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ABC LITERARY AGENTS What They Know Could Change Your Life JAMES PATTERSON Innovative Instinct and the Business of Books Nicole Aragi’s Aha! Moment How to Pitch Yourself to Bookstores Alice Notley’s Lit Mag Notes Superpowered Storytelling
Angela Flournoy Emma Straub Naomi Jackson Lindsay Hunter and Christina Baker Kline introduce SUMMER’S BEST DEBUT FICTION...
YAA GYASI The Arrival of a Major New Voice in American Literature US 5.95 CAN 6.95
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31 FEATURES
“As an author, when you’re working on your first book alone in your garret, it’s hard to conceive how many people are going to have their hands on those pages by the time it comes out.”
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40 LITER ARY AGENTS A special section on how they work with authors, editors, and other agents.
31 FIRST FICTION 2016 For this year’s roundup of the summer’s best debut fiction, we asked five established authors—Angela Flournoy, Naomi Jackson, Emma Straub, Lindsay Hunter, and Christina Baker Kline—to introduce this year’s group of talented new authors: Yaa Gyasi, Masande Ntshanga, Rumaan Alam, Maryse Meijer, and Imbolo Mbue. We also gathered nine more notable debuts that will keep you reading through the summer.
40 Agents & Editors Four veteran agents talk about the business of books, the secret to a good pitch, and what authors should do in the lead-up to publication.
by mich a el szczer ba n 50 Agent Experience How they grow in the business and what it means for writers.
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by mich a el bou r n e 56 Rock, Paper, Scissors Agent, writer, editor (reflections from someone who’s been all three).
by betsy ler n er 60 The Aha! Moment Nicole Aragi of Aragi, Inc.
by mich a el bou r n e
COVER YA A GYA SI PHOTOGR APHED BY TONY GALE
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POETS & WRITERS
ABC P O E T S & W R I T E R S M AG A Z INE • VO L U ME 4 4 • I S S U E 4 • J U LY/AU G U S T 2 0 1 6
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DEPARTMENTS 8 Editor’s Note 11 Letters NEWS AND TRENDS 12 Traveling Stanzas celebrates poetry in Akron, Ohio, and beyond; James Patterson launches a new book series, BookShots; the Writer’s Center celebrates forty years; an interview with Ruth Curry and Emily Gould of Emily Books; and more.
12 THE LITER ARY LIFE 23 The Time Is Now Writing prompts and exercises.
25 Superpowered Storytelling What I’ve learned from writing comics.
by ben ja mi n percy THE PR ACTICAL WRITER 63 How to Pitch Yourself to Bookstores What booksellers want from an author.
by ly n n rosen 69 Reviewers & Critics Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times.
by mich a el ta eck ens 75 Grants & Awards Over 65 upcoming deadlines, plus 1 new award.
99 Conferences & Residencies Retreats—from Rabun Gap, Georgia, to Pebble Beach, California.
107 Classifieds Calls for manuscripts, job openings, and more.
120 Views From the Road From Poets & Writers, Inc. COM I NG SOO N
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Elizabeth Kostova on Peter Matthiessen… the low-residency MFA model…learning the art of fiction as a screenwriter…self-publishing advice…Jennifer De Leon on endings.
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POETS & WRITERS
Begin your search for an agent with our carefully curated Literary Agents database, which includes contact info, submission guidelines, client lists, tips, and even Twitter feeds to follow for daily dispatches from the agenting world. And don’t miss Agent Advice, in which some of the best literary agents in the country answer the questions writers most frequently ask. Read the expanded interviews with agents Julie Barer, Faye Bender, Brettne Bloom, and Elisabeth Weed; Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times; and Ruth Curry and Emily Gould of Emily Books. Join author, agent, and contributor Betsy Lerner for a Twitter chat on June 29 at 12 PM EDT. For details, visit www.pw.org /author-connect/betsy _lerner. Use the Reading Tour Manager to plan and promote your upcoming author events. Create a tour, add and confirm your tour stops, then post to pw.org. Listen to the new episode of Ampersand: The Poets & Writers Podcast, which includes readings by authors featured in First Fiction 2016.
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Editor in Chief
KEVIN LARIMER Senior Editor
MELISSA FALIVENO Art Director
MURRAY GREENFIELD Production Editor
WILLIAM SMYTH Associate Editor
DANA ISOKAWA Editorial Assistant
CAROLINE DAVIDSON Diana and Simon Raab Editorial Fellow
TARA JAYAKAR
Publisher
ELLIOT FIGMAN Associate Publisher
T I M O ’ S UL L I V A N Advertising Manager
J E S S I C A L A N A Y M O O RE Advertising Associate
AMY FELTMAN Circulation
M A S T C I RC UL A T I O N G RO UP Controller
WILLIAM F. HAYES Staff Accountant
P A UL V A RG A S
Contributing Editors
MICHAEL BOURNE FRANK BURES JEREMIAH CHAMBERLIN JOFIE FERRARI-ADLER RIGOBERTO GONZÁLEZ DEBRA GWARTNEY TAYARI JONES RUTH ELLEN KOCHER STEPHEN MORISON JR. KEVIN NANCE FRANCINE PROSE CLAUDIA RANKINE
Poets & Writers Magazine (issn 0891-6136) is published bimonthly by Poets & Writers, Inc. Subscription: $19.95/year, $38/2 years; $5.95 single copy. Subscription inquiries: Write to Poets & Writers Magazine, P.O. Box 422460, Palm Coast, FL 32142-2460; call (386) 246-0106; e-mail poets&writers@emailcustomerservice.com; or visit our website, www. pw.org. Advertising Media Kit: Call (212) 226-3586 or visit www.pw.org/about-us/advertise. Change of address: Please provide both address from last issue and new address. Allow six weeks’ notice. Permissions inquiries: Requests for permissions and reprints must be made in writing to Poets & Writers Magazine, 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004.
P O E T S & W RI T E RS , I N C . Executive Director
ELLIOT FIGMAN Founding Chair
GALEN WILLIAMS
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Poets & Writers, Inc., is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation organized for literary and educational purposes, publicly supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, foundations, corporations, and individuals. Donations to Poets & Writers are charitable contributions under Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code. A copy of the most recent annual report may be obtained on request by writing to Poets & Writers, Inc. Please call or write for further information: Poets & Writers, Inc., 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. (212) 226-3586. www.pw.org In an effort to keep subscription rates as low as possible, Poets & Writers Magazine generates additional revenue by renting its subscriber list to reputable organizations. If you do not want to receive mailings from these organizations, please call (386) 246-0106 or e-mail poets&writers@emailcustomerservice.com. A list of the organizations renting our mailing list can be obtained by sending a written request to List Rental, Poets & Writers, Inc., 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004.
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Note EDITOR’S
THE LUNATIC DIALOGUES
I N A PR IL I WA S I N V ITED TO AT TEN D THE ICELA N D W R ITERS
Retreat and give a talk about publishing at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík. If you’ve never been to Iceland, I highly recommend it. It’s by far the most geographically diverse—so beautiful yet stunningly bizarre—place I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. And Eliza Reid and Erica Green’s program is an ideal occasion to make the trip, as it combines a compelling lineup of lectures, workshops, and readings with opportunities to explore the country’s incredible geothermal pools, geysers, glaciers, and lava fields. And while I felt inspired and recharged in a way that only such long-distance travel can offer, I read astonishingly little during my visit—nothing, in fact, except a few pages of Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost (Viking, 2005), which, as a stranger in a strange land, felt somehow...necessary. But by and large my journey to and through Iceland provided a narrative that needed no supplement. “Reading is a conversation,” wrote Alberto Manguel in A Reading Diary: A Passionate Reader’s Reflections on a Year of Books (FSG , 2004). “Lunatics engage in imaginary dialogues that they hear echoing somewhere in their minds; readers engage in a similar dialogue provoked silently by the words on a page.” Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t compelled to read during my travels: The experience itself was all I needed to prompt the lunatic dialogues in my mind—the ones that help me make sense of the world. But when I returned home, it was as if an immense reservoir needed replenishing, and I consumed one book after another, continually struck by the great variety and vision reflected in contemporary literature. Some of those books are included in First Fiction 2016 (page 31). Manguel’s point is that when we read, the words on the page mingle with all the other bits and pieces lodged in our minds—the news report we read this morning, the song lyrics we unwittingly memorized, the names of the flowers we first smelled when we were kids—and each piece illuminates the other, thereby furthering a conversation. Case in point: I only recalled Manguel’s book after I read a quote by Rumaan Alam, one of our debut authors. “Writing is a conversation,” Alam says, “and it’s pointless to have a one-sided conversation. The reader is essential to the work; the reader takes over the work. I am really looking forward to that point when the book stops being mine altogether, and belongs to the people who choose to read it.” And so the conversation continues.
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Poets & Writers Magazine welcomes feedback from its readers. Please post a comment on select articles at www.pw.org/magazine, e-mail editor@pw.org, or write to Editor, Poets & Writers Magazine, 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. Letters accepted for publication may be edited for clarity and length.
J . T. B U S H N E L L’ S B R A I N
Over the many years that I’ve been a reader of Poets & Writers Magazine, a number of articles
have proven helpful to me. Without a doubt, J. T. Bushnell’s “This Is Your Brain on Fear: Trauma and Storytelling” (May/ June 2016) is by far the most helpful, directly applicable exploration of craft I have read. My novel has been languishing, largely ignored, for years, in large part because the
Letters
traumatic event that underpins the story does not ring true as I have written it. I have felt defeated by this scene time and again, and I do not doubt that my reluctance to work on the book as a whole stems from my dissatisfaction with this scene. Bushnell’s examination of how the brain processes trauma, as well as his application of this knowledge in describing a traumatic scene, came as a godsend. I can’t wait to sit down and rewrite that scene, with my marked-up copy of Bushnell’s article by my side. Thank you! GILLIAN CULFF
Kamuela, Hawai‘i
“Poet, Writer, Imposter: Learning to Believe in Myself” (May/June 2016), for pulling back the shroud and exposing imposter syndrome to the light of day. I keep telling myself that once I’ve published this essay or that short story (or even—imagine!—my forlorn novel), my self-doubts will dry up and I’ll finally feel accomplished. My battle with my own imposter is ongoing, but it’s nice to know that I’m fighting in good company. HEATH FIELDS
Boston, Massachusetts Floored by “Poet, Writer, Imposter” by @rhymeswithbee it is soooooo gooood. CHLOÉ CALDWELL
J. T. Bushnell’s essay in new @poetswritersinc mag: science, techniques, examples— OUTSTANDING! JULIA TAGLIERE
@juliascribbling
@Chloe_Caldwell MOR E T O T H E ST ORY
This editor’s letter by @KevinLarimer (“More to the Story” May/June 2016) makes me want to read the latest issue of @poetswritersinc. DANI SHAPIRO
THE R EV IEWS A R E IN
I agree with Pamela Paul (“Reviewers & Critics: Pamela Paul of the New York Times Book Review” by Michael Taeckens, May/June 2016), who thinks that negative reviews do not always kill a book. I have bought books after reading critical reviews and ended up disagreeing with the reviewers. After all, book reviewing is highly subjective; there are as many possible reviews as there are readers. I remember a saying I once heard: “What’s worse than a bad
review? No review,” which is something many of us writers know all too well.
@danijshapiro
ANNE K. ROSS
@KevinLarimer, I will never forget this editor’s note of yours. Sending, if I may, a virtual hug.
El Cerrito, California The amazing @mtaeckens interviews the inspiring @PamelaPaul NYT for @poetswritersinc. Love this series! MEGAN FISHMANN
@mfishmann
ERIKA DREIFUS
@erikadreifus [CORRECTION]
“Literar y MagNet” (May/June 2016) by Dana Isokawa incorrectly stated that the Arts & Letters
I M P O S T E R S Y N D RO M E
Unclassifiable Contest offers no prize money. In
I am grateful for Leigh Stein’s article
fact, the contest comes with a $500 prize.
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POETS & WRITERS
Trends NEWS A ND
Traveling Stanzas
and inclusive voice of poetry,” Traveling Stanzas (travelingstanzas.com) is further developing its programming ince 1992 the Poetry Society letters about their favorite poems, an in nearby A kron and beyond after of A mer ic a ha s i n st a l led initiative that grew into a video se- receiving a $125,000 grant this past hundreds of poems on New ries, anthologies, and public readings March from the Knight Foundation. York City trains and subway and events across the country. Now, Over the next two years, Wick will cars, reaching millions of commuters Traveling Stanzas, a project similarly expand the project’s reach by workeach day, as part of Poetry in Motion, designed to democratize and celebrate ing with Akron’s growing immigrant a project that has since expanded to poetry, seems poised to reach that communit y and by building a new digital poetry exhibit that will travel twent y other cities nationwide. In same kind of broad audience. Established in 2009 at Kent State locally and nationally. 1997, when Robert Pinsky launched Since its founding, Traveling Stanthe Favorite Poem Project during his University’s Wick Poetry Center in tenure as U.S. poet laureate, nearly Kent, Ohio, to “facilitate a global zas has promoted the power of poetry eighteen thousand Americans sent in conversation through the intimate through its website and installations of poetry in public spaces in and around No r t he a s t O h io . “ We o r i g i n a l l y launched Traveling Stanzas to interact w it h t he com munity,” says Wick director David Hassler, “so we built a website where anyone in the world could record themselves reading a n or ig i na l poem or a poem t hey loved. We’re talking eight-year-olds right alongside poets laureate. So even before the grant from the Knight Foundation, Traveling Stanzas was already a beautiful democratization of the joy of writing Fifth-grader Fatou M’Baye reads her poem “Thank You, Tree” underneath the maple that inspired it. poetry.” J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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m’baye: still from video by nathan tr anbarger; poster: alex catanese for each + every
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CONTR IBUTORS
The Traveling Stanzas website features poems in five different languages from a wide array of contributors. Wick selects a number of poems to showcase and collaborates with the university’s School of Visual Communication Design to create original art, such as an illustration, video, or animation, to accompany each one. The poems have also been printed on posters, banners, and kiosks throughout the area—in coffee shops, metro stations, buses, and a dedicated “poetry park” on the Kent State campus. “The arts tell our stories, who we are and where we as a communit y are going,” says Victoria Rogers, the Knight Foundation’s vice president of arts. “Traveling Stanzas is a wonderful example of that. When you watch the videos and read the poems on the site, Northeast Ohio comes alive. And you begin to realize, too, that poetry is a living, breathing force that can both reflect and light up a city. Wick’s project is poetry’s platform, one that has the potential to bring people together through the arts.” With the Knight grant, which is given for programming specifically in A kron, Wick is launching a series of workshops geared toward the city’s growing immigrant community. “Akron has seen an influx of refugee populations from Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Thailand via the International Institute of Akron [IIA],” says Hassler. “We saw a need and an opportunity to celebrate and promote the voices of our region and community, particularly those people who are
voiceless—who are not seen and not heard in the larger public realm—as well as nationally known poets. And we wanted to do this in the real world, not just the digital one.” To reach this community, Wick will work with Akron Public Schools (APS) and IIA to hold weekly workshops taught by Wick staff, student teachers, and teaching artists. Early results of the project have been promising, says Hassler. “Pilot workshops that we conducted last year at four APS locations and the Juvenile Detention Center garnered extremely positive responses. A particularly shy eighth-grade student from India wrote a poem about her name: ‘Today my name is peace. / Yesterday it was lonely. / Tomorrow it will be unique.’ Another student from Myanmar was grappling with the loss of a loved one. She wrote, ‘Does she shine like a moon? / Does she melt like snow? / Or break like a bowl when it falls? / Maybe like a puzzle her heart’s torn apart. / Does she fade like the TV screen? / Then does she appear again?’” In late 2017, Wick plans to launch a new mobile poetry exhibit, composed of a portable, interactive touch screen—similar to those found in museums—that will be installed in various locations throughout Akron. Patrons will be able to browse poems in multiple languages—some generated in the APS and IIA workshops, plus a selection from the Traveling Stanzas archive—along with related animations, video stories, and artwork. Wick plans to display the exhibit in and around Akron for a year before setting 13
POETS & W R ITERS
AND R E W M CFADYEN K E T C H U M is a freelance
writer, editor, and writing coach. He is the acquisitions editor of Upper Rubber Boot Books, founder and editor in chief of poemoftheweek.org, and founder of the Colorado Writers’ Workshop. His poetry collection, Ghost Gear, was published by the University of Arkansas Press in 2014. His website is andrewmk.com. J O N A T H A N V A T N E R is a
fiction writer in Brooklyn, New York. He is the staff writer for Hue, the magazine of the Fashion Institute of Technology. M A Y A C . P O P A is a writer
and teacher based in New York City. Her website is www.mayacpopa.com. D A N A I S O K A W A is the
associate editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. C A T R I C H A R D S O N is the
managing editor of Bodega Magazine and a poetry editor at Phantom Books. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Narrative, Tin House, and elsewhere.
TRENDS
off on a national tour. “The Traveling Stanzas mobile exhibit will offer people pockets of time to slow down and reflect on their lives, their city, and discover a shared humanity through the intimate voice of poetry,” says Hassler. “Most important, it will be accessible by that community and by people visiting or just passing through. It’s totally different and very exciting.” Hassler’s not the only one excited by the Traveling Stanzas expansion. “Traveling Stanzas [will be] the most luminous interactive poetry site in the wondrous wide world!” says poet Naomi Shihab Nye, who has taught workshops at Wick and has two poems in the Traveling Stanzas archive. “It honors the voices of the world—all
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people, all ages. It reminds us why we fell in love with poetry to begin with, it lights up the darkness of which we have plenty, it brilliantly restores the magic of language and hope and connection.” “Ultimately,” Hassler says, “Traveling Stanzas will empower individuals and families in the Akron community to participate in a global conversation while also becoming more informed and engaged in Akron’s unique, diverse culture. The project will succeed in decreasing barriers to participation— whether those of dominant language, age, culture, gender, or educational background—and will encourage people to share their voices and stories across any border or division in their lives.” –ANDREW MCFADYEN-KETCHUM
“Some people hate cats.” How to Set a Fire and Why (Pantheon, July 2016) by Jesse Ball. Fourteenth book, seventh novel. Agent: Jim Rutman. Editor: Jenny Jackson. Publicist: Josefine Kals. XX
“When I was a child, I had reoccurring nightmares about wolves—tall beasts the size of skyscrapers that walked on their hind legs around New York City blocks, chasing and eventually devouring me.” Sex Object (Dey Street Books, June 2016) by Jessica Valenti. Fifth book, first memoir. Agent: Laurie Liss. Editor: Julia Cheiffetz. Publicist: Katie Steinberg.
Where New And Noteworthy Books Begin
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“It matters what you call a thing: Exquisite a lover called me.” Look (Graywolf Press, July 2016) by Solmaz Sharif. First book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Jeff Shotts. Publicist: Caroline Nitz. XX
“In ninth grade English, Mrs. X required us to memorize and recite a poem, so I went and asked the Topeka High librarian to direct me to the shortest poem she knew, and she suggested Marianne Moore’s ‘Poetry,’ which, in the 1967 version, reads in its entirety: ‘I, too, dislike it. / Reading it, however, with a perfect / contempt for it, one discovers in / it, after all, a place for the genuine.’” The Hatred of Poetry (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2016) by Ben Lerner. Fifth book, first nonfiction book. Agent: Anna Stein. Editor: Lorin Stein. Publicist: Brian Gittis. XX
“I don’t like small talk.” I’m Just a Person (Ecco, June 2016) by Tig Notaro. First book, memoir. Agent: Marc Gerald. Editors: Gabriella Doob and Daniel Halpern. Publicist: Ashley Garland. XX
“In exercises 1 through 24, mark the option that corresponds to the word whose meaning has no relation to either the heading or the other words listed.” Multiple Choice (Penguin Books, July 2016) by Alejandro Zambra, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell. Eighth book, fifth fiction book. Agent: Andrea Montejo. Editor: Lindsey Schwoeri. Publicist: Andrea Lam. J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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James Patterson’s Innovative Instinct
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n his acceptance speech for the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award in April, blockbuster novelist James Patterson stressed the need for the publishing industry to innovate. “Some people would say—to some extent rightly—that ‘publishing’ and ‘innovation’ don’t belong in the same sentence,” he said. “But book publishing…badly, badly needs to innovate.” With that spirit in mind, the author has launched his latest publishing venture: a series of short, lightning-paced novels called BookShots, available in both paperback and e-book formats, each under a hundred-fifty pages in length and priced below five dollars.
Part of Patterson’s ongoing efforts to support literacy and reach new readers, BookShots are driven by muscular plots that the author hopes will appeal to people who are too pressed for time to read full-length novels, those more attuned to mobile devices and television, and existing fans of his personal brand of addictive, plot-driven stories. “We’re trying to take out parts that people skim,” says Bill Robinson, editorial director for BookShots at Little, Brown, Patterson’s longtime publisher. “It should feel like reading a movie.” The first two books in the series hit stores in June: Cross Kill, the latest in Patterson’s immensely popular
“In twilight they passed bloody Tadoussac, Kébec and Trois-Rivières and near dawn moored at a remote riverbank settlement.” Barkskins (Scribner, June 2016) by Annie Proulx. Tenth book, fifth novel. Agent: Liz Darhansoff. Editor: Nan Graham. Publicist: Brian Belfiglio. XX
“Maybe a pool filled with roses someone / uprooted before they bloomed fully.” Eventually One Dreams the Real Thing (Copper Canyon Press, July 2016) by Marianne Boruch. Twelfth book, ninth poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Michael Wiegers. Publicist: Kelly Forsythe. XX
“A soldier looked over the parapet and thought no army could even begin to crack open the towers that marked the corners of the city.” The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir (City Lights Publishers, July 2016) by Susan Daitch. Fifth book, fourth novel. Agent: Julie Stevenson. Editor: Elaine Katzenberger. Publicist: Stacey Lewis. XX
“Perhaps there was a bit of moisture there / or a pastel shade” This Number Does Not Exist (BOA Editions, June 2016) by Mangalesh Dabral, translated from the Hindi by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, et al. Tenth book, sixth poetry collection, first U.S. publication. Agent: None. Editor: Peter Conners. Publicist: Jenna Fisher. XX
“A woman who adored her mother, and had mourned her death every day for years now, came across some postcards in a store that sold antiques and various other bric-a-brac.” Ninety-Nine Stories of God (Tin House Books, July 2016) by Joy Williams. Tenth book, fifth story collection. Agent: Amanda Urban. Editor: Tony Perez. Publicist: Nanci McCloskey. XX
“‘On or about December 1910,’ Virginia Woolf wrote more than one hundred years ago, ‘human character changed.’” Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, July 2016) by Cynthia Ozick. Eighteenth book, seventh essay collection. Agent: Melanie Jackson. Editor: Bruce Nichols. Publicist: Lori Glazer. XX
For author podcasts and excerpts of books featured in Page One, visit us at www.pw.org /magazine. 15
POETS & W R ITERS
Above: The first two BookShots titles. Right: James Patterson delivering his acceptance speech for the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award in April.
Alex Cross thriller series, and Zoo 2, cowritten by Patterson and Max DiLallo, about a fight for survival between humans and animals. Four more titles, including a Women’s Murder Club mystery, are slated for a July 5 release. Little, Brown aims to issue a total of thirty-six BookShots per year, including twelve BookShots Flames, a subcategory of romance novels. All titles in the lineup will be either written or cowritten by Patterson, except for those in the Flames series, which will be written by a handful of best-selling romance authors. Nonfiction BookShots tied to current events are also in the works, as are hardcover anthologies that will be made up of three or four BookShots bound in one collection. According to a 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center, 27 percent of adult Americans had not read a book within the past year. Considering that Patterson’s hundred-fifty-plus books have sold more than three hundred
fifty million copies, the author may be uniquely qualified to awaken these dormant readers. To that end, Little, Brown will be advertising to commuters in venues such as train stations and subways. For now, BookShots are sharing shelf space with Patterson’s full-length novels, but the author hopes the pocketsize books will soon squeeze into places where books aren’t normally found, like the magazine racks along grocery-store checkout lines. And to make them even easier to buy, a dedicated BookShots app, also launched in June, allows readers to download the e-book or audiobook versions. This focus on accessibility follows Patterson’s recent efforts to boost literacy in the United States. In May 2015 he launched JI M M Y Patterson, a children’s book imprint of Little, Brown, whose profits are funneled entirely toward “turning kids into lifelong readers.” The imprint’s sales have provided hundreds of thousands of books J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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to children in underprivileged areas, and have funded teacher scholarships, bookstores, and school libraries. Patterson also launched ReadKiddoRead .com, which offers book recommendations, lesson plans, and free book raffles to help parents and educators ignite a love of reading in children. Patterson’s philanthropy has also extended to independent bookstores and communit ies t hroughout t he country: The author donated $1 million in unrestricted grants to independent bookstores in the United States in 2014, allowing them to purchase bookmobiles, update their sound systems, or give employees a raise. In 2015 he handed out $250,000 in holiday bonuses to bookstore owners and employees who were nominated by colleagues and customers. He also awarded $1.75 million in grants to 467 school libraries so that they could buy books, improve their catalogue systems, and expand programming. Scholastic’s Reading Club matched that gift with Bonus Points, which can be used toward books and school supplies from the educational publisher. This year, Patterson is repeating the program with another $1.75 million, along with another matching gift by Scholastic. “He’s shining a light on bookstores and libraries,” says Sabrina Benun, marketing manager for JI M MY Patterson and the author’s many charitable initiatives. “The coverage these gifts receive is able to raise awareness of the bigger problems: that school libraries are underfunded and people are not shopping enough at independent bookstores.” In addition to the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award, Patterson also received the National Book Foundation’s 2015 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community last November. “We can’t solve a lot of the problems in the world,” Patterson said in his Los Angeles Times acceptance speech. “But [this] is a problem we can solve. We can get a huge number of kids in this country reading. We can do this.” –JONATHAN VATNER
pat terson: robert gauthier for the los angeles times
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Writer’s Center Celebrates 40 Years
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n 1976, when Merrill Lef ler and Allan Lefcowitz heard that the National Park Service was looking to turn Glen Echo Park—a former amusement park with a working forty-horse carousel in Bethesda, Maryland—into an arts-and-culture neighborhood, the idea to create a home for t he Wash ing ton, D.C., literar y-arts communit y began to take root. They submitted a proposal for free use of space in the park, and with the help of a group of local literature enthusiasts, launched the Writer’s Center. Now celebrating its fortieth anniversary, the center remains committed to its original mission: the “creation, publication, presentation, and dissemination of literary work” in the D.C. area and nationwide. “The center as meeting place led to many people forming their own groups,” Lef ler says. “And over the years, with the expansion of work-
shops in different genres in Bethesda and elsewhere in Maryland, Washington, and Virginia, the center has continued to be the primary place in the Washington area for literary programs, readings, and performances.” Today, the Writer’s Center hosts more than fifty literary events each year; publishes Poet Lore, the nation’s oldest poetry journal; and administers prizes and fellowships to emerging writers, as well as writing contests for high school students. The center’s writing workshops, which annually welcome nearly 2,500 participants, have been taught by such notable alumni as Pagan Kennedy, A. Van Jordan, and Eugenia Kim. Recent instructors have included Stanley Plumly, Richard Blanco, Phillip Lopate, and Bianca Stone. Writers can also rent out the center’s theater and classrooms, as well as carrels to use as work space. “The key word is community,” says
Small Press Points In a letter to his brothers, written in 1817, poet John Keats expressed one of his most famous formulations: “At once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously—I mean Negative Capability, that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason….” For thirty-five years, the Mobile, Alabama–based Negative Capability Press (negativecapabilitypress.org) has sought to publish work that embodies this definition, beginning with its first publication, Louisiana Creole Poems (1981) translated by Calvin André Claudel. With editor in chief Sue Brannan Walker at the helm, the nonprofit publisher puts out ten to fifteen books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction each year, and recently revamped its annual literary journal, Negative Capability, whose first full-color issue, “The Body in D[ist]ress,” was released in January. (The next issue will focus on food, and will also include a special section of work by Latino artists and writers.) “We want to promote diversity and publish various works by writers throughout the world,” says Walker. Recent full-length titles include three debut poetry collections released in June: Glenda Slater’s Fooling Around With Shakespeare, Jennifer Grant’s Good Form, and Kate Angus’s So Late to the Party. Steven Teref’s poetry collection, The Foreign Object, will be released in July. The editors are currently considering manuscripts of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction; submissions, which require a seven-dollar reading fee to “help offset the ever-growing administrative costs for our independent press,” are open year-round via Submittable. The editors typically respond to submissions within three to six months. 17
POETS & WRITERS
IN MEMORIAM
Daniel Aaron Daniel Berrigan Giancarlo Bonacina Sally Brampton Jackie Carter Frank De Felitta Jenny Diski Katherine Dunn Glenn Ellis John Ferrone James Cross Giblin Andrew Glaze Adrian Greenwood Lars Gustafsson Ruth Hamilton Michael S. Harper Peter Janson-Smith Maurice Kenny Imre Kertész Howard Marks Doug Mendini E. M. Nathanson William L. O’Neill William Rosen Ellen Seligman Gary Shulze
Vanessa Mallory Kotz, the center’s marketing and communications manager. “Writing is a very solitary pursuit, and we strive not only to offer resources and information on the literary scene, but also a warm, welcoming place to work on craft and engage with others who are doing the same—at all levels and in all genres.” These workshops are valuable to fledgling and established writers alike.
“A Writer’s Center class is a great space for me to try out new approaches to craft,” says poet Sandra Beasley, who began teaching at the Writer’s Center in 2009 and served on its board from 2008 to 2013. “As someone who travels the country as a guest lecturer in poetry and nonfiction, I’m always looking to find new rhythms of critique, refine my vocabulary, and fine-tune my handouts. I feel lucky to have a local space
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mignonet te dooley
Executive director Joe Callahan at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
where I can try out ideas with a sophisticated, engaged writing audience.” In January, on the symbolic first day of its fortieth anniversary, Joe Callahan began his appointment as the center’s new executive director. Prior to joining the center, Callahan served as the executive director of 826DC, earning the Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education in 2014. “Joe is a fast-rising star in the Washington nonprofit community and has a strong background in and appreciation for world-class writing and literature,” says Sally Mott Freeman, chair of the board of directors. “He is the ideal leader to shape the future of this unique and well-loved literary jewel.” To celebrate its fortieth, the center is holding a series of special events throughout the year. In March it presented a sold-out evening with Jim Lehrer, longtime host of PBS NewsHour. The organization partnered with the Library of Congress for a translation
Literary MagNet Alice Notley, the author of more than thirty-five poetry collections, has been on both sides of the lit-mag fence. As a writer, she says, “I use journals to maintain my presence in the conversation, but also to see what my poems are like: how they hold up away from me, whether something in progress requires changes.” And as a founding editor of the now-defunct journals CHICAGO, SCARLET, and Gare du Nord, Notley views editorial choices as aesthetic statements and a “much more effective and elegant way of taking issue than yelling at each other on websites.” Below are a few journals that published poems from Notley’s most recent collection, Certain Magical Acts, published in June by Penguin—journals that share many of the hallmarks of Notley’s work: feminist, transcontinental, formally restless, and beautifully made.
After receiving a solicitation letter from editor William Waltz, Notley—who never submits to journals (“I wait to be asked, then I generally say yes”)—sent her poem “I Think Fiercely” to the biannual print journal Conduit (conduit.org), despite never having seen an issue. “It turned out to be tall and narrow with an individual artistic ambience,” says Notley. “The company in the issue was quite good.” Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Conduit publishes poetry and prose that Walt z describes as “somehow direc t, playful, inventive, irreverent, or darkly beautiful,” and works to change a reader’s perspective. Of “I Think Fiercely,” Waltz says, “It rearranges our molecules every time we read it.” While the journal is focused mostly on poetry, Waltz says the editors would like to see more language-driven stories. Conduit accepts submissions via postal mail year-round. XX Notley chose to publish her poem “Blinding the White Horse in Front of Me” in the journal Interim (interim.squarespace .com), not only because she “trusted it with something important,” but also because of her strong geographic attraction to the journal—Interim is housed at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, near Notley’s hometown of Needles, California. The journal, which appears quarterly online with one print annual, has published Notley’s poems several times, including in the best-selling 2005 issue devoted to her work. Editor Claudia Keelan says Notley’s poetry exemplifies the journal’s aesthetic, which is “writing that is aware of itself as writing, and writing in pursuit of Being, capital B intended.” Submissions in poetry, translation, criticism, and mixed-genre are open via Submittable through September 1. XX “The [solicitation] letter said it was feminist,” says Notley of the Fairfax, Virginia– based So to Speak, “so of course I sent work.” Established in 1993 by a collective of women in George Mason University’s MFA program, the journal (sotospeakjournal.org) is published biannually online and puts out one annual “print object”—this year it was a partially handmade anthology of the journal’s contest 19
winners. Editor Douglas Luman says his staf f is par ticularly intereste d in reading reviews and critical essays on culture for its blog. Submissions in poetry, prose, and art for the spring issue will open August 20 via Submittable. XX Published by fiction and philosophy press Semiotext(e), the Los Angeles–based Animal Shelter (semiotexte .com) takes its cues, says poetry editor Robert Dewhurst and editor Hedi El Kholti, from the poetry journals of the 1960s and 1970s, including Notley’s own CHICAGO. “In an interview a few years ago, Notley beautifully disavowed the now-trendy term curate, insisting that she had simply, unglamorously ‘edited’ CHICAGO. We like to think of our efforts in the same way.” Animal Shelter, which Notley describes as a “remarkably beautiful object with a good layout,” is an occasionally published (the editors aim for once a year) print journal. Issue Five is already in the works; the editors say that about a third of the work in each issue comes from unsolicited submissions (open year-round via e-mail in all genres). XX Notley, who lives in Paris, has also published work in several journals outside the United States, including the Amsterdam-based Versal (versaljournal.org). While Versal went on hiatus since publishing an excerpt of Notley’s poem “Voices” in 2011, it is scheduled to return in 2017, offering both a print annual and one chapbook each fall. Editor Megan M. Garr hopes to resume publication with an emphasis on building relationships with writers. “You’re not building community when your relationship with your writers and artists comes down to rejection and acceptance l e t te r s , an d a f e w e - mails in between,” she says. “We’re going to see how genuine of a community can be built across geographies and distances in the pages we make.” Versal will be open to –DANA ISOKAWA submissions in all genres in the fall. POETS & W R ITERS
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event in May; and in June both Alice McDermott, who has taught at the center and previously served on its board, and MSNBC talk-show host and journalist Chris Matthews returned for separate special anniversary events. “Attending events at the Writer’s Center was a huge part of how I educated myself about the literary landscape of my hometown,” Beasley says. “More people should know about the
Writer’s Center.” With renovations that will increase classroom and office space over the next few years, Callahan and his staff plan to expand the center’s programming and reach within the community, and to continue to offer inspiration and support to local writers. He looks forward to what the future will bring. “As we celebrate the fortieth anniversary, it is an exciting time in the center’s history to be here.” –MAYA C. POPA
THE WR IT TEN IMAGE ◆ ◆ “The people you love / become ghosts inside / of you and like this / you keep them alive.” So reads the poem pictured above, a 2010 installation in Sussex, England, by Scottish text artist Robert Montgomery (robertmontgomery.org), who over the past decade has created similar installations in places such as Seattle, Berlin, and Kochi, India. Constructed in courtyards and fields, on hillsides and buildings, most of Montgomery’s installations consist of short poems either printed on a billboard or built of wood letters (that are later lit on fire) or of solar-powered letters (that light up at night) mounted on a scaffold. Fusing traditions of street art, conceptual art, and surrealism—as well as inspiration from a childhood spent reading poets such as Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath—Montgomery works, as he said in a 2013 interview, to “find the magical in the everyday, uncover the sacred in the mundane.” Montgomery’s pieces certainly have a magical aura—the poems are often short, dreamy fragments that seem to comment on their surroundings. A light poem installed in an empty swimming pool reads, “All palaces are temporary palaces,” while another poem, installed on the baseball fields of a former U.S. Air Force base in Berlin—a series of letters strung on a wire and then set on fire—reads, “The way the pagan gods are half remembered here.” Many of his pieces are in urban centers. “I don’t think I plan on my work making epiphanies or saying profundities," Montgomery says, "but I’d certainly like my work to be a commentary on how magical the city is. And I think that’s a really important job of art: [to make you] wake up and see the magic.” J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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robert montgomery studio
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Q&A
Curry, Gould Expand Emily Books
murr ay greenfield
Emily Books was launched in 2011 as a way for founders Emily Gould and Ruth Curry to share, as they write in their mission statement, “weird books by women.” Each month they choose a previously published work of prose or poetry that is hard to find or out of print, digitize it, and send it to their subscribers as an e-book—their list has included the work of Elena Ferrante, Eileen Myles, and Ellen Willis, among other pioneering women writers. Now the two are partnering with Coffee House Press to expand Emily Books into print, launching an imprint that will publish two new works of transgressive and genre-bending prose by women, trans, and queer writers each year (the editors are open to queries yearround). With the first Emily Books print title out this month—Jade Sharma’s debut novel, Problems—Gould and Curry discuss the evolution of their project. How did the partnership with Coffee House Press start? Ruth Curry: Emily had said, “We should do print.” And I said, “No, we shouldn’t. Everything about print is too hard. We can’t do it. I don’t want to. Let’s stop talking about this.” But a part of me was intrigued. We had kind of reached this plateau where it was like, okay, we have this core group of people… Emily Gould: …and a brand that we’d built based on all of the many books that we’ve picked… Curry: …but we felt like the people who liked to read e-books, and the people who were really into weird, transgressive books by women…maybe we had maxed it out. Maybe we needed to be able to reach more people… Gould: …and have a bigger platform for our voice and our vision, and we could only get that by doing print originals. Curry: So Chris Fischbach [the publisher of Coffee House] was in touch and mentioned that he was looking for freelance acquisitions editors because 21
they were trying to expand their list, and get more voices, more diversity, and he asked if I knew anyone. Gould: We had thought about trying to become an imprint of a more mainstream publisher, and had even had some meetings, but the timing wasn’t right for it. But Chris and Caroline [Casey] at Coffee House just immediately got our vision, and it fit really well with the other books on their list. What’s been the most challenging part of taking Emily Books from digital to print? Gould: We’re still trying different things in terms of how we’re going to get to a sustainable future. Curry: I think the hardest thing is making money. Gould: We’re striving towards a model that is good for readers and authors and publishers and booksellers. Somebody is inevitably getting chopped in the equation. Our model is basically that we’ve found this audience and we market directly to it, and we try to grow that audience. And I think there’s a lot of potential for that model. I just worry about how we’re going to sustain it without ever partnering with the Amazons and Apples of the world, which is the one thing we haven’t done so far. We’re publishing books in a traditional way with Coffee House—obviously those books will be sold through all channels—so in a way we are not totally outside of the system anymore. Until now Emily Books was this very pure, untainted thing that was kind of punk rock: a book-publishing project equivalent of a zine. We were only selling things in a way that we felt was ethical.
