Emily Dickinson Comedy Series, Salman Rushdie on Literature and Truth, and More
A new exhibit on Tolkien’s Middle-earth; recommended literary biopics; Meg Wolitzer on feminism; and other news.
Genre: Poetry
June 2nd, 1989
Caption:
“I didn’t have a chance / to say a word before you became / a character in the news...” Khaled Hosseini, Rita Dove, Philip Gourevitch, and Siri Hustvedt read Liu Xia’s poem “June 2nd, 1989” from Empty Chairs (Graywolf Press, 2015), translated from the Chinese by Ming Di and Jennifer Stern. PEN America and Amnesty International collaborated on the video series as a call to free Liu Xia from house arrest in Beijing, where she has been held since her late husband, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, was imprisoned in 2009.
Genre:
Walt Whitman’s Birthday, Bill Clinton’s Reading Habits, and More
Amazon launches new line of digital stories; Zack Snyder to adapt The Fountainhead for screen; what it means to be well-read; and other news.
Paz Prize for Poetry
Submissions are currently open for the Paz Prize for Poetry, sponsored by the Miami Book Fair and the National Poetry Series. An award of $2,000 and publication by Akashic Books is given biennially for a poetry collection originally written in Spanish by a U.S. resident. The winning manuscript will be translated into English and published in a bilingual edition. Rigoberto González, a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, will judge.
Using the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages by June 15. There is no entry fee. The finalists will be announced at the end of July, and the winner will be announced in September.
Established in 2012, the Paz Prize for Poetry is named for late Nobel Prize–winning poet, essayist, and diplomat Octavio Paz. Past winners include Miami Century Fox by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias and translated by Eduardo Aparicio; Nine Coins / Nueve Monedas by Carlos Pintado and translated by Hilary Vaughn Dobel; and Colaterales / Collateral by Dinapiera Di Donato and translated by Ricardo Alberto Maldonado.
Tracy K. Smith on Poetry in the Technological Age, Summer Reading, and More
A study on the difference between owning a print book versus an e-book; Elena Ferrante on reading and insomnia; how to read autofiction; and other news.
Kayo Chingonyi
Caption:
“I think something like garage or grime or rap, hip-hop, appeals to me because they’re very metrical, rhyme-based forms.” Zambian British poet Kayo Chingonyi talks about his path to poetry, his interests and influences, and internationalism and Anglophone literature for Writers’ Centre Norwich. Chingonyi won the 2018 International Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut poetry collection, Kumukanda (Chatto & Windus, 2017).
Genre:
Four Way Books at Twenty-Five
New York City–based independent press Four Way Books celebrates twenty-five years.
Golden Man Booker Prize Finalists, 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature Might be Canceled, and More
Accountant at literary agency accused of embezzling $3.4 million; the New Yorker profiles Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; inside the London offices of the Times Literary Supplement; and other news.
Two-a-Day
“To start with two lines then in black and white / and continue to see a way in them.” So begins Michael Joyce’s collection Biennial (BlazeVOX, 2015), which is comprised entirely of two-line poems. As Joyce explains in the introduction of his book, he decided to write one two-line poem per day, every day, for two years. This week, try writing your own two-line poems, one per day, and observe how they relate to each other. Perhaps the poems combine into a larger sequence or each stands alone. If this daily habit feels generative, keep going for a full month!
Upcoming Writing Contest Deadlines
As we head into the holiday weekend, consider submitting to these writing contests, all of which are given for stories, groups of poems, and essays. Each contest offers an award of at least $1,000 and publication and has a deadline of June 1.
American Short Fiction Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize: A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Short Fiction will be given annually for a short story. ZZ Packer will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Boston Review Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Boston Review website is given annually for a poem or group of poems. Mary Jo Bang will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Boulevard Emerging Poets Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a group of poems by a poet who has not published a poetry collection with a nationally distributed press. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $16.
Southern Humanities Review Auburn Witness Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Humanities Review is given annually for a poem of witness in honor of the late poet Jake Adam York. The winner also receives travel expenses to give a reading at Auburn University in Alabama in October with the contest judge; this year's judge is Camille T. Dungy. Entry fee: $15.
Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition: A prize of $5,000, publication in the 87th annual Writer's Digest Competition Collection, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City to meet one-on-one with four agents or editors is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay. Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in the Writer's Digest Competition Collection will also be given for a rhyming poem, a non-rhyming poem, a short story, and an essay. Entry fee: $25–$35.
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.
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