Comey Memoir, Liu Xiaobo’s Last Writings, and More
A web series reimagines Middlemarch through an LGBTQ lens; why Sherman Alexie canceled the rest of his book tour; Marginalia Books launches a series of annotated books; and other news.
Genre: Fiction
Diksha Basu
Caption:
Diksha Basu, author of the debut novel, The Windfall (Crown, 2017), answers eight book-related questions, including her favorite book to give as a gift. Basu is featured in “First Fiction 2017” in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
College of Charleston
MFA Program
Poetry, Fiction
Charleston, SC
Application Deadline:
Sun, 02/01/2026
Application Fee:
$60
Affiliated Publications/Publishers:
Blind Dates With Books, Modern Love of Booksellers, and More
Dana Canedy becomes first woman and first African American to administer the Pulitzer Prizes; fans defend Seven Stories Press’s social media from trolls; a defense of strangeness in poetry; and other news.
Liu Xiaobo Dies at Sixty-One, Publishing Vets Launch New Imprint, and More
Center for Fiction announces the longlist for its first novel prize; an exhibit of Agatha Christie’s personal correspondence; why Akhil Sharma hates his most popular short story; and other news.
Allegra Goodman
Caption:
Allegra Goodman introduces and reads from her novel The Cookbook Collector (Dial Press, 2010) at the 2010 National Book Festival. Goodman’s sixth novel, The Chalk Artist (Dial Press, 2017), is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Genre:
Thoreau’s Bicentennial, William Shakespeare TV Show, and More
The most anticipated upcoming books; a day in the life of Russian writer Ludmilla Petrushevskaya; the case for slow reading; and other news.
Unearthing Earhart
July 2 is the anniversary of the vanishing of Amelia Earhart during her 1937 quest to be the first female pilot to fly around the world. Earlier this month, the History Channel revealed a photo found in the National Archives that some have speculated shows Earhart and her navigator on a dock in the Marshall Islands sometime before 1943, adding to the list of theories, conspiracies, possibilities, and probabilities that have long surrounded her disappearance. Write a short story that imagines the sudden unearthing of another piece of this puzzle, perhaps putting a fantastic, outlandish, or eerie twist on Earhart’s disappearance. Who discovers this potential evidence? What unexpected direction does this lend to Earhart’s story?
Naomi Alderman and Margaret Atwood
Caption:
“There are big questions about where I take my career, how one makes that decision; to be able to talk about that with somebody who really understands those business questions, as well as the creative questions, is wonderful.” Naomi Alderman, who received the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction for The Power (Viking, 2017), and Margaret Atwood talk about their experiences being paired together as mentee and mentor, respectively, under the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative program.
Genre:
July 15 Fiction and Nonfiction Contest Deadlines
If you write short stories or essays, consider submitting to the following contests offering prizes of at least $1,000 and publication—all with a July 15 deadline.
Cincinnati Review Robert and Adele Schiff Award in Prose: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Cincinnati Review is given annually for a work of fiction or creative nonfiction. Michael Griffith will judge. Entry fee: $20
Fairy Tale Review Award in Prose: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Fairy Tale Review is given annually for a work of fiction or creative nonfiction influenced by fairy tales. Helen Oyeyemi will judge. Entry fee: $10
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 literary agents Laura Biagi of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners, and Amy Williams of the Williams Agency. The Masters Review editors will judge. Entry fee: $20
PRISM Creative Nonfiction Contest: A prize of $1,500 Canadian (approximately $1,170) and publication in PRISM is given annually for an essay. Entry fee: $40
The Story Prize: A prize of $20,000 is given annually to honor a short story collection written in English and published in the United States in the previous year. Two runners-up receive $5,000 each. The $1,000 Story Prize Spotlight Award is also given for a short story collection that “demonstrates the author's potential to make a significant contribution to the short story form.” Publishers, authors, or agents may submit. Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey will select the three finalists and Spotlight Award winner; three independent judges will choose the Story Prize winner. Entry fee: $75
Check out our Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more upcoming contests in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
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