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Welcome to Our April Newsletter
KAREN
HARRYMAN and A.T.
HINCAPIE won the top awards of $1,500 each in our 15th
annual Tom
Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. 3,223 entries were received from around the world.
We awarded 13 Honorable Mentions: Sylvia Adams, Katie Beckham,
Richard Brook, Rata Gordon, Atoosa Grey, Mary K. O'Melveny, Michelle
Tibbetts, Trent Busch, Teri Foltz, Curtis LeBlanc, Jeanne-Marie
Osterman, Kathleen Spivack, and Eliot Khalil Wilson. Read
today's press
release, and read the winning
entries selected by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier and assistant
judge Jim DuBois. Our 16th contest opens today. Ms. Frazier and Mr.
DuBois return to judge. Enter
here.
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Congratulations to Norbert
Hirschhorn, Joan Houlihan, Mark D.
Hart (featured poem: "Our
Lady of Acid Rain"), M. Lee Alexander,
Mi West, Ruth Hill, Jeanne-Marie
Osterman, Annie Dawid, Shobana
Gomes, David W. Berner, Mark
Fleisher, Carolyn Howard-Johnson, R.T.
Castleberry, David Kherdian, Gail
Thomas, and Lesléa Newman.
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Sign
up today and you'll...
·
Learn from feedback that will be
written on everything you write. Share your poetry, stories and book
chapters.
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Be a part of a community
for writers of all skill levels. Make connections and
friends.
Upcoming
contest deadlines:
Rhyming Poetry
Contest
Write a poem that has a rhyme scheme. How it rhymes is up to you. Cash
prize. Deadline: April 18 (in
three days!)
5-7-5 Poetry
Contest
This poem follows the structure of a haiku but may be on any topic. The winner
receives a cash prize. Deadline: April 19 (in four
days!)
ABC Poetry
Contest
Write a poem with one or more stanzas of five lines each. In each
stanza, the first letter of each of the first four lines follows the
order of the alphabet, while the last line can start with any letter. Win
cash. Deadline: April 20 (in five
days!)
Cinquain
Poetry Contest
Cinquains have five lines with these syllable counts: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2. Cash for
the winner. Deadline: April 25
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Postmark Deadline: April 30
Final Judge: Carl Phillips
Prize: $3,000
The Berkshire
Prize for a First or Second Book of Poetry includes a cash
award of $3,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 20 copies
of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with
energetic publicity and promotion. Manuscripts are judged anonymously
and all finalists will be considered for publication. Results will be
announced in late summer.
The Berkshire Prize is open to
anyone writing in the English language, whether living in the United
States or abroad. Translations are not eligible for this prize, nor are
previously self-published books. Employees of Tupelo Press and authors with
books previously published by Tupelo Press are not eligible. Poets
submitting work for consideration may be authors having published only
one previous collection or writers without prior book publications.
Submit a previously
unpublished, full-length poetry manuscript with a table of contents.
There is no mandatory page count. We suggest in the area of 48 to 88
pages of poems, but all manuscripts will be read and considered with
full respect, regardless of length, and no manuscript will be rejected
simply because it's shorter or longer. Individual poems in a contest
manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, journals,
or anthologies, or chapbooks, but the work as a whole must be
unpublished. If applicable, include with your manuscript an
acknowledgments page for prior publications.
Simultaneous submissions to
other publishers or contests are permitted, as long as you notify
Tupelo Press promptly if a manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
We encourage online submission
via Submittable. You may also submit via postal mail: Tupelo Press
Berkshire Prize, Tupelo Press, P.O. Box 1767, North Adams, MA 01247.
A reading fee of $30 payable by
check to Tupelo Press or via Submittable must accompany each
submission. Multiple submissions are accepted, each accompanied by a
$30 reading fee.
Please enjoy this selection
from Marvels of the Invisible, by 2014 Berkshire Prize
winner Jenny Molberg.
Storm Coming
by
Jenny Molberg
Before rain, my father stands
on the porch,
drawing in the metallic air. In his face,
I look for my own. I've seen the way he is
with his father. He counts down the lightning.
