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“It is December and we must be brave,” writes Natalie Diaz in “Manhattan is a Lenape Word,” a poem from her Pulitzer Prize–winning collection, Postcolonial Love Poem (Graywolf Press, 2020). Diaz sets the scene by describing the sounds and colors of New York City: “The ambulance’s rose of light / blooming against the window.” Then she moves from the exterior to the interior: “I’m the only Native American / on the 8th floor of this hotel or any...” Inspired by Diaz, and the onset of winter, write a poem that starts with the line: “It is December and we must be brave.” Let this first line carry you into sensuous descriptions about the world outside, as well as inside.
“The first was that I was very busy. // The second—I was different from you: whatever happened to you could not happen to me, not like that.” In this 2018 video for Bloodaxe Books, Marie Howe reads “Magdalene—The Seven Devils” and other poems from her fourth poetry collection, Magdalene (Norton, 2017).
“A life is not / this supple, // it is not meant / to fold, to be / drawn through // a narrow ring,” reads Monica Youn from her poem “Portrait of a Hanged Woman” in this 2018 reading and conversation with Robert Pinsky for the Twenty Summers arts center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
“The Greeks / had it wrong: / catastrophe // is not a downturn, / not a fall / from grace,” writes Monica Youn in her poem “Portrait of a Hanged Woman” from her third collection, Blackacre (Graywolf Press, 2016). The poem begins with a reference to the etymology of the word “catastrophe,” which comes from two Greek words meaning “down” and “turning.” Youn uses this starting point to depict the emotional turmoil behind a time when one’s life unravels. This week, write a poem that begins by breaking down the etymological root of a word. Is there a contrast between what the word means to you and its origins? For further inspiration, watch a video of Youn reading this poem in a conversation with Robert Pinsky.
“I wrote this book with the constraint of honesty.” —Truong Tran, author of book of the other
Get into the holiday spirit and apply to the following contests, which all have deadlines of November 30 or December 1. Three of the opportunities are for poets looking to publish their debut collections. All contests offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more, and one lucky writer will have the opportunity to give a reading in Washington, D.C.!
African Poetry Book Fund Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry: A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press in conjunction with Amalion Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection by an African poet. Writers who were born in Africa, are African nationals or residents, or whose parents are African are eligible. The African Poetry Book Fund editorial board will judge. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: None.
Autumn House Press Rising Writer Prize in Poetry: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given biennially for a debut poetry collection. The winner will also receive a $500 grant for travel and book promotion. Donika Kelly will judge. All finalists will be considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $25 (may be waived in cases of financial need).
BOA Editions A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a first book of poetry by a U.S. resident. Stephanie Burt will judge. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $25.
Breakwater Review Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Breakwater Review is given annually for a story. All finalists are considered for publication. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: $10.
Fish Publishing Short Story Prize: A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,517) 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 and read at the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2022. Sarah Hall will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $26.
Green Linden Press Wishing Jewel Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Green Linden Press will be given annually for a book of poetry “that challenges expectations of genre, form, or mode” and that “questions the boundaries of what poems and books can be.” Christopher Nelson will judge. All finalists will be considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $25.
Hawai’i Council for the Humanities Tony Quagliano Poetry Award: A prize of $1,000 will be given biennially to a poet with a body of work that “pushes the boundaries of poetic craft” who also “contributes meaningfully to the literary community.” Poets who have published at least 25 poems in journals, anthologies, chapbooks, or books are eligible. The award particularly seeks to recognize poets with a connection to Hawai’i or the Pacific. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: None.
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, a short graphic narrative, 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. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $27.
Regal House Publishing W.S. Porter Prize for Short Story Collections: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing will be given annually for a short story collection. The editors will judge. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: $25.
Waywiser Press Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize: A prize of $3,000 and publication by the Waywiser Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published no more than one previous collection. The winner will also be invited to give a reading in with the contest judge in conjunction with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: $29.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
“Etel Adnan was trained as an academic philosopher but found her voice as a poet.” Watch this video for “Etel Adnan: Light’s New Measure,” a current exhibition of the artist’s paintings, tapestries, and works on paper at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Adnan died at the age of ninety-six on November 14, 2021.
“Poetry is mere reality. No proof, just be here,” reads Alice Notley, author most recently of For the Ride (Penguin Books, 2020), in this reading held at the Poetry Project in New York City.
In this virtual reading hosted by Poets & Writers’ Bonnie Rose Marcus, the winners of the 2021 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from the state of Rhode Island, fiction writer Courtney Denelle and poet Jodie Noel Vinson, read from their work and are introduced by judges of the award Madeleine Thien and Prageeta Sharma.
