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“Wait, for now. / Distrust everything if you have to. / But trust the hours.” Galway Kinnell reads his poem “Wait” in this installment of Poetry Breaks, a series created by Leita Luchetti in the late 1980s and early 1990s and presented in partnership with the Academy of American Poets.
Rick Barot’s poem “The Wooden Overcoat,” published in the April 2012 issue of Poetry, begins: “It turns out there’s a difference between a detail / and an image.” Barot develops this train of thought and proceeds to engage in differentiating between the two, positing that a dandelion on the sidewalk is “mere detail,” but “the dandelion inked on a friend’s bicep / is an image because it moves when her body does.” Write a poem that sets up an argument in the first sentence and then proceed to test it through rhetorical devices and concrete imagery. How can you use a poem to prove a thesis?
“I consider myself essentially a storyteller who’s chosen the genre of poetry.” Lynne Thompson, author of Start With a Small Guitar (What Books Press, 2013) and Beg No Pardon (Perugia Press, 2007), speaks about family stories and how she came to poetry after a career in law with Mariano Zaro for the Poetry.LA interview series. Thompson is the 2021 poet laureate of Los Angeles.
“It was still the last frontier when I arrived in 1951. It was a wide-open city.” In this 2015 video, Lawrence Ferlinghetti recalls his early days in San Francisco and speaks about the changing life of the city. Ferlinghetti died at the age of 101 on February 22, 2021. An interview with the legendary poet and founder of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers is featured in the March/April 2007 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
In the introduction to The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem: From Baudelaire to Anne Carson (Penguin Classics, 2018), editor Jeremy Noel-Tod asks, “How do you define a prose poem?” Literary critic Michael Rifaterre once characterized the prose poem as a “genre with an oxymoron for a name,” while Noel-Tod simply defines it as “a poem without line breaks.” This week, try writing a prose poem. As Noel-Tod says in the book, “Our habitual expectation when we see a passage of prose is that it will explain, not sing.” How can you make your prose poem sing more than traditional verse might? For inspiration, read exemplary poems from this anthology, such as “Borges and I” by Jorge Luis Borges, “The Colonel” by Carolyn Forché, and “Deer Dancer” by Joy Harjo.
It’s hard to believe, but the end of February is almost here! With deadlines of either February 28 or March 1, these awards include opportunities earmarked for writers in Alabama and Mississippi, as well as two prizes for Black writers who self-published books last year. All feature a cash prize of $500 or more.
Alabama State Council on the Arts Literary Arts Fellowships: Fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who have lived in the state of Alabama for at least two years. Deadline: March 1. Entry fee: none.
Association of Writers & Writing Programs Award Series: Two prizes of $5,500 each and publication by a participating press are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection. In addition, two prizes of $2,500 each and publication by a participating press are given annually for a novel and a book of creative nonfiction. Ilya Kaminsky will judge in poetry, Rebecca Makkai will judge in short fiction, Sabina Murray will judge in the novel, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge in nonfiction. Deadline: February 28. Entry fee: $30 ($20 for AWP members).
Biographers International Organization Hazel Rowley Prize: A prize of $2,000 will be given annually for a work-in-progress by a writer who has not published a biography. The winner will also receive review of their manuscript by an agent, publicity through the Biographers International Organization (BIO) website, and a one-year membership in BIO. Writers who have not previously published, or who are not under contract to write, a book of biography, history, or other work of narrative nonfiction are eligible. Deadline: March 1. Entry fee: $25.
Black Caucus of the American Library Association Self-Publishing Literary Awards: Two prizes of $500 each are given annually for a poetry e-book and a fiction e-book by an African American writer self-published in the United States during the previous year. The awards honor books that depict the “cultural, historical, and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora.” Deadline: February 28. Entry fee: none.
Fish Publishing Flash Fiction Prize: A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,170) and publication in the Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short short story. The winner is also invited to give a reading at the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2021. Kathy Fish will judge. Deadline: February 28. Entry fee: €14 (approximately $16) for online entries or €16 (approximately $18) for postal entries.
Hunger Mountain Literary Prizes: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication on the Hunger Mountain website are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Tomás Q. Morín will judge in poetry, Trinie Dalton will judge in fiction, and Terese Marie Mailhot will judge in nonfiction. Deadline: March 1. Entry fee: $20.
Little Tokyo Historical Society Short Story Contest: A prize of $500 and publication in the Rafu Shimpo and on the Discover Nikkei and Little Tokyo Historical Society websites is given annually for a short story that takes place in the Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles. Deadline: February 28. Entry fee: none.
Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Artist Fellowships: Grants of up to $5,000 each are given in alternating years to Mississippi poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. This year the fellowships will be offered in categories including creative nonfiction. Applicants must be permanent residents of Mississippi. Deadline: March 1. Entry fee: none.
Omnidawn Publishing First/Second Poetry Book Contest: A prize of $3,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 100 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. Kazim Ali will judge. Deadline: February 28. Entry fee: $27 ($30 to receive a book from the Omnidawn catalogue).
Tupelo Press Snowbound Chapbook Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Tupelo Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Denise Duhamel will judge. Deadline: February 28. Entry fee: $25.
University of Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships: An academic year in residence, which includes a stipend of at least $39,000, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison is given annually to at least five writers working on a first or second book of poetry or fiction. Writers with an MFA or PhD in creative writing who have not published more than one book are eligible. Deadline: March 1. Entry fee: $50.
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.
The Motown Mic spoken word competition is an annual event held at the historic Motown Museum in Detroit. The museum preserves the former home of Motown founder Berry Gordy, the offices of Hitsville U.S.A., and the legendary studio where Motown artists recorded some of their greatest hits. Not only did the label record celebrated music, African American poets and orators, including Elaine Brown, Stokey Carmichael, Ossie Davis, Langston Hughes, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were recorded by the label.
The annual spoken word competition usually involves a series of poetry slams that require participants to write about a specific topic or theme related to Motown. I am excited to see that Motown is able to modify the competition this year to accept auditions recorded on video. Beyond being an amazing opportunity to share poetry, this year’s grand prize includes a two-hour studio session at Hitsville, publication in a literary broadside published by Broadside Lotus Press, and $2,500!
This year’s original poem theme is focused on the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Marvin Gaye’s award-winning song “What’s Going On”: “At a time when conversations about social justice are taking place with new urgency and passion, and in reflection of the words that Marvin Gaye sang, we want to hear from you. As you compose your submission, keep this, and the legacy of Motown’s contributions to these conversations in mind. Doing so will further influence hearts and minds and contribute to conversations about the moral and civic perspectives shaping our collective future.”
The competition is open to all residents of South East Michigan over sixteen years old. The application deadline is March 5. I hope many of you share your words!
“I’m not sorry for my one-way streets, my way or the highway, manly waters incompatible with my sex,” reads Arisa White from her poetry collection Who’s Your Daddy (Augury Books, 2021), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, for this Foglifter virtual event.
The poet on five journals that published pieces from her debut collection, The Wild Fox of Yemen.
Poet Aracelis Girmay discusses her new position as editor-at-large of the Blessing the Boats Selections, a set of poetry books written by women of color and published by BOA Editions.