PW.ORG/MAGAZINE
Read an expanded version of t his interview. POETS & W R ITERS
And everyone else whom we’ve talked to about how to make your indie project work was like, “Oh, we do it via Amazon affiliate links,” or “We do it via a grant from Amazon,” and we’re really bored of hearing that at this point. So we’re picking our battles. Our number-one priority will always be to get authors’ voices out there, and we’ll do whatever it takes to sustain that. –CAT RICHARDSON
the literary life
TheTimeIsNow Writing Prompts and Exercises Poetry: Found Poetry “By entering a found text as a poem, the poet doubles its context. The original meaning remains intact, but now it swings between two poles,” Annie Dillard wrote in Mornings Like This: Found Poems (Harper Perennial, 1996). “The poet adds, or at any rate increases, the element of delight.” Many twentieth-century writers have experimented with found poetry, whether composing entire poems that consist solely of outside texts collaged together (David Antin, Blaise Cendrars, Charles Reznikoff ) or incorporating pieces of found text into poems (T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams). Using these poets as inspiration, create a found poem using materials from street signs, newspapers, product packaging, legal documents, or e-mails. Play with different rearrangements and line breaks to form a new meaning that may be an unexpected juxtaposition to the original text. Suggested Reading: The Art of History: Unlocking the Past in Fiction and Nonfiction (Graywolf Press, July 2016) by Christopher Bram Whether it’s War and Peace, Wolf Hall, or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, historical narrative has long offered literary treasures for readers—in addition to important lessons for creative writers. Drawing on the work of Gabriel García Márquez, David McCullough, Toni Morrison, Leo Tolstoy, and many others, acclaimed author Christopher Bram (Gods and Monsters, The Notorious Dr. August) examines various strategies of incorporating and dramatizing historical detail in both fiction and nonfiction. Bram’s close reading of both successful and flawed passages from classic literature illustrates how authors working in different genres treat major subjects such as slavery and the Civil War, offering valuable insights that writers can draw on for their own historical narratives.
Fiction: Take a Break As important as it can be to develop regular writing routines, it can also be valuable to break out of them and discover new modes of inspiration and productivity. Try to actively disrupt your own process and write a short story that takes your habitual approach and turns it on its head: If you usually draw up precise outlines, jump immediately into the start of your story with some stream-of-consciousness writing. If you usually write at night, alone at an office desk, try writing during the day, outside on a public park bench. Instead of a pen or computer, write with a pencil. Get creative with your process. How does the change in time of day, surroundings, or physical act of writing affect your ability to develop new ideas about plot or character? A little variety could go a long way.
Nonfiction: Ambassador For a couple of months this past spring, anyone in the world with a phone connection could dial a Swedish phone number and “be connected to a random Swede, somewhere in Sweden” for a brief chat about anything under the sun. The Swedish Tourist Association created the “Swedish Number” to draw interest in the country by allowing everyday Swedes to act as ambassadors of that nation. Choose a country you’ve never visited before but are interested in, and write a personal essay exploring what you would ask if given the opportunity for a tenminute chat with one of its citizens. Then turn the focus on yourself, speculating on the specific reasons for your curiosity. Would you instinctively approach the conversation as an opportunity for a political discussion or a personal one? What would you say if you were called to be an ambassador of your own country?
For weekly writing prompts delivered via e-mail, sign up for our The Time Is Now newsletter at www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises, where you’ll find more writing prompts and The Best Books for Writers, a list of essential reading for creative writers.
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THE LITERARY
Life Superpowered Storytelling W H AT I’ V E L E A R N E D F ROM W R I T I NG C OM IC S
I
jennifer may
narrative junkie. On any given day, I’ll snap on NPR in the car, watch a television series on the treadmill, drive to the multiplex or rep theater, pull too many monthlies off the racks at the comic shop, reach for a magazine in the bathroom, paw through a literary journal at the car wash, crack open a novel in bed. No matter the genre, story sustains me, and if I don’t get a daily dose, I feel hollowed-out, jittery. This same blind addiction to story applies to my writing habits. I don’t see myself as a novelist or short story writer or screenwriter or essayist. I’m a storyteller. And every time I work in a new medium, I learn new tricks, understand narrative from a fresh angle, become a better writer. That’s certainly been the case with comics. Here’s where I have to pause and school some of you. If you equate comics with the funny pages tucked into the Sunday paper or the Mountain Dew–swigging manchild in a too-small Chewbacca T-shirt, then you need to immediately—no, really, right now—check out Sandman, Bitch Planet, Fun Home, Maus, Persepolis, The Undertaking of Lily Chen, Understanding Comics, Watchmen, and Punk Rock Jesus, just to name a few. I can guarantee you one of the greatest literary experiences of your life. I’ve never had more fun at the keyboard than when writing comics. I love the intersection of textual and visual literacy, the many complicated layers of every page. I love the collaboration with the artist, the way we challenge and complement each other to make the best possible story. I love the immediacy of the medium, so that I can write a script and two months later hold the issue in my hands. I love the reach and passion of the readers. And I love what I’ve learned: AM A
B E N J A M I N P E R C Y is the
author of Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction, forthcoming from Graywolf Press in October, as well as three novels and two short story collections. He is a contributing editor at Esquire and writes the Green Arrow and Teen Titans series for DC Comics.
The Art of Constraint When poet Terrance Hayes, whose fourth collection, Lighthead (Penguin, 2010), won a National Book Award, talks about the difference between informal and formal verse, he compares poetry to break dancing. If you can break-dance, he says, that’s cool. But if you can breakdance in a straitjacket, now that is something to marvel at. Comics are a narrative straitjacket. Generally speaking, 25
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every issue is twenty to twenty-two pages consisting of five to seven scenes. Which means you have to be incredibly strategic and nimble in your storytelling. You already know, as a novelist, that you’re supposed to be doing more than one thing at a time. A scene should not only characterize, but also push the story forward and contribute to the theme. But when you’ve got four hundred pages to fill, it’s easy to slacken that directive, take your time. Comic scripts, by contrast, allow no room for error. They force you to become a more efficient writer. The Beat Sheet They also force you to outline. I have to hand in a rough skeleton of every issue for editorial approval. I blueprint my novels as well, but not so strictly as this. I like to know the end, know the major set pieces, know how the characters might change, and then improvise the rest, caught up in the emotional thrust of composition. So I fought this requirement at first, saying that it felt inorganic, a left-brain imposition on a right-brain process. But here’s the thing: I’ve never followed any of these outlines, not in a paint-by-numbers sort of way. Once I start writing, I always change things around, and no one ever complains. The editors just want to feel assured that I’m going in the right direction. And that’s how I now feel: assured. I’ve learned to enjoy the process of outlining, treating it like a rehearsal or a sparring match before the big fight. A way to get limber, excited, confident. Which is far preferable to staring at the white oblivion of an empty document, not knowing where to go next or blindly chasing a five-page scene that ends up deleted. Common Story Ingredients And as I build that outline, these are some of the elements I’m considering: A) Open big. You’ve heard this before. Instantly grab your readers by the throat, drag them down the rabbit hole. Readers (and agents and editors) J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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are impatient. They would prefer not to turn the page. Make them. Your standard comic opens with some version of the following: a wide shot of a midnight cemetery, a medium shot of a grave, the stone freshly etched. Then we go close enough to see the hump of earth bulging, cracking. And then? A hand—pale and dirt-rimed as a fungus—bursts forth. Don’t take this advice literally. You don’t need to put the undead in your story to make it come to life. But if you assign the same principle to the first page of any stor y—normalcy interrupted by trouble, a deepening mystery—you’re in good shape. B) Include a splash in the first five pages. Translation for the uninitiated: A splash page features a single oversized panel. Usually these highlight a set piece. For instance, in an issue of Detective Comics that I wrote, a mysterious plane won’t respond to air traffic control’s repeated attempts to hail it. Emergency vehicles stack up on the runway. No one knows whether there is a mechanical failure or a terrorist act to blame. When the plane lands, it screeches off the tarmac and barrels toward Gotham International Airport, crashing into the main terminal. At the moment of impact, I opened up the art, giving the reader not just a splash page but a full two-page spread. Allow space for spectacle. The inciting incident—the introduction of the trouble that justifies a story being told at all—should happen early on. In a hundred-page screenplay, it should happen within the first fifteen pages. In a twenty-page comic, within the first five pages. And if you want it to resonate, give it the space it deserves. Visually telegraph its importance. C) End with a cliffhanger. Comics are serialized storytelling. You need to make readers hungry for more. The last page of a comic is always an advertisement for the next issue. Here’s a crappy version of the cliffhanger: The Flash enters a building…and it explodes! I’m sure your heart was in the right place, buddy, but please. We know he 26
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dc comics
A two-page spread in Detective Comics #35, Terminal: Part 1, featuring art by John Paul Leon and color by Dave Stewart.
is coming back or you’d be out of a job. Geoff Johns offers a smarter version of the same in Teen Titans when he ends an issue with Kid Flash getting shotgunned in the knee by Deathstroke. Now there’s an impactf ul ending. We’re in the middle of a big battle that’s nearing its resolution when one of the characters—a guy whose agency and identity is defined by speed—gets a load of buckshot through the knee. Take this same advice and apply it not to the conclusion but rather to the end of every scene in your short story or the end of every chapter in your novel. Bring the audience to a physically or emotionally heightened moment, and then cut away before it is resolved. Shoot Kid Flash in the knee, followed by white space.
D) Include a subplot. Each issue should have, at minimum, one page devoted to a B story that will be picked up in a later issue. Maybe Vic Stone— aka Cyborg, a man who would have died as a result of his injuries if his father hadn’t revived and reconstructed him as a half-man, half-machine badass— is volunteering at a school in his spare time. That’s how Marv Wolfman wrote him, not just as someone who beat the crap out of bad guys, but who helped out disabled kids (while falling in love with their teacher). “Every story is about the thing and the other thing,” says Tony Earley, whose books of fiction include Jim the Boy (Little, Brown, 2000). Sounds ridiculously simple, but he’s right. Consider the short story “The Littoral Zone,” 27
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from Andrea Barrett’s National Book Award–winning collection, Ship Fever (Norton, 1996). A man and a woman, both scientists, carry out their research at a marine-biology station off the New Hampshire coast. They meet one day when working in the littoral zone, which refers to the intertidal region between where the waves retreat and the high-water mark. An affair begins. Their marriages fall apart and they end up together, but disappointed. And we go back and forth between this romantic progress of the story and the central metaphor of it, the littoral zone, “that space between high and low watermarks where organisms struggle to adapt to the daily rhythm of immersion and exposure.” The thing and the other thing. Or how about “Wild Horses” by
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Rick Bass, from his 1989 collection, The Watch (Norton). A man breaks horses for a living. That’s the A plot. But he’s fallen in love with a woman. That’s the B plot. The first story line is more plotted, the second more emotional, and they round each other out. But more than that, they begin to entwine and complement each other, as he treats her like an extension of his job, something to be conquered, and she refuses him. Paneling What does it mean to write comics? Approaches vary, but I view my role as akin to that of an aggressive screenwriter. I break down every page, every panel, sometimes at exhausting length, describing the angle of the camera, the width of the shot, the lighting and setting and costume and props, the staging of the characters. And then come the narration blocks and dialogue bubbles. I always tell the artists they should view my script as a guideline, not a contract. They should apply their own vision—contracting or expanding panels, altering angles or costumes— and they usually do. If I am some weird combination of director and screenwriter, then they are the cinematographer who shoots the picture. If you think of storytelling as a graph, then there is a vertical and a horizontal axis. The vertical captures emotion and the horizontal tracks action. Repose and movement. You already know you need a balance of both vectors, but you might not realize how you’re failing to accomplish this until you write a comic script. I didn’t, anyway. If you’re a literary writer trying to write your first comic, it might go something like this: Here is a panel of a man talking to his wife. He pulls some milk out of the fridge while she sits at the kitchen table, ashing a cigarette onto a plate. In the next panel, they’re both sitting down, and now maybe he’s got his head in his hands and a full glass of milk before him. The next panel? They’re still sitting there, talking, the cigarette burned down to the filter and the glass now empty except for the white suds J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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at its bottom. The next panel: Still sitting there. The next panel and the next panel and the next: Maybe by this point, someone has pushed away from the table, but the couple remain in the kitchen. The next panel, they’re putting on their coats. The next panel, they’re on the stoop, locking the door. The next panel, they’re walking to the bus stop. The next panel, they’re waiting for the bus. The next panel, they’re still waiting for the bus. The next panel, they’re on the bus. Now maybe there is some amazing characterization at work here. Maybe the dialogue is razor-sharp and the narration revelatory. But when you lay out the panels, it becomes painfully evident how little action is occurring. The vertical section of the graph has spiked, but the horizontal has barely clicked forward. “Suzy thinks about something” is not action. “Bob says something” is not action. Neither is ashing a cigarette or pouring a glass of milk. Panels help you explicitly track the horizontal progress of your narrative. As an exercise, try this out on a short story or novel chapter. Panel it. Break it down according to how it would read. Visually track the pacing and ask yourself if you need a better balance of narrative vectors.
T
folks at DC Comics don’t want a short story I might publish in Tin House—but they do want deep characterization, pretty sentences, resonant themes. And the editors of Tin House don’t want a script I might write for DC—but they do want something structurally sound and addictively paced. Don’t worry if you recoil from the comic shop as if it were stocked with Kryptonite. I’m not suggesting you write short stories as if they were comic scripts, just as I wouldn’t tell you to approach a novel as if it were a screenplay. But experimenting with different genres has helped me better understand the vital components of storytelling, which feels like the nerdiest of superpowers. 28
HE
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APPLY TODAY Since 2010 Stonecoast has been ranked by Poets & Writers as one of the nation’s top ten low-residency MFA programs, and has become known for providing a superb, open-minded, and progressive education in the art of writing. For more information, please visit:
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2016 Homegoing
Heartbreaker
by Yaa Gyasi, introduced by Angela Flournoy page 32
by Maryse Meijer, introduced by Lindsay Hunter page 36
The Reactive
Behold the Dreamers
by Masande Ntshanga, introduced by Naomi Jackson page 34
Rich and Pretty
by Imbolo Mbue, introduced by Christina Baker Kline page 37
by Rumaan Alam, introduced by Emma Straub page 35
Nine More Notable Debuts page 39 31
POETS & WRITERS
FIRST FICTION 2016
Yaa Gyasi
whose debut novel, Homegoing, was published in June by Knopf.
INTRODUCED BY
the author of the novel The Turner House, published in 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Y
Homegoing deserves every bit of attention it has received— a nd w ill undoubtedly continue to receive. The novel spans over two centuries, following the lives and fates of Africans sold into slavery in the New World as well as those who remained on the continent, exploring fraught issues of family legacy and individual morality in the process. It is simultaneously sweeping and precise, one of A A G YA S I ’S
those books that you finish and press into the hands of a loved one in hopes that person too will be moved. While reading Homegoing I often found myself wondering why a book like this hadn’t been written earlier, and feeling very fortunate that the novel and its author were here with us now. Homegoing follows two people—one free, in what will become Ghana, and one enslaved in the United States—in J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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each generation of the descendants of the character Maame. How did you come to this structure?
Initially, I had a more traditional structure in mind, one that started in present-day America and f lashed back to eighteenth-century Ghana. Because I wanted this novel to be about the legacy of slavery and historical inheritance, I thought it would be sufficient to move back and forth between the first generation and the
books: david hamsley; gyasi: tony gale; flournoy: latoya t. duncan
Angela Flournoy
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last generation, working with only four POV characters, but then I realized that I was far more interested in time, or rather, [in] looking at how slaver y and colonialism morphed slowly and subtly over a very long period of time. In a lot of ways the structure of this novel is my reaction to all of the people who have said, “Slavery was a million years ago. Why are we still talking about it?” I felt like if I could stop in every generation, from the height of the slave trade to present day, I could really help make it clear that history is not this discrete thing that happens neatly and then ends. It’s dynamic; it affects everything that follows. I wanted the structure to feel like that rippling effect. What role did the concept of generational inheritance play in your mind when you were writing?
I thought about inheritance a great deal while writing this book. I was interested in the idea that people can inherit something invisible. These invisible inheritances could be personal, small, familial, like someone’s tendency toward rage or compassion in difficult circumstances, but they could also be large and political, a historical inheritance that is not tied to family per se, but to an entire generation of people who lived before you. For better or for worse, we all inherit the world that our ancestors left us, in the condition in which they left it to us. In this novel, generation by generation, the world changes, but for the most part these changes are slight, sometimes even imperceptible. It would be difficult for the first generation to know how their decisions might impact the last generation, t wohu ndred-f if t y-odd years later, and yet, even with six generations between them, that last generation has inherited the conditions that the first generation set into motion.
This book explores the brutalities that human beings are capable of inflicting on one another, but it is also deeply concerned with love. Did you set out to embed this novel with a series of love stories?
No, I didn’t, actually. Lan Samantha Chang, who was one of my thesis advisers at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, was one of the first people to read the first draft of this novel in its entirety. When we met to discuss it, she immediately pointed out that these were love stories, and I had that kind of forehead smack of a moment where I was like, “Yes, why didn’t I see that?” Of course they’re love stories. On a practical level, I knew that if I was going to write a novel that followed descendants, then each character was going to need to have a child at some point. In some of these chapters the path to that child, to that familial love, does not involve romantic love at all. There are characters for whom romantic love is dangerous. There are characters who never get to know their families, to feel familial love, until they start a family of their own. This novel has single mothers and single fathers and two-parent households and queer parents and interracial parents. It was important to me to show black families and black love in all of its fullness and nuance. All of these representations of familial and romantic love are love stories, complicated, broadly defined, and true. Homegoing is an audacious undertaking. Did you ever feel doubts that you were capable of successfully embodying so many elements through your writing? How did you grant yourself permission?
I had so many doubts! My doubts had doubts. I honestly don’t think I breathed easy until after I’d finished a first draft, and that was five years after starting it. One thing that really helped me 33
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“So many of my close friends were artists who were already having these conversations about diaspora, about institutionalized racism. I would tell them the idea, and they would just be like, ‘Yes, of course.’ What could be better for a writer?” grant myself permission to write the way I wanted to was reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. I think that book is incredibly permissive for writers who want to write something big and kind of messy. I flipped to the family tree at the front of that novel no less than a hundred times. I kept asking myself, “Wait, which Aureliano is he talking about?” I got angry at the book, maybe even angry at García Márquez himself. And yet, still, I love that novel so much and I feel thankful that he took so many risks writing it, because now writers like me can read it and think that it might be okay to write a book that isn’t exactly easy. Also, I started this novel when I was in college and full of gumption and surrounded by people who were like, “You can do anything!” So many of my close friends were artists who were already having these conversations about diaspora, about institutionalized racism. I would tell them the idea, and they would just be like, “Yes, of course.” What could be better for a writer? The hard part, actually writing the novel, was doubt-laden, but the reasons for writing it always felt clear and right and fully supported.
FIRST FICTION 2016
whose debut novel, The Reactive, was published in June by Two Dollar Radio.
INTRODUCED BY
Naomi Jackson the author of the novel The Star Side of Bird Hill, published in 2015 by Penguin Press.
M
ASA N DE Ntshanga’s debut novel, The Reactive, is a searing, gorgeously written account of life, love, illness, and death in South Africa. Set in 2003, the novel follows Lindanathi, a college graduate who works in a lab that tests for HIV antibodies before contracting the virus himself, and his friends Cecelia and Ruan, as they escape the fallout of their thwarted dreams in a haze of drugs and sex while executing an ingenious scheme to sell antiretroviral medications on the black market. The book is a thoughtful meditation on both the promise and disappointment of the generation who came of age in the wake of apartheid. Ntshanga tackles the mundane (the brutal ends a supermarket cashier imagines for the store’s rude customers) alongside the truly traumatic: a family member’s suicide, as well as the death of Lindanathi’s brother following an initiation ritual. With exquisite prose, formal innovation, and a masterful command of storytelling, the author illustrates how some young people navigated the dusk that followed the dawn of
freedom in South Africa and humanizes the casualties of the Thabo Mbeki government’s fatal policies on HIV and AIDS . The Reactive is also a love letter to Cape Town—not the Table Mountain, botanical gardens, vineyards, and vistas of tourist brochures, but the train stations, streets, and apartments where people try and fail to make lives for themselves and their loved ones. Where do you locate your work within contemporary literature?
I like to think of the novel as a response, in some way, to a number of works: Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami, Harmony Korine’s original shooting script for KIDS , The Stranger by Albert Camus, Suder by Percival Everett, and Thirteen Cents by K. Sello Duiker, among others. Can you speak to the book’s political and social context, in particular the ineptitude of the South African government under former president Thabo Mbeki in choosing to neither acknowledge nor effectively respond to the AIDS crisis?
South Africa’s political situation is charged as a matter of course. J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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Do you feel any responsibility to write to, for, or from a particular generation in South Africa?
The Reactive has an invisible dedication, which goes, “for us, probably.” I didn’t feel any pressure in focusing it on the generation it settles on, but rather meant it as a gift. You write unsparingly about trauma, death, and grief in your novel. Have you thought about how to write about the truly difficult or considered how writing trauma demands or calls forth a certain set of aesthetic choices or voices?
I started working on the book by asking myself what I was most intimidated by. I’d been struggling to find my way into the story, and one day I sat back and decided to ask myself that question. It was important for me in that I needed to galvanize the novel with something I was invested in, and that’s when I realized I had never resolved my own
ntshanga: giorgia fanelli; jackson: lola flash
Masande Ntshanga
The press in the country is also known for its unrelenting nature. That said, the views are also always split on most of the country’s issues. For example, as much as there’s more or less a universal consensus that the former president was wrong in his approach, resulting in a high death toll, there are still sections of our country [in which people] disagree. Knowing this, my primary interest in the political and social context was simply that: context. I didn’t have the intention of composing a tract against the government, as much as I was interested in the lives of characters on both sides, who exist under a greater power that is imposed on them. For me, personally, the era was jarring in that it was characterized by what many would say was our first instance of state power, outside of the apartheid regime, acting on a unilateral decision, against the public and special-interest groups, and I think the characters are affected by this context in that it was a harbinger for a time of national disillusionment, a sentiment already reflected in their lives, given the country’s historic promises and its economic realities.
FIRST FICTION 2016
trepidation about death. Then, having begun writing, I knew that mortality, trauma, or grief couldn’t loom over the character in a three-act narrative. They had to permeate through him, and because of his disposition, and also my own interest in these themes, the three had to do so without ostensibly taking precedence over everything else. In the end, this was so I could study them at close range, and with more consistency. The characters in this book do a variety of socially unacceptable things, occasionally with good aims. What was your
experience of both researching and writing this book? Did you ever find yourself either judging the characters or holding back on the more unsavory elements of their lives?
Not at all. I don’t think I’m capable of judging them, and I didn’t hold back, either. I didn’t do much research until after I had drafted it, and writing it could be both aggravating and exciting at times. Like most writing. The first because you could get stuck on an awkward phrase, or a time-consistency error; the second because you could be surprised by an image, a piece of
Rumaan Alam whose debut novel, Rich and Pretty, was published in June by Ecco.
INTRODUCED BY
Emma Straub
alam: david a. land; straub: jennifer bastian
the author of four books, including Modern Lovers, published in May by Riverhead Books.
R
Alam and I went to college together, though he was both a few years older than I was and immeasurably more cooler and more fashionable, which meant that we didn’t really become friends until we were both old, married people in New York. I knew Rumaan was writing a novel because we often talk about writing, but for a long time it was his secret project, and no one had read a word. When he finally gave it to me, I was delighted—Rumaan’s book was just like him—sharp and funny and colorful UMA A N
and full of love. My only concern at the moment is that Rumaan is going to become so cool and fashionable once again that he will no longer have time to play Words With Friends with me, or to answer my late-night parenting SOS text messages. After Oberlin, you started working in magazines—what do you think that job did for your fiction writing? Rich and Pretty is about two women, and I can’t help but think all those hours thinking about your largely female readership 35
POETS & WRITERS
dialogue, or how much you remember a city. In an interview on the Two Dollar Radio site, you refer to a quote by Arjun Appadurai: “The imagination is a social force that works across national lines and creates resources for new identities.” Can you share more of your thoughts about what the imagination can offer readers and our lives in a global context?
It can open up possibility, de-establish received narratives on how to live, and foster new communities based on new thinking.
must have acted as research.
As a shy gay kid, all my best pals were girls. This remained the case through my undergraduate years (still is, really). Then I went to work at a women’s fashion magazine, where my colleagues and bosses were all women. From there, I worked in advertising, where most of my colleagues and clients were women. So while I didn’t conduct any research as such for this book, having spent my whole life in the company of women was a sort of research. The idea that eventually became this book dates to 2009, but when I look back at the things I’ve written in my adulthood, I’d say most of them have women as their protagonists. Though you are of course a young man, you are also a mature debut novelist: You’re married with two children and a professional career. What do you think the benefits are of having your first book out at this point in your life?
I am distinctly able to recall t he crippling envy I felt as a lad in my twenties, packing up shoes for a fashion shoot while Zadie Smith and Jonathan Safran Foer and Nell Freudenberger were publishing beautiful books and stories to
FIRST FICTION 2016
You didn’t go to an MFA program—do you think that matters at all?
It is one of my enduring regrets that I never attended an MFA program. I thought about it all the time as a younger
man, but in the end I never applied, for fear of rejection, most likely. I envy those writers who did and also their networks—not of agents and editors and powerful alumni, necessarily, but of peers. I don’t have a circle of writers with whom I can swap work and complaints. But I suppose the plus side is that I’m not driven crazy with envy when some kid from my workshop wins a Pulitzer. What are you looking forward to most about the novel’s publication?
This spring I was a guest at the Public
Maryse Meijer whose debut story collection, Heartbreaker, will be published in July by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
INTRODUCED BY
Lindsay Hunter the author of three books, including the novel Ugly Girls, published in 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
I
A M sick of the same old insular narratives about quirky New Yorkers and their enviable woes that go down too easy, rites of passage for wealthy women who can afford to leave it all behind, etc. I crave newness. I crave bizarre and edgy and even upsetting. I want words to linger like searing contrails behind my eyelids. I want to be thankful it’s fiction but also thankful I read it. Maryse Meijer’s Heartbreaker offers such an escape. Each story is as bracing as a slap. Brief, cutting, alive. I could not stop reading until I’d finished,
and I was shocked to reach the end, like a somnambulist who wakes at the edge of a cliff. Maryse is the type of writer that writers envy, because she exists on the other side of a door that most of us only knock at. What brought you to writing? When can you remember thinking, “I think I might write something down and see where it takes me”?
My twin sister, Danielle, is the mastermind behind my writing life. We were nine or ten years old when she basically J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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Library Association Conference, which was the first time I had the opportunity to see a bunch of people who do not live in my house holding copies of my book. I was truly moved. I thought what I wanted, all these years, was to publish a book, but what I really wanted was this: a reader. Writing is a conversation, and it’s pointless to have a one-sided conversation. The reader is essential to the work; the reader takes over the work. I am really looking forward to that point when the book stops being mine altogether, and belongs to the people who choose to read it.
ordered me to be a writer. We were both avid readers, but we were often frustrated by the literature available to us; writing was a way to create the kinds of stories we most wanted to read. Like the Brontës, we spent years creating a fantasy world—I think the technical term is paracosm—that was essentially one long story swapped back and forth. Eventually I started putting threads of this story down on paper, and we both realized, hey, this could be a thing. From then on, my twin was cracking the whip: There was a summer during which she locked me out of my room at night, refusing to let me in until I had produced at least one single-spaced page of writing and slipped it under the door for her review. If she approved, I had a place to sleep. If not, it was back to the typewriter. In many ways, my approach to writing hasn’t changed. I still write the things I want to read, and I’m still constantly inspired by the stories cocreated with my twin in our ongoing exchange. She’s my f irst editor, my first and best reader, my creator and conspirator. For me, being a writer and being a twin is kind of the same thing. How do you know you’re writing something you’re excited about?
meijer: danielle meijer; hunter: alyssa rickey
universal acclaim. But the simple truth is that I wasn’t ready to do the work associated with publishing a book. I don’t know that there’s any benefit to doing this now, at thirty-eight, beyond that I have a perspective on myself and my ability that I certainly did not have at twenty-two.
FIRST FICTION 2016
I know a piece is worth pursuing when I feel surprised and/or scared by what’s happening on the page. If, while working on something new, I have the sense I know what I’m doing, I’m probably doing something wrong. I think the most satisfying work starts out as feeling a little bit beyond me, a little out of control, a little bit like a bad idea. There is nothing out there like Heartbreaker. It snarls and kisses and bites. Did you ever feel scared about being in such uncharted territory?
I never worry about falling off the cutting edge; I only worry I’m not going far enough toward it. I’ve spent a lot of time in my particular universes, so I’m wary of getting too comfortable. What’s next for you?
I have lots of irons in the fire, including more stories and a couple of longer projects, but I’m most excited about a book of narratively linked poems, “Northwood,” which is kicking my butt. Having no background in poetry, or any idea of how to write it, gives me
Imbolo Mbue whose debut novel, Behold the Dreamers, will be published in August by Random House.
INTRODUCED BY
Christina Baker Kline
mbue: kiriko sano; kline: karin diana
the author of five novels, including Orphan Train, published in 2013 by William Morrow.
F
the very first page of Imbolo Mbue’s debut novel, I was riveted. This story—about a Cameroonian immigrant and his family trying to find their footing in America at the time of the 2007 housing-market collapse—is expansive, beautifully written, and timely. It’s also a fascinating window into a world of astounding privilege and the lives of the workers who make that lifestyle possible. A New York City power broker and his wife, Clark and ROM
the freedom to try anything without worrying about whether I’m doing it “right.” That sense of freedom crosses over into the prose work—I’m asking myself how I would approach writing a story if I didn’t have any preconceived notions about what a story should be. Reading and writing poetry brings you back to the word. You’re stripping everything down to the essentials. Even if I don’t turn out to be any good at writing poetry, I’m pretty sure the attempt will make me at least a little better at writing fiction.
What was the germ of Behold the Dreamers? How long did it take you to write?
I was inspired to write the novel after I saw chauffeurs waiting for executives in front of the Time Warner Building in midtown Manhattan. Being that some of the chauffeurs I saw looked like they could be African immigrants, I became very intrigued/curious about what the relationship between an immigrant chauffeur and an American executive might be like, considering the two very different worlds they came from. I began writing in the spring of 2011 and it took me about five years to complete. In this novel you show both what it’s like to be a new immigrant in Harlem, struggling to get by, and what it means to live a life of Upper East Side privilege. Did you draw on your own experience to create these characters?
Cindy Edwards, could not maintain their casually opulent lifestyle without the services of their chauffeur, Jende Jonga, and his wife, Neni, who works as a nanny for them in the Hamptons. As their story unfolds, the lives of these four characters intersect in complex and even fateful ways. Mbue deftly reveals the interdependence and precariousness of both modes of existence—and the excruciating choices people must make when the American dream hovers just beyond their grasp. 37
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The immigrant family in the novel is from my hometown, so like them I am an A frican immigrant in New York City, and I did indeed draw from some of my experiences there. As for the American family on the Upper East Side, my years of living in New York City gave me numerous opportunities to meet people whose
FIRST FICTION 2016
socioeconomic status and lifestyles were similar to theirs. By observing these people and having conversations with them and listening very keenly to what they said and how they said it, I learned a lot.
to come up with a new title, my husband was reading his favorite poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, and he turned to me and said, “What about the word behold?’” And voilà! I immediately wrote down Behold the Dreamers, and a title was born.
How did you come up with the title, and what is its significance to you?
You have managed, quite remarkably, to create four sympathetic main characters. Was it difficult to write about characters with whom you might not agree, or whose perspectives you might not endorse?
