Muse-Feed Road Trip: 8 Days, 9 States, 2,500 Miles: 1st Stop: King’s English in Salt Lake City

king's englishMuse-Feed is embarking on an 8-day cross country journey into the land of bookstores. Each day we will offer staff picks from some of the nation’s finest, most curated and eclectic booksellers. Our only frustration in planning this odyssey is that there are so many more wonderful bookstores we cannot reach in 8 short days. We may have to make it an annual event!

King's EnglishBetsy Burton and Anne Holman, booklovers always, have owned The King’s English in Salt Lake City since since 1977. Over the years, they’ve made it their mission to match books to readers and remember their reading preferences each time they visit the store. The bookstore offers book groups, events, staff picks, movies, music & gifts. In addition, they offer a newsletter called The Inkslinger filled with reviews of the staff’s favorite books and authors. There’s something for everyone—fiction, nonfiction and children’s books—plus a calendar of upcoming events, special features and author interviews. Of their excellent staff picks, we purchased a signed First Edition copy of THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS by Arundhati Roy. Additional staff picks include books by Margot Singer, Laura McBride, Derek B. Miller, Nina George, Francis Spufford, Jamie Harrison and Alexandra Fuller. We thank The King’s English for making our first bookstore stop a delightful one.

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Muse-Feed Takes a Bookstore Road Trip

bookstores Jake Blucker
Photo by Jake Blucker

Muse-Feed is embarking on an 8-day cross country odyssey into the land of bookstores. Each day we will offer staff picks from some of the nation’s finest, most curated and eclectic booksellers. Our only frustration in planning this odyssey is that there are so many more wonderful bookstores we cannot reach in 8 short days. We may have to make it an annual event! Stay tuned.

Prairie Schooner Creative Nonfiction Contest

Creative Nonfiction ContestDeadline: August 1, 2017
Entry Fee: $20 (includes copy of Spring 2018 issue)
Prize: $250 & publication in the Prairie Schooner
Submit: Any type of creative nonfiction essay up to 5,000 words & cover letter
JudgeEsme Weijun Wang
Website: http://prairieschooner.unl.edu/
Guidelines
: https://prairieschooner.submittable.com/submit/12826/creative-nonfiction-essay-contest

Prairie Schooner’s Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest is open to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words. The $20 entry fee includes a copy of the Spring 2018 issue of Prairie Schooner, in which the winning essay will appear. The winner will receive $250 and publication in our Spring 2018 issue. Additionally, The magazine often publishes contest finalists, like Boyer Rickel’s “Morgan: A Lyric” and Emily Geminder’s “Coming To: A Lexicology of Fainting.”

Entries will consist of THREE parts: a cover letter, the essay manuscript, and the entry fee:
  1. Cover Letter: In the cover letter, include the submission’s title and your contact information, including e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address. Your name and contact info must not appear anywhere within the manuscript itself (double-check headers and footers!).
  2. Essay Manuscript: The contest is open to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words. We’re interested in reading imaginative essays of general interest. (Scholarly articles requiring footnote references should be submitted to journals of literary scholarship.) Manuscripts should be double-spaced and use a standard font, and, again, the submitter’s name and contact info should not appear within the manuscript itself.
  3. Entry Fee: Each submission must be accompanied by the $20.00 fee, which includes a copy of the Spring 2017 issue of Prairie Schooner, in which the winning essay will appear. Multiple submissions are welcome and encouraged, but a separate entry fee must accompany each submission.
JUDGE’S ADVICE from Esme Weijun Wang :

“Write beautifully, write intelligently, and write like your heart is on fire. I want to feel like all three of those things are happening.”  Esme Weijun Wang is a novelist and essayist. Her debut novel, THE BORDER OF PARADISE, was named a Best Book of 2016 by NPR and one of the 25 Best novels of 2016 by ELECTRIC LITERATURE. She is the recipient of the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize for her forthcoming essay collection, THE COLLECTED SCHIZOPHRENIAS; her work has appeared in THE BELIEVER, HAZLITT, ELLE, CATAPULT, and EATER. She can be found at esmewang.com and on Twitter @esmewang.

PAST WINNERS:

2016: E.M. Tran

2015: Laura Elizabeth Woollett

2014: Aurvi Sharma

2013: Melissa Febos

Narrative Story Contest

Narrative Story ContestDeadline: July 31, 2017
Entry Fee: $25
Prize: $2,500 & consideration for publication in Narrative
Submit: short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, literary nonfiction, excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction no longer than 15,000 words.
Judges: Narrative Editors
Website: http://www.narrativemagazine.com

Spring 2017 Story Contest

The Narrative story is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Narrative winners and finalists have gone on to win Whiting Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the Atlantic prize, and have appeared in collections such as The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and many others. View the recent awards won by Narrative authors.

