Genre: Poetry

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

G&A: The Contest Blog
7.7.23

Are you feeling bogged down by your pile of unfinished drafts? Don’t fret—you can prepare just one polished piece of writing and submit to any of five awards requesting a single poem, work of flash fiction, short story, novel, or essay by July 15. These contests all have a cash prize of $1,000 or more, three of them consider all entries for publication, and one offers a Reader’s Choice Award of $5,000 alongside its $15,000 first-place prize. Why not seize the opportunity to bring a project to completion and send it out into the world?

Cincinnati Review
Robert and Adele Schiff Awards
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Cincinnati Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Rebecca Lindenberg will judge in poetry, Michael Griffith will judge in fiction, and Kristen Iversen will judge in nonfiction. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee (includes a subscription to Cincinnati Review): $20.

Comstock Review
Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Comstock Review is given annually for a single poem. Danusha Laméris will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $27.50 ($5 per poem via postal mail).

Ghost Story
Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Ghost Story website and in the 21st Century Ghost Stories anthology is given twice yearly for a work of flash fiction with a supernatural or magical realist theme. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $15. 

Rattle
Poetry Prize
A prize of $15,000 and publication in Rattle is given annually for a single poem. A Reader’s Choice Award of $5,000 is also given to one of 10 finalists. Work written exclusively in English or primarily in English, with portions in other languages, is eligible. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee (includes a subscription to Rattle): $25.

Regal House Publishing
Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a novel. Translations into English are eligible. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

Poetry of War: Reflections From Ukrainian Poets

Caption: 

In this virtual event sponsored by the University of Toronto and moderated by Ohla Khometa, contemporary Ukrainian poets Alex Averbuch, Daryna Gladun, Iya Kiva, Julia Musakovska, and Oksana Maksymchuk share their poems and discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the displacement and loss they’ve experienced.

Genre: 
Poetry
Translation
Tags: 
Alex Averbuch
Daryna Gladun
Iya Kiva
Julia Musakovska
Ohla Khometa
Oksana Maksymchuk
Ukraine
University of Toronto
CERES
2023

Nationhood

The Time Is Now
7.4.23

Independence Day, colloquially known as the Fourth of July in the United States, is the annual celebration of nationhood commemorating the passage of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. For centuries, poets have offered deeply personal perspectives on what it means to celebrate their country, including Alicia Ostriker in her poem “The History of America,” in which she writes: “Murdering the buffalo, driving the laggard regiments, / The caring was a necessary myth…” and Naomi Shihab Nye in her poem “No Explosions,” in which she writes: “To enjoy / fireworks / you would have / to have lived / a different kind / of life.” This week write a poem reflecting on your relationship to nationhood. What contradictory feelings surface when you consider your citizenship? For further inspiration, check out the Poetry Foundation’s selection of poems for the Fourth of July.

Jericho Brown and Fred Moten

Caption: 

For this RaceB4Race Symposium event sponsored by Arizona State University’s Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Jericho Brown reads from his Pulitzer Prize–winning collection, The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), and Fred Moten reads from his collection The Feel Trio (Letter Machine Editions, 2014). The poets discuss everything from their earliest memories of reading poetry to Prince songs and Shakespeare in a conversation moderated by Ayanna Thompson.

Genre: 
Poetry
Tags: 
Jericho Brown
The Tradition
Copper Canyon Press
Fred Moten
The Feel Trio
Letter Machine Editions
Arizona State University
RaceB4Race Symposium
2023

Deadline Nears for Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize

G&A: The Contest Blog
6.30.23

Are you looking for a home for your debut poetry collection? Try submitting to the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize from Conduit Books & Ephemera, which offers a prize of $1,500, publication, and 30 author copies of the book for the winning author.

Submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee by July 7. Bob Hicok will judge. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Conduit Books & Ephemera was founded in 2018 in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Conduit, a biannual literary journal of poetry and prose. Hicok sponsored the inaugural Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize, named after his grandmother-in-law, “a great supporter of young poets.” The annual prize goes to a poet writing in English who has yet to publish a full-length poetry collection. Those who submit are advised to familiarize themselves with Conduit, a magazine “which champions originality, intelligence, irreverence, and humanity.” The press also offers the Minds on Fire Open Book Prize, open to any poet writing in English and judged by Conduit’s editorial board. Submissions for the Minds on Fire prize open August 1.

Interview With Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr.

Caption: 

“I found myself writing from the perspective of the kid that I used to be, trying to figure out a basic question: Am I supposed to be here?” Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. talks about the difficulties he experienced as a gay teacher in Appalachia and what inspired his debut collection, Gay Poems for Red States (University of Kentucky Press, 2023), which is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, in this interview for WTVQ-TV in Lexington, Kentucky.

Genre: 
Poetry
Tags: 
Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr.
Gay Poems for Red States
University of Kentucky Press
2023
Page One
July/August 2023
WTVQ-TV
interview

Traveling Nouns

The Time Is Now
6.27.23

In his fourth poetry collection, Chariot (Wave Books, 2023), Timothy Donnelly uses form to contain the expansiveness of philosophical and artistic inquiry. Each poem is confined to twenty lines and uses long, syntactically complex sentences to connect seemingly disparate things: from the Milky Way to the polluted green color of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York, and the blue of periwinkles and rainclouds to the ordinariness of a Staples office supply store. Inspired by Donnelly’s use of form and connection, flip through a few books from your shelves and write down all the nouns you encounter. Then write a twenty-line poem that attempts to connect these words as seamlessly as possible using your unique perspective.

Blip Roasters

Reading Venue, Writers Space

Blip Roasters is a café in a sunny, brick urban building in Kansas City, Missouri, which hosts weekly open mic nights, writing workshops, and bike nights for motorcyclists. Their Poetry Underground series features seasonal showcases and an annual poetry slam, typically requiring a cover fee for entry. There is also a conference room available for booking offering a quiet environment with a conference table, Wi-Fi access, and tinted windows for privacy. 

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