The book was sold to Random House under the title “The Longings of Jende Jonga,” but my marvelous editor, David Ebershoff, thought another title would be more fitting. I came up with about a hundred titles (literally!) over the course of several months, but none of them were right. During that time, I often had Langston Hughes’s collected poems on my nightstand and I kept on reading and rereading “Let America Be America Again.” The line “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed” wouldn’t get out of my head but I couldn’t quite see a title there. Finally, on the day David and I had agreed was my last day
I had to work hard on my empathy for people whose choices and actions I don’t agree with. I had to do it not only for the characters in this novel but for people I meet in my daily life. Before I started writing this novel, I doubt I had much empathy for someone like Cindy Edwards, a person who from the outside is just another rich white woman living on the Upper East Side with a chauffeur to drive her around town and a summer vacation house in the Hamptons. That is the beautiful thing about literature—it
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takes you far beyond what you see. How has your own cultural background influenced your development as a writer?
I grew up in a very class-conscious culture. Being rich brought you a tremendous amount of respect, regardless of your character, and being poor meant you had to do whatever you needed to do to gain favor from the rich. So while issues of race were new to me when I first came to America, class wasn’t—the class dynamics between the Jongas and the Edwardses would play out the same in Cameroon. What are you reading now?
I am reading Graham Moore’s amazing historical novel The Last Days of Night, about the battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over who would control the future of electricity in America—I can’t say enough about what a gifted novelist he is. Also, I just finished Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, an incredibly powerful novel.
FIRST FICTION 2016
david hamsley
Nine More Notable Debuts
saga, a tribute to a mother’s love and the way we tell stories that shape our lives.
Lily and the Octopus (Simon & Schuster, June) by Steven Rowley
Remarkable
Goodnight, Beautiful Women
(BOA Editions, May) by Dinah Cox
(Grove, June) by Anna Noyes
Set primarily in Oklahoma, the remarkable (that’s right, remarkable) stories in Cox’s award-winning collection spotlight characters whose wit, resilience, and pathos are as vast as the Great Plains landscape they inhabit.
With language both sensuous and precise, these interconnected stories immerse us in the lives of women and girls in coastal Maine as they navigate familial intimacy, sexual awakening, and love’s indiscretions.
Rowley’s novel centers on narrator Ted Flask and his aging companion— a dachshund named Lily—but readers who mistake this as a simple “boy and his dog” story are in for a profound and pleasant surprise. This powerful debut is a touching exploration of friendship and grief.
Anatomy of a Soldier
Grief Is the Thing With Feathers
Pond
(Knopf, May) by Harry Parker
(Graywolf, June) by Max Porter
A former officer in the British Army who lost his legs in Afghanistan in 2009, Parker delivers a riveting, provocative novel that captures his wartime experience in an unconventional way. Fortyfive inanimate objects—including a helmet, boots, and weapons—act as narrators, together offering the reader a powerful new perspective on war.
In the wake of his wife’s sudden death, a man is visited by Crow, a “sentimental bird” that settles into the man’s life and the lives of his children in an attempt to heal the wounded family. A nuanced meditation that not only breaks open the boundaries of what constitutes a novel, but also demonstrates through its fragmentary form the unique challenge of writing about grief.
(Riverhead Books, July) by Claire-Louise Bennett
A Hundred Thousand Worlds (Viking, June) by Bob Proehl
Valerie and her son embark on a road trip from New York to Los A ngeles to reunite the nineyea r- old w it h h is e st ra nged father, attending comic-book convent ions along the way. Proehl weaves the comic-con worlds of monsters and superhero e s i nt o a complex family 39
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In this compelling, innovative debut, the interior reality of an unnamed narrator—a solitary young woman liv ing on t he outsk irts of a small coastal village—is revealed through the details of ever yday life, some rendered in long stretches of narrative and others in poetic fragments. Bennett’s unique portrait of a persona emerges with an intensity and vision not often seen, or felt, in a debut.
Champion of the World (Putnam, July) by Chad Dundas
Gangsters, bootlegging, and fixed compet it ions converge in t he t umultuous world of 1920s American wrestling, which disgraced former lightweight champion Pepper Van Dean and his wife, Moira, must navigate in order to create the life they want. With crisp, muscular prose, t his 470 -page historical novel illuminates a time of rapid change in America.
Problems (Emily Books, July) by Jade Sharma
Raw, unrepentant, and biting with da rk hu mor, P roble m s t u r n s t he addiction-redemption narrative inside out, as Sharma follows heroin hobbyist Maya through her increasingly chaotic life after the end of both her marriage and an affair.
sp ecial s ec tion LITER ARY AGENTS
Agents & Editors FO UR VE T E RA N AGEN TS TAL K ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS, THE SECRET TO A GOOD PITCH, AND W H AT AUT HO RS S HO ULD DO IN THE L EAD-UP TO PUBL ICATION .
T
story of the Book Group sounds like the setup for a feel-good comedy directed b y Na nc y Me yer s: Fou r young women with literary dreams meet in New York at the dawn of their careers. Passionate about books, they become fast friends and professional confidantes. As literary agents, success means long hours, a little self-doubt, and a lot of courage—but they find it, inking deals, launching authors, and building agencies that bear their own names. Finally, fifteen years later, they notice what’s been obvious to the people around them for years: They ought to be in business together. For Julie Barer, Faye Bender, Brettne Bloom, and Elisabeth Weed, that’s more or less how it all unfolded. Starting their careers as agents just before the turn of the twenty-first century, their paths intertwined for a decade and a half before they formally joined forces as partners in the Book Group in June 2015. Bloom joined the Kneerim & Williams agency in Boston in 2000, and when she moved to New York a couple of years later, Weed joined her from Curtis Brown. Meanwhile, Bender and Barer, a former bookseller, were first connecting as assistants at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. While Bloom remained at her firm and eventually became a name partner, Bender, Barer, and Weed all moved on from the positions where they initially met to open their own independent agencies. By the time their partnership became official, all but Bender had come to share common office space, and the quartet often sought one another’s counsel. As Barer says, “Suddenly it became so obvious.” And now, a year in? According to Weed, “It’s a lovefest.” The partners of the Book Group are joined by agent Rebecca Stead, a Newbery Medal–winning author who is also Bender’s client; and associate agent Dana Murphy. Together, their HE
BY MICHAEL SZCZERBAN PHOTOS BY TONY GALE
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sp e c i al s e c t i o n LITER ARY AGENTS
From left: Brettne Bloom, Faye Bender, Elisabeth Weed, and Julie Barer.
clients include Kristin Cashore, Stephanie Clifford, Elisabeth Egan, Joshua Ferris, Charles Finch, Charlotte Gordon, Sarah Jio, Lily King, Dan Marshall, Paula McLain, Liane Moriarty, Celeste Ng, Francisco Stork, and J. Courtney Sullivan, among others. Barer, Bender, Bloom, Weed, and I spoke in the Book Group’s office on West Twentieth Street in Manhattan, a part of town that’s home to several boutique agencies, about how their partnership came to be. Agent Renée Zuckerbrot rec ently announced that she was joining Lippincott Massie McQuilkin after years on her own. Susan Golomb, who talked in this magazine about running her own agency, joined forces with Writers House shortly before that. Even the biggest agencies are merging: United Talent Agency just bought the Agency Group. It seems
M I C H A E L S Z C Z E R B A N is an executive
editor at Little, Brown. J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
that agencies are mirroring publishers by joining together to get bigger. Is the Book Group part of that trend?
Bender: I would rather speak to our situation than the trend, which is to say that one of the factors for each of us is t hat t hings are changing. Contracts are changing, the e-book landscape is changing, and to have all of us together with a deeper, bigger footprint is to the benefit of everyone in this room, and in particular to our clients. To come together in numbers can be powerful. What are some specific benefits? Are you talking about the particulars of book contracts, like rights and royalties?
Barer: I feel very confident in saying that I don’t think there’s anything other agents get from publishers that we don’t get. It’s a small business, and everybody knows what everyone else gets. Beyond that, we have opportunities we didn’t have before. Last week, two great booksellers came to talk to us about what we were excited about, what 42
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they were excited about, and what was working in their stores. You get more out of that conversation when you’re not just talking about your own list of forty clients. People I didn’t have a relationship with, because of the narrow focus of my list, are now coming into the office because they work with Elisabeth or they do nonfiction. Maybe there’s an opportunity for one of my clients there, or maybe it’s just great to have those conversations because something intangible comes out of them. Weed: I’m the social coordinator of the Book Group. We have somebody in the office every week—a film agent, a producer, somebody from a magazine, you name it—that we wouldn’t have met otherwise. It’s interesting to think about the trend question, though. I don’t know the answer to where agents are globally. Barer: I read the Susan Golomb interview in Poets & Writers Magazine, and she was, like, “I’m a lone wolf, man.” I think she was a lone wolf, which is what I used to say until it felt like I didn’t need to be a lone wolf anymore. I didn’t think I would start my own agency until the exact right circumstances happened, and then I never thought I would join forces with other agents until exactly the right circumstances happened. Bloom: And I never thought I would leave Kneerim & Williams until the exact right circumstances happened. I’m not sure if the agents’ buying and selling and merging is mirroring the publishers’, but I do think there’s comfort and safety in numbers. Barer: Certainly, once you join forces with people that you respect and enjoy, you realize how much you get out of it. Bloom: You feel energized. I read this statistic about how a lot of people burn out in their jobs and start to look at a job change in their mid-forties. I love my job and I want to stay in my job, but I need to shake things up a bit to keep the synapses firing. 43
You weren’t looking at the state of the business, feeling imperiled, and looking for reinforcement?
Bloom: No. I would add that our clients were absolutely thrilled when they heard about this. We all read each other’s books, our clients read each other’s books, and our lists are very complementary. They were excited to be on the shelves together. How would you describe the ideal author-agent relationship at the Book Group?
Bloom: We take on writers. I know it sounds obvious, but we want to fall in love with their voice and style and manage their entire careers. Bender: My dad reinforced for me some things he had learned through his business. He is a small-business owner, doesn’t work in publishing, and isn’t in New York, but he has been a huge influence on how to approach decisions that impact one’s business and how to conduct oneself in business. It’s important to have a very open dialogue and follow through on what we say we’re going to do. Those are seemingly simple things that don’t happen as often as they should. The relationship with an author has so many different facets to it, but with the core of honest communication it can nurture and grow. Weed: Transparency. With the information coming between the publisher and us, that can be hard, but our authors appreciate that dialogue. And since we’re so fiction-heavy, we all do a lot of editing. Barer: We all value writers who take their job seriously: both the writing of the work and the collaborative process of publishing a book. As an author, when you’re working on your first book alone in your garret, it’s hard to conceive how many people are going to have their hands on those pages by the time it comes out. I think about that too. Not just the number of people I work with or whom I need POETS & WRITERS
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to convince of a book’s merit, but what we’re all doing between when the editing is done and the book comes out months later.
Barer: This is on our minds every day. Bender: Maintaining and nurturing the enthusiasm from acquisition to publication and beyond is the biggest challenge we have. Even if a publisher is thrilled to buy the book and beats out many other bidders, the time between those two events can be tragic. After you acquire a book you can get even more excited to publish it, but you can also get nervous.
Bender: Buyer’s remorse. Barer: Or even if you’re excited, maybe the response you hoped for isn’t coming in. That time is a window of opportunit y for us to work with the authors to build their presence in the marketplace. Weed: We’ve had editors in here who
say, “Yes, the blurb game is horrendous. But anytime I get a blurb, I can send it out to everybody in the company and it’s not going to be considered annoying or self-promoting.” If there’s anything we can be doing, we try to do it. Bender: There’s an idea now that authors need to be savvy with social media. Ideally, they would be, but there are a lot who aren’t. That isn’t a nail in the coffin. It’s something that you work with. Bloom: Some authors aren’t even aware of whom they know and whom their friends know. It might even just be a matter of building up their mailing list and making sure that you have everything lined up, so that when you are six weeks away from publication you have a time line for the parts of the plan that you are doing on your own. What else do you tell your authors to do before publication?
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Bender: Send presents to their publicists. Not necessarily in a financially burdensome way—a small gesture, like making cookies. Barer: Small touches are very meaningful. No one is in this business for the glory or the cash. Weed: I also tell my authors, right at the start, that I will return an e-mail or a phone call within twenty-four hours and I tell them to do the same. I have no ego about them following up with me about something. There’s a lot of playing tag. A lot of that window of time is staying on everybody to make sure they’re doing what they should be doing. Barer: That fallow period is also a great time to start thinking about what you want to write next. Bloom: One thing that I learned from all of you is the idea of making sure that the author keeps us in the loop on all communications. Sometimes things
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start happening and the process kicks in and all of a sudden you have first pass, second pass, galleys, and things are getting away from you. Barer: The author doesn’t always know what to be looking for and we can say, “You know what, they actually forgot to do this.� Not intentionally. There’s just a lot of stuff going through a lot of hands. Bloom: We actually have it in our client agreement now. “Please, remember to keep us in the loop.� Barer: And don’t say yes to anything before we talk about it! Bloom: Our biggest nightmare is when an author gets a jacket before consulting with us and says, “I love it!� or “I hate it!� We need to talk about these things before you reply. When you get an offer from a publisher, what’s going through your mind?
Weed: Depends on the offer! [Laughter.] Say it’s for an author I’ve published before and want to continue with. In coming up with my offer, I’m thinking, “How did the last book do? What’s the sales potential for this one? How much special editorial sauce can I slather on this to help make it its best?� What’s your framework for receiving that offer?
Bender: I think we have a number in mind. Weed: We’re looking at “What is this book? Is this book bigger?� Barer: Right. Does it reach a broader audience? Has the author won a prize since the last book? W hat else has changed? It’s also us knowing the marketplace. We know what you paid for so-and-so’s book and how many copies it sold. We know what was just at auction and we know what our authors’ comp titles are doing in the marketplace. But the foremost thing we think about is the author’s existing relationship with the publisher. Is she happy with the editor and with how her publication went? Do we even want to go 45
down this road or is it better for everyone to start fresh somewhere else? Everybody likes the new new thing, and competition drives price. That can result in a frustrating situation with an author’s second book, where it feels like the only way to get what you think is a fair advance is to take it out into the marketplace. That competition can get you the money that you think the author deserves, but it’s frustrating because you want, in the best case, to stay with the option publisher. Bender: There are also realities of writers being people who need an income that counter all of the strategic thinking about what we should do. Human elements come into every decision we make. Barer: And ideally it’s a conversation. I don’t think that you have to be a hostile negotiator to get a great deal. Bender: There are specific rules about the information that we share and don’t share. Barer: It is a game where you’re trying to help editors do their job— Bender: But part of our job is withholding some of the information.
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Bloom: What we struggle withâ&#x20AC;Śis that once the auction is over, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a winner, the publisher is thrilled, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the best day ever. But you have to sustain that enthusiasm for eighteen months. Bender: If an acquisition was fueled by competition alone, that feeling probably will not be sustained through publication unless other forces come in. Barer: Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why it is important for authors to know that the books that sell at auction or for high advances are not always the most beloved, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always go on to be the most successful. There really is not a lot of direct correlation.
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sp e c i al s e c t i o n LITER ARY AGENTS
How does your relationship with an author begin?
Barer: I think the relationship starts with the book. One of the ways I know I’m really passionate about something I’m reading is when I’m rolling up my sleeves and taking out my pen at the same time. Weed: You’re writing editors’ names in the margins. Barer: I know that I’m the right agent when I see what the author is trying to do and have a clear vision of how I can help us get there. If we’re not on the same page about that, there is no relationship. Bender: You’ll do a disservice to your author in the end if you’re not working in concert on that vision. Bloom: It’s a little bit different for me because I work with a lot of nonfiction writers who often come to me with an idea. And then in talking about that idea, spending a day with them hashing
out the proposal, really fleshing it out, there is something intangible. One of my first clients, Charlotte Gordon, wanted to do a biography of America’s first published poet, Anne Bradstreet, who wrote poems late at night in the wilderness while her husband was running the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I had not seen a word that she had written, but she talked about it in a way that got me so excited I fell in love with it. We worked on the proposal; Little, Brown preempted it; and her career was off. But it started with that conversation. What is a good pitch, and how do you craft one?
Bender: It’s really important for an author to demonstrate a certain level of understanding of the business. To say, “I’m pitching my work to you because...” Barer: It helps if they can contextualize
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their work in the current landscape. Bloom: I’ve been thinking about this lately. You all might disagree with me on this, but I don’t think it’s critical that an author be able to pitch his or her own work initially. Eventually they need to understand how to talk about it. But I can think of a number of projects over the years that I fell in love with not because of how they were pitched but because of the writing and the voice. It’s more introducing yourself and communicating in your writing that you have mastery. I go to lots of conferences, and writers always want to know how to pitch their books. I kind of want to say, “Focus on the writing.” Barer: There’s something intangible that’s important in a query letter, but it isn’t necessarily distilling the elevator pitch for your book. A writer doesn’t have to grab you in the
sp e c i al s e c t i o n LITER ARY AGENTS
first two sentences with a perfect description you can put into your submission to editors?
Weed: They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to do that. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our job. Barer: Writers are primarily talented at writing their books. Writing a query letter is a different skill set. W hen I look at a query letter, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m more looking at what the story is about and the voice of the letter than I am asking if they nailed the jacket copy. Communicate what the story is about in a compelling way. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not whether you have the perfect elevator pitch but about whether you made it sound interesting enough for me to want to see the manuscript. How do you then take a writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work and come up with your pitch to editors?
Barer: Some of it is very instinctive. After being in the business for seventeen years, you know certain editors for a decade and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re friends with them and you know their kids. Some of it is picking up a phone and just being like, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know you, this is your kind of book. This is our kind of book,â&#x20AC;? and telling them a little bit about the story and a little bit about the writer. Some of what we bring as experienced, successful agents is those relationships and that personal knowledge. Bloom: The matchmaking part of this business is one of our favorite parts. We are so fond of the editors we work with. Getting to know them and their taste and making sure that we stay in touchâ&#x20AC;Śthatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why these lunches and everything else we do are so integral. W hen it comes time for that novel thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about a horse ranch in Wyoming, you need to know, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Andrea loves horses.â&#x20AC;? Keeping that information current is very important. What would you love to change about the business?
Barer: Blurbs. And God, I wish there was a way for authors to still get paid and for all of us to make money and 47
for books to be less expensive, so that literature was more widely accessible. Asking someone to spend almost thirty dollars for a hardcover book is a lot, and for some people itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just not possible. I wish there was some way to make those metrics work differently. Weed: The system of making decisions based on track record. I know publishers have to talk to accounts who are saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to take that author because the last book didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sell.â&#x20AC;? But the next book could be the best thing ever! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to change an authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name and sell it to a small publisher because of the track, and guess what? It became a best-seller. Bender: I also think we have to continue the conversation about inclusiveness and diversity, of writers and characters in books and for people in publishing. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something we all need to work toward. Bloom: This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t what I would change about the book culture, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much competing for peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention. The Internet, obviouslyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and TV is having a golden age. TV is taking on the format of novelistic storytelling, in which you get a lot of the satisfaction you get from a novel: great character development, a sort of slow unfolding of a story. Bender: And a finite start and finish. Bloom: And you can watch TV easily with someone else, so you can share the experience. We need to remind people that thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much value in reading great books and expanding your mind that way, and making sure that stays an integral part of our life. The fact that we have a president whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a passionate reader and whose favorite book of the year was a literary novel is really something. The culture is heading in a direction where books should remain the centerpiece of our cultural conversation. Weed: And independent bookstores are having a comeback, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not all doom and gloom. POETS & WRITERS
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How do you plan for the future of your business? My naive view is that you think, “I sold this many books and had this amount of money coming into the agency last year. Let’s try to do the same thing this year.”
Bloom: That’s basically about it. Bender: We’ve all been doing it long enough that we can develop a sense of what seems to happen—the royalties coming in and that kind of thing. Barer: You also know after this much time that it ebbs and it flows, so hopefully you build in a little bit of room for that in your planning. There are going to be some really good years, hopefully, and some less good years. The economy is going to influence that in ways that are out of our control. Bender: Royalties are such a beautiful thing. In the leaner years, when you have less to sell, it’s great to have a backlist that can sustain you. Barer: That’s another reason it’s nice
to be partnered with each other. We’re looking out for each other in that way and talking about it with each other. How is this year going? How are you feeling about next year? Bender: It’s something that I wouldn’t have thought to ask myself, but at our recent partners meeting the question was posed: What are your two-year goals? What are your five-year goals? Bloom: We did some strategic planning and thinking about our goals and what we are going to do to achieve them. What steps are we taking? It’s helpful to think about the authors you have, where they are in their careers, and how to help them go to the next level. I think our motto is, “Everything in advance.” We’re thinking about what we’re doing tomorrow and what we’re going to do next year. What’s next?
Barer: An even better year! We would
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be thrilled if all the joy and success and collaboration and enlightenment that came out of the first year of our partnership continued on and on. Bloom: We’re always hoping that the next e-mail is something that’s just going to blow our minds. It’s so interesting how it just…happens. You’ll be having just a normal day and the e-mail will bing and there it is: something that’s so perfect for you, you almost couldn’t have dreamed it up. You just roll up your sleeves, get out the pen, your mind starts churning, and the wheels start going.
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Read an expanded version of t his interview as well as the previous installments of the Agents & Editors series, including a conversation with agents Claudia Ballard, Seth Fishman, Melissa Flashman, and Alia Hanna Habib.
sp e c i al s e c t i o n LITER ARY AGENTS
Agent Experience HOW THEY GROW IN THE
BUSINESS AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR WRITERS By Michael Bourne
L
spring, after quer y ing nearly fifty literary agents in the quest for representation for her debut novel, Joanne Fisher screwed up the courage to contact the top name on her list, Nicole Aragi. With award-winning clients including Edwidge Danticat, Junot Díaz, and Colson Whitehead, “she was my dream agent,” Fisher recalls. “But I felt like, ‘Who am I? Why would she represent me? I’m a nobody.’” AST
M I C H A E L B O U R N E is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Within a matter of weeks, Aragi e-mailed Fisher with some surprising news: W hile she admired Fisher’s novel, she didn’t have room on her crowded list to take on a new client— would Fisher be interested in having a younger agent at her agency, Duvall Osteen, represent the book? Fisher didn’t hesitate for a second. “I was thrilled with Nicole’s enthusiasm and could see on Publishers Weekly that Duvall had indeed sold a number of notable books,” she explains. “I sensed immediately that it would be a great match.” This turned out to be a wise decision.
Osteen, who works as Aragi’s assistant even as she builds her own client list as an agent, sold Fisher’s novel to Twelve Books, which plans to publish it in 2017. “You’re so in the dark when you’re pitching your first book,” Fisher says, looking back on her long path to publication. “I would trawl so many [literary agency] websites and study the bios and think, ‘Is a senior agent better because my book has characters who are older so an older person might connect more? Or is a younger agent better because she has less of a full list and, look, she was trained by, fill in the blank?’ I never really knew.”
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For emerging writers facing a similar novelist to seek out a choice, the advantages of landing a lit- senior or junior agent. erary agent with decades of experience Much more important in publishing may seem obvious. Even than an agent’s years of in the digital age, publishing remains service, industry profesa tight-knit industry famous for con- sionals say, is the agent’s ducting business over leisurely midday grasp of a writer’s work lunches, and a senior agent with friends and the quality of the in the right places can still persuade a relationships the agent top editor to clear the decks to read a has forged with editors hot new submission over the weekend. who are most likely But senior agents owe their longevity open to publishing the in publishing to having built an impres- kind of work the writer sive client list of best-selling authors does best. “Everybody at differwho demand their time and attention, Nicole Aragi making it harder for them to take on ent ages and experience new clients. And while senior agents levels has a different may carry more prestige, observes kind of wisdom,” says Hochman. “The Gail Hochman, president of Brandt question is, ‘Does the agent love your & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc., book, and does [that agent’s] way of “young agents will know the young edi- looking at things and solving problems tors, and the young editors have more seem to match the needs you are going room on their lists, whereas the very to have with your book in the market?” senior editors are very selective. There HEN shopping for a litis something to be said for growing old erar y agent , whet her together, the agent with the author and senior or junior, it helps the author with the agent.” to understand just how Then, too, publishing professionals say, younger agents may have a better deeply interconnected publishing is. eye for the work of younger writers. The Association of Authors Represen“I really enjoy working with younger tatives, the professional organization agents because they bring fresh news, for literary agents, lists roughly four in the books they submit to me and in hundred member agents, only about the way they submit them to me,” notes a third of whom specialize in literary Gerald Howard, executive editor and fiction and creative nonfiction. Mains t r e a m p ubl i s h i n g, vice president at Doumeanwhile, consists of bleday Books. “Even at five major New York– my advanced age, I want based conglomerates— something new and exSi mon & S c hu s t er, citing that I haven’t seen HarperCollins, Penbefore or published beguin Random House, fore, and young agents Macmillan, and are a very good source Hachette—which for that sort of book betogether comprise dozcause they have fresher ens of smaller imprints. perspective on literaEven when you add ture and nonfiction.” in all the independent I n shor t , t here is pre s se s, publ ish i ng no one- siz e-f it s-a l l remains a small, clubby answer to the question place, and as with the of whet her it makes Duvall Osteen members of any club, more sense for a debut
aragi: tony gale; osteen: alisha thompson
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editors and agents with similar literary interests tend to know one another, meeting socially for lunch or at industry functions and keeping up with one another’s dea l s v ia P u bli she r s Weekly and the website Publishers Lunch. Relationships are particularly close among those who came into the business at the same time and have risen through t he ra n k s toget her. “You sort of come of age alongside your peers,” says Erin Harris, a younger agent at Folio Literary Management. “So when I was an assistant, I was going out with other assistants for coffee, for drinks, for lunch, and now those assistants are big-time editors.” Because judging a work of literature is so subjective, editors are inevitably g uided to a certain degree by the agents with whom they have developed close working relationships. This begins with an agent getting to know an editor’s literary interests well enough to offer only the sorts of books that an editor is likely to acquire and pitching submissions in a way tailored to fit that editor’s tastes. When an editor senses that an agent understands his or her tastes, that editor will naturally begin paying more attention to the manuscripts that agent pitches. “I could say that the agent from whom I’m receiving a manuscript doesn’t matter to me, but that’s not really true,” says Howard, the Doubleday editor. “I have relationships with many agents by now, extending back over decades. Many of them I consider my friends. When I receive a submission from people like that, the bonds we have established over the years invariably will color the way I read a book. It’s just human to be so.” In practical terms, Howard says, the more prominent the agent and the deeper his professional relationship
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I know the agent who’s w it h t hat agent, t he sending me something more l ikely he is to and I’ve had conversaread a submission himtions with them or I’ve self rather than assignliked other things that ing it to an assistant to they’ve sent me, then read f irst. However, when t he y send me he is quick to add that something new I’ll pay he will read a manuattention to it and I’ll script from an agent he look at it right away,” doesn’t know well if the Knight says. “Whether topic or story is compelor not they are an esling. Of course, the fact tablished name, I take that Howard knows an it into consideration, author’s agent doesn’t but it’s not a make-ormean he will acquire Gail Hochman break thing. What I’m the book, only that he’s really looking for is an more likely to bring “a certain optimism and positive anticipa- agent who has a good relationship with the writer, really believes in the book, tion to the reading experience.” Indeed, an agent’s reputation is just and is willing to work hard to make the one of many factors that shape how book successful.” These last elements—a personal an editor approaches a submission, says John Knight, an associate edi- rapport and sense of shared mission betor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. “If tween an author and agent—are key to
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a successful working partnership, publishing professionals say. They are also the reasons why many debut writers feel comfortable working with junior agents, who are, like them, struggling to build a career in a cutthroat field. Unlike book editors, who are salaried employees, literary agents work on commission—most take 15 percent of an author’s domestic earnings and 20 percent of foreign earnings—and to survive long-term, agents must sell enough books to support themselves and pay for junior staff and office space. For a so-called baby agent making the transition to a full-fledged agent, this means building a stable of authors capable of producing salable titles not just in the short term, but over a long career. Younger literary agents typically train on an apprenticeship model, starting as unpaid interns who read unsolicited manuscripts and handle
jo ann tansman
LITER ARY AGENTS
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basic administrative tasks before being promoted to paid positions as assistants. After a few years, assistants who show a knack for the business begin taking on clients of their own, often while still being paid to help senior agents deal with subsidiary rights such as selling short stories and excerpts to magazines. This is the career path followed by Erin Harris, the agent at Folio. Harris started out eight years ago as an intern for Irene Skolnick, who runs her own eponymous agency. After Skolnick promoted her to an assistant, Harris began laying the groundwork for her own career. “I was reading literary magazines voraciously, as I still do, and then doing research about the writers I admired to see if they had a book-length work in progress or completed,” she says. “I would often write a fan letter, which more often than not the editor at the magazine would send on my behalf.” Even after eight years in publishing,
four of them as a full-time agent, Harris is, like most junior agents, still actively searching for talented writers. “I continue to read literary magazines and reach out to writers I believe are promising,” she says. “I have strong connections with faculty at various MFA programs, and I’m always very grateful for their referrals. And I value my unsolicited submissions. I read all of my slush myself, and I read it very carefully, and certainly have some great success stories about authors who have come out of my slush pile. I also rely on referrals [from current clients].” Junior agents who work for highprofile senior agents have the added advantage of receiving occasional referrals from the boss, as happened when Nicole Aragi passed Joanne Fisher’s novel to Duvall Osteen. Osteen recognizes how this can look to a prospective client, but, she says, Aragi has
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prepared her well, introducing her to powerf ul editors and walk ing her through the intricacies of publishing contracts and royalty statements. “Sometimes it can feel a little bit like Nicole is saying, ‘I can’t do this, here’s my assistant,’” Osteen says. “And that is what it is. I’m new at this. But I always tell authors, ‘I have the contacts. I wouldn’t offer to do this if I didn’t. I’ve done the work under Nicole to know these people. I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t, and I wouldn’t take someone’s career into my hands if I didn’t have the confidence that I had the connections to sell the book.’” For her part, Aragi appears confident that Osteen, who now has about twenty clients, is perfectly capable of navigating the publishing world on her own steam. “I think she’s moved past the mentoring thing and more into a really nice teamwork place,” Aragi says. “In the very beginning, she would ask my
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advice on something. Now, she’s more inclined to say, ‘Okay, this is the situation: I’m going to tell them this, or do that, or follow up with so-and-so,’ and I’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, good idea.’” Even if the more senior agent isn’t directly involved in the submission process, the status of a junior agent’s mentor can still carry weight for editors, says Doubleday’s Howard. “If you’re young or, as we say, a baby agent who has worked as an assistant to a very highprof ile and effective agent, my assumption is going to be that you’ve seen how the thing is done at the highest level and have learned a lot of good lessons,” Howard says. “That would certainly capture my attention.” Writers can research a prospective agent’s biography on the agency’s website, which will Erin Harris often establish pedigree by including references to early employers and mentors. Writers can also search pw.org and subscribe to deal-tracking websites like Publishers Lunch to see what books an agent has sold and to whom. But as much as the web has opened up the publishing world for writers willing to do the online legwork, there is still a great deal a writer can only learn about an agent from direct conversation after the agent has expressed interest in the writer’s work. The only way to truly grasp an agent’s literary sensibility, for instance, is to listen to the agent talk about a manuscript. If an agent is a perceptive reader of a particular writer’s work, it will be obvious in five minutes; if not, no amount of praise and hints at lucrative contracts to come can change that. An agent’s submission plan can also be revealing: Which editors will the manuscript be sent to first? Have those editors published similar books 55
successfully? Does the agent seem reluctant to pitch a manuscript to a more senior editor, or for that matter, to an up-and-coming younger one? Beyond these clues to an agent’s philosophy, Harris recommends writers invest time researching the inner workings of the agency itself. “You should look at the agency’s infrastructure,” she says. “Do they have a foreign rights department? What kind internationalsales track record do t hey have? Do t hey have a lawyer negotiating their contracts? What is their film program like? Have they been able to sell books to Hollywood for adaptation for TV or film?” For Joanne Fisher, who ended up working w it h Duvall Osteen after she submitted her novel to Osteen’s boss, Nicole Aragi, the arrangement worked out per fect ly. A f ter all, Fisher says, she queried Aragi in the first place because she loves the authors Aragi represents, so it was hardly a surprise that Fisher’s literary sensibility also aligned with that of Aragi’s longtime assistant. “She is very self-assured and has great editorial instincts,” Fisher says of Osteen. “Maybe in some ways you’re born with editorial instinct, but she’d obviously had great training and she’d obviously worked on some important and very well-written books. We were in agreement about what makes a book great, which is the voice and the language.” Still, the irony is not lost on Fisher that she landed a junior agent she likes and respects only after querying an agent she thought of as an unattainable dream. “I think the moral there is you should really shoot high,” she says. “What if I hadn’t pitched Aragi because I didn’t believe I was good enough?” POETS & WRITERS
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Rock, Paper, Scissors AGENT, WRITER, EDITOR
(REFLECTIONS FROM SOMEONE
WHO’S BEEN ALL THREE) By Betsy Lerner
S
I was a young editor at Houghton Mifflin (this was before the 2007 merger with Harcourt), we’d go to the Boston off ice ever y few months for launch meetings. I loved going to the office on Park Street right off the Common. In the winter it looked like a Bruegel; in the spring a Seurat. It was like stepping into a Henry James novel, the elegant murals on the boardroom walls, the mahogany conference table glossy enough to skate on, the elevator with the manual cage door and the small sign within: “We take authors to great heights.” The walls were lined CISSORS. When
with framed National Book Award certificates and Pulitzer Prizes, a dizzying sight. I also loved the editors in the Boston office, each one fulfilling a fantasy of what an editor might be: an unassuming man in a bow tie with a light touch and savage wit; a poet with a potbelly and stories of great affairs with mentally unstable poets; a woman with long, white braids and Birkenstocks who spotted new-age gurus long before the term new age was in vogue; and an editor who looked like a nineteenth-century explorer with his bright blue eyes, General Custer goatee, and binoculars perched on his rolltop desk.
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On one trip up to Boston, I took my seat on the shuttle and removed the manuscript I was working on and my mechanical pencil. A young, goodlooking man, about my age, sat down next to me. He took out a copy of one of my favorite books, Great Expectations. Then he turned to me and asked, “Are you a writer?” “No,” I said a little apologetically. “I’m just an editor.”
R
I’m in an agents’ lunch group called E TA (editort u rned-agent). There are ten or so of us and we were
OCK.
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all card-carrying editors before we crossed the line and became agents. We meet at Japonica in Manhattan. Ten agents, ten credit cards. We look around before we say anything too damning, because the place is lousy with publishing types. We each have our successes, but we mostly talk about the challenges, the indignities, and the absurdity of our business. Publishing equals complaining. It’s one of the great pleasures of our business, often elevated to an art form that takes the shape of pure Schadenfreude, petty envy, niggling gripes, and overwhelming disgust. At our last lunch, a new editorturned-agent joined us for the first time. He looked a little freaked out by the blank slate before him. Going from salary to commission is daunting. The rhythms of agenting are also different. Project development can take months or years, and author care is more intensive. Over the years I’ve nursed writers through depressions, writer’s block, addiction, divorce, and bankruptcy. One of my writers didn’t pay taxes for over a decade—oops! Also, when you’re an editor you have the institution of the publishing company behind you. When you’re an agent—especially an indie, as we all are in our lunch group—you’re the last line of defense. Part of why I didn’t want to be an agent was this added layer of responsibility for a writer’s well-being, financial and otherwise.
