What creates the vibe of a room? The other people inside it: the combined resonance of their voices,” write authors Sofia Samatar and Kate Zambreno in the introduction to their collaborative nonfiction book, Tone (Columbia University Press, 2023). A study on the use of tone in literary works, the authors consider how even if a room is empty, “there is a trace in the air of those who have recently left.” Begin a short story that takes place over the course of several scenes set in different places. Jot down notes for what you imagine happened in each environment before your story’s scene takes place there. How might subtle traces of those who have recently left the locale still linger and affect the tone or atmosphere of your story?

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - blogs