In an interview published in the Paris Review’s summer 2026 issue for their “Art of Fiction” series, Jeremy Tiang speaks to Yan Lianke, noting that throughout the course of their conversations, the author would “slip into the third person, as if describing himself as a character in his fiction, or sometimes into the second person, as if addressing his past self.” This week, write a personal essay about the city, town, or region where you grew up and your experiences there. Experiment with slipping between different points of view while still retaining your personal perspective. You might decide to start in the first person, and then address your past self in the second, before zooming further out into third person, or toggle multiple times between narrative points-of-view as befits the sense of distance you desire.
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.