Couple more I bumped into and am adding to the list thanks to Collin and Lorcaloca.
Green Tower Press Chapbook Competition for Midwest writers, which is defined as “living in, from, or closely associated with.” So everyone. Brought to you by generous funding from Northwest Missouri State University. Deadline May 1.
White Crane/James White Poetry Prize for GAY MEN! Go boys! Can gay male identified lesbians enter too? Deadline October 30.
Hi all. Adding a few more contests to my list. I’ll post here and on the separate pages for posterity. Thanks for stopping by, and GOOD LUCK!
Fiction Contests
Novello Literary Award: $1K prize and publication by Novello press with standard royalty contract for an original fiction or non fiction manuscript. Deadline May 1.
Poetry Residencies
Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown Summer workshops. If you have a lot of cash, you can go if you sign up early. But if you want to go for free, they have a few scholarship opportunities. Deadline April 18.
Poetry Contests
University of Arkansas Miller Williams Poetry Prize. This year is the inaugural year! You get $5K. Open to all “excellent” books of poetry. Submit September 1 – October 31. I imagine submitting outside this deadline will result in your manuscript being thrown in the garbage.
Omnidawn Press, founded by someone who went to Mills, is having a Poetry Contest for first or second book. Deadline June 30.
Seven Kitchens Press Robin Becker Chapbook Prize for The Gay! LGBTs, your deadline is May 15!
Zone 3 Press first book award competition. Their website is kind of a nightmare. Their deadline is May 1.
Published Work Awards
THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
“A £60,000 prize designed not only to richly reward the best young writer in the world but also to serve as a focus for and incentive to all young writers throughout the English-speaking world.”
Deadline April 30
JAMES LAUGHLIN AWARD
“The James Laughlin Award is given to recognize and support a poet’s second book. Only manuscripts already under contract with publishers are considered for the James Laughlin Award.”
Deadline May 15
AMERICAN LITERARY TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION NATIONAL TRANSLATION AWARD
“To be eligible for the award, a translation must have been published during the preceding calendar year by a U.S. or Canadian publisher and must be a book-length work, in English, of fiction, poetry, drama, or creative non-fiction (literary criticism and philosophy are not eligible)”
Deadline March 31
PATERSON POETRY PRIZE and PATERSON FICTION PRIZE
Sponsored by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College.
Deadlines February 1 and April 1, respectively.
THURBER PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR
Make ‘em laugh.
Deadline April 1.
WASHINGTON STATE BOOK AWARDS
“…given for outstanding books published by Washington authors the previous year…”
Deadline April 1.
I got two books of poetry in the mail this week – both winners of small press contests in 2007. Of course I love receiving them in the mail, and feel this is a good practice for presses: send each entrant a copy of the winning book. The only problem is: I do not recall entering either of these contests in 2007 – hello gingko biloba. Still, fine by me!
So, I’ve read them, and have had strong reactions to each. Now, this could be because I am in a bad mood this week, spurred on by this, or this, or it could mean that the books are deserving of my wrath. Now, unlike some folks (in Poetry Magazine), I do not get my jollies by being mean about people’s work. But I cannot hold my tongue when it appears that a press is not supporting its authors. And that is what appears to me to be happening here. So, I unleash the tongue-lash!
The Lost Tribe of Us by Heather Davis, winner of the 2007 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award (the upcoming deadline for which is January 3, 2008).
I don’t mean to be a jerk, but if I was Heather Davis, I would be pissed at this book. As soon as I took it out of the bubble envelope, I knew it had been poorly produced. The color of the cover was washed out. The paper inside was the weight, look, and consistency of copy paper (and if it walks like a duck…) and the print quality was copier quality – and not even one of those new, high tech ones either: words were thin on toner in places, and pixelated in others. And not only that, but two of her poems had hardcore typographic/editorial errors. And Ms. Davis’ book is not the first that has appeared in my mailbox in this condition.