 Narrative seeks work with a strong narrative drive, with characters readers can respond to, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. They look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

Click here to submit your work.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and up to ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

Notification:  Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by August 31, 2017. All writers who enter will be notified by email of the judges’ decisions, which will be final. The judges reserve the option to declare ties and to designate and award only as many winners and/or finalists as are appropriate to the quality of contest entries and of work represented in the magazine.

Submission Guidelines: Please read the Submission Guidelines for manuscript formatting and other information.

Other Submission Categories: In addition to this contest, please review Narrative’s other Submission Categories for areas that may interest you.

Click here to submit your work.

Rattle Poetry Prize

Rattle Poetry PrizeDeadline: July 15, 2017
Entry Fee: $20 (1 year subscription to Rattle)
Prize: $10,000 & publication in Rattle
Submission: Up to 4 poems, no line limit
Judges: Rattle Editors
Email: tim@rattle.com
Website: http://www.rattle.com
Guidelines: http://www.rattle.com/prize/guidelines/

RATTLE POETRY PRIZE

The annual Rattle Poetry Prize offers $10,000 for a single poem to be published in the winter issue of the magazine. Ten finalists will also receive $200 each and publication, and be eligible for the $2,000 Readers’ Choice Award, to be selected by subscriber and entrant vote.

Additional poems from the entries are frequently offered publication as well. In 2016 we published 21 poems that had been submitted to the contest from just over 4,000 entries.

With the winners judged in an anonymous review by the editors to ensure a fair and consistent selection, an entry fee that is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine—and a large Readers’ Choice Award to be chosen by the writers themselves—we’ve designed the Rattle Poetry Prize to be one of the most inspiring contests around.

Past winners have included a retired teacher, a lawyer, and several students. It’s fair, it’s friendly, and you win a print subscription to Rattle even if you don’t win.

Past Winners

2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

Robert & Adele Schiff Awards in Poetry & Prose

awards poetry prose cincinnati reviewDeadline: July 15, 11:59 p.m. EST.
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: $1,000 & publication in Cincinnati Review
Poetry Submission: Up to 8 pages
Prose Submission: Up to 40 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction
Poetry Judge: Don Bogen
Prose Judge: Michael Griffith
Managing Editor: Lisa Ampleman
Email: editors@cincinnatireview.com
Website: http://www.cincinnatireview.com/blog/contests/robert-and-adele-schiff-prizes-in-poetry-and-prose

Center for Fiction Essential Books for Writers

Center for Fiction Essential BooksThe Center for Fiction, founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library, is the only organization in the United States devoted solely to the vital art of fiction. Their mission is to encourage people to read and value fiction and to support and celebrate its creation and enjoyment. Their resources include an exceptional book collection, a beautiful reading room, an expanding website, and a growing array of creative programs that serve both  readers and writers . They offer the following list of  “Essential Books for Writers” with the caveat that what works for one writer may not work for the next. Check back as they continue to add books to the list and explore additional tools for writers on their website.

On Writing by Stephen King

Stephen King Essential BooksLeave it to the literary rock star to compose a craft book that’s as entertaining as a good novel. “This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit,” Stephen King writes. What follows is a witty, practical, and sometimes poignant guide that is refreshingly devoid of the aforementioned BS. King relates his personal story of becoming a writer, then offers a “toolkit” of clear advice about everything from dialogue and descriptive passages to revisions and the head game. And there’s more: tips for beginning writers on submitting work for publication, a mark-up of one of King’s own manuscripts, and a reading list. You might not be awake at 3 a.m. turning these pages, but we promise On Writing will open your eyes to essential tricks of the trade. Continue reading “Center for Fiction Essential Books for Writers”

Fairy Tale Review Awards

Fairy Tale Review AwardsDeadline: July 15, 2017
Entry Fee: $10
Prize: $1,000 & publication.
Submit: Prose up to 6,000 words. Poetry up to 5 poems or 10 pages.
Poetry Judge: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Prose Judge: Helen Oyeyemi
Email: ftreditorial@gmail.com
Website: http://www.fairytalereview.com

Poetry & Prose Awards

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Fairy Tale Review are given annually for a group of poems and a work of fiction or creative nonfiction influenced by fairy tales. Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge in poetry and Helen Oyeyemi will judge in prose. Submit up to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 6,000 words of fiction or nonfiction with a $10 entry fee by July 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Fairy Tale Review, Awards in Poetry and Prose, c/o Kate Bernheimer, University of Arizona, English Department, Tucson, AZ 85721. Kate Bernheimer, Editor.