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“So much of my writing is supposed to fend off the autobiographical that I’ve managed to fend it off within myself as a personal practice.” Joshua Cohen, author of the novel Moving Kings (Random House, 2017) and one of Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists of 2017, talks about playing with the autobiographical impulse and writing as an existential practice.
Lesley Nneka Arimah on short fiction and the writing workshop; how the Trump presidency is affecting book sales; a diamond-shaped library in Minsk, Belarus; and other news.
Tracy K. Smith and Carla Hayden on CBS This Morning; Octavia Butler’s Parable series as the dystopian novel of our times; poet Ocean Vuong on optimism; and other news.
Short fiction writers: The following contests—each offering an award of at least $1,000 and publication for a short story—are open for submissions until July 31. Additional prizes include a residency and an agency review.
Munster Literature Centre Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition: A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,300) and publication in Southword, an online literary journal published in Cork, Ireland, 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: $20
Masters Review Short Story Award for New Writers: A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given twice yearly for a short story by a writer who has not published a novel (writers who have published story collections are eligible). The winning story will also be sent to agents Laura Biagi (Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency), Victoria Marini (Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners), and Amy Williams (Williams Agency). The editors will judge. Entry fee: $20
Narrative Spring Story Contest: A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, or an excerpt from a work of fiction. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also awarded. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25
New Millennium Writings Awards: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in New Millennium Writings and on the journal’s website are given twice yearly for a short story and a short short story that have not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. Entry fee: $20
Visit the individual contest websites for complete submission guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more upcoming contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
The TSA will not implement policy of checking books at airport security; two publishing veterans launch a marketing company; the blurring lines between literature and video games; and other news.
According to the residents of La Unión, a small farming community in rural Honduras, at least once a year the skies rain fish, a phenomenon explained by locals with a variety of scientific, religious, and superstitious theories and legends. Locally regarded as a miracle, the day after a spectacular and torrential storm, the ground is covered with hundreds of small, silver-colored fish. Write a short story that takes place in a setting where a similarly surprising and perhaps inexplicable phenomenon exists year after year. Does your main character fall on the side of science or superstition? Does she respond with skepticism, wonder, or indifference? How does this experience affect her life?
“I was thinking what would happen if someone was as much of a recluse as I am, maybe more, but is not a writer?” Rabih Alameddine talks about writer and artist Bruno Schultz, the idea of a necessary person, and the inspiration behind his novel An Unnecessary Woman (Grove Press, 2013). Alameddine won the 2017 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction for his novel The Angel of History (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016).
Ten ways to organize a bookshelf; Samantha Hunt on motherhood and adolescence; the history of samizdat in Russia; and other news.
Simon & Schuster launches a science fiction and fantasy imprint; novelist Clancy Sigal has died; book theft anecdotes; and other news.
Stanford University Libraries adds two thousand cassette-tape recordings of Allen Ginsberg; how political books are dominating the publishing industry; Library of America editor and publisher to retire; and other news.
