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“The book didn’t announce itself to me until 2017, when I went looking for it. I scanned over the poems I had been writing, scanning to see what my brain had been up to without me noticing.” —Danez Smith, author of Homie
Looking ahead to what to expect from me in 2020, I am excited to continue offering installments of the Detroit Writers Circle (DWC), a gathering of literary minds with an aim to build community. Each gathering includes an information session and discussion, and ends with a writing workshop and informal open mic. The first DWC was held last August at Tuxedo Project, and was followed by a second gathering at ArtBlock in October. Both were welcomed opportunities to bring people together and produced strong conversations about what a sustainable literary event circuit would look like in Detroit.
Local writer Cheryl L. attended the first DWC and informed us of a hashtag she began on Facebook to help find literary events in Detroit: #2019StandingRoomOnly. This year look out for #2020StandingRoomOnly for future events. Cheryl was passionate about the literary talent in the city and impressed with their ability to completely pack Detroit’s poetry venues. Adding this hashtag when posting upcoming events has made finding new events far easier. As I mentioned in my last post, word of mouth and social media are the primary means for circulating information about literary events—especially poetry events—in Detroit. This simple hashtag has already led me to numerous events.
The opportunity to learn more about what is happening in the city through conversation is absolutely my favorite part of the Detroit Writers Circle. Our first gathering of the year will be held at Pages Bookshop on February 8, from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM. We will have a featured performing artist, LaShaun Phoenix Moore, joining us! For more information, RSVP on our Facebook event page or reach out to me at Detroit@pw.org.
Detroit Writers Circle featuring LaShaun Phoenix Moore. Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.Submissions are open for the inaugural Stockholm Writers Prize, which offers an emerging writer the “time, space, and inspiration to focus on social justice-themed creative writing.” Writers working in all genres and styles may apply, so long as their writing is “tied to a social justice issue.” The winner will receive a weeklong residency from May 21 to May 27 in Stockholm, Sweden, which includes accommodation, tuition to the Stockholm Writers Festival, a one-on-one meeting with an agent, and individual feedback from the contest judge. A $1,000 stipend is granted to help cover travel costs.
Using only the online submission system, submit a sample of creative writing in any genre of up to 1,5000 words and a personal statement of up to 1,000 words with a $25 entry fee by February 15. Writers who are currently unagented and who have not published a full-length work of creative writing are eligible. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
The Stockholm Writers Prize is sponsored by the Stockholm Writers Festival, which was established as a nonprofit in 2017. The organization hosts an annual festival dedicated to “developing the skills and business knowhow essential to navigate the world of publishing, while fostering an ever-expanding community of international writers.”
“Black women are crafting a collective response / to centuries of being under everybody’s water / We are a rising tsunami of fury come back / to take back what was carried away/without consent....” Staceyann Chin reads “Tsunami Rising” from her debut poetry collection, Crossfire: A Litany for Survival (Haymarket Books, 2019), for the Unbound series in Brooklyn, copresented by BAM and Greenlight Bookstore.
Submissions are open for the 2020 Macaron Prize. Sponsored by the literary magazine Cagibi, the annual contest awards four prizes of $1,000 and publication in the magazine’s annual print issue. Nick Flynn, Andre Dubus III, Jill Bialosky, and Emily Flake will judge in the categories of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and cartoon respectively.
Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems, a short story or an essay of up to 4,000 words, or a single-panel cartoon or a comic of up to 12 pages with a $20 entry fee by January 20. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Cagibi was founded in 2017 by editors Sylvia Bertrand and Christopher X. Shade. Titled after a French word connoting a storeroom or cubby hole, the journal aims to offer a “shelter, no matter how tiny, that allows for big imaginings to take shape.” Cagibi publishes quarterly issues online, as well as a print annual that anthologizes those issues. It particularly seeks international literature, translation, and poetry and prose “in which character conflict, ultimately story, is tied to place.”
