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“All translation must be regarded first and foremost as a metamorphosis, that is to say a radical, painful, and miraculous transformation,” says Jhumpa Lahiri in her 2021 Sebald Lecture on literary translation and the myth of Echo and Narcissus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, presented by the British Centre for Literary Translation.
Embrace sweater weather by curling up indoors and preparing to submit to one of the following writing contests, which all close on October 31. Opportunities abound for writers in all disciplines, but especially poets. Among the poetry awards are two chapbook prizes and a prize for a female translator who has translated a collection by a female poet. All contests offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more.
American Poetry Review Honickman First Book Prize: A prize of $3,000 and publication by American Poetry Review is given annually for a first poetry collection. The winning book will be distributed by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium. Jericho Brown will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Cloudbank Books Vern Rutsala Book Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Cloudbank Books is given annually for a collection of poetry, flash fiction, or a combination of the two. Doug Ramspeck will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Conduit Books & Ephemera Minds on Fire Open Book Prize: A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 30 author copies is given annually for a book of poetry. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Elixir Press Poetry Award: A prize of $2,000 and publication by Elixir Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Esther Lee will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $30.
Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition: A prize of $1,500 and publication by Finishing Line Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $15.
Hidden River Arts Tamaqua Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Hidden River Press is given annually for an essay collection. Entry fee: $20.
PEN/Faulkner Foundation Award for Fiction: A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a book of fiction published during the current year. Four finalists will each receive $5,000. The winner and finalists will also be invited to read in Washington, D.C., in May 2022. Entry fee: none.
Persea Books Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Persea Books is given annually for a first poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman and who is currently living in the United States. The winner also receives an optional six-week, all-expenses paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Entry fee: $30.
Poetry Society of the United Kingdom National Poetry Competition: A prize of £5,000 (approximately $7,075) and publication on the Poetry Society of the United Kingdom website is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of £2,000 (approximately $2,830) and a third-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,415) are also given. The winners will also be published in Poetry Review. Poems written in English by poets from any country are eligible. Fiona Benson, David Constantine, and Rachel Long will judge. Entry fee: £7 (approximately $10).
Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award: A prize of $3,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Major Jackson will judge. Entry fee: $25.
River Teeth Book Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of New Mexico Press is given annually for a book of creative nonfiction. Rigoberto González will judge. Entry fee: $27 (includes subscription).
Saturnalia Books Malinda A. Markham Translation Prize: A prize of $2,000 and publication by Saturnalia Books will be given annually for a translation of a poetry collection. Translators who identify as female (including those who are assigned-female-at-birth [AFAB] nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) and who are translating the work of a woman poet (including those who are AFAB nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) are eligible. Entry fee: $25.
Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards: Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The winners will also receive scholarships to attend a workshop on the University of Arizona campus in March 2022. Entry fee: $20.
Tupelo Press Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000, publication by Tupelo Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Entry fee: $25.
University of North Texas Press Vassar Miller Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a poetry collection. 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, and creative nonfiction.
“It’s about memory, and love, and friendship,” says Sandra Cisneros in this short video introducing her first work of fiction in nearly a decade, Martita, I Remember You (Vintage, 2021), a novel about three women who travel to Paris to fulfill their dreams. The book comes in a dual-language edition with a Spanish translation by Liliana Valenzuela.
“The place was so deathly still and deserted that you might have thought the time long after midnight.” In this 2001 reading at the 92nd Street Y, the late W. G. Sebald reads from his novel Austerlitz (Random House, 2001), translated from the German by Anthea Bell, for which he received the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Madhu Kaza and Jeremy Tiang speak about their “slow, long fall into translation” and how writing and literary translation are forms of encounter in this conversation for the Literary Translation Clinic series, presented by the Center for Fiction and Cedilla & Co.
The 2022 Guanajuato Writing Retreat: Writing – and Living – Boldly was held from June 12 to June 19 at the Florecer Casitas in Guanajuato, the hilly capital city of Guanajuato state, in Mexico’s high plateau region. The retreat featured guided exploratory writing sessions led by poet Bonnie Wolkenstein, local excursions to destinations including Museo de Astronomía Prehispánica and La Cañada de la Virgen, and independent time to write for poets, fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and translators.
Guanajuato Writing Retreat, 7511 Greenwood Avenue North, #321, Seattle, WA 98103. (206) 914-1444. Bonnie Wolkenstein, Workshop Leader.
“Fernando Pessoa in many ways was a writer of not so much his own time, but even more of a future time.” Translator and scholar Richard Zenith speaks about the life and work of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa collected in his new book, Pessoa: A Biography (Liveright, 2021), in this conversation with poet, editor, and translator Patricio Ferrari for Powell’s Books.
“To what and whom am I responsible when translating this text?” In this Center for Fiction virtual event, Brazilian literature translator Katrina Dodson offers ways to consider a practical philosophy of translation and speaks with translator Heather Cleary about questions and ways to approach the work. The Literary Translation Clinic is a monthly series of open sessions with a focus on literary translation as a profession hosted by members of the translator collective, Cedilla & Co.
This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Pajtim Statovci and David Hackston, the author and the translator of Bolla.
