Welcome to the United States of Writing Blog! I’m Justin Rogers, and I’ll be reporting from my hometown of Detroit, Michigan. I am a poet—check out my Poets & Writers Directory profile for more on that—and I work as a youth program coordinator at InsideOut Literary Arts organizing after-school creative writing programs and coaching youth teams for regional and national poetry slam competitions.

As a literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers, I’ve been tasked to further engage with the literary community in my city, let folks know about the tools and resources P&W has to offer (and there are so many), and report back about all that’s happening. Already so many faces have brightened up during my conversations with them about the Literary Events Calendar (where anyone can add events for free) and mini-grants offered through the Readings & Workshops program (find out how to apply here).

I’m excited to continue sharing with Detroit the information and opportunities that P&W offers and, on a personal level, to learn more about my city and the literary world at large. Check the blog weekly for my reports from the field. Looking forward to being your guide out in Detroit!

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Palette Poetry’s Emerging Poet Prize is currently open for submissions. In the spirit of the journal’s mission to “uplift and engage emerging and established poets in our larger community,” the award honors poets who have published no more than two full-length collections. The winner will receive $3,000 and publication on Palette Poetry.

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Using the online submission system, submit one document of up to three poems with a $20 entry fee by August 15. Eligibility extends to international poets writing in English. Visit the website for complete guidelines. 

This year’s contest will be judged by Kim Addonizio, whose books include the memoir Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions From a Writing Life (Penguin, 2016) and the poetry collection Mortal Trash (Norton, 2017). The contest’s most recent winner is Victoria C. Flanagan, who won for her poem “In Response to My Mother When She Says Hearing Me Read My Writing’s like Hearing God.”

How much do you trust the Internet, and its users, to guide your life? For the last three years, data engineer and programmer Tyler Wood has set up a system online where thousands of subscribers watch a livestream of a plant and vote on whether or not it should be watered. Write a personal essay about an instance when you have trusted the knowledge or opinions of Internet strangers to provide information about something such as where to eat, what to buy, how to fix something, or how to navigate a place or situation. Did you have feelings of hesitation or did you trust the advice implicitly? 

Earlier this month, a New York City resident formerly from California posted on social media about his mysterious and shocking discovery of a perfectly intact burger from the West Coast fast food chain In-N-Out Burger lying in the middle of the street in Queens. Write a short story that revolves around a character stumbling upon an inexplicable, mirage-like object on the street, perhaps one that evokes particular nostalgia or poignant longing. Why does it resonate so deeply with your character? Does the discovery result in wild speculation and conjecture when attempting to explain the mystery?

What happens when your favorite children’s book character grows up and moves out? A piece for the UnReal Estate series on Apartment Therapy’s website imagines what the studio apartments of characters like Ramona Quimby and Nancy Drew would look like if they designed their homes as adults. Taking inspiration from this idea, envision a favorite book character’s home years after the events depicted in the story. Write a poem that describes this environment—the furniture, colors, lighting—reflecting upon how your understanding of the character’s personality and narrative arc are physically manifested in this imagined grown-up home. 

“Its freedom lies in fragmentation and even welcomed chaos. The embrace of intended disorganization felt right to me,” says Tina Chang in a Q&A with Poets & Writers about using the zuihitsu form in her third poetry collection, Hybrida (Norton, 2019). The zuihitsu is a Japanese form and genre comparable to the lyric essay comprised of casual, loosely connected fragments and ideas, often in haphazard order, such as in Sei Shōnagon’s The Pillow Book. Write a zuihitsu-inspired essay, collecting a dozen or so random thoughts and personal notes about your surroundings, and incorporating text fragments, observations, and lists.

“Among my obsessions I include cows, pencils and all things Greek,” writes Mary Norris in her New York Times essay “Golf Balls! Pencils! Whales! What Makes an Author’s Obsession a Thrill, Not a Bore?” in which she contemplates the pleasure of relating to another’s preoccupations through reading the work of obsessive writers. Write a short story in which one of your own obsessions is transferred to the main character. How does your character handle or respond to this obsession in ways both similar to and different from how you would?