B E T S Y L E R N E R is the author of The
Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers (Riverhead, 2000), as well as the memoirs The Bridge Ladies (Harper Wave, 2016) and Food and Loathing: A Life Measured Out in Calories (Simon & Schuster, 2003). She worked as an editor for sixteen years at a number of publishing companies, including Doubleday and Houghton Mifflin. Lerner is a partner with the literary agency Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut. 57
I once had a client who cried that he couldn’t afford his baby’s diapers. Another couldn’t afford her rent. Our new agent friend was pale by now. We all weighed in and unanimously agreed that the best part of being an agent boiled down to this: We all felt free—free to take on what we wanted, free to push our passion projects as hard as we could, free to make our own hours or take time off. Or, as one of us said, “Go to sample sales in the middle of the day.” Or therapy.
S
CISSORS. I
am a word nerd. I love language. I have an MFA in poet r y, which means I dropped nearly twenty thousand dollars on sonnets and villanelles. The first time I wrote flap copy for a book, you’d have thought I was composing the Magna Carta, that’s how seriously I took the job. There is nothing about the editorial process that doesn’t fascinate me. When I was an editorial assistant, I would make a copy of the manuscript my boss was working on and edit it. Then I would surreptitiously compare my notes to his. I was astonished at how much I missed; this was how I learned line editing. I had done this for a few books when he noticed what I was up to. After that we compared notes together. Eventually, I would catch most of the things he pointed out to the writer. Once in a great while, I’d catch something he’d missed. It was an amazing feeling. This was the first sign that I really loved editing and might be good at it. Great editing boils down to paying extremely close attention and then communicating your thoughts to the writer in a way that motivates and elevates. Demoralized writers don’t tend to thrive. Then I worked for an editor in chief who was obsessed with blueprints and architecture. He’d structure books within an inch of their lives and expected his editors to do so as well. I learned a lot from him, but I also learned what not to do. I’ve come to POETS & WRITERS
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believe that structure emanates organically from the pages and suggests itself the way patterns do through poems. Often, structuring a book is one of the most difficult things for writers to do. They are staring at themselves too closely in the mirror most of the time. My greatest happiness as an editor (and still as an agent) is to figure out structure: how many chapters, how many parts, how much variation, where are the key breaks in the book, what is the tense and point of view. I love helping a writer make a transition seamless that once seemed rocky, or take a leap in time and place to striking dramatic effect. Teasing out the themes, and sometimes even finding the meaning—these are the moments when you and your author are humming, and it’s amazing. I also love coming up with titles. It’s like being in a batting cage. For me, a homerun title is original, unforgettable; the more you read the book, the more right
the title feels. Bonus: You come upon the sentence where the title comes from while reading, and it feels like the whole world makes sense.
R
OCK. As an agent, I developed a rash on my arm the first time I sent a project out to editors. Until then, on the editorial side, I had been in the position of rejecting. Not right for our list, not our cup of tea, falls between stools, should be a magazine article, we have something like it on the list, didn’t fall in love. I was now on the receiving end of these clichéd yet painful e-mails. If a book didn’t sell, I felt as if my kid didn’t get into college. “Wasn’t there anyone who would take him? He’s a good kid and he’ll try hard.” I learned that for every project you sold, you still received about ten rejections, sometimes more. I learned that some editors never responded at all. My agent group nicknamed one the
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Bermuda Triangle; everything you sent to her disappeared forever. Some editors had their assistants read the manuscripts and/or write the rejections, which had the whiff of college term papers. It was bad getting rejected; it was worse getting rejected by some Williamsburg hipsters who vape. Of course, these rejections are far worse for the writer. Still, you are on the front lines and you have to filter the information to a pile of jelly known as your client. I hear the agents in my office (and myself ) spinning the bad news, holding out hope for some good news. We tell our clients to take a long view; we tell publishing horror stories to make their predicament seem less heinous; we take them for lunch, or talk every couple of days as if coaxing someone off a ledge. On the flip side, there is no greater call to make than to convey an offer to a client. It is the call they have been waiting to hear for their
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entire writing life. You feel like Santa Claus and a fairy godmother all at once. And, of course, in that moment the client’s and the agent’s success is intertwined. You haven’t exactly had a child together, but something has been born.
P
A PER. I have a strip of paper from an e-mail someone sent to me taped to my computer. It says, “Why are you an agent instead of a writer?” It was meant as a compliment and I took it as one. But I also took it as a reproach. I have never, not after three books, taken myself seriously as a writer. Bellow is a writer. Plath is a writer. Capote is a writer. That’s part of it. A nother is temperament. I need people to need me. I need a place to go. I need a reason to get dressed. I need something to keep me out of the refrigerator. And I need health insurance. I’ve struggled with manic depression since
I was a teen; it’s not a good idea for me to be left to my own devices. I need, in short, structure. I need my colleagues. I need my writers. And I love many of them. When I’ve worked on my books I was happy in my sandbox. Hours and hours flew by without my looking up. I was completely absorbed. I didn’t suffer the way you’re supposed to. I’m one of those obnoxious people who think writing is fun. My favorite part is coming up with similes, which are like little puzzles. I love to wrestle with a simile, see which of us prevails. I will fight for a simile for hours if I have to. When I read, a great simile will knock me out and pull me into a book more than any other element. I look at that piece of paper every day and I think about the road I sidestepped. I think about all the authors I’ve worked with and how I never could have dreamed this literary life for
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myself. I know that most of what I know about writing comes from editing and having a ringside seat to authors and the craft of writing. One travel writer once told me that I was better off behind my desk. She was more than right. I’ve been happy cutting and pasting. I prefer to read about faraway places than go to them, and I feel that reading is just about the best way to experience anything. When I graduated college my artsy friends eschewed traditional jobs in favor of pursuing their art or studies. I couldn’t do it, wasn’t willing to make the sacrifice. I wanted my own apartment. I needed security and benefits. I had to have savings. Writers and artists make these sacrifices to pursue their work. I’ve had a day job since the Monday following graduation. Why are you an agent instead of a writer? When asked why they write, most writers will tell you they had no choice. I did.
sp e c i al s e c t i o n LITER ARY AGENTS
The Aha!
1 “That’s about as abrupt a beginning as you can get. I love being shoved straight into a story. I like it when the opening makes me think, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ I could pretty this up, but that is essentially what was going on in my brain. Something bad has happened, and I guess as a reader I was thinking, ‘What, what, what?’”
Moment
2 “She’s doing something familiar in a very different way, and that’s the hardest thing to find as an agent. You start this and you think, ‘Ah, we’ve got a touch of Patrick O’Brian here.’ You go immediately to the comparison because that’s what we’re all taught to do. But it’s not Patrick O’Brian. It’s Naomi Williams, and obviously as I read through the whole story and, later on, the manuscript, I realized she has very much her own voice.”
Nicole Aragi of Aragi, Inc.
L
agent Nicole A ragi likes to scout for new talent in literary magazines but, like many top agents, she is so busy reading manuscripts by existing and prospective clients that the journals too often pile up unread. Even when she sees a published story she likes by a new writer, Aragi says, it’s often too late for her to send a note asking if the writer has a novel in the works, and she moves on. That didn’t happen when she read Naomi J. Williams’s stor y “The Report” in t he Fall / Winter 2007 issue of American Short Fiction. “I read it, loved it, and wrote to her I think the same day,” Aragi says. “There was something there that I just wasn’t going to miss out on if it was at all possible.” “The Report” turned out to be part of a set of linked stories focusing on an eighteenthcent u r y French voyage of ex plorat ion t hat ended i n tragedy when two ships were ITER ARY
wrecked near the Solomon Islands. When Williams sent t he f i n ished col lect ion to Aragi in 2013, six years after “The Report” first appeared in print, Aragi suggested that Williams rework the stories into a novel. Williams did so, and Aragi sold the book, Landfalls, to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, which published it in 2015. Here, as part of a continuing series, Aragi, who founded her New York–based agency in 2002, discusses the mixture of deft prose and narrative suspense that drew her to Williams’s work. Now a resident of California, Williams was born in Japan and did not speak English until she was six. She is presently at work on her second book, a novel about t he early t went iet hcentury Japanese poet Akiko Yosano.
3 “That’s a heavy sentence. It’s where he’s being reminded of the obvious. His memory is clearly not allowing him to remember this.” 4 “She has this very neat way of letting you know where you are without saying, ‘This was a time of exploration and discovery.’ It’s a very hard thing to do. She gives sufficient details for you to make sense of the time period, and whatever it is that your brain’s trying to work out while you’re reading, she answers it without you knowing that you asked the question or that she has answered it.” 5 “This is both incredibly visual and also reinforces what is going on elsewhere in this piece, where you’re thinking, ‘What has happened?’ Clearly, this guy is feeling either despair or depression or fear or loss or something. I like when all the sorts of things that you’re asking feed into each other, and you’re getting suspense: What happened? People have died. How? Why? You understand that nobody wants to deal with it, which is suspenseful as well, and you understand that there’s been a tragedy of some sort and that their world has been turned upside down.” 6 “This is a really, really simple sentence that lets you understand that something ominous has happened and that it’s complicated and there’s a reluctance to account for it. ‘I will write the report tomorrow.’ Boom. It’s freighted with reluctance.”
M I C H A E L B O U R N E is a
contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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THE REPORT Somoa, 1787 by Naomi J. Williams We hauled the wounded aboard the frigates—the Astrolabe first, then the Boussole. We kept our men from shooting the natives. We frightened off the canoes. We counted the men who returned from the cove alive. There were forty-nine. We counted again. Forty-nine. Then our commander, Mr. La Pérouse, had me follow him to his stateroom, where he asked that I write a report on what happened. He said to do it right away while my memories were fresh. I reminded him that Mr. Boutin is senior to me. You oversaw the retreat, the commander said. But sir, I protested, Mr. Boutin has experience writing this kind of report. It was the wrong thing to say, a reminder of last year’s calamity. The commander drew his eyebrows together and said, his voice low, Vaujuas, Mr. Boutin is injured. And then I felt like an ass, for how could I have forgotten? I’d hauled him up the side myself, held him when he staggered on the deck. Mr. La Pérouse toyed with a marble bust on his desk. He has two—one of Rousseau and one of Captain Cook. He fingered the base of Rousseau as if he might chip away at the stone. Any more questions? he asked. I left him, but at the stateroom door I looked back and saw him leaning his head against the fingertips of both hands, as if he were holding his skull together. I was rowed back to the Astrolabe. For two years I’ve wanted more quiet, but now I would give anything to go back to the din of yesterday. It was peace I wanted, not silence. I will write the report tomorrow.
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Writer
THE PRACTICAL
How to Pitch Yourself to Bookstores W H AT BO OK SE L L E R S WA N T F ROM A N AU T HOR
patrick snook
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OVELIST Dana Bate walked into Open Book Bookstore with a smile on her face and a book in her hand. It was a weekday, early afternoon, and the store was quiet. “I live in the neighborhood,” she said, “and I wanted to come by and say hello. I’m a local author and I have a new book coming out in a few months. I brought you a copy.” It was a perfect entrance, and it set the tone for what was to follow: a successful author-bookstore partnership. Several months later, our store held the launch party for Bate’s new novel, Too Many Cooks (Kensington Books, 2015). We had over fifty attendees and we sold forty copies of the book. Throughout the planning process, Bate was always friendly and positive, never pushy. She understood that planning her event wasn’t always our top priority, and she was patient in our e-mail correspondence, even if I didn’t always get back to her right away. She volunteered to help wherever possible. Too Many Cooks is set in London and its protagonist is a food writer, so I suggested we go with a British theme and have an afternoon tea party. Bate immediately volunteered to buy some scones, which we appreciated, as we have a limited event budget. I created an invitation for the event, and the author sent me seventy names and e-mail addresses of friends, family, and other contacts. That targeted list definitely helped fill the room. In the current publishing environment, much of the responsibility for promotion falls on the author, and enterprising authors must work hard to get the word out about their books. Some have the help of a publicist assigned to them by their publisher; others—self-published or published by smaller presses—do not have this assistance and may decide to hire a book publicist out of their own budget or to take on the work themselves. Either way, having a better understanding of how indie booksellers and event planners choose which books and authors to support with events can help authors approach bookstores and create successful event partnerships.
LY N N R O S E N is co-owner
of the Open Book Bookstore in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
Get the Process Started What’s the first thing a bookseller does when considering a 63
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the practical writer
HOW TO PI TCH YOU R SEL F
book and an author for an event? John Evans, co-owner with Alison Reid of DIESEL , a bookstore in Oakland, as well as in two other California locations, says he and his colleagues realize how hard the author has worked to get to this point. “The first thing on our side is to appreciate their effort,” he says. Mitchell Kaplan, founder and owner of Books & Books, a store with seven locations, three of them in South Florida, agrees: “Writing the book is the first step. But the writing is in some ways the easier part.” Kaplan believes that a successful approach to setting up store events begins well before the book’s publication, and suggests the author work to build early excitement within the bookselling community. “First thing, look around the country and see what areas might be most amenable to the book,” he says. “Try to do a study of where there might be interest. Take stock of what communities J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
you know—where you have friends and where you know people.” He then suggests a gentle approach. Don’t oversell yourself. “Tell them, ‘Hi, I’m so-and-so and I just want to make sure you are aware of a book that I have coming out in March of next year,’ or whatever.” Leave a galley, or send one, if it’s available. Provide pertinent information, anything from awards won to local connections. Evans says some of the most successful events he’s seen are local events with local people. Kaplan echoes this, saying that the best place for an author to start looking to set up events is with the stores closest to home. After all, booksellers like to support local authors. “Local-author events where people invite family and friends— those are successful and human and warm,” says Evans. “Those events have a lot of heart in them, and often that translates into sales.” 64
mauricio figuls
John Evans, co-owner of DIESEL bookstore in California.
the practical writer
Do the Research W het her appro ac hing a store nearby or in another town, one rule stands: Learn about the store before you approach the event coordinator (who may or may not be the store’s owner). Margie Scott Tucker, co-owner of Books Inc. in San Francisco, advises authors to, at the very least, look at the store’s website. “Don’t walk into the store blind,” she says. “Make sure you know who you’re dealing w it h. That takes five minutes of Internet research. Look at their website. See what kind of events they do. Be informed.” A good tip is to sign up for the store’s newsletter. This rule applies to new and seasoned authors alike. Evans tells the story of a visit from film director John Sayles to discuss his historical novel A Moment in the Sun (McSweeney’s Books, 2011). Sayles arrived in the afternoon for an event that was scheduled to take place later that evening and walked around to familiarize himself with the store. Then he had dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. By the time of the event, Sayles had gained a sense of the area, and was able to mention as part of his talk that the streets in the store’s neighborhood were named after generals in the Spanish-American War. Many of the locals hadn’t known that, and they were impressed, says Evans. “He connected American history to where they were. That’s a novelist’s attention to details!” Tucker says there are two things she does first when deciding whether or not to host an event. “I check on how readily available books are for the event. Are they available through our regular ordering channels? Are they returnable, 65
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are they regular discount?” If the book is not easily available, booksellers will consider taking the book on consignment from the author—that is, selling copies of the book that the author provides, with no financial obligation for unsold copies. “With self-published authors, that’s when you get into consignment agreements and different kinds of discounts that you have to look at separately,” says Tucker. “Those are each individual situations. We’re not averse to it, but we have to look into it.” The other thing Tucker does is check the author’s website to see if there is a link to IndieBound. Created by the American Booksellers Association, IndieBound enables readers to easily locate a nearby indie store and to shop at these stores, both in person and online. “I don’t like to confirm an event until I know that they’re at least linking to IndieBound,” says Tucker. Form a Partnership Authors need to approach a bookseller as a potential business partner, not in a ‘What can you do for me?’ frame of mind. Before booking an event, the planner will want to know what the author can bring to the party. “You have to create a proposal that makes it worthwhile in the event planner’s mind for you to do your event at that store.” Kaplan says. Does the author have a great mailing list? A strong social media presence? A lot of friends and family in the neighborhood? A willingness to do whatever it takes in terms of outreach to local schools or other groups? “Sell it,” says Kaplan. Evans hopes authors realize that stores spend a lot of their resources to support events, so they want to see that the author is willing to support the store in turn. “You are asking the store to do something for you,” he says, “so you want to help them.” Kaplan agrees: “Be as involved in the promotion of the book as you were in the writing of the book.” At Watermark Books in Wichita, Kansas, the booksellers want to make it as easy as possible for authors, especially those working independently, to work POETS & WRITERS
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open with a description with them, so they have of the book, then read a special section on their for about f ive minutes website t hat spells out and take questions. “The their procedures for workcrit ical t hing is to reing with indie and local ally take the advice of authors. So many local whoever is coordinating authors have approached the event,” says Bagby. owner Sarah Bagby and “We’ve hosted so many her colleagues that they events that we know when started a local literar y an audience is gett ing festival, which now takes tired and if the author is place quarterly and feanot resonating. We tell tures about ten authors at them: Don’t ask ‘should I each event. A requirement read some more?’ If the for participation is attenanswer is no, it can be so dance at a session with the awkward.” store’s marketing staff. This enables the authors Get Social to meet one another and Once an event is booked, get inspired about working Mitchell Kaplan, founder and owner of Books & Books in Florida. it is crucial for the author together, and also to learn some promotional tips and techniques. in our marketing materials?’” says to participate in promoting it, and “We ask the questions they may Bagby. Members of the marketing staff social media provides a significant not have asked themselves, such as teach authors how to do a successful platform for authors to support the ‘Who is your book for?’ and ‘How can presentation—suggesting they not go effort. “It’s pretty key to work that we write about this book succinctly longer than forty minutes, that they social media!” says Bagby. Tucker
emphasizes the importance of this when booking events: “Every confirmation that we send to authors gives all the important details: date, time, contact person, and also a link to our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, so people can link to that.” The bigger the author’s network, the more it helps. “Mindy Kaling tweeted that she was going to be in San Francisco and tickets sold out in five hours,” says Tucker. “One tweet: 1,600 people. So obviously that kind of thing works.” However the author can reach out to contacts and potential readers in the area is appreciated, as is when an author has a fan base already in place to whom he or she can promote the event by social media, e-mail, or any other means. Kaplan tells of wellknown authors who have appeared at his stores and who over the years have kept mailing lists of all the people who attended. “When they’re in the area, they send a handwritten note to these people.” The Finishing Touches There are a number of ways an author can work to create successful partnerships with stores for events. And while each store may specialize in particular kinds of books, there is one thing all booksellers agree is the most important thing an author can do: Be nice. Kaplan puts it colorfully: “You roll over and show your belly to the event planner so they know you’re very nice. You gotta project nice and that you’re not going be a hassle to work with.” Get to know the staff and thank them, says Evans. Not only is this just good manners, but Evans also points out that booksellers at indie stores tend to keep their jobs for a long time, so establishing a warm relationship that can last is important. “Authors should understand that the booksellers have an ongoing relationship to the people in the room. You are kind of coming into someone’s living room. We’re introducing you to all these people that are close to us.” A friendly encounter
Sarah Bagby, owner of Watermark Books in Wichita, Kansas.
with a bookseller will likely make that person more inclined to mention the book to customers. Also, it’s a tightknit business, and many booksellers know one another. Word of bad behavior spreads. Planning, partnering, and promoting all contribute to making events work. DIESEL’s Evans says there are several ways to evaluate the success of an event. “It could be: How many people showed up, and did the event go nicely? Or it could be: How many books did we sell?” But beyond those practical questions, Evans says, “The ultimate [factor] is whether there is 67
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magic or not. Magic is something authors generate, but they can’t do it alone; they have to do it with an audience.”
PW.ORG/CONNECT
Research bookstores that host readings in the Reading Venues database; post information about when and where you will be reading next with the Literary Events Calendar; find details about readings in cities across the country with the mobile app Poets & Writers Local; and plan and promote your next tour with the Reading Tour Manager.
Writer
THE PRACTICAL
Reviewers & Critics CA ROLY N K ELLOGG OF THE LOS A NGELES TIMES
I
N JANUARY Carolyn Kellogg was named book editor of the Los Angeles Times. She’d been leading the newspaper’s online book coverage since 2008, when she launched the books blog Jacket Copy, and had joined the staff full-time in 2010, the same year she received a Times Editorial Award for feature blogging. Kellogg grew up in Rhode Island and attended the University of Southern California. Her first job in new media was at Disney Interactive in the 1990s, and in the years since then she’s had many professional roles, including managing editor of the music-festival website Woodstock .com, editor of LAist.com, and web editor for the publicradio show Marketplace. As an early book blogger, in 2005 she launched Pinky’s Paperhaus—a podcast in which she talked to writers about music—which she shut down while she was in graduate school. Kellogg, who earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Pittsburgh, has retained a sense of the literary playfulness that marked those early projects: On Twitter (@paperhaus), she has attracted more than thirty-four thousand followers.
M I C H A E L T A E C K E N S has worked in the publishing business since 1995. He is a cofounder of Broadside: Expert Literary PR (broadsidepr.com).
linwood hart
How has your job changed since your promotion to book editor earlier this year? Almost entirely. I previously wrote daily for our blog and weekly book reviews and features. Now I assign and edit all our coverage for print and online. While I occasionally have a chance to write, overseeing our coverage is keeping me busy. I’m interested in bringing new voices into our pages, interesting thinkers, people you may not have heard of yet but who have a strong point of view. I consider that one of the great opportunities of my new position. When Los Angeles Times editor Davan Maharaj announced your promotion, he stated that your role “will go beyond the printed word to explore ideas, film, art and society.” Are you reviewing other art forms as well, or is this all through the lens of literature? In March we announced a lineup of ten critics at large, who will be engaging with books and ideas and culture in our pages: Rebecca Carroll, Alexander Chee, Rigoberto González, Marlon James, David Kipen, Laila Lalami, Viet 69
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the practical writer
R EV IEWERS & CR ITICS
There’s almost a default belief that people with MFA s in creative writing will either pursue jobs as teachers of creative writing or become acquisitions editors at publishing houses. How do you think your MFA degree has informed your role as a book critic and book review editor, and what adv ice would you g ive to current MFA students who wa nt to pursue a Carolyn Kellogg, book editor of the Los Angeles Times. similar path? I t hink t he idea t hat an MFA will result in a job teaching cre- genius with structure. This was, of ative writing has been, or needs to be, course, Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From recalibrated. There are simply many the Goon Squad. And then there’s the more MFA s awarded every year than downside—spotting the novel with there are creative writing jobs. Get- fifty pages of jewel-like prose, polting an MFA in creative writing is de- ished to death in workshop, that fails lightful, but it’s going to take a killer to maintain that level of attention and book or two before you’re sharing the concentration throughout. faculty lounge at Princeton with Joyce Carol Oates. The best career advice I You were recently interviewed on can give is to stay flexible: When I was WNYC’s On the Media about “why in grad school and teaching comp and the publishing industr y isn’t in freelancing—copyediting—I wrote peril.” Music to everyone’s ears! my first book review for the Los Angeles W hat makes you feel optimistic Times. If you really want to be a critic, about the future of the industry? you should feel comfortable expressing One of the things we talked about your opinions, join the National Book in that interview was adult coloring Critics Circle and use its resources, books, which really helped drive print read widely, and pitch, pitch, pitch. book sales in 2015. They’re billed as My MFA gave me the tools to see a respite for grown-ups who are seekand understand craft. I can read an ing the calm of coloring when turnoutstanding novel like Paul Beatty’s ing away from staring at computer and T he Sel l o ut a nd ob ser ve how it s phone screens. But another big sales switchbacks of humor, politics, pop driver were memoirs by YouTube stars, culture, and inverted satire are op- which sold to tweens—an entirely diferating even at the sentence level. ferent demographic, seeking a connecOr pick up a robin’s-egg-blue gal- tion to these stars that’s different from ley from a writer whose prior novel their frank, engaging videos. As long was a gothic pastiche and see that as people are turning to books from she’s accomplished something totally different age groups, for divergent J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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jay l. clendenin for the los angeles times
Thanh Nguyen, Adriana E. Ramírez, John Scalzi, a nd Su sa n St ra ight— fantastic writers all, and I am delighted to be working with them.
the practical writer
reasons, publishing has reason to be optimistic. How important do you think social media is in your role as an editor and critic? I love Twitter. I am terrible at Facebook. The former, for me, is like a watercooler, around which many bookish people have gathered. I follow comedians like Patton Oswalt, international reporters like Borzou Daragahi, and the artist Jennifer Dalton so I have windows into other worlds, and I am grateful to people who think I might have something interesting to share from mine. If I feel like I’m being too boring…I try to post a picture of a bookshelf or a cat. Particularly a cat; it is the Internet, after all. What sorts of things influence you when assigning a book for review— an author’s name, the size of the advance, prepub reviews, blurbs? What about your relationships with
REVIEWERS & CRITICS
editors and publicists—do those ever help a book get reviewed? This is an interesting question, because it implies that if a book just has a secret weapon it will be reviewed. Of the things you mention, I don’t care a whit about the size of the advance, but the rest may factor into the decision to assign a book. More important, however, is the prose, and if it’s nonfiction, the subject. There is no secret, external weapon: In the end, a book stands on its merits. Are you able to dedicate much attention to poetry, genre books, and/ or children’s books? Poetry fairly regularly, while I think children’s books are harder to get a handle on critically. I’m not sure where the genre lines are anymore; I think our coverage crosses them. Are there any book critics whose work you particularly relish? Kathryn Schulz, now at the New Yorker; Dwight Garner and Parul Sehgal at
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the New York Times; and my former colleague David L. Ulin, wherever his writing appears. What books that you aren’t reviewing yourself are you most looking forward to reading this year? My prior regular reviewing responsibilities and my recently concluded tenure on the board of the National Book Critics Circle used to dominate my reading. Recently I started Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer, which is fantastic; I have Jean Stein’s West of Eden in my to-read pile; and I’ll probably blend stuff I’ve missed—Anna Karenina!— with new books, like Idra Novey’s Ways to Disappear.
PW.ORG/MAGAZINE
Read an expanded version of t his interview as well as previous installments of the Reviewers & Critics series, including interviews with Ron Charles, Dwight Garner, and Roxane Gay.
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A highway miracle involving a Martin D-18 guitar and Joshua Bell fiddling anonymously in a park underpass are among the subjects of these poems. Here are snapshots of the Bronx before Jimmy Carter visited the rubble of Charlotte Street, and a translation of the Anglo-Saxon elegy “The Wanderer,” replete (like the Bronx) with charred ruins and warriors’ ghosts.
Intense and charmingly erotic, this new volume from Lyn Lifshin explores female personas including Enheduanna and Leda’s daughter. In this collection, Lifshin’s ‘barbaric yawp’ asserts its independence once again. This series of poems claims unfamiliar territory for the “queen of the small presses.” #AliveLikeALoadedGun is a stunning poetic journey brought to life by Transcendent Zero Press.
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Invincible Summers By Robin Gaines ELJ Editions
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Giorgio the ‘Possum, and Other Stories from Nature By Steven Jakobi This collection of 28 essays is drawn from the author’s life-long love of nature and his decades of college teaching experiences. Through a combination of humor, personal anecdotes, history, folklore and scientific discovery, Jakobi opens the door to nature and our place in it. “Reading the book, I couldn’t help thinking of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac.”—P.W. Klein. www.stevenjakobi.com
Bamboo Secrets: One Woman’s Quest through the Shadows of Japan By Patricia Dove Miller Illuminated Owl Press/May 2016 While living in Japan, Miller’s dream of a year of exploration and personal growth is shattered when her husband is detained on drug charges. Bamboo Secrets weaves together three strands: a mature woman in search of herself; an American’s love of Japanese culture and her study of its traditional arts; and an outsider’s struggle with Japan’s dark side.
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A Facet for the Gem: The Tale of Eaglefriend—Book One By C.L. Murray
Another Day, Otro Día By Kathleen Suits-Smith
A hero’s epic adventure brings him to airborne battles with eagle-riding knights, into the fiery breath of a stony dragon, and side-by-side with a lady warrior who is the last person to need rescuing. How does a young outcast go from friendless to being dubbed Eaglefriend? Follow Morlen to his final showdown against swords, fangs, and fear.
Another Day, Otro Día depicts the lives and challenges of contemporary migrant workers in the dairy industry of rural New York. After her husband’s death, Peggy’s life is forever changed. Through her romance with Rio, a migrant worker, Peggy learns the realities of migrant life in America. This novel is emblematic of current news and political discussions surrounding immigration reform.
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St. Petersburg Review Edited by Elizabeth Hodges
I Am One of You By Nicole M.K. Eiden Mississippi Sound Publishing “Moving poetry that kindly welcomes readers in to sit down and rest awhile.”—Kirkus Reviews. “These poems explore a common life, offering cadences of the everyday in images ... lovingly attuned to what it means to see the world in both its joys and sorrows and to not be afraid. These are incantations to turn to when the path seems dark.”—Robert Kinsley.
“The tone of the writing is often surprising, sometimes shocking, and still entertaining ... St. Petersburg Review is an insightful magazine that will bring you closer to the human interactions of our global neighbors. It’s an absorbing read.”—Valerie Wieland, New Pages.
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We Are Not the Enemy: We’ve Come Only with Our Dreams By Fran Reed
The Strangers Edited by Anna Wang Yuan Purple Pegasus Publishing
Read the truth. Some TV speakers tell lies about my friends, the immigrant families. Read their true stories in We Are Not the Enemy: We Come Only with Our Dreams. For 60 years I, Fran Reed, have been their health educator, translator, and notary. See why and how they have come to be here and what they’ve found. For signed copies contact me at ml888888@aol.com or (843) 715-0124.
Purple Pegasus Publishing presents a collection of short stories The Strangers. The book consists of nine short stories that explore the immigrant experience from a wide variety of perspectives via the intensity that defines the art form. Chinese-Canadian novelist Anna Wang Yuan edited the book and her interviews with each author make up the anthology’s unique Q & A sections.
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Beyond Rain Man: What One Psychologist Learned Raising a Son on the Autism Spectrum By Anne K. Ross Leatherback Press Although one child in 68 has autism, psychologist Anne Ross is stunned when she learns her son has Asperger’s. Her compelling and lyrical story of raising—and launching—him is one of anguish as well as joy, and what she learns along the way will help other families who are living this perplexing, remarkable, and humbling journey of parenthood.
No Ghost Goes Unnoticed By M. Drew Williams Leaf Garden Press A small collection of poems, this book explores themes of uncertainty, fragility, and the inevitability of hardship. It is an unflinching examination of the challenges of the human condition and why we, though oftentimes faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, choose to press on in spite of them.
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I Am Divine Within By C.J. Savage
Indian Giver By John Smelcer Leapfrog Press
This book is an interactive journal of poems and expressive writings. The purpose of this devotional meditation journal is to create a scared space where you can practice expressive writing. Start practicing a consistent morning and evening routine of meditation, prayer and inspirational reading, and journaling. Aristotle Onassis said, “Always carry a notebook. Write everything down.” www.balboapress.com
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GR A N TS & AWA R DS
POETS & WRITERS MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES state, national, and international prizes in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We list only prizes of $1,000 or more, prizes of less than $1,000 that charge no entry fee, and prestigious nonmonetary awards. Applications and submissions for the following prizes are due shortly. Before submitting a manuscript, first contact the sponsoring organization for complete guidelines. When requesting information by mail, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). See Submission Calendar for deadlines arranged by date and Anatomy of Awards for a closer look at the numbers behind Grants & Awards. For announcements of recently awarded prizes, see Recent Winners.
Deadlines Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Black Lawrence Press
ERNEST J. GAINES AWARD FOR LITERARY EXCELLENCE
ST. LAWRENCE BOOK AWARD
A prize of $10,000 is given annually to an emerging African American writer for a short story collection or novel published in the current year. The winner will also receive travel and lodging expenses to attend an awards ceremony in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in January 2017. Anthony Grooms, Elizabeth Nunez, Francine Prose, and Patricia Towers will judge. Submit eight copies of a short story collection or a novel published in 2016 by August 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, 100 North Street, Suite 900, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. (225) 387-6126. Lois Smyth, Donor Services Officer. gainesaward@braf.org www.ernestjgainesaward.org
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center POETRY CONTEST
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poem. Winners and finalists will be invited to read at Beyond Baroque in Venice, California, in April 2017. Submit up to four poems of no more than 40 lines each with a $20 entry fee by September 1. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines. Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, Poetry Contest, 681 North Venice Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291. (310) 822-3006. Carlye Archibeque, Assistant Director. carlye@beyondbaroque.org www.beyondbaroque.org
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Black Lawrence Press is given annually for a debut collection of poems or short stories. The editors will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of 45 to 95 pages or a fiction manuscript of 120 to 280 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. ( S E E R E C E N T WI N N E R S.)
Black Lawrence Press, St. Lawrence Book Award, 326 Bigham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15211. editors@blacklawrencepress.com www.blacklawrence.com/submissions-and -contests/the-st-lawrence-book-award
Black Warrior Review WRITING CONTESTS
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Black Warrior Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Hoa Nguyen will judge in poetry, Sofia Samatar will judge in fiction, and T Clutch Fleischmann will judge in nonfiction. Using the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any length or a story or essay of up to 7,000 words with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Black Warrior Review, by September 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Black Warrior Review, Writing Contests, University of Alabama, P.O. Box 870170, Office of Student Media, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. Bronwyn Valentine, Editor. blackwarriorreview@gmail.com www.bwr.ua.edu
will judge in poetry; Michael Griffith will judge in prose. Using the online submission system, submit up to eight pages of poetry or a short story, essay, or excerpt of a longer work of fiction or nonfiction of up to 40 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Cincinnati Review, by July 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Cincinnati Review, Robert and Adele Schiff Awards in Poetry and Prose, P.O. Box 210069, 2700 Campus Way, 248 McMicken Hall, Cincinnati, OH 45221. (513) 556-3954. Nicola Mason, Managing Editor. editors@cincinnatireview.com www.cincinnatireview.com/blog/contests/robert -and-adele-schiff-prizes-in-poetry-and-prose
Delaware Division of the Arts INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
Established Professional Fellowships of $6,000 each and Emerging Artist Fellowships of $3,000 each are given annually to Delaware poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who have lived in Delaware for at least one year prior to application and who are not enrolled in a degree-granting program. Submit 15 to 20 pages of poetry or prose by August 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. Delaware Division of the Arts, Individual Artist Fellowships, 820 North French Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. Roxanne Stanulis, Coordinator. roxanne.stanulis@state.de.us
Cincinnati Review
www.artsdel.org/grants
ROBERT AND ADELE SCHIFF AWARDS IN POETRY AND PROSE
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales
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. Don Bogen
POETRY PRIZE
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POETS & WRITERS
A prize of $500, publication by Broadkill River Press, ten author copies, and two cases of Dogfish Head craft beer
Deadlines
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
are given annually for a poetry collection written by a poet living in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., or West Virginia. The winner is expected to attend a reading and award ceremony at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Lewes, Delaware, in December; lodging at the Dogfish Inn is provided, but travel expenses are not included. Jan Beatty, Carol Frost, and Baron Wormser will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 78 pages by August 15. There is no entry fee. E-mail or visit the website for complete guidelines. ( SEE REC EN T W IN N ER S.)
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, Poetry Prize, c/o Broadkill River Press, P.O. Box 63, Milton, DE 19968. Linda Blaskey, Contest Coordinator. dogfishheadpoetryprize@earthlink.net www.thebroadkillriverpress.com/dogfish-head -poetry-prize
Dogwood LITERARY PRIZE
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Dogwood is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than 10
pages or up to 22 pages of prose with a $10 entry fee by September 5. Visit the website for complete guidelines. ( S E E R E C E NT WI N N E R S.)
