Jump to navigation Skip to content
The Library of Congress is closed; Amazon announced it’s creating seventy thousand full-time jobs for the holidays; Scribd and HarperCollins are launching a Netflix-like subscription service for books; and other news.
The human race, by nature, is flawed. Deep within our DNA is the capacity for violence, hatred, and deceit. Choose an aspect of human nature that disturbs you. Write a poem describing this ugly and flawed characteristic of human nature. Write a second poem about how we, the human race, can fix it.
Georgetown Review, the literary magazine of the Georgetown, Kentucky–based Georgetown College, is currently accepting submissions to its annual magazine contest. A prize of $1,000 and publication is given for a poem, a short story, or an essay. The deadline is October 15.
Submit a poem, a short story, or an essay of any length with a $10 entry fee ($5 for each additional entry) online via Submittable, or by mail to Georgetown Review, 400 East College Street, Box 227, Georgetown, KY 40324.
The magazine’s editors will judge. Winners will be announced on the Georgetown Review website in February 2014. To have work returned, or to receive the winner announcement by mail, include a self-addressed stamped envelope with paper submissions. Colleagues, friends, and students of the editors are ineligible. All entries are considered for publication.
Georgetown Review also sponsors an annual short story collection contest for a book of stories or novellas; and a poetry manuscript contest, which will be judged this year by Ada Limón. General submissions are read between September 1 and December 31.
Visit the website to read excerpts of work published in the current issue, including Lisa Lenzo’s Strays, which won the 2013 contest.
David Rosenbaum named new head the University of Missouri Press; Apple is developing a technology for embedding signatures in e-books; Justin St. Clair considers the postmodern legacy of Thomas Pynchon; and other news.
Novelist Teju Cole shares his thoughts on death of Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor; Jonathan Raban looks at the life and work of William Gaddis; Junot Díaz discusses how Latinos are represented in film and television; and other news.
Kwame Dawes has composed a poem for slain poet Kofi Awoonor; Jason Diamond looks at twenty cities that are great for writers; the Oxford American showcases great photographs taken by Eudora Welty; and other news.
Is it possible to find an agent for a novel if you don't have a website or social network platform?
Yes, it's absolutely possible. If an agent loves your book enough, he or she will sign you, and the two of you can work together on any platform issues, if necessary, before submitting your manuscript to publishers. That being said, creating a website is relatively easy, and a well-done or particularly creative site can be a plus. Similarly, a larger number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers can tip things in your favor if an agent is on the fence about taking you on as a client.
Being active online, though, is valuable in ways other than just ticking off a marketing box. Online writing communities and social networks can be supportive as well as educational. Twitter, for instance, is a good way to listen in on what agents, book editors, authors, magazine editors, bookstore owners, and others are talking about and can be an efficient way to take the pulse of the industry, which can help you on your path. But remember it's the book that counts, so don't get too distracted.
There is truth in medicine cabinets. Despite the lies we tell ourselves and others, our medicine cabinets know us better than anyone. Medicine cabinets are full of worry, memories, encroaching death, and continued life. The prescription bottles, skin moisturizer, and frayed toothbrush reflect our humanity and vulnerability. Study your medicine cabinet. Write an essay about what is in it, and what it says about you.
The MacArthur Foundation announced today that authors Karen Russell and Donald Antrim are among the 2013 MacArthur Fellows. The five-year, no-strings-attached "genius" fellowships, which were increased this year to $625,000 each, are given to individuals working in a variety of disciplines to pursue future work.
Karen Russell is the author of three books of fiction, including her debut story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (2006); the novel Swamplandia (2011), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and, most recently, the story collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove (2013), all published by Knopf. She was named one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 in 2009.
Donald Antrim is the author of the novels Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World (Viking, 1993), The Hundred Brothers (Crown, 1997), and The Verificationist (Knopf, 2000), and the memoir The Afterlife (2007). He is an associate professor of writing at Columbia University in New York City.
In the following videos from the MacArthur Foundation, Russell and Antrim discuss the inspiration for their work, and what receiving the fellowships will mean for their writing and their lives.
Amazon announced upgraded versions of its Kindle Fire tablets; Zoë Heller and Mohsin Hamid debate whether fictional characters should be likable; Andrew Scott shares his thoughts with authors on self-promotion; and other news.
