Pen America Emerging Voices Fellowship

Pen Emerging Voices FellowshipDeadline: August 1, 2018

Prize: $1000; professional mentorship; courses at UCLA Extension Writers’ Program; master classes with Alex Espinoza (prose) and F. Douglas Brown (poetry)

Entry: Submittable only; $10 fee

Eligibility: Writers who do not have significant publication credits, are not enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate writing program, do not hold an undergraduate or graduate writing degree, and have clear ideas of what they hope to accomplish through their writing.

Submission Guidelines:

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NPR Summer Reading Recommendations

NPR Summer Reading RecommendationsListen to Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl share her reading recommendations on Morning Edition here.

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna“I’m always looking for a good thriller, and this just was perfect. It’s exactly the kind of thriller that I most enjoy.

The two main characters, one of them is a bounty hunter named Alice Vega — she lives in California, but she’s called to come to a small town in Pennsylvania where two girls, two sisters, have been kidnapped. And she has had great success in finding missing children before. So the family of these two girls calls her in and she goes to work with a disgraced policeman from that town’s police force named Max Caplan.

And the two of them together make this very interesting team, bringing their separate talents together to try to locate these two girls. You really want to spend time with these two main characters. It was one of those things where the plot was great and it was complex enough to keep me interested, but what I loved most was the way these two very, very different characters — complicated with complicated lives — interact.”

1947: Where Now Begins by Elisabeth Asbrink

1947 Where Now Begins by Elizabeth Asbrink“What Elisabeth Åsbrink has done is take one particular year, 1947, two years after the end of World War II, and go through month by month talking about everything that happened during those months.

And it turns out that 1947 was a really, really eventful year. It was a year of Nuremberg trials. Very close to where I am in Seattle, flying saucers were seen over the Oregon Cascades. And the book is interwoven with her father’s story, who spent 1947 in a Zionist orphanage in Germany.

It’s just one of those books that makes you want to major in history. It is one of the best books, certainly the best nonfiction book, that I’ve read recently. I think the subtitle, Where Now Begins, really speaks to one of the things that makes this book so important: The echoes of 1947 are resonating very, very clearly today.”

Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt“Lyanda Lynn Haupt became interested in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart because the story is that he was walking in Vienna down the street and he heard a bird. They had bird shops there — birds were very popular as pets — and he heard a bird singing a section of a concerto he had just finished composing. So he had to have this bird.

And that just captivated Lyanda, who after reading a little more about it decided she needed a starling. And of course starlings are probably the most despised bird ever. So she and her husband procured a baby starling that she proceeded to raise. So this is a book both about what it’s like to raise a starling and have a bird in your house flying around, but also interspersed with this biography of Mozart and Mozart’s relationship with his starling.

The thing about Lyanda is that her books really open up a world that many of us who spend so much time indoors don’t appreciate enough. And she’s thoughtful, she’s very smart, and this is just an utterly charming book.”

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon“This is a fabulous first novel by Joanna Cannon set in 1976 in a small hamlet in England. It’s one of the hottest summers on record there, and one of the women in this neighborhood has disappeared. Mrs. Creasy is nowhere to be found and no one knows where she’s gone. And two little girls, Tilly and Grace, decide they are going to find out what happened to Mrs. Creasy.

So this is a little bit of a mystery — what happened to Mrs. Creasy — but more it’s an examination of a group of people all with secrets of their own and the fear that some of those secrets are going to come out because of the girls’ inquisitiveness. But it’s laced with wonderful, wonderful touches of humor, including an absolutely priceless scene where Tilly and Grace make one of their regular trips to the library and are looking for something good to read.

I loved this book. It’s one of those books that you just want to give to everybody.”

The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard

The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard“This is a first novel and it’s great fun to read. The Ribkins are an African-American family. It turns out that each of the Ribkins has a special talent, and the talent can be scaling walls, or seeing colors where other people just see muddiness, or being able to take things away from people out of people’s hands before they know it.

