Genre: Fiction

Bad Clothes

1.29.25

“Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær” is a rhyming proverb in Norwegian that means there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. This sentiment points not just to a high value of functional comfort, but to the cultural importance of time spent outdoors—especially in a country whose inland regions see considerably cold temperatures and snowfall. Write a short story in which the main action is set in motion by a discrepancy between a character’s choice of clothing and the weather, such as light clothing on a frigid day, too many layers that prove to be too hot, or delicate clothing that encounters splattered mud or dust storms. What are the circumstances that lead your character to don an inappropriate ensemble? Consider what the initial decision, the response, and the ultimate conclusion reveal about your character’s personality and motivations.

Asako Yuzuki: Butter

Caption: 

In this Waterstones interview, Asako Yuzuki discusses the process of writing and publishing her novel Butter (4th Estate, 2024), translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, and shares her thoughts on the book’s themes of food and desire. Yuzuki’s novel was selected as the Waterstones Book of the Year for 2024.

Arts & Letters

Arts & Letters Prizes
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
February 20, 2025

Three prizes of $1,000 each and online publication in Arts & Letters are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay.

Winter of Our Discontent

1.22.25

“Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York; / And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house / In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.” In the soliloquy delivered by the title character in William Shakespeare’s play Richard III as he considers the outlook of his family’s reign, the “winter” refers to the lowest point of unhappy times. From this nadir, clouds will part and the sun will shine upon more fortunate circumstances. Taking inspiration from this metaphorical image, write a short story that begins with acknowledgment of a rock-bottom situation—a winter of sorts. What are the factors in place that convey to your characters that things can only go up from this moment forward?

Black Sea Workshop

The 2026 Black Sea Workshop, sponsored by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, will be held from June 26 to July 2 at the Sozopol Art Gallery in Sozopol, Bulgaria. The workshop features time and space to write; workshops; lectures on local history, architecture, and folklore; student and faculty readings; and an excursion to Varvara, a picturesque village located on the Black Sea coast by the Strandzha mountains for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
no
Event Date: 
June 26, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
no
Application Deadline: 
March 1, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
July 30, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Black Sea Workshop, 149 Evlogi I Hristo Georgievi Boulevard, Apartment 10, Sofia 1504, Bulgaria. Violeta Radkova, Managing Director. 

Victoria Kostova
Senior Coordinator
Contact City: 
Sozopol, Bulgaria

Aria Aber: Good Girl

Caption: 

“I love when a character in a novel, or in a story, or even in a poem, experiences a sense of change that they cannot come back from.” In this Books Are Magic event, Aria Aber reads from her debut novel, Good Girl (Hogarth, 2025), and discusses themes of shame, self-destruction, and coming of age as an artist in a conversation with Leslie Jamison. For more from Aber, read her installment of our Ten Questions series.

Genre: 

Real Horrors

1.15.25

In the film Nightbitch, an adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel of the same name directed by Marielle Heller, a new mother contends with the growing feeling of being trapped in domestic caretaking, having left her job and put aside her pursuits as a visual artist in order to stay at home and take care of her small toddler. With her husband away for work, the repetitiveness, exhaustion, and difficulties of motherhood take a surreal turn, as her instincts begin to manifest in canine form. Write a short story that begins similarly with the acknowledgment of an element of horror in something very mundane and common, perhaps an aspect of a relationship, a job, or milestone that isn’t often depicted in gory detail or a negative light. You might find that adding a touch of fantasy or dark comedy will help illuminate your perspective.

Lorrie Moore

Caption: 

“I’m not consciously balancing humor and tragedy, but I know that they do exist side by side.” In this Louisiana Channel interview, Lorrie Moore talks about the nature of jokes, the emotional and tonal range of her short stories, and reflects on the sense of repetition in her novel I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home (Knopf, 2023).

Genre: 

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