Whiting Foundation Announces 2019 Literary Magazine Prizes
The winners of the 2019 Literary Magazines Prizes are the Common, American Short Fiction, Margins, the Black Warrior Review, and the Offing.
Genre: Fiction
A Particular Kind of Black Man
Caption:
“The protagonist of my novel is forced to construct a persona because the persona that he inherits from his father and from society doesn’t match who he actually is.” Nigerian American author Tope Folarin, winner of the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing, talks about the theme of identity construction in his debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man (Simon & Schuster, 2019).
Genre:
Time Free
What happens to your sense of time when the sun doesn’t set for sixty-nine days in a row? Residents of the Norwegian island Sommarøy, where the sun stays above the horizon from the middle of May to the end of July, have a “time-free way of living,” doing away with the constraints of tightly scheduled hours and deadlines. This week, write a short story that takes place in a location that has become a time-free zone. Have the residents adjusted smoothly to a flow of life that passes in a timeless blur, or are there unexpected hiccups and misunderstandings?
Costalegre
Caption:
This book trailer by filmmaker Diego Ongaro introduces Courtney Maum’s third novel, Costalegre (Tin House Books, 2019), which tells the story of an American heiress and art collector, her neglected teenage daughter, and the elite group of artists who escape into the Mexican jungle on the eve of World War II. For more from Maum, read her installment of Ten Questions.
Genre:
Ten Questions for Courtney Maum
“Listen, it can’t feel magical every day, of course, but writing does have the potential to be an act of joy.” —Courtney Maum, author of Costalegre
Alexander Chee on His Writing Process
Caption:
“I like questions, my imagination likes them too.” In this A Word on Word series video, Alexander Chee speaks about his essay collection, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (Mariner Books, 2018), and his writing process which involves engaging in conversation with his fictional characters.
Genre:
Craft Capsule: Oblique Strategies
The author of the story collection Black Light explores the generative power of “the weird.”
Upcoming Contest Deadlines
Just a few days left to submit to the following writing contests, all with a deadline of July 14 or July 15. Each contest offers a first-place prize of at least $1,000 and publication. Good luck!
Cincinnati Review Robert and Adele Schiff Awards in Poetry and Prose: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Cincinnati Review are given annually for a poem and a piece of fiction or creative nonfiction. Rebecca Lindenberg will judge in poetry and Michael Griffith will judge in prose. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: July 15.
Comstock Review Muriel Craft Bailey Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Comstock Review is given annually for a single poem. David Kirby will judge. Entry fee: $28. Deadline: July 15.
Literal Latté Poetry Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Literal Latté is given annually for a poem or group of poems. Entry fee: $10. Deadline: July 15.
Los Angeles Review Literary Awards: Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Los Angeles Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay. Matty Layne Glasgow will judge in poetry, Tammy Lynne Stoner will judge in fiction, Brittany Ackerman will judge in flash fiction, and Adrianne Kalfopoulou will judge in nonfiction. Entry fee: $20. Deadline: July 14.
Narrative Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a poem or group of poems. The poetry editors will judge. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: July 14.
Rattle Poetry Prize: A prize of $10,000 and publication in Rattle is given annually for a poem. A Reader’s Choice Award of $2,000 is also given to one of ten finalists. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: July 15.
Santa Fe Writers Project Book Award: A prize of $1,500 and publication by the Santa Fe Writers Project is given biennially for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction. Carmen Maria Machado will judge. Entry fee: $30. Deadline: July 15.
The Word Works Tenth Gate Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by the Word Works is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published at least two full-length books of poetry. Entry fee: $25. Deadline: July 15.
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.
Esmé Weijun Wang on Taking Compliments
Caption:
“We can be unrelentingly hard to ourselves, and under such circumstances, it’s a shame to not let the world’s light stick to us when we have the chance.” Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias (Graywolf Press, 2019), speaks about the importance of prioritizing compliments over criticism in this PBS NewsHour video.
Genre:
The Best Gift
“We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness.” In Colson Whitehead’s seventh novel, The Nickel Boys (Doubleday, 2019), the protagonist, Elwood Curtis, replays these powerful words by Martin Luther King Jr. from a record album he received as a young boy in the early 1960s, which he considers “the best gift of his life.” Throughout the book Elwood repeatedly refers to King’s words as a source of guidance, inspiration, and morality. Write a short story in which your main character is similarly inspired by an important historical figure’s words—words of wisdom written or spoken by an artist, author, or activist. How did your character first come across these words? Are they comforting or provocative? Does the meaning or significance of the words change over time as the character evolves?
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