Now, we work hard on our first books. We are sent through wringer after wringer, spend hundreds of dollars on entry fees and finally break through only to find our book is of poorer quality than if we had done it ourselves on our copier at work. Small presses need to aspire not only to getting work out there, but to making beautiful books. As it stands, it appears as though Main Street Rag could give a crap about Ms. Davis, because if they cared at all they would hold themselves to the highest possible design and production standards. I love the proliferation of so many first book contests in recent years, but let’s please not get into a Wal-Mart mentality about it. If the poetry has to be held to a high standard, so should the design and production. Period. What I would really like to see bloom in the wake of all these contests are presses that, once they pick their winner, stick with that winner, nurturing their career and their work, and publishing them well into their later life. Now, wouldn’t that be a nice change from running cash-cow contests?
Now, I know money is an issue, but I also know how much it takes to produce a book, and you can afford to go the extra mile to use nice paper, a real print run or at least that slightly fancier copy machine, and/or even use soy based ink and recycled paper. I would even bet that, were you to hold yourself to those high standards, you’d get a crap load more entries: don’t think for one second poets don’t read your past winners before entering your contest. And you can believe that, if they saw the poor production quality of this book, they would not want to see their work appear, for the first time, in that condition.
As for the poems: I had one favorite in the book of 73 pages, “Migration Dream,” but all in all I didn’t fall in love with the poems. I hate to say it but, when you open the book and it looks like it was thrown together in my kitchen, it doesn’t put you in a good mood for reading the work. To me, the poems were so laden with similes it became hard for me to follow. It reminded me to go back in to my own poems and get out all extraneous similes. Like Brent reported Ted Kooser said, don’t present a gun in the first act of it isn’t going to fire in the last. And if you present a gun, you can’t also present a crowbar and a knife. However, you can see the skill and craft Davis employs – she loves being a poet. Future books of hers will undoubtedly only get better. Let’s also hope their production values do too.
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Call from Paris by Prartho Sereno, winner of the 2007 Word Works Washington Prize (the upcoming deadline for which is postmark between Jan. 15 and March 1, 2008).
Now, for something completely different: as usual, The Word Works has produced a lovely book of poetry (take note, MSR). Nice paper, interesting cover, professionally done: even has that nice “new book smell.” So I congratulate them on bringing yet another beautiful book into the world (speaking of: you know who makes really pretty books? Cavankerry Press, and of course BOA, Copper Canyon, and Graywolf…) And since I am not drawn to irritated distraction by the bad print job (though the font choice and size is not what I would have done), I can actually talk about the poems (you need to think about that, too, MSR: when your book is poor quality, you can’t see the forest for the trees). Unfortunately, I didn’t love these poems either, but since I read the two books very closely together, I am prone to compare them and if I have to chose who I like better, I choose Davis, bad print job and all.
Sereno’s work is very lyrical and metaphysical. It is clearly well-crafted stuff – but it is just not my cup of tea. I had a hard time knowing what was going on (gosh, there must be something wrong with me: two books in a row I am having a hard time with) in the poems: they were very floaty, for lack of a better word. I am reminded of Carl Phillips (who I love but) who is also very floaty. The difference between CP and Sereno is that CP is floaty, but then he pins you down with something so strong its like he’s nailing you to your chair – and you really feel it. Sereno never nailed it for me; I just kept floating. But I am also reading The Kite Runner right now, and that book, my god, is relentless. Little can stand up to its quality.
So there you have it: two new contest winners. And to my little entrants I say this: just as you would read a journal before submitting your work, you should also read books in the series of contests that you are choosing to enter. Just because it is a full-length contest doesn’t mean it isn’t still a match game. Send your work only where your work matches up! Save money and be happier!
It’s that time of year again: find out where you’ll be spending your summer, and what you’ll be doing while there! It’s hardcore residency application crunch time! I’ve had a bunch of these to post for a while, so I am glad to get them off my plate and onto the blog. As always, they will be placed in their appropriate list at the right after I post them here. Have fun!