“And I dreamed of our world, a spinning ball of confusion, heart-wrenching injustices…” Patti Smith reads a poem and performs a cover of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” in this video from the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Smith’s new memoir, Year of the Monkey, is out now from Knopf.
“The light / that points / the way // in the fog. / The light / in the fog // that thickens / and reveals / the fog’s // cold breath. / The fog / as well.” Jeffrey Thomson’s poem “What is Poetry? Part 2,” selected by Naomi Shihab Nye for the New York Times, locates possibilities for poetry everywhere, from all angles, in all subjects. Think of an image from your memory and write a poem that finds resonance as you dig deeper into the details. What happens when you explore an unexpected perspective of this memory? What new facets can you uncover?
The first deadlines of the year for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translation contests have arrived. With a deadline of either January 14 or January 15, these awards include two residencies in rural Texas and financial support to pursue a creative project in a desert environment; all feature a prize of $1,000 or more.
Asheville Poetry Review William Matthews Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to read at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. Ilya Kaminsky will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $20.
Australian Book Review Calibre Essay Prize: A prize of $5,000 AUD (approximately $3,392) is given annually for an essay. A second-place prize of $2,500 AUD (approximately $1,696) will also be given. The winners will be published in Australian Book Review. J. M. Coetzee, Lisa Gorton, and Peter Rose will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $25 AUD (approximately $17).
BkMk Press Ciardi/Chandra Prizes: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by BkMk Press are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $25 ($30 for electronic submissions).
Colorado Review Colorado Prize for Poetry: A prize of $2,000 and publication by the Center for Literary Publishing is given annually for a poetry collection. Kiki Petrosino will judge. Deadline: January 14. Entry fee: $25 ($28 for online submissions).
Ellen Meloy Fund Desert Writers Award: A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy’s writing” to spend creative time in a desert environment. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $15.
French-American Foundation Translation Prizes: Two prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for translations from French into English of a book of fiction and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published during the previous year. A jury of translators and literary professionals will judge. Deadline: January 14. Entry fee: none.
Literal Latté Fiction Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Literal Latté is given annually for a short story. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $10.
National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowships: Grants of $12,500 and $25,000 each are given annually to translators of poetry and prose from any language into English. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: none.
New American Press Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,200 and publication by New American Press is given annually for a book of poetry. Corey Van Landingham will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $20.
Nowhere Magazine Travel Writing Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Nowhere Magazine is given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, or an essay that “possesses a powerful sense of place.” Porter Fox will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: January 14. Entry fee: $25.
Public Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,000, publication in an anthology, and an invitation to give a reading in Houston is given annually for a single poem on a theme. This year’s theme is “Wicked Wit.” Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $15 to submit up two poems ($25 to submit three).
University of Notre Dame Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Notre Dame Press is given biennially for a debut poetry collection by a Latinx poet residing in the United States. John Murillo will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: none.
University of Texas in Austin Dobie Paisano Fellowships: Two residencies, cosponsored by the Texas Institute of Letters, at a rural retreat west of Austin are given annually to writers who are native Texans, who have lived in Texas for at least three years, or who have published significant work with a Texas subject. The six-month Jesse H. Jones Writing Fellowship is given to a writer in any stage of his or her career and includes a grant of $18,000. The four-month Ralph A. Johnston Memorial Fellowship is given to a writer who has demonstrated “publishing and critical success” and includes a grant of $24,000. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $20 ($30 to enter both competitions).
WOMR/WFMR Community Radio Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. Marge Piercy will judge. Deadline: January 14. Entry fee: $15.
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.
“Reading Borges, you might catch a glimpse of infinity too.” In this TED-Ed animated short film, the work of Jorge Luis Borges and the way his essays, poems, and stories helped pioneer the magical realism genre is explored by Ilan Stavans.
Justin Phillip Reed’s The Malevolent Volume, forthcoming from Coffee House Press on April 7, 2020.
