Prospero’s Books
Founded in 1997 with three floors of books and media, Prospero’s Books is housed in a historic 1890 building in Kansas City, Missouri. The store hosts readings, book releases, and other performance events.
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Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Rainy Day Books
Rainy Day Books is a full-line, full-service bookstore, carrying an array of carefully selected new books for adults and children alike. This bookstore hosts more than three hundred author events each year. Since Vivien Jennings first opened the doors in 1975, Rainy Day Books has provided the Greater Kansas City community with a gathering place, a wellspring for ideas and creative thought, and an ongoing voice for literacy and awareness.
The Writers Place
The Writers Place is a literary community center, library, and gathering place for writers, readers, and the general public. The center hosts workshops for teens and adults, as well as readings and open mic nights. In addition to three regular reading series, additional readings are held throughout the year by local, regional, and visiting writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist, Esi Edugyan Wins Giller Prize, and More
Novelist and screenwriter William Goldman has died; Ida Vitale wins Miguel de Cervantes Prize; the New Yorker interviews Rachel Cusk; and other news.
Upcoming Prose Contest Deadlines
Planning to get some writing done over the break? There are a number of contests for fiction and nonfiction writers with upcoming deadlines.
Narrative Fall 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 longer work of prose. A second-place prize of $1,000 and publication in Narrative is also awarded. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $26. Deadline: November 30.
Fish Short Story Prize: A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,400) and publication in the annual Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short story. The winner will also be invited to attend a five-day short story workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2019. Mia Gallagher will judge. Entry fee: $24. Deadline: November 30.
Dappled Things J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction: A prize of $500 and publication in Dappled Things will be given annually for a short story. The editors will judge. Entry fee: None. Deadline: November 30.
Quarter After Eight Robert J. DeMott Short Prose Contest: A prize of $1,008.15 and publication in Quarter After Eight is given annually for a prose poem, a short short story, or a micro-essay. Entry fee: $15. Deadline: November 30.
American Library Association W. Y. Boyd Literary Award: A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a novel published in the previous year that is set in a period when the United States was at war. Entry fee: none. Deadline: December 1.
David J. Langum Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction: A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of historical fiction published during the previous year. Entry fee: none. Deadline: December 1.
Stanford University Wallace Stegner Fellowships: Ten two-year fellowships, five in poetry and five in fiction, are given annually to allow emerging writers to develop their craft in workshops with senior faculty members at Stanford University. Entry fee: $85. Deadline: December 1.
Visit the contest websites for complete submission details, including eligibility guidelines and poem length requirements. For a look at more writing contests with upcoming deadlines, visit our Grants & Awards database and submission calendar.
Word of the Year, Tommy Orange on Thanksgiving, and More
George Saunders weighs in on American politics; Jonathan Franzen offers ten rules for novelists; writers recommend books that represent America; and other news.
Universal Concerns
In a recent New York Times profile by Penelope Green, author Anne Lamott says, “I don’t write stuff I don’t think is universal, if I write about my butt or my body or my, you know, challenges with self-esteem or my raging ego, I know it’s universal.” Jot down a list of personality traits, idiosyncratic beliefs or opinions, or past situations that seem extremely specific to you alone. Upon deeper reflection, is there a possible overlap between any of these topics and circumstances others may be familiar with? Select one of these items and write a personal essay that extends this seemingly personal concern into the realm of the universal.
Nunez, Acevedo Win 2018 National Book Awards
The winners of the 2018 National Book Awards were announced at a ceremony tonight in New York City. Sigrid Nunez took home the award in fiction for her novel The Friend (Riverhead Books), and Elizabeth Acevedo won the prize in young people’s literature for her novel, The Poet X (HarperTeen). Justin Phillip Reed won the prize in poetry for his debut collection, Indecency (Coffee House Press), and Jeffrey C. Stewart won the prize in nonfiction for his biography of Alain Locke, The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke (Oxford University Press). This year the National Book Foundation also awarded a prize in translated literature to Yoko Tawada for her novel The Emissary (New Directions Publishing), translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani.
The annual awards are given for the best books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, young people's literature, and translated literature published in the previous year. The winners each receive $10,000.
Emceed by actor Nick Offerman, the ceremony celebrated the importance of literature and books. “In our inexorable pursuit of freedom and human rights, books serve us as weapons and shields,” he said. “They are perhaps the greatest creation of human kind, one that is living and ever growing.”
Earlier in the evening, writer Luís Alberto Urrea presented the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Isabel Allende, who has published more than twenty books, most recently the novel In the Midst of Winter (Atria Books, 2017). Allende, who is the first Spanish-language author to receive the award, spoke about what the award meant to her as a Chilean writer living in America. “I have always been a foreigner… This award means maybe I’m not alien anymore,” she said. “Maybe I can plant roots. Maybe I’m not going anywhere.”
Hidden Figures author Margot Lee Shetterly presented the Literarian Award for Outstanding Contribution the American Literary Community to Doron Weber of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for his work on the intersection of literature and science.
Established in 1950, the National Book Awards are among the largest literary prizes given in the United States. The 2017 winners were Frank Bidart in poetry, Jesmyn Ward in fiction, Masha Gessen in nonfiction, and Robin Benway in young people’s literature.
Photos (clockwise from top left): Sigrid Nunez, Elizabeth Acevedo, Justin Phillip Reed, Jeffrey C. Stewart, Yoko Tawada.
Ten Questions for Wesley Yang
“Writing is a form of manual labor and should be approached in that spirit.” —Wesley Yang, author of The Souls of Yellow Folk
Deadline Approaches for BMI & Believer Fellowships
Applications are currently open for the Black Mountain Institute & the Believer fellowships, open to emerging and established poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Fellows will reside in Las Vegas for the 2019–2020 academic year, where they will join a thriving community of writers and scholars on the UNLV campus. Fellows will also receive a stipend and contribute to the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) and/or the Believer magazine.
The Shearing Fellowships for Emerging Writers, which offer an honorarium of $18,000 each, are open to writers who have published at least one book with a trade or literary press. The Shearing Fellowships for Distinguished Writers, which offer an honorarium of $25,000 each, are open to writers who have published at least three books.
The deadline for both fellowships is November 14 at 12:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. Using the online submission system, submit a writing sample of 10 to 20 pages, a cover letter, and a proposal (totaling no more than two pages) with suggested contributions to the Believer and/or BMI. Finalists will be asked to send copies of their books.
Applications will be reviewed by an advisory committee of UNLV graduate students, staff, and community stakeholders. Recipients will be notified in Spring 2019.
Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute aims to bring “writers and the literary imagination into the heart of public life through events, fellowships, publications, and student engagement opportunities.” The Believer, a five-time National Magazine Award finalist, is a bimonthly literature, arts, and culture magazine based at the Black Mountain Institute. The 2018–2019 fellows include Hanif Abdurraqib, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Amanda Fortini, Derek Palacio, and Claire Vaye Watkins.
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