Genre: Poetry

Deadline Approaches for the National Poetry Series Open Competition

With only a few more days left before the deadline, don’t miss the opportunity to submit to the annual National Poetry Series Open Competition. Five U.S. poets will receive $10,000 each and publication of their collections by participating trade, university, or small press publishers. The 2023 publishers are Beacon Press, Ecco, Milkweed Editions, Penguin Books, and University of Georgia Press. Residents of the United States and American citizens living abroad are eligible to apply.

Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of a suggested length of 48 to 64 pages with a $35 entry fee by March 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Finalists will be notified around May 31, around which time their manuscripts will be shared with five judges for further consideration. The competition winners will be notified around August 31, and all finalists will be informed of their status at that time.  

The National Poetry Series literary awards program seeks to “support poetry and increase the audience for poetry by heightening its visibility among readers,” as well as “give American poets, of all ethnic and racial groups, gender, religion, and poetic style, access to publishing outlets not ordinarily available to them.” Members of the Board of Directors include Natalie Diaz, Daniel Halpern, Cathy Park Hong, Imani Perry, Tracy K. Smith, and Natasha Trethewey. Recent winners include Adrienne Chung (Organs of Little Importance, Penguin Books), Olatunde Osinaike (Tender Headed, Akashic Books), Tennison S. Black (Survival Strategies, University of Georgia Press), Courtney Bush (I Love Information, Milkweed Editions), and Alisha Dietzman (Sweet Movie, Beacon Press).

Fairbanks Arts Association

Promoting excellence in contemporary and traditional arts in Alaska’s Interior: Fairbanks Arts Association is the oldest community arts council in the state and the official arts organization for both the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the City of Fairbanks. It provides service, information and support to local artists, organizations and audiences through volunteers serving on Performing, Literary, Visual, Cinema and Educational Arts committees.

Kaboom Books

Kaboom Books is a used bookstore in Woodland Heights near Downtown Houston. Their stock of one hundred thousand books ranges from current to long out-of-print titles. They regularly host author readings, book signings, and other literary events open to the community.

Center for Brooklyn History

The newly-formed Center for Brooklyn History (CBH) is an exciting collaboration between Brooklyn Historical Society and Brooklyn Public Library, combining materials collected over the past 157 years with BPL’s Brooklyn Collection and becoming the most expansive catalogue of Brooklyn history in the world.

Next Chapter Booksellers

Next Chapter Booksellers is the largest independent bookstore in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

It began in 2006 as Common Good Books. It changed names and ownership in the spring of 2019. Next Chapter Booksellers is well known for reliable bookseller recommendations, high-caliber events, and a wide selection of new and bestselling titles.

The Green Mill

The Green Mill is sophisticated and informal with a warm glowing atmosphere steeped in the heady sounds of the early 1930s and 1940s. The bar is patterned after Clark Monroe’s Uptown House in Harlem. Today, the Green Mill, in keeping with owner Dave Jemilo’s philosophy for a proper mix of down-to-earth friendliness and class, maintains an authenticity of the Forties in service, price, and music, perfected upon with the steady Sunday night performance of the internationally acclaimed Uptown Poetry Slam, which Marc Smith began at the Mill in 1986.

University of Chicago’s Program in Creative Writing

The University of Chicago’s Program in Creative Writing has been proud to host readings and lectures by writers including Daniel Alarcón, Charles D’Ambrosio, Lydia Davis, Karen Russell, Zadie Smith, Nick Laird, and many others. 

Moreover, their Program in Poetry and Poetics hosts the Poem Present Reading and Lecture Series as well as the annual Pearl Andelson Sherry Memorial Poetry Reading and Lecture. All events are free and open to the public unless noted otherwise.

Village Books and Paper Dreams

Each year more than three hundred events are hosted including regional, national, and international superstars in the literary world. Authors include Sherman Alexie, Garrison Keillor, Ralph Nadar, Meg Tilly, Jonathan Safran Foer, David Suzuki, Terry Tempest Williams, Rick Steves, Ivan Doig and hundreds more. Many events have been fundraisers for local organizations such as the Whatcom Literacy Council, Northwest Indian College, Bellingham Boys & Girls Club and others. The bookstore has two locations, one in Bellingham and one in Lynden.

American University’s Creative Writing Program

In a city long known for its creative activity and writers—including Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Katherine Anne Porter, Sterling Brown, William Meredith, and Doris Grumbach—American University continues the tradition by serving as a lively venue for creative work by both established and emerging writers. Through their Visiting Writers Series, they bring renowned writers from across the country to read their work.

Courtesy of American University, by Jeff Watts.

Pages

Subscribe to Poetry