Dogwood, Literary Prize, Fairfield University, English Department, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. (203) 254-4000, ext. 2565. Carol Ann Davis, Editor. cdavis13@fairfield.edu www.dogwoodliterary.com
Farmingdale State College PAUMANOK POETRY AWARD
A prize of $1,500 and travel and lodging expenses to give a reading at Farmingdale State College is given annually for a group of poems. Submit three to five published or unpublished poems totaling no more than 10 pages with a $25 entry fee by September 15. Send an SASE, call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines. Farmingdale State College, Paumanok Poetry Award, English Department, Knapp Hall, 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735. (631) 420-2050. Margery Brown, Director. margery.brown@farmingdale.edu www.farmingdale.edu/arts-sciences/english /paumanokpoetryaward.shtml
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Gemini Magazine FLASH FICTION CONTEST
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a short short story. The editors will judge. Submit a story of up to 1,000 words with a $5 entry fee ($4 for each additional entry) by August 31. Send an SASE, call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines. Gemini Magazine, Flash Fiction Contest, P.O. Box 1485, Onset, MA 02558. (339) 309-9757. David Bright, Editor. editor@gemini-magazine.com www.gemini-magazine.com
Gival Press SHORT STORY AWARD
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Gival Press website is given annually for a short story. Submit a story of 5,000 to 15,000 words with a $25 entry fee by August 8. Send an SASE, call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines. Gival Press, Short Story Award, P.O. Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203. (703) 351-0079. Robert Giron, Editor. givalpress@yahoo.com www.givalpress.com
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Grayson Books
FICTION OPEN
POETRY PRIZE
A prize of $3,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of the prize issue is given twice yearly for a short story. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also given. Using the online submission system, submit a story of 3,000 to 24,000 words with a $21 entry fee by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Grayson Books is given annually for a poetry collection. Benjamin S. Grossberg will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Grayson Books, Poetry Prize, P.O. Box 270549, West Hartford, CT 06127. (860) 523-1196. Ginny Connors, Publisher. gconnors@graysonbooks.com
( SEE RECEN T W IN N ERS.)
copies of a book published between Spring 2015 and Spring 2016 by July 25; each submission is limited to one title per category. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines. (SE E R E CE N T W I N N E R S.)
Great Lakes Colleges Association, New Writers Awards, 535 West William Street, Suite 301, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Gregory Wegner, Director of Program Development. wegner@glca.org www.glca.org/program-menu/new-writers-award
VERY SHORT FICTION AWARD
www.graysonbooks.com
Gulf Coast
A prize of $2,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of the prize issue is given twice yearly for a short short story. Using the online submission system, submit a story of 300 to 3,000 words with a $16 entry fee by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. ( SEE RECEN T WI NN E R S . )
Great Lakes Colleges Association
BARTHELME PRIZE FOR SHORT PROSE
Glimmer Train Press, 4763 SW Maplewood Road, P.O. Box 80430, Portland, OR 97280. (503) 221-0836. Susan Burmeister-Brown and Linda Swanson-Davies, Coeditors. www.glimmertrain.com
NEW WRITERS AWARDS
Three prizes are given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer to honor their first published books. The winners are also invited to visit several of the 13 GLCA colleges, where they will give readings, meet with students, and occasionally lead discussions and classes; travel expenses and an honorarium of at least $500 is provided for each visit. Faculty members of the GLCA colleges will judge. Publishers may submit four
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A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given annually for a piece of short prose. Jim Shepard will judge. Submit a prose poem, a piece of flash fiction, or a micro-essay of up to 500 words with an $18 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Gulf Coast, by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. PRIZE IN TRANSLATION
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given in alternating years for a group of poems or a prose excerpt translated from any language into English.
Deadlines
Glimmer Train Press
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GR A N TS & AWA R DS
The 2016 prize will be given for poetry. Idra Novey will judge. Submit up to 10 pages of poetry translated into English and a copy of the original text with an $18 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Gulf Coast, by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
“1/2 K” PRIZE
Highfield Press
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review is given annually for a poem or a work of flash fiction or nonfiction of up to 500 words. Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge. Submit up to three poems or pieces of fiction or nonfiction of up to 500 words each with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Indiana Review, by August 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
ESSAY CONTEST
( S E E R E C E N T WI N N E R S.)
( SEE REC EN T W IN N ER S.)
Gulf Coast, University of Houston, English Department, Houston, TX 77204. (713) 743-3223. Adrienne Perry, Editor. editors@gulfcoastmag.org www.gulfcoastmag.org
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Highfield Press website is given quarterly for an essay on a theme, inspired by a photo posted on the press’s website for each contest. The theme for the summer contest is “Moonlit Evening.” Submit an essay between 500 and 1,000 words with a $20 entry fee by July 15. Visit the website to see the photo and for complete guidelines. Highfield Press, Essay Contest, P.O. Box 318, Sheldonville, MA 02070. info@highfieldpress.com highfieldpress.wix.com/contests
E-mail or visit the website for complete guidelines. (SE E R E CE N T W I N N E R S.) Journal of Experimental Fiction, Kenneth Patchen Award, 1110 Varsity Boulevard, Unit 221, DeKalb, IL 60115. Eckhard Gerdes, Contact. egerdes@experimentalfiction.com
Indiana Review
www.experimentalfiction.com/Kenneth_Patchen _Award.html
Leeway Foundation ART AND CHANGE GRANTS
Indiana Review, “1/2 K” Prize, Indiana University, Ballantine Hall 529, 1020 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405. Su Cho, Associate Editor. indianareview.org
Journal of Experimental Fiction KENNETH PATCHEN AWARD
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Journal of Experimental Fiction/Depth Charge Publishing is given annually for an innovative novel. Dominic Ward will judge. Submit a manuscript of any length with a $25 entry fee by July 31.
Project grants of up to $2,500 each are given twice yearly by the Leeway Foundation to women and transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, or otherwise gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Delaware Valley region to fund art for social change projects. Writers living in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties who are 18 years of age or older and who are not full-time students in a degree-granting arts program are eligible. Applicants must identify a person, an organization, or a business as a partner for the project. Submit a project description and budget with the required entry form by August 1. There
THE FRIENDS OF POETS & WRITERS, INC. We are happy to acknowledge these Friends whose recent gifts help make all of Poets & Writers’ programs possible. Mary Christofferson Antenen Rex Arrasmith Stephanie Auteri Julie Barer Judith E. Beaston Lori Benton Crystal Bobb-Semple Gladys Justin Carr Harold C. Clark Clayton Clark Roni K. Devlin Pamela Dorman Gregg Dotoli
Kathy Izard Susan LaFortune Emily Wortis Leider Lester Graves Lennon David Lunde Joe Mangan Josh Marwell Joseph Mastroianni Robin Mullet Carol Muske-Dukes Jean F. Nordhaus Bill Peabody Anne B. Pedersen Robin Perkins
Lori Fontanes Diane L. Fowlkes David Galef Nan Gefen Dr. Gary J. Geissler Stephen A. Geller Kathleen Glassburn Barbara Lubin Goldsmith Foundation Teresa Burns Gunther Ursula Hegi James P. Higgins Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.
For more information about joining the Friends of Poets & Writers, please visit pw.org/friends.
We are thankful for every gift we receive. Due to space limitations, we list here only Friends who made gifts of $100 or more between February 16, 2016 – April 15, 2016.
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Stewart Potter Roger Rosenblatt Sanjay Sabarwal Stacy Schiff Myra Shapiro Judy Singleton Morton Sosland Cindy Spiegel Elaine B. Stienon Livia Straus Tracy Weisman Gary Wilson Anonymous (3)
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Leeway Foundation, Art and Change Grants, Philadelphia Building, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 832, Philadelphia, PA 19107. (215) 545-4078. Melissa Hamilton, Program Assistant. info@leeway.org www.leeway.org
Malahat Review CONSTANCE ROOKE CREATIVE NONFICTION PRIZE
A prize of $1,000 Canadian (approximately $780) and publication in Malahat Review is given annually for an essay. Submit an essay of 2,000 to 3,000 words with a $40 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Malahat Review, by August 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Malahat Review, Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700, Station CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada. (250) 721-8524. cnfprize@uvic.ca www.malahatreview.ca
Masters Review SHORT STORY AWARD FOR NEW WRITERS
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Masters Review is given twice yearly for a short story by a writer who has not published a novel (writers who have published story collections are eligible). The winning story will also be sent to agents Laura Biagi ( Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency), Victoria Marini (Gelfman Schneider/ ICM Partners) and Amy Williams (Williams Agency). The editors will judge. Submit a short story of up to 6,000 words with a $20 entry fee by July 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Masters Review, Short Story Award for New Writers, 1824 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR 97209. contact@mastersreview.com mastersreview.com/short-story-award-for-new -writers
Munster Literature Centre SEÁN Ó FAOLÁIN SHORT STORY COMPETITION
A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,260) and publication in Southword, an online literary journal published in Cork, Ireland, is given annually for a
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short story. The winner also receives a weeklong residency at the Anam Cara Writer’s Retreat on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. Danielle McLaughlin will judge. Submit a short story of up to 3,000 words with a €15 (approximately $17) entry fee by July 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Munster Literature Centre, Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition, Frank O’Connor House, 84 Douglas Street, Cork, Ireland. www.munsterlit.ie
Narrative SPRING STORY CONTEST
A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also awarded. The editors will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a work of fiction or creative nonfiction of up to 15,000 words with a $24 entry fee by July 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Deadlines
is no entry fee. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Deadlines
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. Using the online submission system, submit up to five poems with a $24 entry fee by July 20. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Narrative, 2443 Fillmore Street, #214, San Francisco, CA 94115. Tom Jenks, Editor. www.narrativemagazine.com
New Guard POETRY AND FICTION CONTEST
Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication in New Guard are given annually for a poem and a short story or novel excerpt. Stephen Dunn will judge the Knightville Poetry Contest; Sarah Braunstein will judge the Machigonne Fiction Contest. Using the online submission system, submit three poems of up to 150 lines each or no more than 5,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by August 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
New Guard, Poetry and Fiction Contest, P.O. Box 5101, Hanover, NH 03755. Shanna McNair, Publisher.
PEN Center USA EMERGING VOICES FELLOWSHIPS
New Millennium Writings, New Millennium Awards, 4021 Garden Drive, Knoxville, TN 37918. Alexis Williams Carr, Editor.
Fellowships of $1,000 each are given annually to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who lack access to financial and creative support. Each fellow participates in an eight-month mentorship in Los Angeles with a professional writer, as well as classes at the UCLA Extension Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Program, public readings, and other programming. Travel expenses and housing are not provided. Writers who do not have significant publication credits, are not enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate writing program, and do not hold an undergraduate or graduate writing degree are eligible. Submit up to 10 pages of poetry or 20 pages of prose, a curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendation with a $10 entry fee by August 1. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. (SE E R E CE N T W I N N E R S.) PEN Center USA, Emerging Voices Fellowships, P.O. Box 6037, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (323) 424-4939. pen@penusa.org
www.newmillenniumwritings.com
www.penusa.org/programs/emerging-voices
www.newguardreview.com/tng-contests
New Millennium Writings NEW MILLENNIUM AWARDS
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in New Millennium Writings and on the journalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay that have not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than five pages, a short short story of up to 1,000 words, or a story or essay of up to 6,000 words with a $20 entry fee by July 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
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Red Mountain Press
MORTON MARCUS POETRY CONTEST
POETRY PRIZE
Sponsored in collaboration with Santa Cruz Writes, a prize of $1,000 and publication in phren-Z is given annually for a poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at the seventh annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, in November. Jack Marshall will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a poem of no more than two pages with a $15 entry fee by September 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines. ( SEE RECEN T W IN N E R S . ) phren-Z, Morton Marcus Poetry Contest, 184 Kenny Court, Santa Cruz, CA 95065. Jory Post, Cofounder. jory@cruzio.com
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Red Mountain Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Sarah Sousa will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 72 pages with a $30 entry fee ($28 for electronic submissions) by September 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Red Mountain Press, Poetry Prize, P.O. Box 32205, Santa Fe, NM 87594. Devon Ross, Publisher. redmtnpress@gmail.com
phren-z.org
Press 53 AWARD FOR POETRY
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Press 53 is given annually for a poetry collection. Tom Lombardo will judge. Submit a manuscript of 60 to 120 pages with a $30 entry fee by July 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Press 53, Award for Poetry, 560 North Trade Street, Suite 103, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. (336) 770-5353. Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher.
www.redmountainpress.us
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Snake Nation Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Submit a manuscript of 75 to 100 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 31. E-mail or visit the website for complete guidelines. SERENA MCDONALD KENNEDY AWARD
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Seattle Review will be given annually for a poetry chapbook. Claudia Rankine will judge. Submit a manuscript of 20 to 30 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Seattle Review ($25 to receive a copy of the winning chapbook), by July 15. All entries will be considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Snake Nation Press is given annually for a short story collection or a novella. Submit a story collection of up to 200 pages or a novella of up to 50,000 words with a $25 entry fee by August 31. E-mail or visit the website for complete guidelines. (SE E R E CE N T W I N N E R S.) Snake Nation Press, 110 West Force Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. Roberta George, Founding Editor. snake.nation.press@gmail.com
( S E E R E C E N T WI N N E R S.)
Seattle Review, Chapbook Contest, P.O. Box 354330, Seattle, WA 98195. seattlereview@gmail.com
Sixfold
BENJAMIN SALTMAN POETRY AWARD
SHORT STORY AND POETRY AWARDS
www.redhen.org
VIOLET REED HAAS PRIZE FOR POETRY
(SE E R E CE N T W I N N E R S.)
Red Hen Press
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Red Hen Press are given annually for a short story collection or novel and an essay collection or memoir. Steve Almond will judge in fiction; Pope Brock will judge in nonfiction. Submit a manuscript of at least 150 pages with a $20 entry fee by September 1. Call or visit the website for complete guidelines. Red Hen Press, P.O. Box 40820, Pasadena, CA 91114. (626) 356-4760. Keaton Maddox, Associate Editor. editorial@redhen.org
Snake Nation Press
CHAPBOOK CONTEST
www.theseattlereview.org/new-page
FICTION AND NONFICTION AWARDS
slipperyelm.findlay.edu
Seattle Review
www.press53.com/award_for_poetry.html
A prize of $3,000, publication by Red Hen Press, and a four-week residency at PLAYA in Summer Lake, Oregon, is given annually for a poetry collection. Afaa Michael Weaver will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 96 pages with a $25 entry fee by September 1. Call or visit the website for complete guidelines.
E-mail or visit the website for complete guidelines. Slippery Elm, Prizes in Poetry and Prose, University of Findlay, 1000 North Main Street, Mail Box 1615, Findlay, OH 45840. Dave Essinger, Contact. slipperyelm@findlay.edu
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using the online submission system, submit up to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages or a story of up to 20 pages with a $5 entry fee by July 24. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines. Sixfold, Short Story and Poetry Awards, 28 Farm Field Ridge Road, Sandy Hook, CT 06482. (203) 491-0242. Garrett Doherty, Publisher. sixfold@sixfold.org www.sixfold.org
Slippery Elm PRIZES IN POETRY AND PROSE
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Slippery Elm are given annually for a poem and a short story or essay. Using the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any length or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $15 entry fee, which includes an issue of Slippery Elm, by September 1. All entries are considered for publication. 81
POETS & WRITERS
www.snakenationpress.org
Stone Canoe LITERARY AWARDS
Three prizes of $500 each are given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer who have a connection to upstate New York. A prize of $500 is also given annually to a U.S. military veteran. Writers who have not published a book with a nationally distributed press are eligible. The editors will judge. Submit up to five poems of any length by July 8, a short story of up to 9,000 words by July 22, or an essay of up to 9,000 words by July 29. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Stone Canoe, Literary Awards, c/o YMCA Downtown Writers Center, 340 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, NY 13202. Phil Memmer, Executive Director. stonecanoe@syracuseymca.org www.ycny.org/stone-canoe.html
The Story Prize A prize of $20,000 is given annually to honor a short story collection written in English and published in the United States in the previous year. Two runners-up receive $5,000 each. The
Deadlines
phren-Z
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$1,000 Story Prize Spotlight Award is also given for a short story collection that “demonstrates the author’s potential to make a significant contribution to the short story form.” Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey will select the three finalists and Spotlight Award winner; three independent judges will choose the Story Prize winner. Publishers, authors, or agents may submit two copies of a book published between January 1, 2016, and June 30, 2016, along with an entry form and a $75 entry fee by July 15. The deadline for books published during the second half of the year is November 15. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. ( SEE REC EN T W IN N ER S.)
The Story Prize, 41 Watchung Plaza, #384, Montclair, NJ 07042. Larry Dark, Director. info@thestoryprize.org www.thestoryprize.org
StoryQuarterly NONFICTION PRIZE
StoryQuarterly, Nonfiction Prize, Rutgers University, English Department, 311 North 5th Street, Armitage Hall, Camden, NJ 08102. storyquarterlyeditors@gmail.com storyquarterly.camden.rutgers.edu
Sustainable Arts Foundation WRITING AWARDS
Up to five awards of $6,000 each and up to five Promise Awards of $2,000 each are given twice yearly to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers with children. Writers with at least one child under the age of 18 are eligible. Using the online submission system, submit up to 10 poems totaling no more than 25 pages or up to 25 pages of prose with a biography, an artist statement, a project statement, a curriculum vitae, and a $15 entry fee by September 2. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. Sustainable Arts Foundation, Writing Awards, 1032 Irving Street #609, San Francisco, CA 94122. www.sustainableartsfoundation.org
A prize of $1,000 and publication in StoryQuarterly is given annually for a work of creative nonfiction. Using the online submission system, submit an essay of up to 6,250 words with a $15 entry fee by August 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Utica College EUGENE PAUL NASSAR POETRY PRIZE
A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a resident of upstate New York. The winner will also give a reading and teach a master class at Utica College in April 2017. Submit two copies
This issue’s Deadlines section lists a total of 67 contests with upcoming deadlines. Fifty-two (78 percent) of these contests charge entry fees ranging from $5 to $40. The median entry fee is $20. Together, the contests listed in Deadlines offer a total of $170,040 in available prize money (the median prize amount is $1,000) and are sponsored by 40 organizations. The charts below further break down the numbers behind Grants & Awards.
40 Sponsoring Organizations
1 government agency
BY PRIZE MONEY private company: $500
1 private company
2 universities 19 magazines
magazines: $32,280
government agency: $37,000
Utica College, Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize, School of Arts and Sciences, 1600 Burrstone Road, Utica, NY 13502. Gary Leising, Contact. www.utica.edu/nassarprize
Verse TOMAZ SALAMUN PRIZE
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Verse is given annually for a poetry chapbook by a poet who has published no more than two poetry collections. Translations from any language into English of works by living poets who have published no more than two poetry collections are also eligible. Dara Wier will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 20 to 40 pages with a $15 entry fee by July 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Verse, Tomaz Salamun Prize, University of Richmond, English Department, 28 Westhampton Way, Richmond, VA 23173. (804) 287-6431. Brian Henry, Editor. editorversemag@gmail.com verse.submittable.com/submit
Anatomy of Awards: July/August 2016
BY TYPE
of a book of at least 48 pages published between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, and a curriculum vitae by August 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.
presses: $18,000
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 two or more full-length books of poetry. Leslie McGrath will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 80 pages with a $25 entry fee by July 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. The Word Works, Tenth Gate Prize, P.O. Box 42164, Washington D.C., 20015. www.wordworksbooks.org
PW.ORG/GRANTS 8 nonprofits
universities: $3,500
nonprofits: $74,760
9 presses
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Visit our Grants & Awards database to browse a year’s worth of contests, add deadlines to your Google calendar, and sign up for submission reminders.
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Submission Calendar STONE CANOE
Poetry Award
15
July 15
NARRATIVE
GULF COAST
Spring Story Contest NEW MILLENNIUM WRITINGS
Barthelme Prize for Short Prose Prize in Translation
New Millennium Awards
SNAKE NATION PRESS
Deadlines
8
July 8
Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry Serena McDonald Kennedy Award
PRESS 53
Award for Poetry
CINCINNATI REVIEW
UTICA COLLEGE
1
Robert and Adele Schiff Awards in Poetry and Prose
August 1
HIGHFIELD PRESS
DELAWARE DIVISION OF THE ARTS
Essay Contest
Individual Artist Fellowships
September 1
MASTERS REVIEW
LEEWAY FOUNDATION
Short Story Award for New Writers
Art and Change Grants
BEYOND BAROQUE LITERARY ARTS CENTER
SEATTLE REVIEW
MALAHAT REVIEW
Poetry Contest
Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize
BLACK WARRIOR REVIEW
PEN CENTER USA
PHREN-Z
Chapbook Contest THE STORY PRIZE VERSE
Emerging Voices Fellowships
Tomaž Š alamun Prize
20
August 8 GIVAL PRESS
Short Story Award
NARRATIVE
Poetry Contest
July 22 STONE CANOE
22
Short Story Award
August 15 BATON ROUGE AREA FOUNDATION
8 15
Ernest J. Gaines Award For Literary Excellence DOGFISH HEAD CRAFT BREWED ALES
July 24 SIXFOLD
Short Story and Poetry Awards
Poetry Prize
24
July 25 GREAT LAKES COLLEGES ASSOCIATION
New Writers Awards
25
STONE CANOE
Essay Award
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL FICTION MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE
Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition
Prizes in Poetry and Prose
September 2 SUSTAINABLE ARTS FOUNDATION
Writing Awards
2
5
September 5 DOGWOOD
Poetry Prize INDIANA REVIEW
September 15
“1/2 K” Prize
FARMINGDALE STATE COLLEGE
NEW GUARD
Paumanok Poetry Award
Poetry and Fiction Contest
RED MOUNTAIN PRESS
August 31 GEMINI MAGAZINE
31
Poetry Prize
17
Flash Fiction Contest GLIMMER TRAIN PRESS
July 31 Kenneth Patchen Award
SLIPPERY ELM
GRAYSON BOOKS
St. Lawrence Book Award
29
Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award Fiction and Nonfiction Awards
Literary Prize
BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS
July 29
Writing Contests
RED HEN PRESS
Nonfiction Prize
Tenth Gate Prize
1
Morton Marcus Poetry Contest
STORYQUARTERLY
THE WORD WORKS
July 20
Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize
Very Short Fiction Award Fiction Open
31
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15
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Recent Winners Academy of American Poets WALT WHITMAN AWARD
Mai Der Vang of Fresno, California, won the 2016 Walt Whitman Award for her poetry collection, Afterland. She received $5,000; a six-week all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy; and publication of her book by Graywolf Press in April 2017. Copies of her book will be distributed to thousands of the Academy of American Poets members. Carolyn Forché judged. The annual award is given to a poet who has not published a poetry collection in a standard edition. The next deadline is November 1. Academy of American Poets, Walt Whitman Award, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038. (212) 274-0343, ext. 13. Patricia Guzman, Programs Coordinator. awards@poets.org www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes /walt-whitman-award
American Academy of Arts and Letters LITERATURE AWARDS
Eighteen writers received awards in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Fiction writer Adam Haslett of New York City and fiction and nonfiction writer Jesmyn Ward of DeLisle, Louisiana, received the $200,000 Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings awards, given occasionally to prose writers. Poet Henri Cole of Boston received the $25,000 Award of Merit Medal, given annually to a poet, fiction writer, playwright, visual artist, or sculptor. Poet Sinéad Morrissey of Belfast received the $20,000 E. M. Forster Award, given annually to a young writer from the United Kingdom or Ireland for a stay in the United States; Alison Lurie and Colm Tóibín judged. Fiction writer Kathryn Davis of Saint Louis received the $20,000 Katherine Anne Porter Award Award, given biennially to a prose writer. Fiction writer Rachel Kushner of Los Angeles received the $20,000 Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award, given annually to a writer whose work merits recognition for the quality of its prose style. Translator Jamey
Gambrell of New York City received the $20,000 Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation, given occasionally to a practitioner, scholar, or patron who has made a significant contribution to the art of literary translation. Arts and Letters Awards in Literature, which honor writers of exceptional talent, were given to poets Terrance Hayes of Pittsburgh, Katie Peterson of Woodland, California, and Spencer Reece of Juno Beach, Florida; fiction writer Joshua Ferris of New York City; nonfiction writer Ta-Nehisi Coates of Paris; and translator Mark Polizzotti of New York City. They each received $10,000. Fiction writer James Hannaham of New York City received the $10,000 Morton Dauwen Zabel Award, given biennially to a fiction writer with progressive, original, and experimental tendencies. Anthony Marra of Oakland, California, won the $10,000 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for his story collection, The Tsar of Love and Techno (Hogarth, 2015). The annual award honors a book published in the previous year. Kirsten Valdez Quade of Ann Arbor, Michigan, received the $5,000 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction for her story collection, Night at the Fiestas (W. W. Norton, 2015). The annual award honors a first work of fiction published in the previous year. Fiction writers Jack Livings of New York City and Matthew Neill Null of Provincetown, Massachusetts, each received a Rome Fellowship in Literature and will spend a year in residence at the American Academy in Rome. The annual awards are given by members of the Academy; this year’s selection committee included John Guare, Sharon Olds, Anne Tyler, Rosanna Warren, and Joy Williams. There is no application process. American Academy of Arts and Letters, 633 West 155th Street, New York, NY 10032. (212) 368-5900. academy@artsandletters.org www.artsandletters.org
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INGRID JENDRZEJEWSKI
A Room of Her Own Foundation Orlando Prize DESIRÉE ALVAREZ
Bauhan Publishing May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize GEORGE SINGLETON
Centenary College of Louisiana John William Corrington Award
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
American Literary Review
Recent Winners
LITERARY AWARDS
John Sibley Williams of Portland, Oregon, won the 2015 American Literary Review award in poetry for his poem “Fog.” Rebecca Foust of Kentfield, California, won the award in short fiction for her story “Something Blue.” Kate Angus of New York City won the award in creative nonfiction for her essay “When We Were Vikings.” They each received $1,000, and their winning pieces were published in American Literary Review. Gregory Fraser judged in poetry, Garth Greenwell judged in fiction, and Jill Talbot judged in creative nonfiction. The annual awards are given for a poem, a short story, and an essay. The next deadline is October 1. American Literary Review, Literary Awards, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311307, Denton, TX 76203. americanliteraryreview@gmail.com www.americanliteraryreview.com
American Poetry Review HONICKMAN FIRST BOOK PRIZE
Heather Tone of West Palm Beach, Florida, won the 19th annual APR/ Honickman First Book Prize for her poetry collection, Likenesses. She received $3,000, and her collection will be published in September by American Poetry Review with distribution by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium. Nick Flynn judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection by a writer who has not published a book of poems. The next deadline is October 31. American Poetry Review, Honickman First Book Prize, 320 South Broad Street, Hamilton #313, Philadelphia, PA 19102. www.aprweb.org
A Room of Her Own Foundation ORLANDO PRIZES
Four writers received the Fall 2015 Orlando Prizes. They are Allison Adair of Brookline, Massachusetts, for her poem “Flight Theory”; Leigh Claire Schmidli of Berea, Kentucky, for her short story “Grow Heavy”; Ingrid Jendrzejewski of Cambridge, England, for her short short story “The Immaculate Heart of Mary: Steel City, 1910”; and Beth Ann Fennelly of Oxford, Mississippi, for her essay “Goner.” They each received $1,000, and their winning works were published in Los Angeles Review. Cheryl Boyce-Taylor judged in poetry; Megan Abbott judged
in short fiction; Anne Finger judged in short short fiction; and Sue William Silverman judged in creative nonfiction. The awards are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay by a woman writer. The awards are currently on hiatus. A Room of Her Own Foundation, P.O. Box 778, Placitas, NM 87043. (505) 867-5373. Tracey Cravens-Gras, Associate Director. tracey@aroho.org
Cheryl Strayed judged. The annual awards are given for works of fiction and nonfiction published during the previous year and featured in Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program. There is no application process. Barnes & Noble, 122 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011. (212) 633-4067. Miwa Messer, Director. mmesser@bn.com www.barnesandnoble.com/discover
www.aroho.org
Bauhan Publishing
Augsburg College
MAY SARTON NEW HAMPSHIRE POETRY PRIZE
HOWLING BIRD PRESS LITERARY PRIZE
Jacob M. Appel of New York City won the second annual Howling Bird Press Literary Prize in fiction for his collection The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street and Other Stories. He received $1,000, and his book will be published by Howling Bird Press in the fall. The editors judged. The annual award is given in alternating years for a poetry collection, a short story collection or novel, and a work of nonfiction. The 2017 award will be given in nonfiction; the deadline is June 30. Augsburg College, Howling Bird Press Literary Prize, MFA in Creative Writing, Graduate Studies Department, 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55455. www.augsburg.edu/mfa/howling-bird-press
Barnes & Noble DISCOVER AWARDS
Mia Alvar of New York City won the 2015 Discover Award in Fiction for her story collection, In the Country (Knopf). She received $30,000. Angela Flournoy of New York City won the $15,000 secondplace prize for her novel, The Turner House (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Sophie McManus of New York City won the $7,500 third-place prize for her novel, The Unfortunates (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Eleanor Brown, Ben Fountain, and Thrity Umrigar judged. Jill Leovy of Los Angeles won the $30,000 Discover Award in Nonfiction for her book, Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America (Spiegel & Grau). George Hodgman of New York City and Paris, Missouri, won the $15,000 second-place prize for his memoir, Bettyville (Viking), and Amy Ellis Nutt of Washington D.C. won the $7,500 third-place prize for her book Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family (Random House). Scott Anderson, Candice Millard, and J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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Desirée Alvarez of New York City won the 2015 May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize for her poetry collection Devil’s Paintbrush. She received $1,000, and her book was published by Bauhan Publishing. Mekeel McBride judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. The next deadline is June 30. Bauhan Publishing, May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize, P.O. Box 117, Peterborough, NH 03458. (603) 567-4430. www.bauhanpublishing.com/contest
Black Lawrence Press ST. LAWRENCE BOOK AWARD
Thomas Cotsonas of New York City won the 2015 St. Lawrence Book Award for his story collection, Nominal Cases. He received $1,000, and his collection will be published by Black Lawrence Press. The editors judged. The annual award is given for a debut collection of poems or short stories. ( S E E D E A D L I N E S .) Black Lawrence Press, St. Lawrence Book Award, 326 Bigham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15211. editors@blacklawrencepress.com www.blacklawrence.com/submissions-and -contests/the-st-lawrence-book-award
Blue Metropolis INTERNATIONAL LITERARY GRAND PRIZE
Anne Carson of New York City and Ann Arbor, Michigan, won the 17th annual Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prize. Carson, whose most recent work is the poetry collection Red Doc> (Knopf, 2013), received $10,000 Canadian (approximately $7,800) and travel expenses to participate in the 2016 Blue Metropolis Literary Festival in Montreal. Philippe Bélanger, Jason Grimmer, Marie-Andrée Lamontagne, Stephen Powell, and Anakana Schofield judged. The annual award honors the lifetime literary achievement of a poet, a fiction
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
writer, or a creative nonfiction writer. There is no application process. PREMIO METROPOLIS AZUL LITERARY PRIZE
hodgman: sigrid estrada
WORDS TO CHANGE PRIZE
Abdourahman Waberi of Washington D.C. won the second annual Words to Change Prize for his novels La Divine Chanson (Editions Zulma, 2015) and In the United States of Africa (University of Nebraska Press, 2009). He received $5,000 Canadian (approximately $3,900) and travel expenses to participate in the 2016 Blue Metropolis Literary Festival in Montreal. The annual award is
FIRST PEOPLES LITERARY PRIZE
Thomas King of Guelph, Canada, won the second annual First Peoples Literary Prize for his novel The Back of the Turtle (HarperCollins, 2014). He received $5,000 Canadian (approximately $3,900) and travel expenses to participate in the 2016 Blue Metropolis Literary Festival in Montreal. The annual award is given for a work by a writer who is First Nations, Métis, or Inuit of Canada. There is no application process.
Recent Winners
Valeria Luiselli of New York City won the fourth annual Premio Metropolis Azul Literary Prize for her novel The Story of My Teeth (Coffee House Press, 2015). She received $5,000 Canadian (approximately $3,900) and travel expenses to participate in the 2016 Blue Metropolis Literary Festival in Montreal. Ingrid Bejerman, Gregory McCormick, Ruth Shine, and Ginny Stikeman judged. The annual award is given for a work of fiction written in English, French, or Spanish that explores some aspect of Hispanophone culture or history. There is no application process.
given for one or more works of fiction or nonfiction that promote the values of multiculturalism and linguistic, ethnic, or religious diversity. There is no application process.
