Craft Capsule: Against Universality, in Praise of Anger
The author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities embraces and develops a queer Asian American poetics.
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Genre: Poetry
Upcoming Contest Deadlines
Dreaming of a post-pandemic future? Consider submitting to one of the following contests, which include opportunities to travel—public health conditions permitting—to Ireland and Texas. All close on November 30 and offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more.
Beloit Poetry Journal Chad Walsh Chapbook Series: A prize of $2,500, publication by Beloit Poetry Journal, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $20.
BOA Editions A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a first book of poetry by a U.S. resident. Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Fish Publishing Fish Short Story Prize: A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,939) and publication in the annual Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short story. The winner will also be invited to attend a five-day short story workshop and read at the West Cork Literary Festival in West Cork, Ireland, in July 2021. Emily Ruskovich will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: €20 (approximately $26) for online submissions or €22 (approximately $29) for submissions by mail.
LitMag Anton Chekov Award for Flash Fiction: A prize of $1,250 and publication in LitMag will be given annually for a piece of flash fiction. The winner will also have their work reviewed by agents from the Bent Agency, Brandt & Hochman, Folio Literary Management, InkWell Management, Sobel Weber Associates, and Triangle House Literary. The editors will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $16.
Munster Literature Center Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize: A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,378), publication in Southword, and a weeklong residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, Ireland, is given annually for a single poem. Peter Sirr will judge. Entry fee: €7 (approximately $8) for one poem or €30 (approximately $35) for five poems.
Narrative Fall Story Contest: A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a longer work of prose. A second-place prize of $1,000 and publication in Narrative is also awarded. The editors will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $27.
Quarter After Eight Robert J. DeMott Short Prose Contest: A prize of $1,008.15 and publication in Quarter After Eight is given annually for a prose poem, a short short story, or a micro-essay. Dinty W. Moore will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $15.
University of North Texas Rilke Prize: A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the previous year by a mid-career poet. Public health conditions permitting, the winner will also receive airfare and lodging to give a reading at the University of North Texas in April 2021. U.S. poets who have previously published at least two poetry collections are eligible. The poetry faculty of the University of North Texas will judge. Entry fee: none.
White Pine Press Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by White Pine Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a U.S. citizen. Entry fee: $20.
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.
Lucille Clifton at the Dodge Poetry Festival
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“for the lingering / eyes of the children, staring...” In this video, the late poet Lucille Clifton reads “report from the angel of eden” and “sorrow song” at the 2008 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival.
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Valzhyna Mort Reads Belarusian 1
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During National Poetry Month last April, Words Without Borders asked its contributors to read their favorite poems from their archive. In this video, Valzhyna Mort reads her poem “Belarusian 1,” translated from the Belarusian by Franz Wright. Mort talks about her new poetry collection, Music for the Dead and Resurrected (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), in a recent installment of Ten Questions.
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Books Noted Live: Kazim Ali and Joshua Bennett
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“So how do you discern a shape for / What is often called g-d.” Kazim Ali reads from his latest collection, The Voice of Sheila Chandra (Alice James Books, 2020), in this Academy of American Poets virtual reading and conversation with Joshua Bennett, author of Owed (Penguin Poets, 2020). For more from these poets, read what motivates Ali’s writing in Writers Recommend and about Bennett’s writing process in Ten Questions.
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Sound and Sense
In his years as a teacher, John Ashbery used Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Archaic Torso of Apollo” for a translation exercise in which students sounded out the German words and wrote down English words resembling those sounds, such as interpreting “sich hält und glänzt” as “sick halt and glance.” The exercise relied less on meaning and subject and more on sound and rhythm, despite the final product sounding silly. Pick a poem in a language unfamiliar to you and phonetically translate the poem into English. What surprising combination of words come together? Once the translation is finished, try to find a sense of logic in the words to produce an original poem.
Chen Chen on Vulnerability
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“To me, it always comes back to, ‘What are the real questions that I want to ask through the piece?’ And then it becomes an act, not so much of representation...but it’s more a matter of discovery.” In this 2019 episode of The Poetry Vlog, Chen Chen reads the titular poem from his collection, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), and discusses the process of expressing vulnerability authentically on the page. For more Chen, read his series of Craft Capsule essays.
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Craft Capsule: On Nightmares
The author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities explores personal and collective nightmares.
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Deadline Approaches for the Vern Rutsala Book Prize
Cloudbank Books is accepting submissions for its annual Vern Rutsala Book Prize. Given for a collection of poetry or flash fiction—or a collection that comprises work in both genres—the award offers a cash prize of $1,000. The winning manuscript will also be published by Cloudbank Books.
Submit a manuscript of 60 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee by November 10. Satirist, critic, and novelist Christopher Buckley will judge. Both online submissions and postal submissions are accepted. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Since its launch in 2000, Cloudbank Books has published volumes of poetry across “a wide range of styles, approaches, forms, and aesthetics.” The most recent recipient of the Vern Rutsala Book Prize is Jane Craven, whose winning collection, My Bright Last Country, was published in January 2020.
Written By Himself
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“I was born passing / off the problem of the twentieth century: I was born.” In this 2016 video, Gregory Pardlo reads “Written By Himself” from his Pulitzer Prize–winning poetry collection, Digest (Four Way Books, 2014), accompanied by the Finnish jazz combo Hot Heros at the Annikki Poetry Festival in Finland. For a writing prompt inspired by this poem, visit The Time Is Now.
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