Poetry Residencies
Washington State poets, fiction and creative nonfiction writers: get $1500 bucks just to work on your stuff! Deadline is February 23.
Converse College Julia Peterkin Award: $1k plus travel expenses to fly your ass down to Converse College for a reading. Deadline February 15. Alternates yearly between fiction and poetry. Guess whose year it is…
Japan-US Friendship Commission US/Japan Creative Artists Residency: $5K and a five month stay in Japan for published poets, fiction and non fiction writers “to pursue activities of greatest relevance to their creative process. Which means: if you sit around watching TV to feed your muse, get ready to do it in Japan! Deadline February 1.
Marin Arts Council New Work Fellowships: $10K for you if you ave lived in Marin County for at least 12 consecutive months, and have a “proven track record” of publication in fiction, poetry, and/or creative nonfiction. Deadline January 31.
University of Mississippi Summer poetry residency: one-month stay and a $1500 honorarium for a poet working on a manuscript to live in Lawrence House, adjacent to Faulkner’s Rowan Oak. Deadline February 1.
Mississippi Arts Commission literary arts fellowships: $5k for Mississippi poets and fiction writers who are over 18 and NOT full-time students. Deadline March 1.
University of New Orleans writing contest for study abroad: for a poet, fiction and/or nonfiction writer who have not published a book in the genre in which they are applying, to stay in Italy for a summer with $4k cash! Woo! Deadline January 31.
Western Michigan University Prague Summer Program Fellowships: get picked to go on a four-week creative writing conference. open to folks who have published no more than one book. Deadline February 1.
Fiction Contests
Ohio State University Press Short Fiction Manuscript Prize: $1500 and publication by OSU Press for a collection of short fiction. Deadline January 31.
Stanford University Libraries William Saroyan International Prize: $12,500 for fiction and creative nonfiction manuscripts. Deadline January 31.
Fiction Residencies
University of East Anglia David T. K. Wong Fellowship. $51K (didn’t stutter) and a one-year stay as UEA for a fiction writer for your work which deals seriously with some aspect of the Far East. Deadline January 31.
University of East Anglia Charles Pick Writing Fellowship. $20K and a six month stay as UEA for a fiction writer who has not published a full-length book yet. Deadline January 31.
Published Work Awards
BALCONES CENTER FOR CREATIVE WRITING: $1,000 award for your fabulous poetry book published in the previous year. Deadline January 31.
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY BOOK AWARDS: $1,000 award for your fabulous poetry and fiction (yes, two awards!) book published in the previous year. Deadline March 1.
GOETHE-INSTITUT CHICAGO HELEN AND KURT WOLFF TRANSLATOR’S PRIZE: $10K and a stay at the literary colloquium in Berlin to honor an outstanding translation from German to English published in the US in the previous year. Deadline January 31.
LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA LITERARY AWARDS: $2500 for a book of fiction, poetry, and creative non fiction published in the previous year “with a Virginia theme or written by a writer born in Virginia or a resident of the state.” Deadline February 8.
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER JANET HEIDINGER KAFKA PRIZE FOR FICTION: $5K for “a book of fiction by a woman who is a US citizen published in the previous year.” Deadline February 1.
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FIRST NOVELIST AWARD: $1k for a novel published in the previous year. Deadline January 31.
If you live in the Bay Area, or will be in the Bay Area on January 18, then be a Guest Reader!
Starting Friday, January 18, Gallery 2611 in Redwood City will begin hosting bi-monthly readings by Bay Area writers.
January’s featured readers include poet Brian Teare. A former Stegner Fellow, Teare is author of The Room Where I Was Born a finalist for the Northern California Book Award and winner of the 2003 Brittingham Prize.
To provide a venue for as many writers as possible, every reading will also feature four “guest” writers who will read for five minutes each. We are currently accepting submissions from authors who would like to be considered for a “guest” reading slot. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 4th, and we encourage early submissions.