LITERARY DIVERSITY PRIZE FOR A FIRST PUBLICATION
Ghayas Hachem of Montreal won the inaugural Literary Diversity Prize for a First Publication for his novel, Play Boys (Editions Boreal, 2014). The prize is cosponsored by the Conseil des arts de Montréal. He received $3,000 Canadian (approximately $2,340). Gregory McCormick, Rodney Saint-Éloi, and Kim Thúy judged. The annual award is given for a first book in any genre written in English or French by a Montreal-
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POETS & WRITERS
MARK MAIRE
Codhill Press Poetry Award SAHAR MURADI
Fourteen Hills Press Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award GEORGE HODGMAN
Friends of American Writers Literature Award
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based writer who is a first- or secondgeneration migrant from a multicultural community. There is no application process. Blue Metropolis, 661 Rose de Lima Street, Suite 201, Montreal QC H4C 2L7, Canada. (514) 932-1112. info@bluemetropolis.org
Center for Fiction, Christopher Doheny Award, 17 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017. Sara Batkie, Writing Programs Director. sara@centerforfiction.org
www.bluemetropolis.org
COLORADO PRIZE FOR POETRY
Bronx Council on the Arts Recent Winners
BRIO AWARDS
Poets Rachel Ansong and José Olivarez, fiction writer Jon Lewis-Katz, nonfiction writers Chiseche Salome Mibenge and A. A. Weiss, and spoken word artist Jose Batista-Ayala, all of New York City, received 2015 BRIO Awards. They each received $3,000. The annual grants are given to writers who reside in the Bronx in New York City. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set. Bronx Council on the Arts, BRIO Awards, 1738 Hone Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461. (718) 931-9500. brio@bronxarts.org www.bronxarts.org/brio.asp
www.centerforfiction.org/awards/the-christopher -doheny-award
Center for Literary Publishing Mike Lala of New York City won the 22nd annual Colorado Prize for Poetry for his poetry collection, Exit Theater. He received $2,000, and his book will be published in November by the Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State University. Tyrone Williams judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. The next deadline is January 14, 2017. Center for Literary Publishing, Colorado Prize for Poetry, Colorado State University, 9105 Campus Delivery, Ft. Collins, CO 80523. (970) 491-5449. Stephanie G’Schwind, Director. coloradoprize.colostate.edu
Claremont Graduate University
Centenary College of Louisiana
TUFTS POETRY AWARDS
JOHN WILLIAM CORRINGTON AWARD
Ross Gay of Bloomington, Indiana, won the 24th annual Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015). He received $100,000 and a weeklong appointment as poet-in-residence at Claremont Graduate University. The annual award is given for a book of poetry by a midcareer poet published in the previous year. Danez Smith of Ann Arbor, Michigan, won the 23rd annual Kate Tufts Discovery Award for [insert] boy (YesYes Books, 2015). Smith received $10,000. The annual award is given for a first book of poetry published in the previous year. The judges for both awards were Stephen Burt, Elena Karina Byrne, Don Share, Brian Kim Stefans, and Chase Twichell. The next deadline is July 1. Claremont Graduate University, Tufts Poetry Awards, 160 East 10th Street, Harper East B7, Claremont, CA 91711. (909) 621-8974. tufts@cgu.edu
George Singleton of Spartanburg, South Carolina, won the 2015–2016 John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence. Singleton, whose most recent book is the story collection Calloustown (Dzanc Books, 2015), received $2,000. The annual award is given to recognize a career of dedication to literary excellence. There is no application process. Centenary College of Louisiana, English Department, Shreveport, LA 71134. (318) 869-5085. David Havird, Coordinator. www.centenary.edu/academics/english/corrington
Center for Fiction CHRISTOPHER DOHENY AWARD
Catherine Kapphahn of New York City won the 2015 Christopher Doheny Award for her manuscript “Stories You Never Told Me.” She received $10,000, production and promotion of the book as an Audible e-book, and assistance from Audible to pursue print publication of her book. Michelle Bailat-Jones, Charles Bock, Mike Scalise, and two representatives from Audible judged. The annual award is given for a full-length fiction or nonfiction manuscript about serious physical illness by a writer who has personal experience with life-threatening illness. The next deadline is December 15.
www.cgu.edu/tufts
Cleveland Foundation ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARDS
Rowan Ricardo Phillips of New York City and Barcelona won the 2015 AnisfieldWolf Book Award in poetry for his collection Heaven (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Mary Morris of New York City won the award in fiction for her novel J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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The Jazz Palace (Nan A. Talese). Lillian Faderman of Fresno, California, and Brian Seibert of New York City split the award in nonfiction. Faderman won for her book The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (Simon & Schuster); Seibert won for his book What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Nonfiction writer Orlando Patterson of Boston won the Lifetime Achievement Award. Phillips, Morris, and Patterson each received $10,000; Faderman and Seibert each received $5,000. Rita Dove, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Joyce Carol Oates, Steven Pinker, and Simon Schama judged. The annual awards are given to honor books of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction published in the previous year that “contribute to society’s understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity.” The next deadline is December 31. Cleveland Foundation, Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1300, Cleveland, OH 44115. (216) 685-2018 Karen R. Long, Contact. klong@clevefdn.org www.anisfield-wolf.org
Codhill Press POETRY AWARD
Mark Maire of Duluth, Minnesota, won the 2015 Codhill Poetry Award for his collection, Meridian. He received $1,000, publication of his book by Codhill Press, and 25 author copies. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. The next deadline is December 30. Codhill Press, Poetry Award, P.O. Box 280, Bloomington, NY 12411. Pauline Uchmanowicz, Contest Coordinator. www.codhill.com
DIAGRAM ESSAY CONTEST
Oscar Cuevas of New York City won the 2015 Essay Contest for “Willful Deliverance.” He received $1,000, and his essay was published in Volume 16, Issue 3 of DIAGRAM. Ander Monson and Nicole Walker judged. The annual award is given for an essay. The next deadline is December 31. DIAGRAM, Essay Contest, University of Arizona, ML 445, P.O. Box 210067, Tucson, AZ 85721. Ander Monson, Editor. editor@thediagram.com thediagram.com
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales
Dogwood
POETRY PRIZE
LITERARY PRIZE
Faith Shearin of Gerrardstown, West Virginia, won the 2015 Dogfish Head Poetry Prize for her collection Orpheus, Turning. She received $500, publication by Broadkill River Press, ten author copies, and two cases of Dogfish Head beer. She received lodging expenses to give a reading at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Lewes, Delaware. James Arthur, Timothy Green, and Joyce Sutphen judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection written by a poet living in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., or West Virginia. ( S E E D E A D L I NE S .)
Anna Leahy of Pittsburgh won the 2016 Dogwood Literary Prize for her essay “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.” She received $1,000 and publication in the 2016 issue of Dogwood. Kate Hopper, Steven Schwartz, and Gail Wronsky judged. The annual award is given for a poem, a short story, or an essay.
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, Poetry Prize, c/o Broadkill River Press, P.O. Box 63, Milton, DE 19968. Linda Blaskey, Contest Coordinator. dogfishheadpoetryprize@earthlink.net
Angela Readman of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, won the 2016 Short Memoir Prize for “The Way I Tell It.” She received €1,000 (approximately $1,130) and publication in the 2016 Fish Anthology. Carlo Gebler judged. The annual award is given for an essay. The next deadline is January 31, 2017.
www.thebroadkillriverpress.com/dogfish-head -poetry-prize
( S E E D E A D L I N E S .)
Recent Winners
hagy: ted brummond
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Dogwood, Literary Prize, Fairfield University, English Department, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. (203) 254-4000, ext. 2565. Carol Ann Davis, Editor. cdavis13@fairfield.edu www.dogwoodliterary.com
DAVID MIZNER
Fish Publishing SHORT MEMOIR PRIZE
UNIV E RS ITY OF GEORGIA PR E S S
ugapress.org
what persists
daring to write
Selected Essays on Poetry from The Georgia Review, 1988–2014 Judith Kitchen
Contemporary Narratives by Dominican Women Edited by Erika M. Martínez Foreword by Julia Alvarez
hardcover | 978-0-8203-4931-2 paper | 978-0-8203-4931-2
blood, bone, and marrow
ladies night at the dreamland
A Biography of Harry Crews Ted Geltner
Sonja Livingston hardcover | 978-0-8203-4913-8
hardcover | 978-0-8203-4923-7
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POETS & WRITERS
Glimmer Train Press Fiction Open SAMANTHA SCHNEE
Gulf Coast Prize in Translation ALYSON HAGY
Michigan Quarterly Review Lawrence Foundation Prize
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Fish Publishing, Short Memoir Prize, Durrus, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland. Clem Cairns, Editor. info@fishpublishing.com www.fishpublishing.com
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Recent Winners
GRANTS TO ARTISTS
Poet Renee Gladman of Providence, Rhode Island, received a 2016 artist grant. Gladman, whose most recent book is Calamities (Wave Books, 2016), received $40,000. The annual grants are given to poets, as well as visual and performance artists. There is no application process. Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 820 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10014. (212) 807-7077. info@contemporaryarts.org www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grants
Fourteen Hills Press GINA BERRIAULT AWARD
Suzanne Rivecca of San Francisco won the 2016 Gina Berriault Award. Rivecca, whose most recent book is the story collection Death is Not an Option (Norton, 2010), received $500 and will be interviewed and have a short story published in Issue 23.1 of Fourteen Hills. Peter Orner judged. The annual award is given to a fiction writer “with a love of storytelling and a commitment to helping young writers.” There is no application process. STACY DORIS MEMORIAL POETRY AWARD
Sahar Muradi of New York City won the 2016 Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award for her poem “Brink.” She received $500, and her poem will be published in Issue 22.2 of Fourteen Hills. Chet Wiener judged. The annual award is given for a poem with an inventive spirit. The next deadline is January 15, 2017. Fourteen Hills Press, San Francisco State University, Creative Writing Department, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94123. 14hills.net
Friends of American Writers LITERARY AWARDS
George Hodgman of New York City and Paris, Missouri, won the 2016 Friends of American Writers Literature Award for his memoir, Bettyville (Viking). He received $2,000. Andrew Malan Milward of Hattiesburg, Mississippi,
and Judith Claire Mitchell of Madison, Wisconsin, won second-place prizes. Milward won for his story collection I Was A Revolutionary (HarperCollins) and Mitchell won for her novel A Reunion of Ghosts (HarperCollins). They each received $1,000. The annual awards are given to writers with strong Midwestern ties that have not published more than three books. The next deadline for nominations is December 1. Friends of American Writers, Literary Awards, 474 Stagecoach Run, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137. www.fawchicago.org/awards.php
editors judged. The award is twice yearly for a short story. (SE E DE ADL I N E S.) VERY SHORT FICTION AWARD
Anthony DeCasper of Chico, California, won the Very Short Fiction Award for “Redshift.” He received $1,500, and his story will be published in Issue 99 of Glimmer Train Stories. The editors judged. The award is given twice yearly for a short short story. (SE E DE ADL I N E S.) Glimmer Train Press, 4763 SW Maplewood Road, P.O. Box 80430, Portland, OR 97280. (503) 221-0836. Susan Burmeister-Brown and Linda Swanson-Davies, Coeditors. www.glimmertrain.com
The Frost Place CHAPBOOK CONTEST
Tiana Clark of Brentwood, Tennessee, won the 2016 Frost Place Chapbook Contest, sponsored by Bull City Press, for Equilibrium. She received a fellowship of approximately $1,550 to attend the annual Poetry Seminar at the Frost Place; a weeklong residency at Robert Frost’s former home in Franconia, New Hampshire; a $250 stipend; and publication of her chapbook by Bull City Press. Afaa Michael Weaver judged. The annual award is given for a poetry chapbook. The next deadline is January 5, 2017. DARTMOUTH POET-IN-RESIDENCE AWARD
Rose McLarney of Auburn, Alabama, won the 2016 Dartmouth Poet-inResidence award. McLarney, whose most recent book is the poetry collection Its Day Being Gone (Penguin, 2014), received $2,000; a six- to eight-week residency at Robert Frost’s former home in Franconia, New Hampshire; and an invitation to read at the Frost Place, Dartmouth College, and other local venues. The annual award is given to a poet who has published at least one poetry collection. The next deadline is January 5, 2017. The Frost Place, P.O. Box 74, Franconia, NH 03580. (603) 823-5510. frost@frostplace.org www.frostplace.org
Great Lakes Colleges Association NEW WRITERS AWARDS
Natalie Scenters-Zapico of Salt Lake City won the 2016 New Writers Award in poetry for her collection, The Verging Cities (Center for Literary Publishing, 2015). Lauren Acampora of Katonah, New York, won in fiction for her short story collection, The Wonder Garden (Grove Press, 2015). Shulem Deen of New York City won in creative nonfiction for his memoir, All Who Go Do Not Return (Graywolf Press, 2015). The winners will each receive travel expenses and an honorarium of $500 per visit to several of the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s 13 member colleges, where they will give readings, meet with students, and lead classes. Christopher Bakken, Jennifer Clarvoe, and Pablo Peschiera judged in poetry; Joseph Aguilar, Mike Croley, and Mary Lacey judged in fiction; Peter Graham, Marin Heinritz, and Sylvia Watanabe judged in creative nonfiction. The annual awards are given for first published books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. (SE E DE ADL I N E S.) Great Lakes Colleges Association, New Writers Awards, 535 West William Street, Suite 301, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Gregory Wegner, Director of Program Development. wegner@glca.org
Glimmer Train Press
www.glca.org/program-menu/new-writers-award
FICTION OPEN
Gulf Coast
David Mizner of New York City won the Fiction Open for “Your Swim.” He received $3,000. Ezekiel N. Finkelstein of New York City won the $1,000 second-place prize for “Clayton and the Apocalypse—scenes from an earlier life.” Both winning stories will be published in Issue 99 of Glimmer Train Stories. The
PRIZE IN TRANSLATION
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Samantha Schnee of London won the 2015 Prize in Translation for her translation from the Spanish of an excerpt of Carmen Boullosa’s novel The Romantics’ Conspiracy. She received $1,000, and her translation will be published in the Summer/Fall 2016 issue of Gulf Coast.
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Ammiel Alcalay judged. The annual award is given for a work of translation from any language into English and alternates between poetry and prose. ( SEE D EA D L IN ES.)
Gulf Coast, Prize in Translation, University of Houston, English Department, Houston, TX 77204. (713) 743-3223. Adrienne Perry, Editor. editors@gulfcoastmag.org
Hit & Run Press
brown: kristin teston
WILLIAM DICKEY MEMORIAL BROADSIDE CONTEST
Jeff Encke of Seattle won the second annual William Dickey Memorial Broadside Contest for his poem “The Water in Which One Drowns Is Always an Ocean.” He received $1,000, and his poem was published as a broadside by Hit & Run Press. Forrest Gander judged. The annual award is given for a poem. The next deadline is November 30. Hit & Run Press, William Dickey Memorial Broadside Contest, 1569 Solano Avenue #379, Berkeley, CA 94707. www.mrbebop.com/2nd-annual-william-dickey
“1/2 K” PRIZE
Nghiem Tran of Poughkeepsie, New York, won the 2015 “1/2 K” Prize for his story “House.” He received $1,000, and his story was published in Indiana Review. Kim Chinquee judged. The annual award is given for a poem or a piece of flash fiction or nonfiction. ( S E E D E A D L I NE S.)
Indiana Review, “1/2 K” Prize, Indiana University, Ballantine Hall 529, 1020 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405. Su Cho, Associate Editor.
Recent Winners
www.gulfcoastmag.org
Indiana Review
indianareview.org
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation WRITING FELLOWSHIPS
Twenty-seven writers received 2016 Guggenheim Fellowships in creative writing. The ten fellows in poetry are Beth Bachmann of Nashville; Rick Barot of Tacoma, Washington; Jericho Brown of Decatur, Georgia; Stephen Burt of Belmont, Massachusetts; Cynthia Huntington of Post Mills, Vermont; Sally Keith of Washington, D.C.; James Kimbrell of Tallahassee, Florida; Deborah Landau of New York City; Ed Roberson
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POETS & WRITERS
MOLLY MCCULLY BROWN
Persea Books Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry RAMONA AUSUBEL
Ploughshares Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction VALENTINA GNUP
Rattle Poetry Prize Readers’ Choice Award
Recent Winners
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
of Chicago; and Brian Turner of Orlando, Florida. In fiction, the eight fellows are Jesse Ball of Chicago; Jennifer Clement, Jess Row, and René Steinke, all of New York City; Amity Gaige of West Hartford, Connecticut; Laila Lalami of Santa Monica, California; Jenny Offill of Red Hook, New York; and Melanie Rae Thon of Salt Lake City. In creative nonfiction, the nine fellows are Adam Kirsch, Glenn Kurtz, Nick Laird, and Amanda Petrusich, all of New York City; Chris Kraus of Los Angeles; Amitava Kumar of Poughkeepsie, New York; Paul Lisicky of Philadelphia; Robert Storr of New Haven, Connecticut; and Sarah Payne Stuart of Nobleboro, Maine. The annual fellowships are approximately $50,000 each, and are awarded in recognition of “achievement and exceptional promise.” The next deadline is September 18. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Writing Fellowships, 90 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016. (212) 687-4470. www.gf.org
Journal of Experimental Fiction KENNETH PATCHEN AWARD
Charles Hood of Palmdale, California, won the 2016 Kenneth Patchen Award for his novel Mouth. He received $1,000, and his book will be published by Journal of Experimental Fiction/Depth Charge Publishing. Derek Pell judged. The annual award is given for an innovative novel. ( SEE D EAD LIN ES.) Journal of Experimental Fiction, Kenneth Patchen Award, 1110 Varsity Boulevard, Unit 221, DeKalb, IL 60115. Eckhard Gerdes, Contact. egerdes@experimentalfiction.com www.experimentalfiction.com/Kenneth_Patchen _Award.html
Langum Charitable Trust PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION
Faith Sullivan of Minneapolis won the 2015 David J. Langum Sr. Prize for American Historical Fiction for her novel Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse (Milkweed Editions). She received $1,000. The annual award is given for a work of fiction published in the previous year that “helps to make the rich history of America accessible to the general reader.” The next deadline is December 1. Langum Charitable Trust, Prize for American Historical Fiction, 2809 Berkeley Drive, Birmingham, AL 35242.
langumtrust@gmail.com www.langumtrust.org/histlit.html
Library of Congress WITTER BYNNER FELLOWSHIP
Poet Allison Hedge Coke of Guthrie, Oklahoma, won the 2016 Witter Bynner Fellowship. She received $10,000 and gave a reading at the Library of Congress and in her hometown. Poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera judged. The annual award is given to a poet to support the writing of poetry. There is no application process. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20540. www.loc.gov/poetry
Literal Latté AMES ESSAY AWARD
Laura Distelheim of Highland Park, Illinois, won the 2015 Ames Essay Award for “Requiem for All the Words That Didn’t Make It Into Tweets.” She received $1,000, and her essay was published in Literal Latté. The editors judged. The annual award is given for an essay. The next deadline is September 30. Literal Latté, Ames Essay Award, 200 East 10th Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10003. (212) 260-5532. Jenine Gordon Bockman, Editor. litlatte@aol.com www.literal-latte.com
Lynx House Press BLUE LYNX PRIZE FOR POETRY
Dave Nielsen of Salt Lake City won the 2015 Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry for his collection Unfinished Figures. He received $2,000, and his book will be published by Lynx House Press. Kathleen Flenniken judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. The next deadline is May 15, 2017. Lynx House Press, Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry, P.O. Box 940, Spokane, WA 99210. (509) 624-4894. Christopher Howell, Editor. lynxhousepress@gmail.com www.lynxhousepress.org
Measure Press HOWARD NEMEROV SONNET AWARD
D. R. Goodman of Oakland, California, won the 2015 Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award for “All the Dropped Things.” She received $1,000 and publication of her poem in Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry. Gail White judged. The annual award is given for a sonnet. The next deadline is November 15. J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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Measure Press, Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award, 21 Osborn Terrace, Wayne, NY 07470. www.measurepress.com
Michigan Quarterly Review LITERARY PRIZES
Alyson Hagy of Laramie, Wyoming, won the 38th annual Lawrence Foundation Prize for her story “Switchback,” which appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. She received $1,000. The journal’s editorial board judged. Raymond McDaniel of Ann Arbor, Michigan, won the 14th annual Laurence Goldstein Poetry Prize for his poem “Claire Lenoir,” which appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. He received $500. Paisley Rekdal judged. The annual awards are given for a short story and a poem published in Michigan Quarterly Review during the previous year. There is no application process. PAGE DAVIDSON CLAYTON PRIZE
Katie Hartsock of Chicago won the seventh annual Page Davidson Clayton Prize for Emerging Poets for her poem “The Sister Karamazov,” which appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. She received $500. The editors judged. The annual award is given for a poem or group of poems published in Michigan Quarterly Review by a poet who has not published a book at the time of publication in the journal. There is no application process. Michigan Quarterly Review, 0576 Rackham Building, 915 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. (734) 764-9265. Vicki Lawrence, Managing Editor. www.michiganquarterlyreview.com
Missouri Review JEFFREY E. SMITH EDITORS’ PRIZES
Three writers won 2015 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prizes. Phillip B. Williams of Chicago won in poetry for a group of poems; Emma Törzs of Minneapolis won in fiction for her story “The Wall;” and Genese Grill of Burlington, Vermont, won in creative nonfiction for her essay “Portals: Cabinets of Curiosity, Reliquaries, and Colonialism.” They each received $5,000 and publication in Missouri Review. The annual awards are given for a group of poems, a story, and an essay. The next deadline is October 1. Missouri Review, Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prizes, University of Missouri, 357 McReynolds Hall, Columbia, MO 65211.
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
(573) 882-4474. contest_question@moreview.com www.missourireview.com
National Book Critics Circle BOOK AWARDS
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POETS & WRITERS
Maggie Nelson of Los Angeles received the criticism award for her book The Argonauts (Graywolf Press). The finalists were Ta-Nehisi Coates of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for Between the World and Me (Spiegel & Grau); Leo Damrosch of Newton, Massachusetts, for Eternity’s Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake (Yale University Press); Colm Tóibín of Dublin for On Elizabeth Bishop (Princeton University Press); and James Wood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for The Nearest Thing to Life (Brandeis University Press). The National Book Critics Circle, a professional organization composed of 700 book critics and reviewers from across the country, annually honors books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published in the previous year. The next deadline is December 1. JOHN LEONARD PRIZE
Kirstin Valdez Quade of Ann Arbor, Michigan, won the John Leonard Award for her short story collection, Night at the Fiestas (W. W. Norton). The annual award is given for a first book in any genre. There is no application process.
Recent Winners
Ross Gay of Bloomington, Indiana, received the National Book Critics Circle Award for 2015 in poetry for his collection Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (University of Pittsburgh Press). The finalists were Terrance Hayes of Pittsburgh for How to Be Drawn (Penguin); Ada Limón of Lexington, Kentucky, and Sonoma, California, for Bright Dead Things (Milkweed Editions); Sinéad Morrissey of Belfast for Parallax and Selected Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); and the late Frank Stanford for What About This: Collected Poems of Frank Stanford (Copper Canyon Press). Paul Beatty of New York City received the fiction award for his novel The Sellout (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The finalists were Lauren Groff of Gainesville, Florida, for her novel Fates & Furies (Riverhead Books); Valeria Luiselli of New York City for her novel The Story of My Teeth (Coffee House Press); Anthony Marra of Oakland, California, for his story
collection, The Tsar of Love and Techno (Hogarth); and Ottessa Moshfegh of Oakland, California, for her novel, Eileen (Penguin Press). Margo Jefferson of New York City received the autobiography award for her memoir, Negroland (Pantheon). The finalists were Elizabeth Alexander of New York City for The Light of the World (Grand Central Publishing); Vivian Gornick of New York City for The Odd Woman and the City (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); George Hodgman of New York City and Paris, Missouri, for Bettyville (Viking); and Helen Macdonald of Cambridge, England, for H Is for Hawk (Grove Press). Sam Quinones of Los Angeles received the nonfiction award for his book Dreamland: The True Story of America’s Opiate Epidemic (Bloomsbury). The finalists were Mary Beard of Cambridge, England, for SPQR: A History of Rome (Liveright); Ari Berman of New York City for Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Jill Leovy of Los Angeles for Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America (Spiegel & Grau); and Brian Seibert of New York City for What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
National Book Critics Circle, 160 Varick Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10013. info@bookcritics.org bookcritics.org
North Carolina Writers’ Network
Recent Winners
ROSE POST CREATIVE NONFICTION COMPETITION
Karen Smith Linehan of Carolina Beach, North Carolina, won the 2016 Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition for her essay “Magnolia grandiflora.” She received $1,000, and possible publication of her essay in Ecotone. Kate Sweeney judged. The annual award is given for an essay that “is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The next deadline is January 15, 2017. THOMAS WOLFE FICTION PRIZE
Alli Marshall of Asheville, North Carolina, won the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize for her short story “Catching Out.” She received $1,000, and her story will be published in Thomas Wolfe Review. Ron Rash judged. The annual award is given for a short story. The next deadline is January 30, 2017. North Carolina Writers’ Network, P.O. Box 21591, Winston-Salem, NC 27120. Ed Southern, Contact. ed@ncwriters.org www.ncwriters.org
Off the Grid Press POETRY PRIZE
Patricia Corbus of Sarasota, Florida, won the 2015 Off the Grid Press Poetry Prize for her collection Finestra’s Window. She received $1,000, and her book was published by Off the Grid Press. The annual award is given for a poetry collection by a poet over the age of 60. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set. Off the Grid Press, Poetry Prize, 24 Quincy Street, Somerville, MA 02143. Tam Lin Neville, Coeditor. offthegridpress@gmail.com offthegridpress.net
Orison Books POETRY AND FICTION PRIZES
Rebecca Aronson of Albuquerque, New Mexico, won the 2016 Orison Poetry Prize for her collection Ghost Child of the Atalanta Bloom. David Ebenbach of Washington D.C. won the 2016 Orison Fiction Prize for his novel Miss Portland. They each received $1,500, and their books will be published by Orison Books in 2017. Hadara Bar-Nadav judged in
poetry; Peter Orner judged in fiction. The annual awards are given for a poetry collection and a story collection or novel. The next deadline is April 1, 2017. Orison Books, Poetry and Fiction Prizes, P.O. Box 8385, Asheville, NC 28814. Luke Hankins, Editor. www.orisonbooks.com
PEN Center USA EMERGING VOICES FELLOWSHIPS
Five writers received 2016 Emerging Voices Fellowships from PEN Center USA. They are poet Wendy Labinger, fiction writers Natalie Lima and Chelsea Sutton, and nonfiction writers Marnie Goodfriend and Jian Huang, all of Los Angeles. They each received $1,000, and will participate in a mentorship program with a professional writer, as well as public readings and other programming in Los Angeles. The annual awards are given to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers.
LEXI RUDNITSKY FIRST BOOK PRIZE IN POETRY
Molly McCully Brown of Oxford, Mississippi, won the 2016 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry for her debut collection, The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded. She received $1,000, and her book will be published in 2017 by Persea Books. She also received an all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center, an artists retreat in Umbria, Italy. The annual award is given for a poetry collection by a woman who has not yet published a book. The next deadline is October 31. Persea Books, Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry, 277 Broadway, Suite 708, New York, NY 10007. (212) 260-9256. Gabriel Fried, Poetry Editor. info@perseabooks.com www.perseabooks.com
Perugia Press
( S E E D E A D L I N E S.)
PEN Center USA, Emerging Voices Fellowships, P.O. Box 6037, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (323) 424-4939. pen@penusa.org www.penusa.org/programs/emerging-voices
PEN/Faulkner Foundation AWARD FOR FICTION
James Hannaham of New York City won the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award for his novel Delicious Foods (Little, Brown). He received $15,000. The finalists were Julie Iromuanya of Tucson, Arizona, for her novel, Mr. and Mrs. Doctor (Coffee House Press); Viet Thanh Nguyen of Los Angeles for his novel, The Sympathizer (Grove Press); Elizabeth Tallent of Mendocino, California, for her story collection Mendocino Fire (HarperCollins); and Luis Alberto Urrea of Naperville, Illinois, for his story collection The Water Museum (Little, Brown). They each received $5,000. Abby Frucht, Molly McCloskey, and Sergio Troncoso judged. The annual award is given for a work of fiction by a U.S. writer published in the previous year. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set. PEN/Faulkner Foundation, Award for Fiction, 201 East Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. (202) 898-9063. awards@penfaulkner.org www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
Persea Books
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PERUGIA PRESS PRIZE
Lisa Allen Ortiz of Santa Cruz, California, won the 2016 Perugia Press Prize for her poetry collection, Guide to the Exhibit. She received $1,000, and her book will be published by Perugia Press in September. The annual award is given for a first or second book of poetry by a woman. The next deadline is November 15. Perugia Press, Perugia Press Prize, P.O. Box 60364, Florence, MA 01062. Susan Kan, Director. www.perugiapress.com
phren-Z MORTON MARCUS POETRY CONTEST
Alexandra Barylski of Palo Alto, California, won the 2015 Morton Marcus Poetry Contest for her poem “A Letter.” She received $1,000, publication of her poem in phren-Z, and an invitation to read at the sixth annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading at the University of California in Santa Cruz. Stephen Kessler judged. The annual award is given for a poem. (SE E DE ADL I N E S.) phren-Z, Morton Marcus Poetry Contest, 184 Kenny Court, Santa Cruz, CA 95065. Jory Post, Cofounder. jory@cruzio.com phren-z.org
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
ROBERT H. WINNER MEMORIAL AWARD
ALICE HOFFMAN PRIZE FOR FICTION
Erin Redfern of San Jose, California, and Metta Sáma of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, both won the 2016 Robert H. Winner Memorial Award. They each received $1,250 and publication of a poem on the Poetry Society of America website. Cyrus Cassells judged. The annual award is given to a poet over 40 who has published no more than one book. The next deadline is December 22. Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. (212) 254-9628. Brett Fletcher Lauer, Deputy Director. brett@poetrysociety.org
Ramona Ausubel of Berkeley, California, won the 2015 Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction for her short story “Fresh Water From the Sea,” which was published in the Summer 2015 issue of Ploughshares. She received $1,000. Alice Hoffman judged. The annual award is given to the best piece of fiction published in the journal during the previous year. There is no application process. Ploughshares, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. (617) 824-3757. Ellen Duffer, Managing Editor. pshares@pshares.org www.pshares.org
Poetry Society of America FROST MEDAL
Grace Schulman of New York City and East Hampton, New York, won the 2016 Frost Medal. Schulman, whose most recent poetry collection is Without a Claim (Mariner Books, 2013), received $5,000. The annual award is given by the Poetry Society of America Board of Governors to recognize “distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry.” There is no application process.
www.poetrysociety.org
Poets & Writers, Inc. JACKSON POETRY PRIZE
Will Alexander of Los Angeles won the tenth annual Jackson Poetry Prize. Alexander, whose most recent book is Singing in Magnetic Hoofbeat: Essays, Prose Texts, Interviews and a Lecture 1991–2007 (Essay Press, 2012), received $50,000. Elizabeth Alexander, Rae Armantrout, and Terrance Hayes judged. The annual award is given to “an American poet of exceptional talent who deserves wider
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recognition.” There is no application process. MAUREEN EGEN WRITERS EXCHANGE AWARDS
Poet Kimo Armitage of Honolulu and fiction writer Alicia Upano of Wahiawa, Hawai’i, won the 2016 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Awards. They each received $500, a monthlong residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming, and an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to meet with writers, agents, editors, and publishers. Sarah Gambito judged in poetry; Alexander Chee judged in fiction. The annual awards are given to a poet and a fiction writer from a select state. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set. Poets & Writers, Inc., 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. (212) 226-3586. www.pw.org
Pulitzer Prizes PRIZES IN LETTERS
Peter Balakian of Hamilton, New York, won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for Ozone Journal (University of Chicago Press). The finalists were Elizabeth
Recent Winners
Ploughshares
Recent Winners
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
Willis of Middletown, Connecticut, for Alive: New and Selected Poems (New York Review Books) and Diane Seuss of Kalamazoo, Michigan, for Four-Legged Girl (Graywolf Press). Rafael Campo, Al Filreis, and Nikky Finney judged. Viet Thanh Nguyen of Los Angeles won the prize in fiction for his novel, The Sympathizer (Grove Press). The finalists were Kelly Link of Northampton, Massachusetts, for her story collection Get in Trouble (Random House); and Margaret Verble of Lexington, Kentucky, and Old Windsor, England, for her novel, Maud’s Line (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Edward P. Jones, Leah Price, and Art Winslow judged. William Finnegan of New York City won the prize in autobiography/biography for his memoir, Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life (Penguin Press). The finalists were T. J. Stiles of Berkeley, California, for his biography Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America (Knopf ) and Elizabeth Alexander of New York City for her memoir, The Light of the World (Grand Central Publishing). Annette GordonReed, Michael Kazin, and Linda Leavell judged. Joby Warrick of Washington D.C. won the prize in nonfiction for Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS (Doubleday). The finalists were Ta-Nehisi Coates of Paris for Between the World and Me (Spiegel & Grau) and Carla Power of Brighton, England, for If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran (Henry Holt). Douglas A. Blackmon, Susan Faludi, and Louise Kiernan judged. The winners each received $10,000. The annual awards honor books by U.S. writers published in the United States during the previous year. The annual deadlines are June 15 and October 1. Pulitzer Prizes, Prizes in Letters, Columbia University, 709 Pulitzer Hall, 2950 Broadway, New York, NY 10027. (212) 854-3841. pulitzer@pulitzer.org www.pulitzer.org
Rattle
finalists, and Rattle subscribers selected the winner. The annual award is given for a poem. The next deadline is July 15.
Press. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. (SE E DE ADL I N E S.)
NEIL POSTMAN AWARD FOR METAPHOR
Misty Urban of Muscatine, Iowa, won the 2015 Serena Kennedy Fiction Award for her short story collection, A Lesson in Manners. She received $1,000 and publication of her book by Snake Nation Press. The annual award is given for a novella or short story collection.
Jack Vian of Beaumont, Texas, won the 2016 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor for his poem “Musashi-san.” He received $1,000, and his poem was published in Issue 47 of Rattle. The editors judged. The annual award is given for a poem “exhibiting the best use of metaphor” among submissions to Rattle received during the previous year. There is no application process. Rattle, 12411 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604. (818) 505-6777. Timothy Green, Editor. tim@rattle.com
SERENA KENNEDY FICTION AWARD
(SE E DE ADL I N E S.)
Snake Nation Press, 110 West Force Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. Roberta George, Founding Editor. snake.nation.press@gmail.com www.snakenationpress.org
Southwest Review MORTON MARR POETRY PRIZE
www.rattle.com
Justin Herrmann of Kotzebue, Alaska, won the 2016 River Styx Schlafly Beer Micro-Brew Micro-Fiction Contest for his short story “Sundowning.” He received $1,500, a case of Schlafly beer, and publication of his story in River Styx. The annual award is given for a work of micro-fiction under 500 words. The next deadline is December 31. River Styx, Schlafly Beer Micro-Brew Micro-Fiction Contest, 3139A South Grand Boulevard, Suite 203, Saint Louis, MO 63118. Richard Newman, Editor. bigriver@riverstyx.org
Terry Eicher of New Haven, Connecticut, won the 2015 Morton Marr Poetry Prize for his poem “Her Right Breast’s Complaint.” He received $1,000, and his poem was published in Volume 101, Number 1, of Southwest Review. David Lehman judged. The annual award is given for a poem or group of poems written in traditional verse by a writer who has not published a book of poetry. The next deadline is September 30. Southwest Review, Morton Marr Poetry Prize, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750374, 3225 Daniel Avenue, Heroy Science Hall, Room G09, Dallas, TX 75275. (214) 768-1037. Jennifer Cranfill, Senior Editor.
www.riverstyx.org
www.smu.edu/southwestreview
Seattle Review
The Story Prize
CHAPBOOK CONTEST
Adam Johnson of San Francisco won the 2015 Story Prize for Fortune Smiles (Random House). He received $20,000. The finalists were Charles Baxter of Minneapolis for There’s Something I Want You to Do (Pantheon Books) and Colum McCann of New York City for Thirteen Ways of Looking (Random House). They each received $5,000. Anthony Doerr, Rita Meade, and Kathryn Schulz judged. Adrian Tomine of New York City won the 2015 Story Prize Spotlight Award for Killing and Dying (Drawn & Quarterly). He received $1,000. Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey judged. The annual awards are given for short story collections published during the previous year.
River Styx SCHLAFLY BEER MICRO-BREW MICRO-FICTION CONTEST
Adrienne Raphel of Cambridge, Massachusetts, won the 2015 Chapbook Contest for But What Will We Do. She received $1,000, and her chapbook was published by Seattle Review. Robyn Schiff judged. The annual award is given for a chapbook. ( S E E D E A D L I N E S .) Seattle Review, Chapbook Contest, P.O. Box 354330, Seattle, WA 98195. seattlereview@gmail.com www.theseattlereview.org/new-page
POETRY PRIZE
Snake Nation Press
Valentina Gnup of Oakland, California, won the 2015 Rattle Poetry Prize Readers’ Choice Award for “Morning at the Welfare Office.” She received $2,000, and her poem was published in Issue 50 of Rattle. The editors selected
VIOLET REED HAAS PRIZE FOR POETRY
John Paul O’Connor of Franklin, New York, won the 2015 Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry for his collection, Half the Truth. He received $1,000 and publication of his book by Snake Nation J U LY AU G U S T 2 016
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(SE E DE ADL I N E S.)
