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“Writing this book forced me to deal with, and face, some parts of my personality that haven’t served me.” —Kwame Alexander, author of Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances
Calling all emerging poets: Don’t forget to send your poetry manuscripts to Milkweed Editions’ Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, which offers an award of $10,000 and publication for a debut poetry collection.
Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages with a $25 entry fee by May 31. Nobel Prize–winning poet Louise Glück will judge. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
The Max Ritvo Poetry Prize celebrates the life of the acclaimed author of the poetry collections Four Reincarnations (2016) and The Final Voicemails (2018), both published by Milkweed Editions, an independent publisher based in Minneapolis. Ritvo, who died in 2016, “came into the Milkweed family like a ball of fire,” Daniel Slager, the press’s publisher, said when the prize was established in 2017. “I can think of no better way to honor Max and his legacy than a first-book poetry prize, which will honor outstanding accomplishment in the art form he excelled in, enriching American letters for years to come.”
“Tell the law nothin of substance / tell the people everything you can.” In this Button Poetry video, Darius Simpson reads his poem “The Role of the Artist,” which appears in his collection Never Catch Me (Button Poetry, 2022).
“This where all the roadside memorials are, / pink wreaths and dirty teddy bears. // This where a man walked when he wanted to fly,” writes Tyree Daye in his poem “Ode to Small Towns,” which appears in his collection Cardinal (Copper Canyon Press, 2020). Daye uses the repetition of “this where” to fold in various threads of distinct stories, making it feel as if the poem was written while driving through a series of towns and telling the tales as they surfaced. Inspired by Daye’s poem, write an ode to the small towns you’ve encountered while on the road. What kinds of stories do you picture when you pass through?
The author of Mistaken for an Empire: A Memoir in Tongues offers an approach to critically engaging with a colonialist literary canon.
Though the dog days of summer may be, thankfully, weeks away, now is the perfect time to submit to contests with a May 31 deadline! Don’t miss the opportunity to win over $6,000 and publication in poetry and short story categories; an emerging writer fellowship offering $5,000, plus the chance to meet editors and agents; or a $10,000 cash prize for a debut poetry collection, among other awards. These contests have renowned judges such as Toi Derricotte, Louise Glück, Lori Ostlund, and Kirk Wilson. All awards and fellowships offer a prize of $1,000 or more. Best of luck, writers!
Anhinga Press
Anhinga Prize for Poetry
A prize of $2,000, publication by Anhinga Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Entry fee: $25 ($28 for electronic submissions).
Autumn House Press
Literary Prizes
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Autumn House Press are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction. Each winner also receives a $1,500 travel and publicity grant. Toi Derricotte will judge in poetry, Pam Houston will judge in fiction, and Jenny Boully will judge in nonfiction. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $30.
BOA Editions
Short Fiction Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a story collection. BOA publisher Peter Conners will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Bridport Arts Centre
Bridport Prizes
Two prizes of £5,000 (approximately $6,034) each and publication in the Bridport Prize anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. A second-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,207) and publication is also given in each category. Additionally, a prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,207) and publication is given for a work of flash fiction. Roger Robinson will judge in poetry, Colin Barrett will judge in short story, and Christopher Allen will judge in flash fiction. Entry fee: £12 (approximately $14) for poetry, £14 (approximately $17) for fiction, and £11 (approximately $13) for flash fiction.
The Center for Fiction
Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowships
Nine fellowships of $5,000 each, a one-year membership to the Center for Fiction in New York City, and a year of access to the Writers Studio writing space at the center are given annually to fiction writers living in New York City who have not yet published a book of fiction. Winners also have the opportunity to meet with editors and agents who represent new writers, and to receive critical feedback on their work from an editor. Applicants who on June 1, 2023, will be enrolled in a degree-granting program or are currently under contract with a publisher for a work of fiction are ineligible. Entry fee: none.
Elixir Press
Fiction Award
A prize of $2,000, publication by Elixir Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a story collection or a novel. Kirk Wilson will judge. Entry fee: $40.
Milkweed Editions
Max Ritvo Poetry Prize
A prize of $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions is given annually for a debut poetry collection by a U.S. poet. Louise Glück will judge. Entry fee: $25.
Southern Poetry Review
Guy Owen Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. Entry fee: $20, which includes a subscription to Southern Poetry Review.
University of Georgia Press
Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Lori Ostlund will judge. Entry fee: $30.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.
Travel back four hundred years for this Victoria and Albert Museum video as Elizabeth James, senior librarian at the National Art Library in London, presents the secrets behind the First Folio of Shakespeare, which was published in 1623 and includes his iconic plays Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and The Tempest.
In the iconic poem “My Mother Would Be a Falconress,” Robert Duncan uses the metaphor of a falcon and a falconer to characterize the relationship between a son and his overbearing mother. As the falcon, the speaker of the poem is sent by his mother “as far as her will goes.” Throughout the poem, Duncan provides detailed imagery associated with falconry—such as the hood placed on birds of prey, often sewn round with bells—to give the complex metaphor a realistic weight. Think of a metaphor that captures the relationship between a mother and her child. Write a poem that uses this metaphor to characterize this relationship, whether nurturing, overbearing, or otherwise.
In this 92nd Street Y event, Ama Codjoe reads from her debut collection, Bluest Nude (Milkweed Editions, 2022), with an introduction by poet Nkosi Nkululeko, followed by Carl Phillips reading from his latest collection, Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007–2020 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022), with an introduction by poet Shane McCrae. Phillips won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his collection.
“If you write a poem you’re in conversation with every poem ever written,” says Emily Lee Luan, author of 回 / Return (Nightboat Books, 2023), in this promotional video for the Jersey City Reads Poems series, presented by Monira Foundation and ROQ Initiative, in which she discusses her writing process and reads a poem from her chapbook I Watch the Boughs. For more from Luan, read her installment of our Ten Questions series.
