Agent Advice: Jody Kahn of Brandt & Hochman
A literary agent answers questions from writers about genre, age, costs, and client lists.
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Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Source Booksellers
Source Booksellers is an independent bookstore in Detroit’s Midtown district that specializes in nonfiction books. They also host literary readings, book talks, and conversations with local and national authors; mind, body, and spirit classes and workshops; and other community events.
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Pages Bookshop
Pages Bookshop carries a highly curated selection of literary fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. The store also features a children’s area and a section dedicated to past and present-day Detroit, and hosts frequent literary events.
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The Good Immigrant
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“There’s this kind of irresolvable trap that occurs when you’re too young to have any power but old enough to know that you want some.” Jenny Zhang reads from her essay “Blond Girls in Cheongsams,” which is included in the collection The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America (Little, Brown, 2019) edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman.
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Melville House Bookstore
Melville House Bookstore is located behind the Melville House Publishing office in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn. The bookstore is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 PM to 6:00 PM and has regular (and free) evening events that start at 7:00 PM.
Cafe con Libros
Cafe con Libros is an intersectional feminist bookstore welcoming of all who stand with and on behalf of the full human rights of womxn and girls. Located in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, this bookstore and café hosts a regular reading series and community book clubs.
Listen to Your Ghosts
Poet Douglas Manuel reflects on his transformative experience teaching a workshop at a therapeutic residential and day school in California in a recent post for the Readings & Workshops Blog titled “If We Just Listen, We Can All Hear Ghosts.” Inspired by Kiki Petrosino’s poem “Ghosts,” one of his students writes about a deceased YouTube star who visits him in dreams and offers consoling words. This week, consider the ghosts in your life. Who do you dream about? Write a personal essay about one of the illusory figures that haunt your creative life, perhaps an ancestor, writer, historical figure, celebrity, or former friend. Explore how your ghost’s presence influences or inspires your writing life.
The Light Years
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“Love was not a word that was ever said in our house. It suddenly felt like a great secret, rediscovered.” Chris Rush’s coming-of-age debut memoir, The Light Years (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019), is set in the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on the author’s childhood and teen years spent exploring drugs and counterculture.
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Era of Ignition
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“The book looks at my experience and goes through some of the stories and the encounters that I have lived through while also looking at this larger sense that our culture right now is going through its own existential crisis.” Amber Tamblyn, author of Era of Ignition: Coming of Age in a Time of Rage and Revolution (Crown Archetype, 2019), talks about her coming-of-age memoir and her personal approach to activism.
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End of March Contest Roundup
As we head into the end of March, consider submitting to these writing contests for poets and prose writers. Each contest offers a prize of at least $1,000 and has a deadline of March 31.
Arts & Letters Prizes: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Arts & Letters are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay. GennaRose Nethercott will judge in poetry, Peter Nichols will judge in fiction, and Pam Houston will judge in nonfiction. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: March 31.
Bellingham Review Literary Awards: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellingham Review are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The 49th Parallel Award for Poetry is given for a poem or group of poems; Nickole Brown will judge. The Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction is given for a short story; Robin Hemley will judge. The Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction is given for an essay; Ira Sukrungruang will judge. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: March 31.
Black Lawrence Press Hudson Prize: A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a collection of poems or short stories. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: March 31.
Bosque Press Fiction Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in bosque is given annually for a short story or a novel excerpt by a writer over the age of 40. Julie Williams will judge. Entry fee: $22. Deadline: March 31.
Elixir Press Antivenom Poetry Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Elixir Press is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis will judge. Entry fee: None. Deadline: March 31.
Fish Publishing Poetry Prize: A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,180) and publication in the Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to read at the anthology launch event at the West Cork Literary Festival in July. Billy Collins will judge. Entry fee: $17. Deadline: March 31.
Florida Review Editors’ Awards: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Florida Review are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: March 31.
Indiana Review Poetry and Fiction Prizes: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Indiana Review are given annually for a group of poems and a story. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: March 31.
Lascaux Review Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Lascaux Review is given annually for a single poem. Entry fee: $15. Deadline: March 31.
Narrative Winter Story Contest: A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a longer work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also awarded. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $26. Deadline: March 31.
Press 53 Prime Number Magazine Awards: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Prime Number Magazine are given annually for a poem and a short story. Ginger Murchison will judge in poetry and Pinckney Benedict will judge in fiction. Entry fee: $15. Deadline: March 31.
Red Hen Press Nonfiction Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for an essay collection, memoir, or book of narrative nonfiction. Nikki Moustaki will judge. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: March 31.
Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry: A prize of $2,500 will be given annually for poem that exudes the American South in spirit, history, landscape, or experience. The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City in October. Susan Kinsolving will judge. Entry fee: None. Deadline: March 31.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Poets & Writers Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
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