GR A N TS & AWA R DS
The Story Prize, 41 Watchung Plaza, #384, Montclair, NJ 07042. Larry Dark, Director. info@thestoryprize.org www.thestoryprize.org
Two Sylvias Press WILDER SERIES POETRY BOOK PRIZE
twosylviaspress.com/wilder-series-poetry-book -prize.html
Unterberg Poetry Center “DISCOVERY”/BOSTON REVIEW POETRY PRIZES
Four poets won 2016 “Discovery”/ Boston Review Poetry Prizes. They are Ryan Fox, Carlie Hoffman, Gala Mukomolova, and Miller Oberman, all
www.92y.org/discovery
Zócalo Public Square BOOK PRIZE
Sherry Turkle of Boston won the sixth annual Zócalo Public Square Book Prize for Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age (Penguin). She received $5,000 and an invitation to give a lecture at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in May. The annual award is given for a nonfiction book published in the United States in
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the previous year that “best enhances our understanding of community, social cohesion, and human connectedness.” As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set. POETRY PRIZE
Matt Phillips of San Diego won the fifth annual Zócalo Poetry Prize for “Crossing Coronado Bridge.” He received $500, and his poem was published on the Zócalo Public Square website. Colette LaBouff Atkinson and the Zócalo editors judged. The annual award is given for a poem that “best explores people’s connection to place.” As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set. Zócalo Public Square, 725 Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (424) 229-9493. Jia-Rui Cook, Editor. jiarui@zocalopublicsquare.org zocalopublicsquare.org
Grants & Awards is written by D A N A I S O K AW A .
Recent Winners
Carmen Gillespie of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, won the 2016 Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize for her collection The Blue Black Wet of Wood. She received $1,000, and her book will be published in the fall. Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection by a woman over the age of 50. The next deadline is November 30. Two Sylvias Press, Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize, P.O. Box 1524, Kingston, WA 98346. twosylviaspress@gmail.com
of New York City. They each received $500, publication of their work in Boston Review, and an invitation to give a reading at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Timothy Donnelly, Thylias Moss, Paul Muldoon, Solmaz Sharif, and Ellen Bryant Voigt judged. The annual awards are given to four poets who have not published a book of poems. The next deadline is January 20, 2017. Unterberg Poetry Center, “Discovery”/ Boston Review Poetry Prizes, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128. (212) 415-5760. Ricardo Maldonado, Contact. rickymaldonado@92y.org
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
POETS & WRITERS MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES application information for writers conferences, literary festivals, residencies, and colonies of interest to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Applications for the following events are due shortly. Conferences and festivals with rolling, first-come, first-served admission are listed well in advance. Some accept registration on the date of the event. Contact the sponsoring organization for an application and complete guidelines. When requesting information by mail, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE).
Conferences & Residencies The eighth annual Bookstock Literary Festival, sponsored by Sustainable Woodstock, will be held from July 29 to July 31 in Woodstock, Vermont. The festival features workshops, readings, discussions, and a book fair for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Participating writers include poets Richard Blanco, Mark Doty, Chard deNiord, Jorie Graham, and Ellen Bryant Voigt; fiction writers Jan Ellison and Howard Frank Mosher; and nonfiction writers Howard Axelrod, Robin Gaby Fisher, and Nathalia Holt. All events and workshops are free and open to the public. E-mail or visit the website for more information.
Literary), Alia Hanna Habib (McCormick Literary), Amaryah Orenstein (GO Literary), Ammi-Joan Paquette (Erin Murphy Literary), and Katie Shea Boutillier (Donald Maass Literary). Tuition is $135 for a three-session course, $100 for a two-session course, or $65 for a single workshop. One-on-one manuscript consultations are available for an additional $75 to $150; query consultations with agents are available for an additional $25. General registration is $100 (free for Cape Cod Writers Center members). Lodging is available at the conference hotel for a discounted rate. The registration deadline is July 22. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for more information.
Bookstock Literary Festival, Sustainable Woodstock, P.O. Box 611, Woodstock, VT 05091. Ron Miller, Coordinator. info@bookstockvt.org
Cape Cod Writers Center Conference, P.O. Box 408, Osterville, MA 02655. (508) 420-0200. writers@capecodwriterscenter.org
www.bookstockvt.org
www.capecodwriterscenter.org
Cape Cod Writers Center Conference
Catamaran Writing Conference
Bookstock Literary Festival
The 54th annual Cape Cod Writers Center Conference will be held from August 4 to August 7 at the Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The conference features workshops and craft classes in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as mentoring sessions with editors and agents. Fiction writer Peter B. Abrahams will deliver the keynote. The faculty includes poet William Wenthe; fiction writers Ron MacLean, Jonathan Papernick, and Adam Sexton; nonfiction writers Phoebe Baker Hyde and Mindy Lewis; and agents Michael Carr (Veritas
The 2016 Catamaran Writing Conference will be held from July 31 to August 4 at the Robert Louis Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California. The conference features workshops, craft lectures, readings, and daily excursions for poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The faculty includes poets Joseph Millar and Zack Rogow; fiction writers Charlie Jane Anders, Molly Gloss, and Elizabeth McKenzie; and creative nonfiction writers Frances Lefkowitz and Elizabeth Rosner. The keynote speaker is fiction writer Jonathan Franzen. The cost of the conference, which includes tuition, most meals, and lodging on the Robert Louis 99
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Stevenson School campus, is $1,250. Submit five poems totaling no more than 10 pages, or up to 10 pages of prose by July 15. Visit the website for more information. Catamaran Writing Conference, Catamaran Literary Reader, 1050 River Street, Studio 118, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. editor@catamaranliteraryreader.com catamaranliteraryreader.com/conference-2016
Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference The Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference will be held from August 5 to August 8 at the Brandt House Estate in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and from September 23 to September 26 at Captain Whidbey Inn on Whidbey Island, Washington. The conference features evaluation and discussion of book-length and chapbook-length manuscripts with poets, editors, and publishers. The faculty for the August session includes poet Joan Houlihan and editor Martha Rhodes (Four Way Books). The faculty for the September conference includes poets Joan Houlihan and Fred Marchant; and editors Rusty Morrison (Omnidawn Publishing) and Jeff Shotts (Graywolf Press). The cost of the August session, which includes lodging and meals, is $1,675. The cost of the September session, which includes lodging and meals, is $1,375. Using the online submission system, submit three to four poems and a brief biography. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. There is no application fee. Visit the website for an application and complete guidelines.
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference, Concord Poetry Center, 40 Stow Street, Concord, MA 01742. (978) 897-0054. Joan Houlihan, Director. conferences@colrainpoetry.org www.colrainpoetry.com
Conferences & Residencies
Edith Wharton Writer-InResidence Program The Mount, Edith Wharton’s former home in Lenox, Massachusetts, offers a two- to three-week residency each spring to a poet, a fiction writer, or a nonfiction writer. The resident will be provided with a $1,000 stipend, work space, and lodging near the Mount, a Georgian revival mansion located near Laurel Lake and Erving State Forest. The resident will be expected to publish a short essay or article about their time at the Mount and give a reading or talk during or following their residency. To apply for a residency in February 2017 or March 2017, submit a writing sample of up to 1,500 words, a curriculum vitae, a statement of purpose, and a $15 application fee by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence Program, the Mount, P.O. Box 974, Lenox, MA 01240. info@edithwharton.org www.edithwharton.org/visit/the-edith-wharton -writer-in-residence-program
Environmental Writing Institute The 24th annual Environmental Writing Institute conference for creative nonfiction writers will be held from September 22 to September 25 at the University of Montana in Missoula. The 2016 program, which is limited to 10 participants, features three half-day workshops and individual conferences with creative nonfiction writer Seth Kantner, as well as time to write. Tuition is $500, which includes some meals. Lodging is available at area hotels and inns. Submit an application, a writing sample of 2,000 to 4,000 words, and a one-page résumé or bio by August 1. There is no application fee. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for more information. Environmental Writing Institute, c/o Environmental Studies Department, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812. (406) 243-2904. Phil Condon,
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Director. phil.condon@mso.umt.edu www.umt.edu/ewi
Hambidge Creative Residency Program Hambidge offers residencies of two weeks to two months to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on 600 wooded acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia. Residents are provided with a private cottage that includes a bedroom, studio space, kitchen, and bathroom. The cost of the residency is $200 per week, which includes some meals. Several scholarships are available. For residencies from midFebruary 2017 through April 2017, using the online submission system submit five to eight poems or up to 30 pages of prose, a 300-word biography, a one-page project description, and a résumé with a $30 application fee by September 15. Visit the website for an application and complete guidelines. Hambidge Creative Residency Program, P.O. Box 339, Rabun Gap, GA 30568. (706) 746-7324. Debra Sanders, Office Manager. center@hambidge.org www.hambidge.org
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
Kentucky Women Writers Conference
Jentel Artist Residency Program
The 2016 Iota Short Prose Conference will be held from August 16 to August 19 at the Roosevelt Campobello International Park on Campobello Island, in New Brunswick, Canada, located just off the coast of Lubec, Maine. The conference, which will focus on short forms in prose poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, features workshops, craft discussions, one-on-one meetings with faculty, readings, open mics, and field trips to nearby locations. The faculty includes poet Mark Doty and nonfiction writer Dinty W. Moore. Tuition is $940, which includes lodging and most meals, or $575, which includes some meals. Submit a writing sample of up to five pages and cover letter with a $15 application fee. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines.
Jentel Artist Residency Program offers four-week residencies from mid-January to mid-May to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on a cattle ranch in the Lower Piney Creek Valley, 20 miles east of Sheridan, Wyoming. Each residency includes a private room, separate work space, access to a common living area, and a $400 stipend. Residents are responsible for food and travel expenses. U.S. citizens or residents over 25 years old who are not currently enrolled as students are eligible. For residencies from January 15, 2017, to May 13, 2017, using the online submission system submit up to 10 pages of poetry or up to 20 pages of prose and contact information for three references with a $23 application fee by September 15. Visit the website for an application and complete guidelines.
Iota Short Prose Conference, Inkslinger Conferences, 114 Moore Road, Trescott, ME 04652. (207) 904-7652. director@ioataconference.com
Jentel Artist Residency Program, 130 Lower Piney Creek Road, Banner, WY 82832. (307) 737-2311. Mary Jane Edwards, Executive Director. jentel@jentelarts.org
Kentucky Women Writers Conference, University of Kentucky, 232 East Maxwell Street, Lexington, KY 40506. (859) 257-2874. Julie Wrinn, Director. kentuckywomenwriters@gmail.com
www.iotaconference.com
www.jentelarts.org
www.kentuckywomenwriters.org
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The 38th annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference will be held on September 16 and September 17 at the Carnegie Center in Lexington. The conference features workshops and craft talks in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The faculty includes poets Natalie Diaz, Lisa Russ Spaar, and Bianca Spriggs; fiction writers Danielle Dutton, Dana Spiotta, and Crystal Wilkinson; and nonfiction writer Mary Karr. Tuition, which includes conference registration and a workshop, is $200. General registration is $125; the cost for students is $30. Fifteen-minute manuscript consultations with literary agents are available for an additional $45. The application deadline is August 12. Workshop space is limited; registration is first come, first served. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for more information.
Conferences & Residencies
Iota Short Prose Conference
Conferences & Residencies
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts
info@khncenterforthearts.org
noepecenter@gmail.com
www.khncenterforthearts.org
noepecenter.org
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, located in the Missouri River town of Nebraska City, offers residencies of two to eight weeks year-round to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Residents are provided with housing, studio space, and a $100 weekly stipend. For residencies from January 4, 2017, to June 17, 2017, using the online submission system submit up to 10 poems totaling no more than 30 pages, two stories or novel chapters totaling no more than 7,500 words, or two essays or chapters of a work of creative nonfiction totaling no more than 7,500 words, a writer’s statement, contact information for two references, and a résumé with a $35 application fee by September 1. The application deadline for residencies in the second half of the year is March 1. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for an application and complete guidelines.
Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency
Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference
The Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency offers residencies of two to six weeks twice yearly to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. The next residency period is September 17 through October 31. Residents are provided with a private room, bath, and work space at the Noepe Center, a historic house located in Edgartown, Massachusetts. The cost of the residency is $350 per week or $1,400 for one month. Residents are responsible for their own transportation and meals. Some scholarships are available. Using the online submission system, submit up to six poems or no more than 20 pages of prose, a statement of purpose, and a brief bio with a $10 application fee. Admissions are made on a rolling basis. E-mail or visit the website for an application and complete guidelines.
The 2016 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference will be held from July 22 to July 24 at the Hilton Dallas/Fort Worth Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine, Texas. The conference, whose focus this year is “Pulitzer—A Century of Excellence: People, Politics, and Public Affairs,” features workshops in creative nonfiction as well as panel discussions, lectures, readings, and pitch sessions with agents. Participating nonfiction writers include Margo Jefferson, Gilbert King, and Sheryl WuDunn. Tuition, which includes some meals, is $425. Pitch sessions with agents are available for an additional $50. Rooms at the conference hotel are available for $116 per night. Registration is first come, first served. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for more information.
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, 801 Third Corso, Nebraska City, NE 68410. (402) 874-9600. Amanda Smith, Program Director.
Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency, P.O. Box 1041 West Tisbury, MA 02575. (508) 560-0467. Justen Ahren, Director.
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Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, University of North Texas, Mayborn School of Journalism, 1155 Union Circle, #311460, General Academic Building, Room 102, Denton, TX 76203.
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
Renaissance House Residency Program
Slice Literary Writers Conference
www.themayborn.com/conference-and
The Renaissance House Residency Program, sponsored by the Helene and Dorothy West Foundation for Artists in Need, offers residencies of one to two weeks from June to September to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Catskill Mountains of Napanoch, New York. Each residency includes classes, lectures, and time to write. Participating writers include poet Afaa Michael Weaver, fiction writer Elizabeth Benedict, and creative nonfiction writers Zachary Sklar and Michael Smith. The residency fee is $800 per week, which includes all meals. Submit an application with a work sample of any length. Applications are considered on a rolling basis; there is no application fee. Send an SASE or e-mail for more information.
The 2016 Slice Literary Writers’ Conference will be held from September 10 to September 11 at St. Francis College in downtown Brooklyn, New York. The conference features craft workshops, panels, and one-on-one agent meetings for fiction and nonfiction writers. Participating authors include fiction writers Bronwen Hruska, Karen Russell, Elissa Schappell, and Rob Spillman; and nonfiction writer Michele Filgate. Participating publishing professionals include Sarah Bowlin (Henry Holt), Kim Brooks (Salon), Julie Buntin (Catapult), Matthew Daddona (HarperCollins), Marjorie DeWitt (Other Press), Katie Freeman (Penguin Random House), Brigid Hughes (A Public Space), Maris Kreizman (Kickstarter), Tiffany Liao (Penguin Random House), Halimah Marcus (Electric Literature), Paul Morris (PEN American Center), Miriam Parker (HarperCollins), and Sara Weiss (Penguin Random House); and agents Noah Ballard (Curtis Brown), Andrea Barzvi (Empire Literary), Michelle Brower (Kuhn Projects), Stephanie Delman (Sanford J. Greenburger
-competitions
Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Retreat for Women The sixth annual Poets on the Coast weekend writing retreat for women will be held from September 9 to September 11 at the Country Inn in the historic river town of La Conner, Washington. The retreat offers a workshop, one-onone mentoring, craft classes, and yoga for women poets. The faculty includes poets Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich. Tuition, which does not include lodging or meals, is $395. Lodging is available at the conference hotel for $119 to $179 per night. A limited number of scholarships are available. The registration deadline is July 31. Visit the website for more information. Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Retreat for Women, c/o Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich, P.O. Box 1524, Kingston, WA 98346. poetsonthecoast@gmail.com
Renaissance House Residency Program, Helene and Dorothy West Foundation for Artists in Need, 484 West 43rd Street, Suite 37E, New York, NY 10036. (917) 747-0367. Abigail McGrath, Contact. renaissancehse@aol.com
poetsonthecoast.weebly.com
renaissance-house-harlem.com
“I have never seen anything quite like Priscilla Long’s book …. It presents a true alternative for the advanced writer.” —Maya Sonenberg, Professor of Creative Writing, University of Washington
“The Writer’s Portable Mentor is an astonishing work, a master teacher's thoughts on how to write... Its depth and scope are breathtaking...” —Bruce Black, author of Writing Yoga
Wallingford Press $18.95 ISBN 978-0-9842421-0-8
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Conferences & Residencies
(940) 565-2205. maybornconferenceinfo@unt.edu
Conferences & Residencies
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
Associates), Jenni Ferrari-Adler (Union Literary), Erin Harris (Folio Literary), Meredith Kaffel Simonoff (DeFiore & Company), Kirby Kim ( Janklow & Nesbit), Jeff Kleinman (Folio Literary), Paul Lucas ( Janklow & Nesbit), Andrea Morrison (Writers House), Monica Odom (Bradford Literary), Alex Salter (Trident Media Group), Sarah Smith (David Black Literary), and Anna Stein (ICM ). The cost of the conference is $350 for both days or $250 for one day (students receive a $50 discount). Agent meetings range from $50 to $200; craft workshops range from $50 to $100. Using the online submission system, submit an entry form and a writing sample of 250 to 500 words. Admissions are made on a rolling basis. Visit the website for more information. Slice Literary Writers’ Conference, P.O. Box 659, Village Station, New York, NY 10014. info@slicemagazine.org
Historic District of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Residents are provided with private living quarters, shared studio space, and access to a communal courtyard. The cost of the residency is $900 per week. Residents are responsible for their own meals, travel, and transportation. Financial aid is available. For residencies through the month of September, submit up to 10 pages of poetry or prose, a writer’s statement, a curriculum vitae, and contact information for two references by August 15. There is no application fee. Admissions are made on a rolling basis. Visit the website for an application and complete guidelines.
slicelitcon.org
The University of New Mexico (UNM) Summer Writers’ Conference (formerly the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference) will be held from July 24 to July 31 at the Drury Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Starry Night Retreat The Starry Night Retreat offers residencies from one to eight weeks to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Hot Springs
Starry Night Retreat, 718 Van Patten, Truth or Consequences, NM 87901. Monika Proffitt, Director of Programs. info@starrynightretreat.com www.starrynightretreat.com
UNM Summer Writers’ Conference
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The conference features weekend and weeklong workshops in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and publishing, as well as readings, manuscript consultations, and a visit to the nearby D. H. Lawrence Ranch. The faculty includes poets Greg Glazner, Valerie Martínez, Sawnie Morris, and Luci Tapahonso; fiction writers Jonis Agee, LaShonda Katrice Barnett, John Dufresne, Minrose Gwin, Priscilla Long, B. K. Loren, Jo-Ann Mapson, Demetria Martinez, Lynn Miller, Daniel Mueller, Antonya Nelson, David James Poissant, Summer Wood, and Margaret Wrinkle; creative nonfiction writers Stephen Benz, Paul Bogard, Justin St. Germain, Debra Monroe, Mark Sundeen, Candace Walsh, and Robert Wilder; publishing professionals Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry (Book Doctors); editors Nancy Naomi Carlson (Tupelo Press) and Elise McHugh (University of New Mexico Press); and agents Emily Forland (Brandt & Hochman) and Jane von Mehren (Zachary Shuster Harmsworth). Each workshop is limited to 12 participants; each master class is limited to six participants. Tuition is $400 for a weekend workshop or $700
CONFERENCES & RESIDENCIES
for a weeklong workshop. Lodging is available at the conference hotel starting at $149 per night. Scholarships are available. The registration deadline is July 24. Visit the website for more information. UNM Summer Writers’ Conference, Department of English Language and Literature, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2170, Albuquerque, NM 87131. (505) 277-5572. Sharon Oard Warner, Director. nmwriter@unm.edu unmwritersconf.unm.edu
Willapa Bay AiR
www.willapabayair.org
The Writer’s High Retreat The Writer’s High Retreat will be held from September 9 to September 11 at the Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa in Young Harris, Georgia. The retreat features workshops for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, as well as readings and talks. Participating writers include poet Clifford Brooks III, fiction writers Joshilyn Jackson and Michael Morris, and nonfiction writer Jessica Handler. The cost of the retreat, which includes lodging and meals, is $754 for a single room and $559 for a double room until June 30, and $779 for a single room and $586 for a double room thereafter. The registration deadline is August 10. E-mail or visit the website for more information.
Yaddo Yaddo offers residencies of two to eight weeks from late October through May to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on a 400-acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Residents are provided with a private bedroom, work space, and meals. Using the online submission system, submit 10 short poems or an excerpt of a longer poem, or up to 30 pages of prose, a résumé, and two letters of recommendation (sent directly to Yaddo by the references) with a $30 application fee by August 1. The deadline for residencies from May 2017, through February 2018 is January 1. Limited financial aid is available. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for an application and complete guidelines. Yaddo, P.O. Box 395, Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. (518) 584-0746. Candace Wait, Program Director. chwait@yaddo.org
The Writer’s High Retreat, Brasstown Valley Resort, 6321 Highway 76, Young Harris, GA 30582. Mari Ann Stefanelli, Executive Director. mariann.stefanelli@gmail.com
Conferences & Residencies is written by
www.thewritershighretreat.com
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www.yaddo.org
Conferences & Residencies
Willapa Bay AiR offers monthlong residencies from March through September to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on 16 wooded acres near Oysterville, Washington, 30 miles north of the Columbia River. Residents are provided with a private cottage with work and living space, bath, and kitchen, and all meals. Using the online submission system, submit up to 10 pages of poetry or up to 20 pages of prose with a $30 application fee by July 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Willapa Bay AiR, P.O. Box 209, 32101 Douglas Drive, Oysterville, WA 98641. (360) 665-6782. info@willapabayair.org
C l a s s i f i e d s Caveat emptor! Poets & Writers Magazine is unable to check all claims made by advertisers. Readers should beware of publishers who charge, rather than pay, an author for publication; publishers who do not pay for publication, even in copies; publishers who require a purchase before publication; and contests that charge high reading fees. The magazine recommends that you see the publication and submission guidelines before submitting a manuscript; if you have questions regarding an advertiser’s commitment to publication, please contact the advertiser directly. CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS
Anthologies ALLPOETRY . COM —
Join the largest poetry community, more than 500,000 poets strong. From beginners to experts, get friendly encouragement and detailed critiques when you’re ready. No-fee contests, $50 cash prizes, active discussion forums, and join our annual anthology. Totally free with optional monthly memberships. http:// allpoetry.com/pw. JUST PRESS PLAY :
Writings for a Sex Positive World. What does a “sex positive world” look like? Shame-free? Is sex work legal? How do you express sexual/ gender identities? Seeking personal essays & fiction for a kinkfriendly sex-forward anthology. Erotica okay if it furthers the point. For complete guidelines, contact anthologyspw@gmail .com. MAIN STREET RAG
Publishing Company will consider poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, and photography for two upcoming themed anthologies. Theme 1: Fast Food. Theme 2: Bar Life. Submission period: May 1 through September 15. No reading fee. Submissions are e-mail only. Detailed guidelines: www.main streetrag.com or e-mail: editor@mainstreetrag .com.
award. Publishers and authors are invited to submit books published in 2016. Generous monetary prizes awarded. Guidelines: authors must reside (or have resided) in the American Midwest. Books set in the region (even if the author is non-resident) also qualify. Fiction or creative nonfiction. No self-published or e-books, poetry, genres, or series books. Authors of more than THE SHELL GAME , 3 published books an anthology of essays are ineligible. (If an that borrow readyauthor has multiple made forms, is open books published in for submissions. True 2016, all are eligible.) hybrids, “hermit crab essays,” take their struc- Books nominated for the award must be tures from ordinary, submitted to the FAW extra-literary sources (recipes, police reports, Awards Committees by December 10, but obituaries...). Editor: Kim Adrian. Publisher: we appreciate entries University of Nebraska ASAP. No application forms! Please Press. Deadline extensend 2 copies of each sion: August 1. More book and author info info: http://theshell as early as possible to: gameanthology Tammie Bob, Literature .blogspot.com. Awards Chairman, 474 Stagecoach Run, Glen CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS Ellyn, IL 60137. E-mail: bobtam410@gmail.com. For info on previous CREATIVE awards, please visit Nonfiction/In Fact www.fawchicago.org/ Books is seeking awards.php. proposals for singleauthor book-length works of narrative HUDSON WHITMAN nonfiction with a Excelsior College Press: significant connection We’re not your father’s to contemporary Pitts- college press! Only burgh for the Writing great nonfiction. AcquiPittsburgh series. sitions: health/nursing, Deadline: October 15. military, alt educaGuidelines at www tion, cyber. Electronic .creativenonfiction.org/ submissions via Submitsubmit. table + editorial support for first-time authors. Look us over! FAW ( FRIENDS Website: www.hudson of American Writers) seeks book submissions whitman.com. Twitter: for its annual literary @ExcelsiorPress. POETRYSOUP . COM
OMONOMANY
is the #1 poetry website in the world with the most features. Run your own poetry contests, create blogs and online classifieds to advertise your books or website. Joining the community and posting poems is free. Connect with poets from around the world. Comprehensive poetry resources. Visit poetrysoup.com today. www.poetrysoup.com.
Publishing. We publish poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Send SASE, sample chapter, and outline to 2095 Exeter Rd., Ste. 80-263, Germantown, TN 38138.
Books
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POET KIKI
Petrosino and Brain Mill Press announce open submissions for a full collection of poetry on the theme Love & Mercy. Kiki Petrosino will choose a collection/ collections for publication. Collection(s) will be published in print/ e-book, nationally distributed, and have royalties contract. Closes June 30. Details at brainmillpress.com/ submit.
literature of excellence and originality. Ask about our digital Book Backer program and print option. Submissions: info@tri-screen connection.com. CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS
Chapbooks WORDTECH
Communications LLC is holding a reading period for chapbooklength poetry manuscripts. No reading fee. Deadline: August 31 (postmark). We have published Arlene Biala, Allison Joseph, and others. Publication in 2017. Must read guidelines at www.wordtech communications.com/ deadline-list.htm.
Submission period July 1 through November 30. Decisions midFebruary. Payment in copies. Simultaneous submissions accepted if identified as such. Please notify immediately if your submission is placed elsewhere. Electronic submissions encouraged, as Word files, to blueline@ potsdam.edu. Please identify the genre in the subject line. Further information at www .bluelinemagadk.com. BLUESTEM IS
accepting submissions for Spring 2017 print issue and for our online quarterly issues. Submit unpublished poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and art online at CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS our website through TINDERBOX Submittable. See Editions will hold an website for guidelines: BASEBALL BARD . open reading period www.bluestem Online literary magafor prose, proselike, zine with annual printed magazine.com. and hybrid manuscripts book seeks poems up to this July and August. 32 lines on subject of BROAD STREET , We are looking for baseball. All properly a print magazine of literary manuscripts submitted poems are wide-ranging nonfiction that are difficult to published. Poets new to place. Upcoming books Baseball Bard are invited forms, dares you to including collections of to submit on a free trial push in new directions. For loosely themed personal essays, a lyric basis. For guidelines, issues, we want reflecessay anthology, and a see “Poem Submit” tive essays, experimental poet’s novel. For more at baseballbard.com. truth-telling, reportage, information: www E-mail: baseballbard@ poetry, photo-essays, .tinderboxeditions.org. yahoo.com. and original artwork. Memoirs should be WEB - E - BOOKS about more than BLUELINE : (www.web-e-books “me”—offer insight A Literary Magazine .com) publishes bold, Dedicated to the Spirit into the culture, etc. contemporary, and We crave reportage and of the Adirondacks classic novels within researched essays, but seeks poems, stories, the parameters of our no academic bluster, and essays about the please. Contributors slogan: Where Reality Adirondacks and include Paisley Rekdal, and Fiction Collide. regions similar in Yehuda Amichai, We seek works offering geography and spirit, Susann Cokal, Thomas compelling social focusing on nature’s E. Kennedy, Maggie messages, strong charshaping influence. We Messitt, Joshua Poteat, acter development, and also welcome nonficcaptivating narrative (w/ tion about the region’s Chad Hunt (photojournalism), Jeanette literature or culture. illustration options)...
Magazines
POETS & WRITERS
Classif ieds
CA L L F OR : MA GA Z I NE S
Winterson (interview). We read all year; start your trip at broad streetonline.org.
link, or send snail mail. Excite us! http:// cgreview.org.
funeral. Payment is 2 copies, and sometimes persimmon jam. www .freestatereview.com.
LAVENDER REVIEW
(a publication of Headmistress Press) seeks poetry submissions by, about, and for lesbians, EKPHRASIS , including whatever a biannual journal, CALAMARO , FRONT RANGE LGBTQ might appeal a print poetry magazine, seeks poems, each based Review seeks literary to a lesbian readership. on a single work of seeks submissions of short fiction, poetry, This international, art. No simultaneous formal as well as free and creative nonfiction biannual e-zine is free, submissions. Previously for its 17th annual issue. verse poems of 2–30 and open to everyone. published poems OK lines. Submissions Our reading period is PRIDE named Lavender if credited. Send 3 to accepted year-round. August 15–December 1. one of the 10 Awesome 5 original poems, bio, See website for guideSend all correspondence LGBT Literary Magae-mail, SASE, to: Ekph- to: Blair Oliver, Faculty lines: www.calamaro zines. https://head rasis, Laverne & Carol magazine.com. Advisor, Front Range mistresspress Frith, P.O. Box 161236, Review, FRCC, 4616 S. .submittable.com/ Sacramento, CA 95816Shields, Ft. Collins, CO submit. CALL FOR 1236. Website: www 80526. For guidelines, submissions—new .ekphrasisjournal.com. see www.frontrange comedy site looking THE MOCKINGBIRD , .edu/frontrangereview. for cartoons, humorous a new quarterly of FOR A NEW flash, character culture, faith, and wit, monthly magazine sketches, limericks, wants poems that FUSION MAGAZINE : entitled True Story, and more. Absurdity Global Art, Words, and respond to upcoming Creative Nonfiction seeks Music, Berklee College themes. Winter 2016 welcomed! Visit our unpublished works of website at www of Music’s online maga- theme: Church (submit narrative nonfiction .decasp.com. zine, seeks well-crafted by November 15); between 3,500 and creative nonfiction that Spring 2016: Food and 7,000 words long, on Drink (February 15); is vital, engaging, and CHANGES IN LIFE any subject and in any Summer 2016: America pushes against boundmonthly online style. No deadline. aries. We publish work (May 15); Fall 2016: newsletter is seeking Complete guidelines at by our community The Bible (August personal essays from www.creativenonfiction and award-winning 15). Diverse voices women of all ages. New .org/submit. welcome. One submis(including Guggenwriters are encouraged sion (1–5 poems) per heim) guest artists. to submit their work. theme. E-mail CNF must be based in For details and submis- A FORUM OF submissions only: fact; 3,000 words max. fiction and poetry for sion guidelines, see submissions@mbird Reading period June– www.changesinlife.com. over fifty years, descant August. fusionmagazine .com. seeks high-quality .org/submissions. work in both innovaCHEST , THE tive and traditional MOUNT HOPE , Journal of the American forms. Former and a literary magazine HAWAII PACIFIC College of Chest recent contributors publishing fiction, Review seeks submisPhysicians, invites include Ada Limón, photography, sions of fiction, poetry, submissions of up to Nancy Reddy, Clyde nonfiction, graphic and creative nonfiction. 2 previously unpubEdgerton, and Joyce storytelling, and poetry, Based at Hawaii Pacific lished, quality poems, Carol Oates. descant welcomes submissions University, HPR often maximum 350 words specifies no particular of original work for features work from on subjects of some subject matter or style. upcoming issues. We Hawaii and the Pacific medical relevance. See We welcome online seek short stories or region, but is interested instructions at http:// submissions (up to 5 nonfiction up to 5,000 in great writing from journal.publications poems, or a single story words, up to 4 poems .chestnet.org/ss/for of up to 5,000 words) at any place and on any per author, and graphic subject. Details and authors.aspx#poetry descant.submittable novel and photo portlinks to our online pectoriloquy. E-mail .com from September folios of 5–12 images. submissions manager at submissions to poetry 1–April 1. Deadline: We publish emerging hawaiipacificreview.org. chest@aol.com. April 1, 2017. Website: authors side by side descant.tcu.edu. with such established writers as Margot ISTHMUS SEEKS COMMON GROUND Livesey, Steve Almond, poetry, fiction, and Review seeks engaging, FREE GALILEO ! Hester Kaplan, Howard creative nonfiction well-crafted poems that Free State Review is Norman, Steven submissions for 2016 surprise and illuminate, published twice yearly special issue on politics. Church, and Moira amuse and inform. by Galileo Books. All Egan. See us online: Pieces should exhibit Two publications a literary genres and www.mounthope year (Spring/Summer hybrids. Favors “totally a political awareness magazine.com. or preoccupation and Fall/Winter), no limited omniscience.” within genre; do not reading fees. We accept Tell us about your send op-eds. Deadline year-round submisskateboard. Tell us OFF THE COAST August 1. Full guidesions at our website; see about the Khersonsky —now in its 20th lines at www.isthmus submission guidelines, poem you translated year! Seeks poetry, review.com/submit. during your father’s any subject/style & use the Submittable J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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photography/artwork. Deadlines: March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15. Send 1–3 poems, previously unpublished, via Submittable: https:// offthecoast.submit table.com/submit. Pays contributor copy, half off additional copies. Subscriptions $35. For guidelines and examples from the magazine, visit our website: www.off -the-coast.com. OYEZ REVIEW ,
an award-winning journal established in 1965, seeks poems, fiction, and especially creative nonfiction. Send best work only. Reading period: August 1–October 1. Sample copy: $5. We prefer online submissions: oyezreview.submittable .com/submit. Hardcopy submissions with SASE: Oyez Review, Dept. of Literature & Languages, Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605. Attention: Janet Wondra. Website: www.roosevelt.edu/ oyezreview.
reviews, and crossgenre work. Simultaneous submissions accepted year-round. Response time is typically 1 month. For guidelines and the latest issue, visit www.print orientedbastards.com. THE RAVENSPERCH
Literary Magazine seeks submissions of wellgroomed poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art. For information on the submission guidelines, please visit us at www .theravensperch.com. RHINO , AN AWARD -
winning annual print journal, accepts submissions of poetry, flash fiction (500 words max), and translations, April 1–August 31 with no reading fee, for consideration for publication, and submissions September 1–October 31, for publication and the Founders’ Prize ($10 reading fee for up to 5 poems). Submissions during both periods are considered for our Editors’ Prize. We invite traditional PINYON INVITES or experimental work high-quality submisreflecting passion, sions of poetry and originality, artistic short fiction from conviction, and a love emerging and estabaffair with language. lished writers. Reading Named “one of the best period is August 1 to annual collections of December 1. Send poetry you can find” short bio, including (New Pages), for 40 e-mail address, and years Rhino has featured SASE to Pinyon, Dept. stunning, eclectic work, of Languages, Literature, perfectly bound and and Mass Communicavisually splendid. All tion, Colorado Mesa poems receive online University, 1100 North publication and invitaAve., Grand Junction, tion for audio compoCO 81501-3122 or, to use Submittable, check nent. For guidelines, to purchase a sample copy, out our website at and to read and hear thepinyon.wordpress poems, visit rhinopoetry .com. .org. PRINT - ORIENTED
Bastards is a quarterly online literary magazine that features emerging writers and artists. All genres are welcome, including literary comics, interviews,
SONIC BOOM IS
a tri-annual literary & arts journal that primarily publishes experimental poetry, Japanese short-forms (haiku, senryu, tanka),
of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We believe in diversity, transparency, and supporting writers with professional compensation and exposure. For guidelines and editorial philosophy please visit us at tahomaliterary review.com.
to 1,500 words), and b/w art or photography. E-mail only to tw@leadfootpress.com. For details, go to our website: third wednesday.org.
as travel, food and wine, and writing with a strong narrative element. Submissions: kathleenglassburn@ comcast.net. For more, contact nick@thewriters workshop.net. Websites: www.the writersworkshop.net, or www.thewriterswork shopreview.net.
