Genre: Cross-Genre

Submissions Open for Lambda Literary Awards

G&A: The Contest Blog
10.2.19

The 32nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards (the “Lammys”) are currently open for submissions. The Lammys honor books in more than twenty genres ranging from literary fiction and poetry to speculative fiction, comics, and memoir, and are judged “principally on literary merit and content relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lives.” 

Submit three hard copies of a book and, if available, a .PDF version of the text, by November 15. Books put forward for consideration in this Lammys cycle must be published between January 1 and December 31, 2019, and may be nominated in no more than one category. Submissions may be made by authors as well as publishers or publicists. All authors, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, are welcome to have their work considered, except in the case of the awards that mark specific stages of an individual LGBTQ writer’s career. The fee is $55 per book; for publishers entering eleven or more books, the fee is $45 per book. Visit the website for complete guidelines. 

Finalists will be announced in March 2020. Winners will be revealed at the Lambda Literary Awards gala ceremony on June 8, 2020 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Tickets for the gala will go on sale in spring 2020.

Deadline Approaches for Carolyn Bush Award

G&A: The Contest Blog
9.25.19

The Wendy’s Subway Carolyn Bush Award is currently open for submissions. The award honors the life and work of Wendy’s Subway cofounder Carolyn Bush by providing support to an emerging female-identifying writer residing in New York City. It aims to foster “innovative, hybrid, and cross-genre work that contributes to expanding the discourses and practices of poetry.” Applicants submit an early-stage poetry or cross-genre manuscript; the winner will receive editorial support to complete the manuscript for publication with Wendy’s Subway. An honorarium of $1,000, a standard royalty contract, and twenty-five author copies accompany publication. The winner will also receive free enrollment in two workshops at Wendy’s Subway, two professional development consultations, and a one-year membership to the organization’s reading room.

Using only the online submission system, submit twenty pages of an early-stage poetry or cross-genre manuscript, a 500-word personal statement, and a $15 entry fee by September 30. Manuscripts may include visual art and illustrations. The winning entry will be announced in fall 2019 and published in spring 2021. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Wendy’s Subway is a non-profit reading room, writing space, and independent publisher located in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The Carolyn Bush Award is judged by an editorial committee composed of Wendy’s Subway staff: Harris Bauer, Corinne Butta, Adjua Greaves, Sanjana Iyer, Gabriel Kruis, Matt Longabucco, and Rachel Valinsky.

McNally Jackson Books: Seaport

Indie Bookstore, Reading Venue

The South Seaport location in lower Manhattan overlooks the East River and has two stories full of books—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, children’s, art—as well as magazines and stationary items. The bookstore hosts literary events regularly throughout the week.

Tags: 
book stores

Mixing It Up

United States of Writing
9.23.19

I have been speaking to numerous venue owners in Detroit about what it means to host a series in the city. Open mics allow for a variety of artists to take the stage while I have seen other shows and reading series offer a workshop afterwards. These are the shows that introduced me to the world of poetry. It’s been enlightening to explore all the different literary series offered in Detroit and to see how they impact audiences.

Recently I had a conversation with Dan Wickett, a local poet and event organizer, about hosting the Brain Candy series. The series showcases one poet, one prose writer, a musician, and a visual artist performing together at the local comic bookstore Green Brain Comics. When asked about how he chooses the artists and curates events, Wickett says that his hope is for audiences to find something unexpected to enjoy. “I’m exposing different art forms to those that show up to see a painter or a musician,” he says. “I’m also hoping to develop a community of artists that helps each other, supports each other’s events, and that finds hints of their own work in those around them.”

Brain Candy is presented by Green Brain Comics and the Emerging Writers Network, and has shows every third Monday of the month. For more information on events in your area, and to post your own, visit the Literary Events Calendar.

A reading for the Green Book Comics Brain Candy series.
 
Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.

Submissions Open for Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes

G&A: The Contest Blog
9.11.19

Submissions are open for the third annual Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes. Launched in 2017, the prizes recognize publications that “actively nurture the writers who tell us, through their art, what is important.”. Three prizes will be given to print magazines and two to magazines publishing primarily online. Print publications can win up to $60,000, $30,000, and $15,000; digital publications can win up to $30,000 and $9,000. 

Across all categories, the award is dispensed over three years. Each magazine will receive an outright grant in the first year, followed by matching grants in the second and third years. The Whiting Foundation will also connect all recipients to expert advisors for consultation in matters such as fund-raising and marketing, and help organize meetings throughout the year for the winners to discuss shared challenges. 

This year the application for the prizes will include two rounds of review. Magazines are invited to submit a short-form application using the online portal by December 2. In February 2020 a limited number of applicants will be invited to complete an expanded application due in early April. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines and eligibility requirements. 

The Whiting Foundation hopes the financial and professional support offered by the grants will help the winners develop and achieve ambitious goals. Courtney Hodell, the foundation’s director of literary programs, notes the long-term results: “As the prize continues to mature, we see more clearly how critical these intrepid magazines are to developing and building healthy careers,” she says. “Supporting magazines benefits the entire literary landscape.” 

The 2019 print prizes went to the Common, American Short Fiction, and Black Warrior Review. The Margins and the Offing received the digital prizes. 

Founded in 1963, the Whiting Foundation believes in “identifying and empowering talented people as early as possible in their creative and intellectual development.” In addition to the Literary Magazine Prizes, every year the organization honors emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama with the Whiting Awards, and supports nonfiction writers completing works-in-progress with the Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grants. 

Hot Spots in Detroit

United States of Writing
8.12.19

Exploring events in Detroit has been exciting this summer. There are a number of lesser-known venues in the city that have recently started hosting literary events. For those looking for a space to write or build community, the Room Project in the North End has been a go-to location for me. A membership includes use of the workspace, library, and podcast equipment. They also have an event space that hosts artist talks, readings, and writing workshops.

For a change of scenery and an interactive experience, Signal-Return in Eastern Market has hands-on workshops in their letterpress print shop as well as a range of public programming including exhibitions, book release parties, and the Motor Signal Reading Series cohosted by Literary Detroit. The series pairs a local writer with a traveling writer in a double-feature reading that includes an intermission activity with the audience.

Visiting these locations has been a pleasant learning opportunity on how to help build up the literary community across the city. Shout-out to other spots I’ve visited that I encourage all to check out: Artist Village Detroit, Book Suey, the Commons on Mack Avenue, and the Corner Ballpark.

Search the Literary Places and Reading Venues databases for spots to visit near you!

Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.

Green Brain Comics

Indie Bookstore, Reading Venue

Green Brain Comics, along with the Emerging Writers Network, hosts Brain Candy, a free, curated live program of prose, music, poetry, and visual art. Brain Candy readings occur every third Monday of the month with new monthly guests.

The shop also hosts book club discussions, comic book signings and release parties, and movie screenings.

Tags: 
illustrations

Artist Village Detroit

Reading Venue

Artist Village Detroit is located in the Old Redford district of Detroit and was founded in 2003 by Alicia Marion George, affectionately known as the Queen of the Village, Charles “Chazz” Miller, founder of Public Art Workz and resident artist of AVD, and John George, founder of the Motor City Blight Busters. AVD is a nonprofit organization with the mission to revitalize the community through public art and educate the youth on ways they can market their art.

Tags: 
-book arts -visual art | poetry

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