A Single Letter

The Time Is Now
11.2.21

“I love the I, / frail between its flitches, its hard ground / and hard sky, it soars between them / like the soul that rushes, back and forth, / between the mother and father.” In this line from her iconic poem “Take the I Out,” Sharon Olds describes both the physical shape of the letter and how it represents the self. This week write an ode to a letter of the alphabet. Whether it be the letter I, or a different one, how far can you go in describing this letter and locating the many ways it holds place in your life?

Deadline Approaches for the Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award

G&A: The Contest Blog
10.29.21

There are two days remaining to submit to the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award. Administered by Red Hen Press, the prize offers $3,000 and publication for an original collection of poetry. The contest boasts few limiting guidelines and only prohibits entries from writers who are already connected to Red Hen Press or the contest judge.

Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 96 pages with a $25 entry fee by October 31. Major Jackson will judge. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Red Hen Press is an independent publisher based in Pasadena, California. In addition to the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award, the press offers several other awards, including a biennial novella prize and a biennial prize for prose by women writers. Anna V. Q. Ross won the 2020 Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award for her collection Milk Teeth, which is due out next year.

Famous Writers

The Time Is Now
10.28.21

In “Hanging Out With Joan Didion: What I Learned About Writing From an American Master” published on Literary Hub, Sara Davidson writes about her decades-long friendship with Didion and lists ten techniques and practices she learned from the iconic author. These tips include the advantages of writing in the first person singular, keeping a writing schedule, and controlling the information one gives to a reader. This week make a list of the technical tricks behind your favorite writer’s work, then write an essay that discusses the impact and influence of their style on yours.

Truly Scary Stories

The Time Is Now
10.27.21

Jezebel’s annual Scary Story contest invites readers to submit true, terrifying tales, some of which are animated into short films. With titles such as “Look at Me,” “911 Calling,” and “Keeping a Secret,” the red-and-black stark videos are perfect to watch as Halloween approaches, if you’re looking for some haunting inspiration. Check out some of the videos and try your hand at writing a scary story based on a real-life experience. Consider how to sustain suspense and incite fear in your readers.

The End of Poetry

The Time Is Now
10.26.21

“Enough of osseous and chickadee and sunflower / and snowshoes, maple and seeds,” writes Ada Limón in her poem “The End of Poetry.” “Enough sorrow, enough of the air and its ease, / I am asking you to touch me.” In this timely poem, Limón uses the repetition of “enough of” to list actions, objects, and experiences that might be considered poetic in order to emphasize what the speaker is willing to do away with for a moment of physical connection. Write a poem that articulates “the end of poetry” for you. What images and phrases would you consider poetic, and what would you want in return if you were to give it all away?

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

G&A: The Contest Blog
10.22.21

Kick off the beginning of a new month by submitting to one of the following six contests, which all share a November 1 deadline. Poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers will find an abundance of opportunities in these prizes, with two of the awards being given in all three genres. All contests offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more, with the chance for one lucky fiction writer to win $15,000 and book publication.

Briar Cliff Review Writing Contests: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Briar Cliff Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $20 (includes a copy of the prize issue). 

Brick Road Poetry Press Book Contest: A prize of $1,000, publication by Brick Road Poetry Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Keith Badowski and Olivia Ivings will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $30.  

Fiction Collective Two Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize: A prize of $15,000 and publication by Fiction Collective Two, an imprint of University of Alabama Press, is given annually for a novel, short story collection, novella, or novella collection. U.S. writers who have published at least three books of fiction are eligible. Cristina Rivera Garza will judge. Entry fee: $25. 

Fiction Collective Two Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication by Fiction Collective Two is given annually for a novel, short story collection, novella, or novella collection. U.S. writers who have not previously published a book with Fiction Collective Two are eligible. Marream Krollos will judge. Entry fee: $25. 

Malahat Review Open Season Awards: Three prizes of CAD $2,000 (approximately $1,622) each and publication in Malahat Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Conor Kerr will judge in poetry, Zilla Jones will judge in fiction, and Erin Soros will judge in creative nonfiction. Entry fee: CAD $45 (approximately $36), which includes a subscription to Malahat Review.

Nina Riggs Poetry Foundation Award: A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem that examines relationships, family, or domestic life that was published in a book or magazine in the last three years. Entry fee: None.

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.

Revision

The Time Is Now
10.21.21

“The personal computer’s radical reshaping of the revision process is likely another reason why writers sometimes struggle to understand revision,” writes Peter Ho Davies in the first chapter of The Art of Revision: The Last Word (Graywolf Press, 2021), an excerpt of which is published on our website. In this chapter titled “Black Box,” Davies discusses the elusive and often misunderstood nature of the revision process, and explores the reasons why it is often neglected as a subject in creative writing classrooms. Write an essay that recounts a particularly arduous time you had revising a piece of work. What did you learn in the time between your first and last draft?

Professing

The Time Is Now
10.20.21

In an interview on Literary Hub, Ruth Ozeki talks about a transformative experience she had in college with a professor teaching Old English: “She asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves. When my turn came, I said my name and she repeated it. ‘Ruth.’ Her voice was deep and husky, like gravel and honey.” Ozeki goes on to mention that the professor taught her about poetry and German film, among other things, and at the end of the semester told her, “You will be fine. You are going to be a writer.” Write a story about a character whose life is changed by the words of a teacher. How will you show the protagonist's transformation through the care of a generous mentor?

Driving

The Time Is Now
10.19.21

“Monastic firs, marginal, / conical, in brooding snoods / a finical sun unpacks, clerical // in scarlet fringe of Interstate scrub,” writes Lisa Russ Spaar in her hypnotic poem “Driving,” published in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. In the poem, Spaar shifts from the speaker’s present to the past, in a kind of daydream: “Sick days // in autumn, child on cot-raft, / chaste bedroom chary / with red smell of measles.” Write a poem that describes the feeling of driving long distances. Challenge yourself to begin with descriptions of the road and progress into the realm of memory and meditation. (If you don’t drive, do the same exercise with walking.)

Breakout! Writers Prize Open for Submissions

G&A: The Contest Blog
10.15.21

The deadline is approaching for the fourth annual Breakout! Writers Prize, sponsored by Epiphany Magazine and the Authors Guild. Four prizes of $1,000 each, publication in the Fall/Winter 2021 issue of Epiphany, a membership with the Authors Guild, and a year-long mentorship with Rachel Lyon, Epiphany’s editor in chief, are awarded to undergraduate or graduate writers. Two prizes will be given to poets and two to prose writers. Shane McCrae, Nadia Owusu, and Rachel Lyon will judge.

Using only the online submission system, submit one short story, a novel excerpt, or a work of creative nonfiction up to 5,000 words, or five poems of any length, along with a statement of interest and a $10 entry fee, which includes a digital subscription to Epiphany, by November 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Deriving their name from the “Joycean idea that an epiphany is the moment when ‘the soul of the commonest object…seems to us radiant,’” Epiphany is a semiannual literary journal and independent non-profit based in New York. The Breakout! Writers Prize is meant to celebrate the future of art by honoring and bringing visibility to college and graduate student writers. Students do not have to be enrolled in a creative writing program to apply.

 

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