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“Trucks cruisin’ down the avenue / carrying nuclear garbage right next to you / and it’s legal.” In this installment of Poetry Spots, a WNYC television show produced by Bob Holman between 1987 and 1993, June Jordan reads her poem “Song of the Law Abiding Citizen.”
“I wrote a good omelet… and ate / a hot poem… after loving you,” writes Nikki Giovanni in her poem “I Wrote a Good Omelet.” The poet, whose seventy-eighth birthday was earlier this week, describes going about various common tasks in strange and humorous ways, replacing, for example, “car” for “coat” in the phrase “drove my coat home” and “bed” for “hair” in “turned down my hair.” Through these playful reversals, Giovanni mimics the dizzying feeling of falling in love, as if the speaker is unable to focus on anything after being with their beloved. Write a poem that expresses this giddy feeling of love by using unexpected combinations of phrases and words.
In this virtual event for the Brooklyn Rail, Jorie Graham curates the thirty-fifth installment of the Radical Poetry Reading series focused around the topics of illness, injustice, and truth featuring poets Jericho Brown, Victoria Chang, Forrest Gander, D. A. Powell, and Claudia Rankine.
The author of Love and Other Poems describes a special project in which he read his poetry to strangers in their bedrooms.
The first literary deadlines of the summer are approaching! If you are at work on a book-length manuscript of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, or have recently published a first book, take note of the following contests, which close on June 15, June 17, or June 23. There is also a special fellowship opportunity for writers based in Maine. All offer a cash prize of $500 or more.
42 Miles Press 42 Miles Poetry Award: A prize of $1,000, publication by 42 Miles Press, and 30 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Current and former students of Indiana University in South Bend are ineligible. David Dodd Lee will judge. Deadline: June 15. Entry fee: $25.
Autumn House Press Literary Prizes: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Autumn House Press are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction. Each winner also receives a $1,500 travel and publicity grant. Eileen Myles will judge in poetry, Deesha Philyaw will judge in fiction, and Steve Almond will judge in nonfiction. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: June 15. Entry fee: $30.
Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Award: A prize of $1,500 and publication by Bitter Oleander Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Deadline: June 15. Entry fee: $28.
Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Awards: Three prizes are given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer to honor their first books. The winners each receive an all-expenses paid trip to several of the 13 GLCA colleges, each of which pays an honorarium of at least $500, to give readings, meet with students, and lead discussions and classes. Books published in 2020 and 2021 are eligible. Faculty members of the colleges will judge. Submissions are to be made by the book’s publisher. Deadline: June 23. Entry fee: none.
Maine Arts Commission Maine Artist Fellowship: A fellowship of up to $5,000 is given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, a creative nonfiction writer, or a writer working in a genre beyond these categories who has lived in the state of Maine for at least one year. The fellow is expected to reside in the state for the year of the fellowship. Writers enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible. Deadline: June 17. Entry fee: none.
University of Akron Press Akron Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,500 and publication by University of Akron Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Erika Meitner will judge. Deadline: June 15. 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, and creative nonfiction.
