Craft Capsule: On Becoming a Pop Star, I Mean, a Poet
The author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities traces his origins as a poet.
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Genre: Poetry
Deadline Nears for Nightboat Books Poetry Prize
The deadline is approaching for the Nightboat Books Poetry Prize. Open to “any poet writing in English,” the prize awards $1,000, a standard royalty contract, and twenty-five author copies for a book-length poetry manuscript. Emerging and established writers alike, based anywhere in the world, are eligible to submit.
Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $28 entry fee by November 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali and Jennifer Chapis, Nightboat Books seeks to “develop audiences for writers whose work resists convention and transcends boundaries, by publishing books rich with poignancy, intelligence, and risk.” Collections published through the prize include Discipline by Dawn Lundy Martin and The Old Philosophy by Vi Khi Nao.
Erica Hunt for the New Social Environment
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In this installment of the New Social Environment series for the Brooklyn Rail recorded in April, Charles Bernstein speaks with Erica Hunt about unpacking language and how writers have reimagined ways to communicate amongst each other during the pandemic. Hunt talks about her new poetry collection, Jump the Clock (Nightboat Books, 2020), in Ten Questions.
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Winter Stars by Arthur Sze
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In this Asian American Writers’ Workshop video, Arthur Sze reads and discusses the origin of his poem “Winter Stars,” featured in The Best American Poetry 2020 anthology guest edited by Paisley Rekdal. Sze won the 2019 National Book Award in poetry for his collection Sight Lines (Copper Canyon Press, 2019).
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First Kiss by Tim Seibles
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“My mouth / had been a helmet forever / greased with secrets…” Tim Seibles narrates his poem “First Kiss” from his collection Buffalo Head Solos (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 2004) for this TED-Ed animated short film directed by Hannah Jacobs, part of the “There’s a Poem for That” series.
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Ten Questions for Erica Hunt
“I am never without pen and paper.” —Erica Hunt, author of Jump the Clock
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Mythic Reveal
In “Racial Markers and Being Marked” by Will Harris, a Craft Capsule essay published in September, he writes about racial markers in poetry and walking the fine line between rendering your own experience and risking fetishization. Harris presents Monica Youn’s poem “Study of Two Figures (Pasiphaë/Sado)” and discusses how she frames an argument about race through two mythical figures. Youn writes about her own experience as a poet while examining what it feels like to include her “Asianness” in the poem: “Revealing a racial marker in a poem is like revealing a gun in a story or like revealing a nipple in a dance.” Choose a myth you identify with and write a poem in which a part of you is revealed through the story or characters of the tale.
Kevin Young on Claude McKay
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In this Library of America video, Kevin Young discusses Claude McKay’s 1919 poem “If We Must Die,” the rhymes and the collective voice in lines such as, “Though far outnumbered let us show us brave.” This poem is included in African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song, an anthology edited by Young and published by the Library of America, which is featured in The Anthologist in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
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Upcoming Contest Deadlines
If November doesn’t already feel high stakes enough, consider submitting to some writing contests. With deadlines of either November 1 or November 2, these awards include opportunities to publish both individual stories and poems, as well as book-length works. All offer a prize of $1,000 or more.
Alice James Books Alice James Award: A prize of $2,000 and publication by Alice James Books is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet residing in the United States. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 2. Entry fee: $30.
Briar Cliff Review Writing Contests: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Briar Cliff Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $20 (includes a copy of the magazine).
Fiction Collective Two Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize: A prize of $15,000 and publication by Fiction Collective Two, an imprint of University of Alabama Press, is given annually for a novel, short story collection, novella, or novella collection. U.S. writers who have published at least three books of fiction are eligible. Joyelle McSweeney will judge. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $25.
Fiction Collective Two Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication by Fiction Collective Two is given annually for a novel, short story collection, novella, or novella collection. U.S. writers who have not previously published a book with Fiction Collective Two are eligible. Vi Khi Nao will judge. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $25.
Gotham Book Prize: A prize of $50,000 will be given annually for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction about New York City or that takes place in New York City published in the current year. Anna Akbari, Ric Burns, Stephanie Danler, Christina Greer, Tom Healy, Mitchell Moss, Patricia Park, Melissa Rivero, Safiya Sinclair, and Dennis Walcott will judge. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: none.
Malahat Review Open Season Awards: Three prizes of CAD $2,000 (approximately $1,490) each and publication in Malahat Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Rebecca Salazar will judge in poetry, Philip Huynh will judge in fiction, and Lishai Peel will judge in creative nonfiction. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $40 (includes subscription).
Nina Riggs Poetry Foundation Poetry Award: A prize of at least $1,000 will be given annually for a single poem that examines relationships, family, or domestic life that was published in a book or magazine in the last three years. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: none.
North American Review James Hearst Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for a single poem. Maggie Smith will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $23 (includes an issue of North American Review).
Reed Magazine Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Reed Magazine is given annually for a poem or group of poems. Matthea Harvey will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $20 (includes a copy of the prize issue).
Reed Magazine Gabriele Rico Challenge for Creative Nonfiction: A prize of $1,333 and publication in Reed Magazine is given annually for an essay. Suzanne Rico will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $20 (includes a copy of the magazine).
Reed Magazine John Steinbeck Award for Fiction: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Reed Magazine is given annually for a short story. Rita Bullwinkel will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 1. Entry fee: $20 (includes a copy of the prize issue).
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.
GalleyCrush: Popular Longing
Natalie Shapero’s Popular Longing, forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press on February 16, 2021.
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