Writers of all stripes will find opportunities in approaching July and August deadlines. These include valuable fellowships, as well as novella, chapbook, and book contests, and all offer an award of at least $1,000.

Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship: Established Professional Fellowships of $6,000 each and Emerging Artist Fellowships of $3,000 each are given annually to Delaware poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who have lived in Delaware for at least one year prior to application and who are not enrolled in a degree-granting program. Entry fee: none. Deadline: August 1.

Emrys Press Poetry Chapbook Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Emrys Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner will also receive a weeklong residency at the Rensing Center near Greenville, South Carolina. Joseph Millar will judge. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: July 30. 

Howling Bird Press Book Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Howling Bird Press will be given in alternating years for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The 2019 prize will be awarded in nonfiction. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: July 31.

Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grants: Project grants of up to $2,500 each are given twice yearly to women and transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, or otherwise gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Delaware Valley region to fund art for social change projects. Writers living in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties who are 18 years of age or older and who are not full-time students in a degree-granting arts program are eligible. Applicants must identify a person, an organization, or a business as a partner for their project. Entry fee: none. Deadline: August 1.

PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowships: Five seven-month fellowships, which include a stipend of $1,000 each, are given annually to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who lack access to financial and creative support. Each fellow receives professional mentorship with an established writer, attends courses at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and takes part in genre-specific master classes, three public readings, gatherings with writers and publishing professionals, and other programming throughout the fellowship period. Travel and lodging are not provided. Writers who do not have significant publication credits, are not enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate writing program, and do not hold an undergraduate or graduate writing degree are eligible. Entry fee: $10. Deadline August 1.

Press 53 Award for Poetry: A prize of $1,000, publication by Press 53, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Tom Lombardo will judge. Entry fee: $30. Deadline: July 31.

Red Hen Press Novella Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a novella. Doug Lawson will judge. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: July 31.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the most recent post on the Grants & Award Blog for info about more contests with deadlines of July 31 or August 1.  

This past weekend marked the fiftieth anniversary of the first moon landing by NASA’s Apollo 11. Along with footprints and the American flag, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left behind about one hundred other objects. Browse through a list of these items, which include a blanket, armrests, space boots, and cameras. Select one and write a poem from the point of view of this object, imagining its original trajectory from Earth to the moon, and the fifty years spent on the lunar surface. What emotions are evoked when you consider this lunar inventory?

July’s final deadlines include several awards with purses of $1,000 or more for individual poems, short stories, and essays. Or, if you’ve been busy this summer and have a collection ready for submission, consider three contests for short story and essay manuscripts.

F(r)iction Short Story Contest: A prize of $1,000 is given three times a year for a short story. Entry fee: $15. Deadline: July 31.

Hidden River Arts Hawk Mountain Short Story Collection Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Hidden River Press is given annually for a story collection. Entry fee: $22. Deadline: July 30.

Munster Literature Centre Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition: A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,250) and publication in Southword is given annually for a short story. The winner also receives a weeklong residency at the Anam Cara Writer’s Retreat on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. Entry fee: €18. Deadline: July 31. 

Narrative Spring 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 work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also awarded. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $27. Deadline: July 31.

New Millennium Writings New Millennium Awards: Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in New Millennium Writings and on the journal's website are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay that have not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: July 31.

Seneca Review Books Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize: A prize of $2,000 and publication by Seneca Review Books will be given biennially for a collection of lyric essays. Jenny Boully will judge. Cross-genre, hybrid, and verse forms, as well as image and text works, are also eligible. Entry fee: $27. Deadline: August 1. 

Sewanee Review Poetry and Fiction Contest: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sewanee Review will be given annually for a group of poems and a short story. Carl Phillips will judge in poetry and Roxane Gay will judge in fiction. Entry fee: $30. Deadline: July 31. 

University of Notre Dame Sullivan Prize in Short Fiction: A prize of $1,000 and publication by the University of Notre Dame Press is given biennially for a story collection. Writers who have published at least one story collection are eligible. Entry fee: $15. Deadline: July 31. 

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.