The sky swells like an oath.
Dad,
he'll say, how about next time
we'll go and get some of those
peaches you like,
out
by the highway?
He'll laugh a laugh
that knows its own ending. And
the drops fall,
just like he promised. The storm is birth and death
in only minutes. So we laugh,
knowing
we don't have the time to love it.
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Deadline: April 30
It's time to enter the 40th
annual Nimrod
Literary Awards: The Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry
and The Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. The
Awards offer first prizes of $2,000 and publication, and second prizes
of $1,000 and publication. Winners will also be brought to Tulsa in
October for the Awards Ceremony and Conference for Readers and Writers.
Established in 1956, Nimrod
is dedicated to the discovery of new voices in literature, and the Nimrod
Literary Awards are a special way to recognize talented poets and
fiction writers.
Guidelines:
·
Poetry: 3-10 pages of poetry
·
Fiction: 7,500 words maximum
(one short story or a self-contained excerpt from a novel)
·
Fee Per Entry: $20 payable to Nimrod,
includes a one-year subscription (two issues)
No previously published works
or works accepted for publication elsewhere. Author's name must not
appear on the manuscript. Include a cover sheet containing major
title(s), author's name, full address, phone, and email. Entries may be
mailed to Nimrod or submitted
online. All finalists and semi-finalists will be considered
for publication.
For complete
rules, visit Nimrod's website.
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Deadline: May 1
Gulf Coast will award $1,500
and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner in each genre. Two
honorable mentions in each genre will be awarded $250. All entries will
be considered for publication and the entry fee includes a one-year
subscription to Gulf Coast. This year's judges are Joshua Ferris
(Fiction), Chen Chen (Poetry), and Lacy M. Johnson (Nonfiction).
Please enjoy our 2016 winning
poem by Brandon Rushton, "Calisthenics",
published in Gulf Coast and currently appearing in Verse
Daily:
Calisthenics
All things are an effort to
prolong the inevitable.
For example, my deep concern when the kids call
top bunk it means they've acquired innuendo.
They'll get there, if they haven't already
and already it is hard for me to accept that.
The dog brings in the daily paper and I tell
myself the troubling news is temporary.
Each month we make believe the mortgage
is a ransom installment meant for remedying
our differences with the mob. It's better this way,
for our sex life, if we're more morbid than boring.
I wave at the neighbor who dual wields
his weed killer and he does not wave back.
I'd like to call a mayday every Monday morning
but this seems insensitive considering the plane
that's just crashed on a pond of swans.
The community committee has just elected
our inaugural savior of the suburb. Kids chuck
their trading cards down a manhole
as a form of protest. Nothing stays the same.
Spirits are low. The search effort is to be
suspended at sunset. The main difference
between a plane and a person hurled into the water
is the black box that helps us understand it better.
There are no survivors. There are still
so many swans.
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All entries are considered for
publication and must be unpublished. Winners will be announced
mid-September 2018. Essay and fiction entries may not exceed 8,000
words; poetry entries may contain one to six poems. Entry includes a
one-year subscription to New Letters.
Previous judges have included
Philip Levine, Joyce Carol Oates, Rishi Reddi, Mary Jo Salter, Carole Maso,
Cornelius Eady, Margot Livsey, Benjamin Percy, Robin Hemley, and Kim
Addonizio.
For complete guidelines, visit our
website or send an S.A.S.E. to Ashley
Wann, Contest Coordinator, New Letters, 5101 Rockhill
Road, Kansas City, MO 64110.
Please enjoy the winning poem
from our 2016 contest. It appeared in New Letters,
Vol. 83, Nos. 2 & 3.
The Year God
Discovered Pointillism
by Deborah Bogen
Winter wouldn't quit. There was a generalized, harmonized
breathing, but no speech, no words, as if talk had never
been real. We grew attentive to small changes, spatial
ones and even vacillating pressures. Some days we tasted
stillness, but it was nothing mystical. It was only weather.
This is not meant to confuse you. Think of snow-softened
edges, contrasts smudged—hushed, the way mother
hushed your questions without even speaking. It was the
snow in her that stopped your breath and filled the room
with glitter.
