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“We’re a narrative people. We love stories.” Michael McGriff shares about how his family and hometown influence his poems. McGriff’s fourth poetry collection, Early Hour (Copper Canyon Press, 2017), is featured in Page One in the September/October 2017 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Morgan Parker on resisting labels and embracing one’s fallibility; Thomas E. Ricks on rewriting his book after his editor hated it; the shifting focus of the New York Times book coverage; and other news.
Swamp soccer, air guitar, wife carrying, mosquito killing, and ant-nest sitting are all examples of the unusual competitive championships that have become increasingly popular in Finland in the last couple of decades. Write a poem inspired by the imagery you envision for one of these wacky sporting events, based on their name. How can you play with sound, syntax, and vocabulary to convey humor, joy, triumph, loss, and perseverance with an irreverent spirit?
Nicole Krauss on portraying uncertainty in fiction; science fiction writer Brian Aldiss has died; book recommendations for the existentialist; and other news.
Poets! There are almost two weeks left to submit to the following poetry contests and grants, given for single poems, full-length manuscripts, and short samples of work. Each contest has a deadline of Thursday, August 31, and offers a prize of at least $1,000.
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award: A prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,290) and publication in Aesthetica will be given annually for a poem. The winner will also receive a subscription to Granta, books courtesy of Bloodaxe Books and Vintage Books, and a full membership to the Poetry Society in London. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $15
Black Lawrence Press St. Lawrence Book Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Black Lawrence Press is given annually for a debut collection of poems or short stories. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25
New Guard Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication in the New Guard is given annually for a poem. Mark Doty will judge. Entry fee: $20
Snake Nation Press Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Snake Nation Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Entry fee: $25
Sustainable Arts Foundation Writing Awards: Twenty awards of $5,000 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers with children. Writers with at least one child under the age of 18 are eligible. Entry fee: $15
Utica College Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize: A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the previous year by a resident of upstate New York. The winner will also give a reading and teach a master class at Utica College in April 2018. Entry fee: 0
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines and submission details. Check out our Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more upcoming contests in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
A new podcast features artists and changemakers on their favorite poems; a collection of Yeats artwork and letters to go on display next month; the Dictionary of American Regional English to discontinue research due to lack of funding; and other news.
“Now that your life nears its end / when you turn back what you see / is ruin.” Frank Bidart reads a selection of poems from his book Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017), which is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Karl Ove Knausgaard’s reading habits; an audio dramatization of Midnight’s Children commemorates Indian independence; the future of the social novel; and other news.
In this 2014 video from the Chicago Humanities Festival, Frank Bidart reads his poem “Herbert White,” which is included in his latest collection, Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017). The new book is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Herbert White is a short film based on Frank Bidart’s poem “Herbert White,” which takes the form of a psychopathic murderer’s dramatic monologue. Written and directed by James Franco in collaboration with Bidart, the 2010 film stars Michael Shannon.
