Genre: Fiction

Submissions Open for Asymptote Translation Contest

Asymptote, an online quarterly dedicated to literary translation, is currently accepting submissions to its inaugural Close Approximations translation contest. Two emerging translators will each receive $1,000 and publication in Asymptote.

Using the online submission system, submit five to ten pages of translated poetry or up to twenty-five pages of translated fiction with a ten-dollar entry fee by September 1.

Submissions must also include the original text, a cover page including the names and bios of both the author and translator, and—if the author’s work is not in the public domain—a statement confirming that the translator has obtained permission from the author or rights holder.

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Translations from any language into English are eligible. Works must be previously unpublished in English, and written by authors who have yet to appear widely in English. Preference will be given to translators early in their careers, who have published no more than one book-length work of translation.

Eliot Weinberger, known widely for his translations of Octavio Paz and Jorge Luis Borges, will judge in poetry. Howard Goldblatt, the translator of Nobel Prize–winner Mo Yan, will judge in fiction. The winners and finalists will be announced in the January 2014 issue. 

Founded in 2011 by Singaporean writer and artist Lee Yew Leong and coedited by an international team of editors, Asymptote publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama in translation, as well as visual art, criticism, and interviews. The journal has published works from fifty-four languages and seventy-five countries. Visit the website for more information and complete submission guidelines.

Where Leaving Takes Us

Sometimes we are emotionally imprisoned by the ones we love. Overbearing parents, paranoid spouses, and needy children can make us—and our characters—feel trapped in an intolerable life. Write a scene where an antagonist in your writing leaves a loved one behind and begins life anew. Use details to express relief, guilt, and anger.

Manchester Metropolitan Expands Literary Prize

Beginning this year, Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, England, will double the amount of its international literary prizes. The Manchester Writing Competition, which originally awarded one annual prize of £10,000 to a poet or fiction writer in alternating years, will now give two prizes of £10,000 (approximately $15,350) each to a poet and a fiction writer each year.

Poets may submit three to five poems totaling no more than 120 lines and fiction writers may submit a story of up to 2,500 words with a £17 (approximately $26) entry fee by August 30. Submissions are accepted via the online submission system or by postal mail. Writers from any country are eligible to enter.

Bernard O'Donoghue, Adam O'Riordan, and Fiona Sampson will judge in poetry; Alison Moore, Nicholas Royle, and Robert Shearman will judge in fiction. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Manchester on October 18.

Overseen by British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University has sponsored the writing prizes since 2008. Visit the website for more information and complete submission guidelines.

Submissions Open for StoryQuarterly Fiction Contest

StoryQuarterly, the literary magazine of Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, is currently accepting submissions to its third annual fiction contest. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication.

Using the online submission system, fiction writers may submit a previously unpublished story of up to 8,000 words with an $18 entry fee by October 31. Jess Walter, the author of six novels and, most recently, the short story collection We Live in Water (Harper, 2013), will judge.

The winning story, along with the first and second runners-up, will be published in StoryQuarterly 46/47, a special double issue that will be overseen by author Paul Lisicky and released in Winter 2014. Christine Grillo of Baltimore, Maryland, won the 2012 prize for her story "Legendary and Non-Evolving." Amy Hempel judged.

Founded in 1975 as an independent literary journal based in Illinois, StoryQuarterly has been published by Rutgers University in Camden since 2008. Regular submissions are considered from September 1 through October 31. Visit the website for more information and complete guidelines, and check out StoryQuarterly Online to read stories from recent contributors.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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Based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty follows the journey and thoughts of a common man who is catapulted by an active imagination into heroic adventures. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, set to open this Christmas, stars Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, and Ben Stiller, who also directed the film.

Genre: 

Bird in Hand

7.31.13

People change in life, so must your characters. Write a paragraph about your protagonist at age eight discovering a wounded sparrow on the sidewalk. Next write a paragraph about the same protagonist at age forty-two encountering the same sparrow. How are the reactions different? Write a third paragraph about why your character changed. That is the story of your protagonist.

Deadline Extended for Rosebud Fiction Award

The Cambridge, Wisconsin–based literary magazine Rosebud is currently accepting submissions to its fifth biennial Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication in Rosebud. The deadline is September 15.

Submit one copy of a previously unpublished short story of up to 4,500 words with a $10 entry fee ($15 to receive a copy of the prize issue) by postal mail to Rosebud Magazine, N3310 Asje Road, Cambridge, Wisconsin 53523. Checks can be made payable to the Rosebud/Shelley Award.

Works of literary fiction, as well as works of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and “stories that reach beyond the boundaries of those genres” are eligible. Fiction writer Ray Vukcevich will serve as final judge.

Established in 1993 and staffed entirely by volunteers, Rosebud Magazine is a nonprofit organization that publishes works of poetry, fiction, and essays in three print issues each year. For more information and complete submission guidelines, visit the website. 

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