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“When I did begin to make connections with poets, everything opened up for me,” says the late Holly Prado in this Poetry.LA video interviewing noted Southern California poets, including William Archila, Chiwan Choi, Marcia de la O, and Douglas Kearney, on how they got started in their writing careers. Prado died at the age of eighty-one on June 14, 2019.
The Poetry Society of America honored its longtime executive director, Alice Quinn, and singer-songwriter Paul Simon at its annual benefit.
Who were you when you first fell in love with writing? In “Be Bold,” Rigoberto González’s profile of Ocean Vuong in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, Vuong describes the importance of consistently reminding himself of who he was when he first discovered his passion for writing, explaining, “I bring him to the present, not the person who won the awards—he has nothing to teach me.” Spend some time thinking of the person you were when you first came to writing. What were your intentions? What did writing provide that nothing else did? Write an ode to your younger, novice self inspired by the emotions and intentions that still excite you.
“I watched a dandelion lose its mind in the wind / and when it did, it scattered a thousand seeds.“ Andrea Gibson, author of Lord of the Butterflies (Button Poetry, 2018), reads their poem “The Nutritionist” for this animated TED-Ed film directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.
Have a poem or poetry manuscript ready to submit? Don’t miss out on these contests offering prizes of at least $1,000 and publication—all with a deadline of June 30.
Autumn House Press Literary Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner also receives a $1,500 travel and publicity grant. Cornelius Eady will judge. Entry fee: $30.
Barrow Street Press Book Prize: A prize of $1,500 and publication by Barrow Street Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Jericho Brown will judge. Entry fee: $28.
Bauhan Publishing May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000, publication by Bauhan Publishing, and 100 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Deborah Gorlin will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Cider Press Review Editors’ Prize Book Award: A prize of $1,000, publication by Cider Press Review, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $26.
Conduit Books & Ephemera Minds on Fire Open Book Prize: A prize of $1,000, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 25 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Los Angeles Review Literary Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Los Angeles Review is given annually for a poem. Matty Layne Glasgow will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Milkweed Editions Max Ritvo Poetry Prize: A prize of $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions is given annually to a U.S. poet for a debut poetry collection. Henri Cole will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Munster Literature Center Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition: A prize of €1,000 and publication by the Munster Literature Center is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner will also receive accommodations to give a reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival in March 2020. Entry fee: €25.
Parlor Press New Measure Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Parlor Press in the Free Verse Editions series is given annually for a poetry collection. Peter Gizzi will judge. Entry fee: $28.
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize: A prize of AUD $15,000 and publication in the prize anthology is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of AUD $5,000 and publication is also given. Tricia Dearborn, Kei Miller, and Paul Munden will judge. Entry fee: AUD $25.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
“Yesterday I lost a country. / I was in a hurry, / and I didn’t notice when it fell from me...” Dunya Mikhail reads her poem “I Was in a Hurry” in Arabic and English, accompanied by the National Arab Orchestra. Her fourth poetry collection, In Her Feminine Sign (New Directions, 2019), is featured in Page One in the July/August 2019 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Joy Harjo has been named the twenty-third Poet Laureate of the United States.
Have you ever listened to a plant? Adrienne Adar’s “Sonic Succulents: Plant Sounds and Vibrations” exhibit at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in which plants are attached with sensors to record their vibrations, revolves around the sonic life of plants, presenting recordings of their sounds to be heard by visitors and other plants, and exploring human reactions, perspectives, and relationships with plants and the natural world. Listen to some sample recordings, and write a poem that imagines what transpires during plant communication. Is the content urgent, mundane, profound, or silly? Perhaps play with arrangements of spacing, language, syntax, and sound to create an atmospheric piece that reflects your vision of plants in conversation.
Writers! Three days left to send your work to the following contests, all with a deadline of June 15. There are opportunities for poets, fiction writers, and translators. All of the contests offer a first-place prize of at least $1,000 and publication.
Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Book Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Bitter Oleander Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Entry fee: $28.
University of Akron Press Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,500 and publication by University of Akron Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Victoria Chang will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Philadelphia Stories Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction: A prize of $2,500 and publication in Philadelphia Stories is given annually for a short story. The winner will also receive travel and lodging expenses to read at Rosemont College in October. Writers currently living in the United States are eligible. Entry fee: $15.
American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prizes: A prize of $2,500 and publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review is given annually for an English translation of a work of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction written in a Nordic language. A prize of $2,000 and publication is also awarded to a translator whose literary translations have not previously been published. Translations of works by Scandinavian authors born after 1900 that have not been published in English are eligible. Entry fee: none.
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.
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn.