Conferences 2017 SAN MIGUEL
Writers’ Conference & Literary Festival February 15–19 (Mexico): Largest, most prestigious bilingual literary gathering in TWO HAWKS the Americas. Attracts Quarterly is an online 600+ established and journal affiliated with emerging writers and Antioch University Los industry experts from Angeles’s BA program TERRAIN . ORG : the U.S., Canada, CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS in creative writing and SUBMIT WHATEVER A Journal of the Built + and Mexico. Readers is setting the bar for poems whenever. Please Natural Environments and writers fill 10,000 contemporary literature e-mail your poems in seeks fiction, nonficseats over 5 days. It’s with bold and illumiTXTOBJX , just 1 attachment or in tion, poetry, video, and an inspiring week of nating poetry, fiction, (txtobjx.com) is an the body of the e-mail. hybrid submissions on intellectual exchange, CNF, and experimental experimental site that Simultaneous submisplace from established work. Read us. Write publishes text objects— community connection, sions and previously and emerging writers for us. Submissions brief, emergent writing cultural celebration. San published poems are and artists. Terrain.org accepted year-round. Miguel de Allende: #1 somewhere between welcome. The Great is a free, award-winning For guidelines see www prose and poetry. A text City in the World, American Poetry Show. international online CNTraveler. Website: .twohawksquarterly.com. object can be a microE-mail: larry@tgaps magazine publishing sanmiguelwriters fable, a prose sketch, .com; website: www since 1998. View conference.org. episodic surrealism, THE WRITER ’ S .tgaps.net. submission guidelines or artful misrememWorkshop Review and submit at www brance. Above all, its 13 TH ANNUAL publishes the best in .terrain.org/submit. controlled spontaneity TAHOMA LITERARY Palm Beach Poetry creative nonfiction, Review now paying fiction, and interviews. distinguishes it from the Festival in Delray resolute craft of its $50 for poetry, and THIRD WEDNESDAY Beach, FL, January Send us narrative cousin forms. Submisminimum $100 for literary arts journal 16–21, 2017. Focus on nonfiction, personal sions: txtobjx@gmail fiction. We are an accepts unpublished your work with Ameressays, short stories, .com. award-winning journal poetry, short fiction (up short shorts, as well ica’s most celebrated
Websites
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poets: David Baker, Tina Chang, Lynn Emanuel, Daisy Fried, Terrance Hayes, Dorianne Laux, Thomas Lux, Carl Phillips, and Martha Rhodes. Six days of workshops, readings, craft talks, panel discussions, manuscript conferences: Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nicole Brown, and Ginger Murchison; social events, and so much more. Special guest: Charles Simic. To find out more, visit www .palmbeachpoetry festival.org. BLUE FLOWER
Arts Writers’ Conference, November 9–13. Featuring master writers Andre Dubus III (fiction), Nick Flynn (poetry), and Dani Shapiro (memoir). Class size is limited to 13 participants for each master writer, making the conference intimate and engaging. For more
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flash fiction/haibun, and visual art across a plethora of media. We welcome original and previously unpublished work in any/all of the above categories for issue six, due out in August 2016. Website: http://sonicboom journal.wix.com/sonic boom.
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C ONF E R E NC E S
information, please visit Teen Writers Institute. Register or learn more www.blueflowerarts .com/wwc or telephone at www.mafwi.org. (386) 427-6975 x 16. THE NORTH COAST JOIN OTHER
fiction writers at the Mid-Atlantic Fiction Writers Institute (MAFWI), August 12–13, at Hagerstown Community College in MD. The annual MAFWI summer conference offers workshops and breakout sessions by best-selling authors, college faculty, and experienced public relations professionals. The 2016 keynote speaker is best-selling author Brad Parks. From story fundamentals like plot and point of view to seasoned advice on how to market your work, there is something for writers of every genre at MAFWI. MAFWI also features the Hub City
Redwoods Writers’ Conference will be held on Friday and Saturday, September 23–24, in Crescent City, CA. For more information visit ncrwc .org or send an SASE to Ken Letko, North Coast Redwoods Writers’ Conference, College of the Redwoods, 883 W. Washington Blvd., Crescent City, CA 95531.
Contests 2017 PRESS 53
Award for Poetry. Will be awarded to an unpublished poetry collection, $1,000 advance plus a quarterpage color ad in Poets & Writers. Reading fee $30. Judged by Tom Lombardo, Press 53
Poetry Series Editor. Open: April 1–July 31. Winner and finalists announced by November 1. Complete details: www.press53 .com. 8 BEST REASONS
to enter New Millennium Awards’ contest by July 31: Best poetry $1,000; fiction $1,000; nonfiction $1,000; short-short fiction $1,000. All submitters receive our anthology. NMW is celebrating its 20th anniversary! All winners are published in our anthology and online. “Highly recommended. NMW is one of our favorite journals.”—Winning Writers. We have launched careers! Visit www.newmillennium writings.com.
Drive, the literature, arts, and humanities magazine of the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine, is awarding prizes of $500 each in the categories of poetry, prose, and visual art. Submissions should relate in some way to the theme of “Decisions” in the context of health care (wellness, illness, caregiving, etc.). We welcome submissions nationwide from the public as well as THE 22 ND ANNUAL health care profesLiteral Latte Poetry sionals and educators. Awards. First prize: $1,000 and publication. Deadline is August 15. Winning entries and Second prize: $300 and publication. Third selected finalists will be prize: $200 and publica- published in the Spring tion. Entry fee: $10 for 2017 online edition up to 6 poems. Submit of Hospital Drive. For poems of all flavors. See guidelines and to submit, please visit www.literal-latte.com our website, https:// to taste and submit. E-mail litlatte@aol.com news.med.virginia.edu/ hospitaldrive. with questions. literary story (not a chapter from a novel) in English, approximately 5,000 to 15,000 words. Prize $1,000 and publication on website. Reading fee $25 per story submitted. Deadline August 8. E-mail givalpress@yahoo.com or visit website: www .givalpress.com. Address: Gival Press, P.O. Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203.
chapbook (up to 36 pages), plus 500 author copies, and distribution to Rattle’s 5,000+ subscribers. Entry fee of $20 includes a 1-year subscription to the magazine. Deadline January 15. For guidelines, visit our website: www.rattle.com/poetry/ chapbooks. THE ANNUAL
Rattle Poetry Prize offers $10,000 for a single poem, plus a $2,500 Readers’ Choice Award. Entry fee of $20 includes a 1-year subscription to the magazine. Deadline: July 15. Submit up to 4 unpublished poems per entry. For guidelines and to read past winners, visit our website: www.rattle .com/poetry/prize.
13 TH ANNUAL
Gival Press Short Story Award for best original previously unpublished
J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
ANNOUNCING A
THE ANNUAL
ARTS & LETTERS ’
contest on the theme of “Decisions.” Hospital
Rattle Chapbook Prize offers $2,000 for a
second annual Unclassifiables Contest, judged
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judge for 2016: JonaGuidelines: www .bauhanpublishing.com/ than Lethem, awardwinning acclaimed contests. novelist. First prize, $1,500 plus publication BRIGHT HILL PRESS in the Salt Hill Journal. 23rd Annual Poetry 2nd Prize, $300. First Chapbook Competition, place winner invited, $350 and publication expenses paid, to read plus 30 copies for winning entry at the winner. Entry fee $17. Louisville ConferMs., 16–24 paginated ence on Literature pp. (plus separate bio and Culture held in and acknowledgments) February at the Univermay be submitted elec- sity of Louisville. Fee: tronically or via USPS. $25. Deadline: October, Results via e-mail. 15. Details: louisville Complete guidelines: .edu/english. wordthur@stny.rr.com or www.brighthillpress BAUHAN CHILDREN ’ S BOOK .org. Deadline for ms. Publishing is now receipt at BHP: July 31. Writing Contest. The accepting submissions First Edition Children’s BHP Poetry Chap(U.S. mail and Submit- book, 94 Church St., Book Writing Contest began May 10. The table.com) for the May Treadwell, NY 13846author of the winning Sarton NH Poetry 4607. manuscript will have Prize: $1,000 and book their book professionpublication (April 2017) CALVINO PRIZE : ally edited, illustrated for a full-length poetry 12th Annual Calvino and promoted and collection. Open to all. Prize. Sponsored by the will receive a $1,000 Entry fee $25. PostUniversity of Louisville. advance and royalties of mark/submission dead- For a short story or 8%. For more informaline: June 30. Former novel in the fabulist, tion and to submit your Maine Poet Laureate experimental vein of manuscript go to: www Betsy Sholl will judge. Italo Calvino. Final .firsteditionproject.com.
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COMSTOCK REVIEW
Poetry Chapbook Contest. Top prize: $1,000 and 50 author’s copies. Michael A. Sickler will judge. Contest sponsored by Comstock Writers Group, Inc. Submit manuscript of 25–34 pages between August 1 and October 31. Entry fee of $30 includes copy of winning chapbook. Visit the website for complete guidelines, which must be followed. CR Chapbook Contest 2016, 4956 St. John Drive, Syracuse, NY 13215. Website: www.comstockreview .org; www.facebook .com/pages/comstock -review/1864888980683 52?ref=ts-219-. CONIUM PRESS
2016 Book & Chapbook Contest. Judged by Matt Bell, author of 4 books of fiction, most recently the novel Scrapper. Winner receives $1,000, publi-
POETS & WRITERS
cation of the winning title, 10 author copies, and a copy of the judge’s latest book. Submission deadline: September 1. Entry fee: $25. More details: http://coniumreview .com/contests.
an upcoming issue dedicated to “Teachers & Teaching.” Send your best work; 4,000 words or fewer. Deadline: August 29; $1,000 for best essay; $500 for runner-up. Guidelines at www.creative nonfiction.org/submit.
THE CRAZYSHORTS !
Contest: From July 1 to July 31, Crazyhorse will accept entries for our annual short-short fiction contest. Submit 3 short-shorts of up to 500 words each through our website: crazyhorse .cofc.edu. First place wins $1,000 and publication; 3 runners-up will be announced. All entries will be considered for publication; the $15 entry fee includes a subscription to Crazyhorse. http://crazyhorse .cofc.edu/crazyshorts. CREATIVE
Nonfiction magazine is seeking new work for
DANA AWARDS ,
21st year. Novel award doubled to $2,000, plus publishing option! Plus our traditional awards in short fiction and poetry. (More changes in the works.) Deadline October 31. Guidelines: www.danaawards.com, or e-mail danaawards@ gmail.com, or send SASE to 200 Fosseway Dr., Greensboro, NC 27455. DANAHY FICTION
Prize/Tampa Review. $1,000 and publication in Tampa Review for a previously unpublished work of short fiction,
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by Michael Martone, will be open until July 31. This contest is for unclassifiable works: works that blur, bend, blend, erase, or obliterate genre and other labels. Winners receive $500 and publication in the Spring 2017 issue of Arts & Letters. Complete guidelines appear on our website: http://artsandletters .gcsu.edu/ unclassifiables-contest.
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info on manuscript if submitting electronically. Or mail with your fee of $25 to Grayson Books, P.O. 270549, West Hartford, CT 06127. If mailing, EVENING STREET include 2 cover pages Press announces its (one with complete 2016 contests: Helen contact info, one with Kay Chapbook Poetry no contact info) along Prize, $250 plus 25 copies, possible publica- with your 50–80 page tion of runners-up; $15 manuscript, and SASE. reading fee, ongoing. Winner will be awarded ESME eveningstreetpress.com/ $1,000, publication, and (Empowering Solo helen-kay.html. Grassic 10 copies. Simultaneous Moms Everywhere) Short Novel: $500 submissions acceptable. announces its second annual writing contest, plus 25 copies, possible Ben Grossberg to judge. publication of runners- www.graysonbooks which is open to all up; $25 reading fee, .com. Solo Moms—women May 1 to December 1. who parent on their eveningstreetpress.com/ own due to choice or IN 2016, circumstance. Prizes of grassic.html. Writer Advice, www $500, $350, and $150 .writeradvice.com, is will be given to the first, THE GRAYSON offering 4 contests, 1 second, and third place Books Poetry Prize, winners in 3 categories: open to all poets writing per issue (flash memoir; poetry, short fiction, in English, is accepting flash fiction; openings and nonfiction essay. submissions. Submit by of middle grade, young adult, or new adult; There is no entry fee, August 15. Electronic and openings of other and the deadline is submissions preferred: prose genres). Lower March 15, 2017. All https://graysonbooks fees. New due dates. submissions will also be .submittable.com/ submit. No contact New word limits. Same considered for publi500–5,000 words. A $20 entry fee includes subscription. All entries considered for publication. Submit by December 31. Address: Danahy Fiction Prize, Tampa Review, 401 West Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33606. Website: www.ut.edu/ tampareview.
cation on the ESME website. For complete guidelines, please visit our website: www.esme .com.
J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
detailed responses. Submission information and fees for all contests are at our website: www.writeradvice.com/ guidelines.
for up to 3 poems. Submit online or to LMP, 303 E. Gurley St. #449, Prescott, AZ 86301. Details at www .loosemoosepublishing .com.
INJUSTICE PRIZE
in Fiction/Poetry: A $1,000 award and publication by Knut House Press for unpublished short story (less than 8,000 words) or poetry selection (less than 15 pages) that explores social injustice, whether through racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, etc. Deadline: Submit $15 entry fee by August 31 via http://knuthousepress .com/injusticeprize .html.
Short Story Contest. Deadline: October 1. Prize: $1,000, publication in Big Muddy. Best short story, any theme; $20 fee includes copy of Big Muddy with winning story. MRSS Contest, Southeast Missouri State University Press, MS 2650, One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Website: www.semo press.com/events/ mighty-river-contest.
LAST CALL FOR
NILSEN PRIZE FOR A
poetry submissions! LMP’s 2016 contest is closing soon. Send us your most daring, cutting-edge, or even shockingly normal poems! Entry fee $15
First Novel. Winner receives $2,000, publication, distribution. Authors must not have previously published a full-length fiction book. Postmark
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MIGHTY RIVER
by November 1; $25 fee. Southeast Missouri State University Press, MS 2650, One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Full guidelines at www .semopress.com/ events/nilsen-prize. NINTH ANNUAL
Littoral Press Poetry Prize! First place: 50 letterpress-printed broadsides of the winning poem. Three honorable mentions receive earlier broadsides. Judge: Troy Jollimore. Fee: $10 first poem; $5 each additional. Mail to 622 26th St., Richmond, CA 94804, by August 12. View complete guidelines and broadside examples at www .littoralpress.com. OMNIDAWN OFFERS
$1,000 prize for our annual Fabulist Fiction Chapbook Prize. Bradford Morrow will judge.
publication by Orison Books in The Orison Anthology for a single work in each genre. Judges: Ravi Howard (fiction), Catherine Reid (nonfiction), and Philip Metres (poetry). Entry fee: $15. Deadline: August 1. Complete details at www.orisonbooks.com/ submission-guidelines.
submission ($20 fee). Postmarked by October 1. For complete rules: (412) 578-6346, e-mail: sewilliams412@carlow .edu, or website: www .carlow.edu.
22,000 words. Website: https://twelvewinters .com/the-publishers -long-story-prize. QUERCUS REVIEW
Press. Fall Poetry Book Award: $1,000 prize, book publication, THE PROFANE generous royalties. Nonfiction Prize Deadline: December ($1,000), judged by 16. Submit online or author and Brevity send manuscript editor Dinty W. Moore, OMNIDAWN OFFERS and $25 reading fee is open for submis$3,000 prize for our to Quercus Review PATRICIA DOBLER sions through August annual First/Second Press, Dept. of English, Poetry Award 2016: 1. There is no theme. Book Prize. Cathy Modesto Junior College, Open to women writers Park Hong will judge. Send us your best flash, 425 College Ave., over the age of 40 Electronic and postal essays, journalism, or Modesto, CA 95350. submissions by July 15. living in the US who narratives that will New and emerging haven’t published a full- spoon out some space Winner receives cash writers encouraged to length book of poetry, prize, publication, 100 in our guts and take up submit. Info: quercus copies. Entry fee: $27. fiction, or nonfiction residence there. www reviewpress.com. Entrants who add $3 (chapbooks excluded). .profanejournal.com. shipping receive Omni- Winner receives $1,000, dawn book of their publication in Voices REED MAGAZINE , choice. For guidelines, THE PUBLISHER ’ S from the Attic, roundthe West’s oldest see www.omnidawn Long Story Prize trip travel, lodging literary journal, was .com/contest. from Twelve Winters and reading at Carlow established in San University in Pittsburgh Press. Awarded twice José in 1867. We with final judge. Poems annually. E-book offer $3,833 in prizes: THE ORISON publication, cash prize must be unpublished, the John Steinbeck Anthology Awards in & Friend of the Press Award for fiction; Fiction, Nonfiction, and up to 75 lines; up to 2 status. Range 8,000 to poems, any style, per Gabriele Rico ChalPoetry: $500 and
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POETS & WRITERS
lenge for nonfiction; Edwin Markham Prize for poetry; Mary Blair Award for art. Submit online June 1–November 1 using Submittable; $15 reading fee includes a free copy. Winners are published in our handsome print journal. www.reedmag.org. RIVER STYX
Schlafly Beer MicroBrew Micro-Fiction Contest. First place receives prize of $1,500 and 1 case of Schlafly beer. Winners published in River Styx; 500 words maximum per story, up to 3 stories per entry. Entry options: $10 includes a copy of the issue in which the winners appear, $20 includes a 1-year subscription to River Styx. Postmarked by December 31 or enter online via Submittable. www.riverstyx .org/contests. Mail to:
River Styx Microfiction Contest, 3547 Olive St., Ste. 107, St. Louis, MO 63103. Richard Newman, Editor: bigriver@riverstyx.org. SUBMISSIONS FOR
Indiana Review’s 2016 1/2K Prize are open from July 1 to August 15. This year’s prize judge is Aimee Nezhukumatathil. The winner receives $1,000 and publication. Entry fee: $20. All entries are considered for publication. For complete guidelines, visit www .indianareview.org. TAMPA REVIEW
Prize for Poetry. $2,000 plus hardcover and paperback book publication, and portfolio in Tampa Review for previously unpublished manuscript by a new or established poet. $25 entry includes subscription. Submit by
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Electronic and postal submissions August 1–October 17. Winner receives cash prize, publication, 100 copies. Entry fee: $18. Entrants who add $2 shipping receive Omnidawn fiction book of their choice. For guidelines, see www.omnidawn .com/contest/fiction.
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December 31. Tampa Review Prize, University of Tampa Press, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33606. Website: www.ut.edu/tampa review. TEBOT BACH
announces the 2017 Patricia Bibby First Book Award: $500 and book publication. Deadline: October 31 postmark. Winner announced April 2017. Send manuscript and reading fee of $20 for each manuscript submitted to Tebot Bach, Bibby, Box 7887, Huntington Beach, CA 92615. Complete guidelines: www.tebotbach .org. THE TENNESSEE
Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival announces 3 writing contests, all opening June 1. Festival packages, publication,
and public readings accompany cash prizes. One-Act Play, deadline: November 1; Prize: $1,500. Poetry, deadline: November 15; Prize: $1,000. Fiction, deadline: November 30; Prize: $1,500. For more information, visit www .tennesseewilliams.net.
August 21. Entry fee is $12 for up to 3 poems (no more than 5 pages) with a $500 prize and $250 for the runner-up. Our judge this year is Eduardo Corral. More information at www .tinderboxpoetry.com. TOM HOWARD /
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. 14th year. THREE MILE Sponsored by Winning Harbor Press is Writers, one of the accepting submissions “101 Best Websites for full-length poetry manuscripts with partic- for Writers” (Writer’s ular interest in LGBT, Digest). Top prize for a poem in any style: feminist, and environ$1,500. Top prize for mentally aware voices. a poem that rhymes or Deadline: September has a traditional style: 15. Reading fee: $25. $1,500. Total prizes: Winner receives $500 $4,000. Winning entries and 25 copies. For complete guidelines see published online. Fee: $10 per poem. Length www.3mileharborpress limit: 250 lines. Both .com. published and unpublished work accepted. TINDERBOX Submit by September Poetry Journal is 30. Final judge: Soma holding its second Mei Sheng Frazier. annual poetry contest, Enter at winningwriters which runs June 21– .com/tompoetry.
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THE TRUMAN
State University Press T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Prize: $2,000 and publication. Description: Awarded for book-length collection of poems originally written in English. Manuscripts should be 60–100 pages in length. Simultaneous submissions allowed. Mail submissions. Entry fee: $25 per submission. Deadline: October 31. Website: http://tsup .truman.edu/tseliot prize/guidelines.asp. THE UNIVERSITY OF
Arkansas Press is accepting submissions for the Miller Williams Poetry Prize, judged by Billy Collins. The winner receives $5,000 in cash in addition to publication. Applications are accepted yearround. The deadline for the following year’s
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prize is September 30. Website: www.uapress .com. UTICA COLLEGE
Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize. A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a resident of upstate New York. The winner must also give a reading and teach a master class at Utica College. Submit 2 copies of a book of at least 48 pages, published between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, and a curriculum vitae by August 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. Utica College, Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize, School of Arts and Sciences, 1600 Burrstone Rd., Utica, NY 13502. Gary Leising, contest coordinator. gleising@utica.edu. Website: utica.edu/ nassarprize.
VERN RUTSALA
Poetry Prize, $1,000 plus publication, for full-length manuscript, at least 60 pages. Send $25 reading fee, plus SASE, to Cloudbank, P.O. Box 610, Corvallis, OR 97339; or electronically https://cloudbank books.submittable .com/submit. Postmark deadline: September 30. The 2016 winner is Holly Karapetkova for Towline, selected by Dennis Schmitz. Details at www.cloudbank books.com. WILDA HEARNE
Flash Fiction Contest. Deadline: October 1. $500, publication in Big Muddy. Best shortshort story, 500 words or less, any theme. A $15 fee includes copy of Big Muddy with winning story. Wilda Hearne Flash Fiction Contest, Southeast Missouri State University Press, MS 2650, One University Plaza, Cape
Publications FREE : 5 - STAR
Literary E-Novel War in a Beautiful Country by Patricia Ryan. “Because death is unknown, life becomes the puzzle.” See enthusiastic reviews on Nook, Amazon, Smashwords, and others. Available on all e-readers and electronic devices or direct at http://novelwarina beautifulcountry .blogspot.com. PARLIAMENT OF
Poets: An Epic Poem. By Frederick Glaysher. Apollo calls all the poets of the nations to assemble on the moon to consult on the meaning of modernity. “A remarkable poem by a uniquely
inspired poet, taking us out of time into a new and unspoken consciousness.”—Kevin McGrath, Lowell House, South Asian Studies, Harvard University. Amazon, B&N, Kobo, global affiliates, and earthrise press.net. WRITINGCAREER.COM
—free online resource to find paying markets for your poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Updated daily, we report on editors, publishers, literary agents, and anthologists who are actively seeking submissions from poets, fiction writers, and freelance writers. Website: http://writing career.com.
Rentals/ Retreats BRITTANY WRITER’S
House: 19th-century stone house on a river/ canal; 5 fireplaces, tile
and wood floors, beamed ceilings; modern heat, electricity, plumbing, and conveniences; small village, next to a large town, near a city, 15 miles from ocean beaches; 5 hours from Paris. For details and photos please contact: Phone: (510) 866-5496. E-mail: mgdonna@aol .com or dmu4mg@aol .com. FRANCE WRITING
and yoga retreat. Surrounded by breathtaking views of the Pyrenees. Beautiful private accommodations with Ayurvedic meals. Hike along the pilgrimage walk to Compostela. Daily writing workshops follow the Amherst Writers and Artists Method. Yoga and meditation. Transfers from Toulouse. Excursions. All inclusive. Led by Julie Maloney, director of Women
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Reading Aloud. International yoga teacher, Jo Ann StaugaardJones. September 18–25. Visit: www .womenreading aloud .org. Contact: julie@ womenreading aloud.org.
Residencies 360 XOCHI QUETZAL
is a free 1-month writer’s residency in picturesque Lake Chapala, Mexico, December 14, 2016–January 13, 2017. International poets, writers, playWELLSPRING HOUSE wrights, screenwriters, critics, and translators Retreat Center for writers and artists in the are welcome to apply through CAFÉ by MA hills, 35 minutes August 7. Website: from Northampton/ Amherst. Sheltered www.callforentry.org. by towering spruce, Early bird discount and secluded but in town. more info: www Private rooms, .deborahkruger.com/1/ communal kitchen. art-residency.html. Four hours from New York City. Unspoiled THE ARGS village where writers Residency, offered write, painters paint: in partnership with $260/week, single; Petersburg (VA) Public $280/week, double. Library, is accepting Special winter rates applications for 1- or November 15–April 2-week residencies 1. Résumé to P.O. Box for spring 2017. In 2006, Ashfield, MA exchange for lodging in 01330. Phone: (413) our refurbished, historic 628-3276. E-mail: Alumni House, writers browning@wellspring agree to teach a workhouse.net. Website: shop to our literary arts wellspringhouse.net.
POETS & WRITERS
students. See website for more details. Deadline: November 1, 2016. Website: argsresidency .com. CALL FOR
Applications 2016. Camac is now accepting applications for its residency program 2016 for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. In the village of Marnay-sur-Seine within the scenic Champagne-Ardenne region of France, on the banks of the river Seine, only 1 hour from Paris. No application fee. Rolling admission. Call, e-mail, or visit the website for an application and complete guidelines. CAMAC, 1 Grande Rue, 10400 Marnay-sur-Seine. Phone: 00 33 3 25 39 20 61. Jean-Yves Coffre, Director. E-mail: jycoffre@camac.org. Website: www.camac .org.
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Girardeau, MO 63701. Website: www .semopress.com/ events/wilda-hearne -contest.
RESIDENCIES
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DORLAND
Mountain Arts Colony located in beautiful hills overlooking wine country of Temecula Valley in Southern CA. Private cottages with bath, bedroom, kitchen, work space, porch, piano. Fee: $300/week, $1,000/4 weeks. Peaceful, serene, inspiring. Apply for openings Fall 2016 & onward. Filling quickly. info@dorlandartscolony .org; website: www .dorlandartscolony .org; telephone: (951) 302-3837. NOEPE MARTHA ’ S
Vineyard Center for Literary Arts Residency (formerly Martha’s Vineyard Writer’s Residency) offers 2–6 weeklong residencies surrounded by the inspiring beauty of the island of Martha’s Vineyard, MA. April 2– May 27 and September 15–October 31. To
learn more or to apply, visit our website at noepecenter.org. TALEAMOR PARK
welcomes applications from writers and other artists for 2- and 4-week residencies in tranquil countryside. Elegant 1854 Italianate house on scenic working farm with paths, ponds, and woods. Near Chicago and Lake Michigan. No application fee, slidingscale prices. Assistantships available. Visit www.taleamorpark.org, write info@taleamor park.org, or call (765) 586-2686. WRITE — EAT —
Walk—(Repeat)— Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center in Litchfield, CT, offers writers’ residency opportunities yearround for a weekend or longer. Visit www .wisdomhouse.org and click: “Attend a
Program.” Download an application form. Applicants also can call (860) 567-3163 or contact us by e-mail: programs@wisdom house.org.
Resources
Submit Write Now! In our 23rd year! Writer’s Relief, Inc., 207 Hackensack St., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075. Phone: (866) 405-3003. Website: www.writersrelief.com.
Services
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options, readers. Forty-seven adult, YA, and juvenile titles currently under contract. Queries, proposals, book-toblog, script-to-novel, crowdfunding, grants. Supercharge your results with 20 years of experience. Laine Cunningham of Writer’s Resource. E-mail: consultant@ writersresource.us. Telephone: (919) 928-2245. Website: writersresource.us. ABANDONED ?
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helping writers for more than 20 years: I have published 5 highly acclaimed books and offer services in developmental, content, and copyediting of fiction and nonfiction (including academic, legal, and medical texts). I can also provide contacts to agents, publishers, and publishing consultants. For more information, visit bernardeditorial .com. Contact christopherwb@msn .com. ACCLAIMED POETRY
editor, former Executive Director of Alice James Books, 20 years of editing experience. Provides professional manuscript evaluation, comprehensive editing. Edits to suit various
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editor Wyn Cooper seeks poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. I help writers revise and perfect their manuscripts, and offer publishing advice. Thirty books I edited have been published in the last 3 years; 7 have won awards. Free consultation. Sliding scale fees. See website for testimonials: www .wyncooper.com. E-mail: wyncooper@ gmail.com. ADEPT EDITOR ,
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(Bantam, Avon, Scholastic, Berkley/Ace, others) offers extensive critiques, tutorials, revisions, support. Upgrade your writing skills; solve problems with plot, character development, pacing. Specialties include literary and mainstream fiction, mystery/thriller, juvenile/YA, general nonfiction, psychology, spirituality. Carol Gaskin. Phone: (941) 377-7640. E-mail: carol@editorialalchemy .com. Website: www .editorialalchemy.com. AUTHORS NEED
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in the development of their individual voices and practice of their craft. Workshops in Center City and Delaware County, PA, following the Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) method. Writers of all ages, CREATIVE levels of experience, Writing Center offers and genres welcome. online writing classes (610) 853-0296. E-mail: for aspiring writers. ahicks@philawordshop Become the writer you dream you can be! .com. Website: www Inspiring exercises teach .philawordshop.com. how-to while building confidence, eliminating THE INTERNATIONAL blocks. Supportive Food, Wine & Travel community. All genres. Writers Association Five-week sessions. announces the Take separately or Emerging Writer combine into an Program for writers ongoing course. Water- wanting to become front writing retreats travel, food, or wine also. www.creative writers by working writingcenter.com. directly with member (800) 510-1049. E-mail: mentors. The goal is to eayres@creative qualify as a full-fledged writingcenter.com. member. Cost: $150. For more information go to www.ifwtwa.org GREATER Philadelphia Wordshop or e-mail suemont@aol Studio supports writers .com.
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Write. August 14–19, writing getaway in Sunapee, NH. Spend a week working on your memoir or poetry chapbook. Enjoy the refreshing New England summer with plentiful writing time, encouraging workshops, homemade meals, and time to relax. Scholarships available. Register by July 1 and save: www.stockton.edu/ murphywriting.
Classes from Creative Nonfiction magazine, the voice of the genre. Our 10- and 5-week classes in memoir, personal essay, magazine writing, online workshops, and more provide professional guidance, motivating deadlines, and a supportive community of writers. Flexible schedule to suit your needs. Learn more at www.creativenonfiction .org/online-classes. WRITING
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novel workshop. Three days of intense analysis and brainstorming. Virginia Pye’s River of Dreams came out of this workshop. Choose among Geeta Kothari, Man Martin, Greg Michalson, or Nancy Zafris. Idyllic setting at The Porches near Charlottesville, VA. Contact Trudy Hale at www.porcheswriting retreat.com.
Workshops at Maine Media College in Rockport, ME, this year include: Personal Storytelling with Joyce Maynard, Poetry with Richard Blanco, the Psychology of Strong Characters with Jacqueline Sheehan, and more. Come for a week of intense learning with a creative community of storytellers in ME. Check out www.maine media.edu/workshops/ writing.
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syntax, facility with language. Close editing and attention to big picture. Phone or Skype conferences—U.S. or international. Experienced poet/teacher, award-winning author of 11 collections, 5 with Godine and Knopf. I founded and taught in the MFA and postgraduate conference at Vermont College. E-mail: rogw12@ comcast.net.
POETS & WRITERS IS MORE than a magazine. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving creative writers. We pay fees to writers giving readings and leading workshops, provide information and advice to authors, and help them connect with one another and with audiences. We also sponsor a number of awards and prizes. Learn more at pw.org.
Views From the Road
What I’ll Do St. Christopher’s Inn: A hundred men sit before me on folding chairs. An equal number will come later. Most are young, from metro New York City, full of energy. We’ll be together for an hour and a half. I’ll read to them. (They’ll like my poem about walking through a subway tunnel.) I’ll give them a lesson on how to access their lives and emotions and turn them into poems. Then I’ll ask them to write. But will they? Wiawaka: Over the weekend I’ll give a workshop and two readings. My workshop topic is quicksand poems. My lesson will have lots of techniques and sample poems for stimulation— then quiet, quiet, quiet—all of us writing. After, J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
they’ll read their brand-new poems, and I’ll point out strengths and problems. My first reading will be that night in the parlor. The second, Sunday morning on the dock, is to inspire them before they go. Cambridge Mansion: It takes a long time for them all to get to the parlor. Some are in wheelchairs; some have walkers; others, dementia. Why have I come? I can picture myself here: mind alert, full of all I know, but a bit creaky, my body, too. I will read to them from my book about the sixtythree-year-old teacher who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel, then struggled on until she died at eighty-three. They’ll all relate to that. What I Take Away St. Christopher’s Inn: The man who stuttered. The men who wept. The man with an MFA . Two illiterate men who dictated poems to others. The men who read about their sons and daughters. The disabled man who read about watching others run. The men who wrote about shooting up, getting caught, overdosing, struggling to recover. The ones who put their arms around each other; the rest who left proud because of poems. Wiawaka: The lesbian who wrote lovingly to her body. The eighty-five-year-old who longed for her late husband’s touch. Three middleaged women telling of childhood abuse for the first time through poetry. The woman whose veteran husband has PTSD , the trauma nurse whose newborn had a stroke. The fact that we all have secrets, to tell or not. Cambridge Mansion: The man who visited Niagara as a boy, the one who went on his honeymoon. The woman who said, “My name’s Joan too. I remember you.” My gratitude to Poets & Writers. Learn more about the Readings & Workshops program, which supports Murray and hundreds of other writers who give readings and lead writing workshops, at pw.org/funding. 120
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Joan Murray writes poetry, fiction, and personal essays. Her work has appeared in the Atlantic, Harper’s, the Hudson Review, the Nation, the New York Times, the Paris Review, Ploughshares, and the Sun. Her five collections of poetry include Looking for the Parade (Norton, 1999), which Robert Bly chose as a winner of the National Poetry Series Open Competition; Queen of the Mist: The Forgotten Heroine of Niagara (Beacon, 1999), for which she received a Broadway commission; and Swimming for the Ark: New & Selected Poems 1990-2015, the inaugural title in White Pine Press’s Distinguished Poets Series. A two-time National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship recipient, she is the editor of The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from Thirty Years of the Pushcart Prize (Pushcart Press, 2009). Her website is JoanMurray.com.
Where I Go St. Christopher’s Inn: I’ve come too early, so I sit in my car and watch a mother enter with her son. She walks ahead, holding the outdated suitcase. Both are nervous. I am too. The mother will leave soon. I’ll leave by mid-afternoon. The young man will stay three months for rehab. The court has sent him here. I’ve come to give readings and workshops with funds from Poets & Writers. When he and I leave, we’ll both be changed. Wiawaka: It’s a long drive up the Northway, then a crawl through touristy Lake George and onto a pine-shaded road that winds to a rustic sign. I’ve Googled the place and know it was founded in 1903 by a tycoon’s rebellious daughter, who wanted to offer factory girls a lakeside holiday. Poets & Writers is funding me to spend a weekend here and give a workshop and two readings to strangers; all will be women. Cambridge Mansion: I pull up to a sprawling turn-of-the-century estate with Doric columns, lattice porches, French doors, and an elongated wheelchair ramp. It was the home of the marketing genius who gave the world Doan’s pills. I am here, thanks to Poets & Writers, to read to the residents. I’ll leave in an hour; most of them never will.