Genre: Fiction

Deadline Approaches for BMI & Believer Fellowships

G&A: The Contest Blog
11.9.18

Applications are currently open for the Black Mountain Institute & the Believer fellowships, open to emerging and established poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Fellows will reside in Las Vegas for the 2019–2020 academic year, where they will join a thriving community of writers and scholars on the UNLV campus. Fellows will also receive a stipend and contribute to the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) and/or the Believer magazine.

The Shearing Fellowships for Emerging Writers, which offer an honorarium of $18,000 each, are open to writers who have published at least one book with a trade or literary press. The Shearing Fellowships for Distinguished Writers, which offer an honorarium of $25,000 each, are open to writers who have published at least three books.

The deadline for both fellowships is November 14 at 12:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. Using the online submission system, submit a writing sample of 10 to 20 pages, a cover letter, and a proposal (totaling no more than two pages) with suggested contributions to the Believer and/or BMI. Finalists will be asked to send copies of their books.

Applications will be reviewed by an advisory committee of UNLV graduate students, staff, and community stakeholders. Recipients will be notified in Spring 2019.

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute aims to bring “writers and the literary imagination into the heart of public life through events, fellowships, publications, and student engagement opportunities.” The Believer, a five-time National Magazine Award finalist, is a bimonthly literature, arts, and culture magazine based at the Black Mountain Institute. The 2018–2019 fellows include Hanif Abdurraqib, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Amanda Fortini, Derek Palacio, and Claire Vaye Watkins.

Found in Translation

The Time Is Now
11.7.18

This week, create your own cinematic adaptation. Select a movie or an episode from a television series in a language you are unfamiliar with, but do not turn on any subtitles. Instead, pay close attention to the body language, vocal intonations, and facial expressions of the characters in order to uncover, and invent, your own narrative. Don’t be concerned with accuracy; allow uncertainty to make way for creativity. Then, write a short story based on your interpretation of the events. How will you choose to describe the body language and atmosphere in a scene? What dialogue will you create for the characters? 

Good Omens

Caption: 

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Workman Publishing, 1990), Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s collaborative comedic fantasy novel about an angel and a demon attempting to prevent Armageddon, has been adapted into a television show. The six-part miniseries is directed by Douglas Mackinnon, and stars Sam Taylor Buck, Ilan Galkoff, Michael Sheen, and David Tennant. 

Genre: 
Fiction
Tags: 
Good Omens
Workman Publishing
1990
Neil Gaiman
Terry Pratchett
fantasy
trailer
television series
television adaptation
2019

Ten Questions for Idra Novey

by Staff
Ten Questions
11.6.18

“To sit down and write requires a degree of optimism. You have to trust that there is relief to be found in placing one word after another.” —Idra Novey, author of Those Who Knew

Last Day to Submit to Sonora Review Contests

G&A: The Contest Blog
11.5.18

Today is the last day to submit to the Sonora Review’s annual flash prose contest and nonfiction contest. Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sonora Review will be given for a piece of flash prose and an essay. Nicole Walker will judge the flash prose contest and Jo Ann Beard will judge the nonfiction contest.

The theme of the contest is “Desire.” “Where can desire be found on the wide spectrum between contemplation and action?” write the editors on the contest website. “Does a child’s desire look anything like a spouse’s? How does desire shape-shift from person to person, culture to culture?”

Using the online submission system, submit three pieces of flash prose of up to 1,000 words each or an essay of up to 5,000 words by midnight (Mountain Standard Time). The entry fee is $8 for the flash prose contest and $15 for the essay contest.

Edited by graduate students at the University of Arizona, Sonora Review publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The review also runs an annual prize in poetry and fiction, which will be held later this year.

Photo: Nicole Walker, Jo Ann Beard

Burning

Caption: 

Burning is a mystery thriller about a lonely aspiring writer whose life changes suddenly when he bumps into a childhood acquaintance and she introduces a suave stranger into their lives. Adapted from the short story “Barn Burning” by Haruki Murakami, the film is directed by South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong and stars Yoo Ah-in, Jeon Jong-seo, and Steven Yeun.

Genre: 
Fiction
Tags: 
Haruki Murakami
Burning
movie trailer
film adaptation
2018
Barn Burning

A Discovery of Witches

Caption: 

A Discovery of Witches (Viking, 2011), the first novel in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls historical fantasy trilogy, has been adapted into a television miniseries. The eight-part series stars Edward Bluemel, Gregg Chillin, Matthew Goode, Teresa Palmer, and follows the story of a history scholar witch, a geneticist vampire, and a long-lost alchemical manuscript.

Genre: 
Fiction
Tags: 
Deborah Harkness
A Discovery of Witches
Viking
2011
2018
All Souls
trailer
television adaptation
television series
fantasy

All-American Ghost

The Time Is Now
10.31.18

In her New York Times essay “The Ghost Story Persists in American Literature. Why?,” Parul Sehgal writes about how ghost stories throughout American literature have functioned as social critique, manifestations of protest and redress that reveal “cultural fears and fantasies,” and which understand “how strenuously we run from the past, but always expect it to catch up with us.” Write a story that uses a dark or troubling part of history as the impetus for an appearance of a ghostly presence. How does the ghost serve “as a vessel for collective terror and guilt, for the unspeakable” in your story?

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