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“Lorde is a towering figure in the world of letters,” says Roxane Gay in this 92Y virtual event celebrating the publication of The Selected Works of Audre Lorde (Norton, 2020), which Gay edited. Joining Gay to discuss and read Lorde’s poetry and prose are Mahogany L. Browne, Saeed Jones, and Porsha Olayiwola.
Submissions are open for four prizes administered by Lambda Literary, including the inaugural Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction. Founded in memory of author Randall Kenan, who died last year at age fifty-seven, the prize will award $3,000 to a Black LGBTQ writer, “whose fiction explores themes of Black LGBTQ life, culture, and/or history.” Meanwhile, this year’s Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists’ Prize will award two writers $5,000 each; the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction will award one writer $2,500; and the Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers will grant two writers $1,000 each.
Using only the online submission system, submit to any of the four prizes by February 15. All applications require a cover letter, a curriculum vitae or résumé, and at least one writing sample. Each contest has different eligibility requirements; for example, writers submitting to the Randall Kenan Prize must have published at least one book of fiction. Visit the website for complete guidelines, including descriptions of the body of work required for eligibility for each prize. None of the contests require an entry fee.
Lambda Literary is a nonprofit that “nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers,” and is home to the Lambda Literary Awards, or “Lammys,” which honor the best LGBTQ books of the year. Lambda also runs a writer’s retreat and a program that brings queer and trans writers into schools to meet with young readers.
On January 15, the Estuary Collective hosted a virtual event cosponsored by Poets & Writers’ Readings & Workshops program called Lipservice. The Estuary Collective is a group of Black, Femme writers who believe bridges will always be stronger than gates. The collective is committed to providing free and low-cost resources and opportunities for emerging writers. Founders and active members include Jeni De La O, Ashley Elizabeth, Lysz Flo, and Zora Satchell.
Lipservice featured ten writers of varying genres and was hosted by De La O, who asked the writers to share what lipstick brands they were wearing for the show. Black- and Detroit-owned makeup brand the Lip Bar was highlighted along with brands such as Fenty Beauty and Armani Beauty. The work shared by these writers was moving to say the least, from deep reflections to playful metaphors.
De La O is a Detroit-based writer who I had the honor of connecting with in 2019. I was able to speak with her about the recent event and asked what stood out for her. “When we came up with the concept for Lipservice, an environment where readers and attendees explore a variety of themes from a starting point of feeling held and holding others was our primary goal,” said De La O. “Mutual consideration for self and others has been so radically stripped from public discourse, it was critical to us that this event help reclaim a sense of communal, interdependent care.”
I admire the thoughtful lineup that the Estuary Collective curated for the evening and I am glad to know that our Detroit community is thriving through writing and virtual events!
Photo: Host Jeni De La O with Lipservice virtual event readers. Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.Published by BuzzFeed News, Natalie Scenters-Zapico’s “Buen Esqueleto” reimagines the popular poem “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith through the perspective of an immigrant mother. Using the original structure of the poem—and replacing “my children” in the original with “mis hijas”—an urgent narrative is imposed as Scenters-Zapico writes, “It’s not my job to sell / them the world, but to keep them safe / in case I get deported.” This week, choose a poem you love and write your own version of it, following the original structure and adding a new perspective.
“We hid in the trees and when we ran out of trees we hid in houses made out of trees and / when we / ran out of houses we hid in skyscrapers made out of steel and concrete...” This Motionpoems short film, featuring Jackson Holbert’s poem “Fable,” is directed by Žanete Skarule and stars Emma Bobrova Lourié.
The author of Anodyne shares her methodology for determining the order of poems in a collection.
Submissions are open for the tenth annual Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize. Given to a U.S. poet for a poem which “evokes a connection to place,” the prize includes $1,000, publication on the Zócalo website, and an invitation to read the winning poem at an awards event in spring 2021. Unexpected or unconventional interpretations of the theme of place are welcome. Poets are encouraged to consider places “of historical, cultural, political, or personal importance” and landscapes that may be “literal, imaginary, or metaphorical.”
Submit up to three poems of any length via e-mail by January 29. The editors will judge. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Founded in 2003 and based in Los Angeles, Zócalo Public Square publishes journalism alongside essays and poetry and seeks to “connect people to ideas and to each other by examining essential questions in an accessible, broad-minded, and democratic spirit.” Recent winners of its poetry prize include Jai Hamid Bashir and Erica Gross.
Carey Salerno’s Tributary, forthcoming from Persea Books on April 20, 2021.