Submission Guidelines
1. Original poetry or fiction.
2. No more than five minutes total reading time (2-3 poems or
3 pages of double-spaced prose, 12pt. text).
3. Include your name, phone number, and e-mail.
4. Please send all submissions to Mary Petrosky at the following address: mary at mpetrosky dot com
I don’t exactly understand how these work, but basically you become a member of a poetry collective committing three or so years of your life to publishing authors in the collective. In year two, you get published. You get no money from the sale of your books, rather, all proceeds go toward publishing the next books. And oh yeah: you have to live in the region…Doesn’t sound too terrible, and you get your books out into the world.
Sixteen Rivers Press outta San Francisco is doing it. The books look nice too. So, again: if you live in the Bay Area and want your shit in print, you ought to check them out.
Thanks to Lisa Allender for tipping me off to poet Lana Hechtman Ayers who I not only like, but who is also involved in a chapbook contest over at Concrete Wolf, and who’s book Chicken Farmer I Still Love You was published by D-N publishing, who also hosts a chapbook contest.
Clear as mud? Ok. Let me repeat:
Concrete Wolf Poetry Chapbook Series
Deadline December 1 (sorry, I just found out! Save it for next year!)
D-N Publishing Chapbook Contest and D-N Publishing full-length poetry manuscript contest
Deadline October 31 (again, I am sorry but, next year!)
Generally I have a rule about not posting individual or non-full length manuscript poetry contests. I think they are a waste of money. I would prefer poets just send their poems to journals to gain publication credits. If you want to win a chunk of dough, just play the lottery. Why throw away $10 and $25 a pop to enter a contest when the odds for winning it are only slightly better than winning the Lotto? The Lotto only costs a dollar.
However, there are always exceptions, and this is one of them.
If you live in the Bay Area, or will be in the Bay Area in late January, and are a poet interested in reading your work in a public venue, then perhaps you should consider entering this contest…(and even if you don’t enter, maybe you should just go because Jessica Fisher is pretty good.
The Bernal Yoga Literary Series continues with a reading on Saturday, January 19, 2008, at 7pm. Poet Jessica Fisher and fiction writer Catherine Brady will be the headline writers for the evening.
In order to round out our lineup, we are currently accepting submissions for consideration for 5 reading slots of 5 minutes each. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 4th, and we encourage early submissions. Please note: After much thought, we’ve decided NOT to accept nonfiction submissions. However, if you present your nonfiction as fiction, it’s quite possible we won’t know that it’s “true.”
Submission Guidelines:
1. Original poetry or fiction.
2. No more than five minutes total reading time (2-3 poems or 3 pages of double-spaced prose, 12pt. text).
3. Include your name, phone number, and e-mail.
4. Please send all submissions to Elizabeth Costello at the following e-mail address:
costello.elizabeth at gmail dot com
Other people are saying lots better things than I could dream up today, so go visit them instead of me…
Brent Goodman has posted correspondences he had with Ted Kooser. They are terrific.
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Poet Mom has a great post with a hilariously poignant video regarding the writers’ strike.
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This site called Quickmuse let’s you watch as a few well-known poets write for 15 minutes off prompts…it’s very, very cool.
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LOL Cats continues to be my one-stop source for levity.
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When he was here, my dad said this: “What is wrong with kids today? They are all skinny, and they live on red bull, and their sunglasses are from Mars. What is red bull, anyway?”
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(and now about me…If you are a regular, you may have noticed some changes around here: categories, more pages, a neat blogroll…I’ve combined Contest Central with PWADJ for one-stop poetry shopping!
For all the newest news on Contests, Slush, and Awards, please visit the new pages in the sidebar. Additionally, all posts from Contest Central have also been imported into PWADJ, and are now CATEGORIZED!!!!
Poetry Contest
Poetry Residencies
Fiction Contests
Fiction Residencies
Published Work Awards
Slush
ENJOY!!!)
Carolina Wren Press is offering a prose award for women.
Also, the next deadline for their first book contest will be in December of 2008.