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Deadline: May 21
They say it's where you hang
your hat; it's where the heart is; it's where they have to take you in.
But what does home mean for communities and individuals facing rising
temperatures and extreme weather; wealth disparity and resource
scarcity; and the forces of globalization and nationalism? What does it
mean to belong somewhere? For the winter 2019 issue of Creative
Nonfiction magazine, we're looking for true stories about
finding—or, perhaps, coming to terms with losing—your place in the
world.
As always, we're interested in
stories that are more than mere anecdotes, and we love work that
incorporates an element of research and/or makes a connection to a
larger story or theme. We welcome personal stories as well as profiles,
and above all, we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with
scene, character, detail, and a distinctive voice—that offer a fresh interpretation
or unique insight into the theme.
All essays submitted will be
considered for publication; this is a paying market.
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Deadline: July 16
For the spring 2019 issue of Creative
Nonfiction magazine, we're looking for true stories about
doing it. Whether you're straight, gay, or other; alone, in a couple,
or in a crowd; doing it for the first time or the last, or not doing it
at all, we want to hear your story.
As always, we're interested in
stories that are more than mere anecdotes, and we love work that
incorporates an element of research and/or makes a connection to a
larger story or theme. We welcome personal stories as well as profiles,
and above all, we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with
scene, character, detail, and a distinctive voice—that offer a fresh
interpretation or unique insight into the theme.
Please note: for this issue, we
are interested primarily (and perhaps even exclusively) in stories of
consensual and/or victimless sex. Also note, we are not seeking erotica.
No photos, please.
Creative Nonfiction editors will award $1,000 for Best Essay and $500
for runner-up. All essays will be considered for publication.
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Paul Thornton rose from the
streets of Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood to become a Fortune 500
executive. But a catastrophic event threatened his marriage, his
career, and his self-respect. Thornton's remarkable resurrection is a
gripping, inspirational story of hope, resilience, and the essential American
Dream of realizing one's full potential. Poignant, sad, tragic, funny,
and compelling, White Man's Disease is a
redemption story for the ages.
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"Set
against the backdrop of a powerful political landscape, The Kurdish Bike offers a stunning social, political, and cultural
commentary of what it is like to live in a third world country torn
apart by war. A single mom,
the newly recruited teacher on a bike, makes friends with native women
and her contact and relationship with them lead her to get glimpses of
the not-so-obvious conflicts that threaten life in the country. Bezma's
family stands out as a symbol of the oppressed. The prose is polished
and rings through the ears like music. The author has the rare gift of
weaving national conflict into the lives of individuals. And then there
is the biting sense of humor, the ability to portray hope through
simple relationships, to find meaning in the will to survive each day
at a time. The characters are well grounded, sculpted to reflect the
social landscapes from which they sprang. In spite of the powerful
conflict that permeates every layer of this book, the unspoken words
and the silent cries, there is a current of positive energy
communicated through laughter, love, and friendship. The novel is
beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Fans of The Kite
Runner by Khaled Hosseini will adore Alesa
Lightbourne's evocative writing, the reminiscences of
war images, and the general malaise felt by millions of people, plus
the pain of belonging to their own country." (Five
stars, San Francisco Book Review)
"The story
is admirable for its characters, for they are not only well-thought
out, but also reflective of a country whose people are torn by a
decade-long war.
The characters are well-developed and are a mirror to the courage and
strength shown by women in times of distress. Alesa Lightbourne has
shown excellent penmanship writing this novel based on her personal
experience and shows how involved she was in the lives of the people
she taught and met in Iraq. If you are interested in knowing about the
lives, cultures, and hardships faced by people in the Middle East, this
book is a must-read." (Five stars, Manhattan Book
Review)
"Lightbourne
writes in a cinematic prose
and easily folds in background about the Kurdish people's suffering
under Saddam Hussein. This story of sisterhood, motherhood, and
nationhood should have wide appeal." (BookLife)
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 Finishing up your manuscript? Putting those last
touches on your thesis or dissertation? Submitting application essays
to your dream school? Can't figure out where to put the dialogue in
your magnum opus? These writing projects can take a lot out of a
person. Sometimes the work is so dense and the topics so subjective
that it's difficult to see a clear end in sight. Sometimes the solution
is as simple as lending another pair of eyes to those stuck points.
Don't pull out more hair—give
yourself a break! I'll help ease your typing tension so you can show
that writer's block who's boss. Email Lauren Singer Ledoux
at SingerLaur@gmail.com
or call 347-675-4877 for professional copyediting, proofreading, and
general assistance with your current project. I have many years of
experience, a bundle of great references, and am currently a staff
judge at Winning Writers. Let's tackle those big ideas
together!
"When I needed help with
my chapbook manuscript, Lauren was candid, professional, and
insightful. She was a pleasure to work with and I will definitely be
hiring her for editing in the future."
-Catherine Weiss
"If you need fresh eyes
and solid creative insight, Lauren is absolutely the person to
call."
-Stephanie Huey
"Lauren regularly edited for me. Her comments
and corrects were thoughtful, thorough, and holistic. She also
frequently went above and beyond and offered style suggestions and
additional ways to structure my approach."
-Roxanne Astra Slate
"Lauren takes the time while
editing, to both consider the one-day reader and the voice of the author."
-Tara Jean Bernier
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Set in New York City in the
early 1990s, Jendi Reiter's debut novel Two Natures
(Saddle Road Press) is the coming-of-age story of Julian Selkirk, a
fashion photographer who struggles to reconcile his Southern Baptist
upbringing with his love for other men.
·
2016 Rainbow Awards: First
Prize, Best Gay Contemporary Fiction; First Runner-Up, Debut Gay Book
·
Named one of QSpirit's Top
LGBTQ Christian Books of 2016
·
2016 Lascaux Prize in Fiction
Finalist
·
2017 National Indie Excellence
Award Finalist
·
2017 Book Excellence Awards
Finalist
·
2018 EPIC eBook Awards Finalist
(winners TBA)
"This
story ripped my guts out,
made me laugh, made me cry, made me angry (that part is a testament to
great writing and compelling characters—I wanted to hug Julian on one
page and slap him into next Tuesday on the next), and left me with the
strangest sense of hope at the end.
"Given how far we've come
on LGBTQ rights (though we still have a long way to go), it can be easy
to forget the recent past and the struggles that gay men and women
faced. This book is a poignant reminder, cleverly weaving those lessons
and history into a compelling story and doing so without being
preachy—no small feat!"
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Some contests are best suited
to writers at the early stages of their careers. Others are better for
writers with numerous prizes and publications to their credit. Here is
this month's selection of Spotlight Contests for your consideration:
Intermediate Writers
Southern
Fried Karma Novel Contest. $1,500 advance
and publication by Southern Fried Karma Press awarded for an
unpublished novel that "illuminates the multiplicity of the
Southern experience". No length limit specified. Enter online. SFK
Press is an independent publisher based in metro Atlanta (GA), with a
mission to cultivate new voices that broaden the definition of Southern
writing. Due May 31.
Advanced Writers
Whiting
Foundation Creative Nonfiction Grant. Up to
eight grants of $40,000 each for US writers completing creative
nonfiction books (e.g., biography, memoir, history, cultural or
political reportage, the sciences, philosophy, criticism, food or
travel writing, personal essays, etc.) that are currently under
contract with US publishers. Writers who signed a contract before May
2, 2016 are eligible for the 2018-deadline contest.
Due May 2.
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·
RHINO
(poetry, flash fiction, translations - July 31)
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"Everything
Must Burn": Thoughts From My Lenten Journal
To live creatively is to trust myself to follow my instincts into
unknown territory. To pursue what excites me (or take a rest when I
need it) without having to know how it turns out or explain why this is
what I'm doing.
I fear that
"creativity" gets confused with "productivity" such
that my self-image as a creator must be constantly proven with output.
Or that creativity becomes a burden, like the "devotion" my
mother supposedly gave me—a privilege that can never be repaid, a duty
to prove that I'm grateful all the time and not squandering my
potential.
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