At first they put these talents to use protecting leaders of the civil rights movement in the 1970s. But when this wasn’t working out, when they felt they had done all they could, they turned to crime and did a series of burglaries that were fabulously successful. But now the leader of that group, Johnny Ribkins, is 72 and he needs money. And what he decides to do is he’s going to go make a trip around all the places where they buried some of the loot that they had gotten in their robberies. But he’s forced to take with him a niece that he didn’t know existed, the daughter of a much younger half-brother. And so this is seven days in the life of the Ribkins trying to get the money back, and also getting to know one another and figuring out where they belong in the world.”

Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager

Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager“There are two kinds of fantasy for children, and the one that has taken precedence in the 21st century especially is the type of fantasy where magic occurs in the world and everybody knows. But in the 20th century, the big kind of fantasy were books in which ordinary boys and girls find something that’s magic and they have to tame the magic, and then they use the magic.

And Edward Eager wrote fantasy novels based on that premise. I loved these books, and this one, it’s about a magic book. These five children go to the library. They see this book just lying on the shelf. It doesn’t have a nice cover; it looks very worn. And they check it out and when they check it out the librarian gives them a very interested look. It’s only a seven-day book. And what we do is follow seven days of what happens to them as they gradually learn to use the magic in the book.”

A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee

A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee“This is a mystery. It’s set in Kolkata in 1919. It is written from the point of view of a British police officer who has come to Kolkata after World War I. His world was destroyed in the war, and to get away from England, he comes to India to run the police force.

Sam Wyndham, who is the main character, his sergeant is a man named Surendranath Banerjee, but the British officers have a little trouble with “Surendranath” so they call him “Surrender-not.” A British man is found dead, and in this guy’s mouth is stuffed a piece of paper that says, “Quit India,” and other things. So they realize that it must be a political killing and the two of them, Sergeant Banerjee and Sam Wyndham, investigate the crime.

I pretty much love any book that’s set in India, and I love history.”

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

Deadline: July 31, 2019

Prizes: 

  • All 100 winners will be invited to a prestigious Awards Ceremony in London.
  • The top 15 winners will have their poems printed in the winners’ print anthology, over 20,000 copies of which are distributed to school libraries and poetry enthusiasts. The anthology is also available online.
  • The 85 commended poets will have their work published in an online anthology and their names in the print anthology.
  • The top 15 Winners will be invited to attend a life-changing residential writing course at one of the prestigious Arvon Centres, or receive mentoring from a professional poet (age dependent).
  • All 100 winners receive a year’s Youth Membership of The Poetry Society.
  • All 100 winners will receive a goody bag full of books and other treats donated by our generous supporters.

Entry: Register here to enter. Entry is free.

Eligibility: Any young poet, writing in English, aged 11-17 as of the deadline.

Guidelines:

  • You must be aged 11-17 on the closing date of the 31st July 2018 (inclusive) in order to enter.
  • Individuals may enter more than one poem, however we strongly advise that you concentrate on drafting and redrafting your poems and send only a selection of your very best. Remember, quality is more important than quantity.
  • The competition is free to enter and poems can be of any length and on any theme.
  • Your work is accepted on the basis that this will be its first publication anywhere in the world. This includes:
    • anthologies, magazines, solo collections, school prints;
    • online, including blogs and online magazines;
    • social media such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram;
    • any regional, national or online TV station or via any radio platform.
  •  Poems cannot have won any other competition.
  •  Poems must be the original work of the author (we do run checks for plagiarism on all selected poems).
  • Poems must be in English.
  • You cannot enter a poem written by more than one author.
  • Entries will be accepted from anywhere in the world.
  • If you are 11-12 your parent or guardian will need to give permission for you to enter. Permission can be given online or by sending in the parent or guardian permission form.

Gulf Coast Short Prose Prize

Gulf Coast Barthelme Prize for Short Prose

2018 Barthelme Prize for Short Prose

Deadline: August 15, 2018

Prize: $1000 & publication

Entry: Submittable only; $18 fee includes subscription

This contest will be judged by Laura van den Berg.

Guidelines:

Submit a prose poem, a piece of flash fiction, or a micro-essay of up to 500 words. Each entry can include up to 3 pieces.

Each entry is $18, which includes a yearlong subscription to Gulf Coast.

Only previously unpublished work will be considered. The contest will be judged blindly, so please do not include your cover letter, your name, or any contact information in the uploaded document. This information should only be pasted in the “Comments” field.

Honorable mentions will each receive $250. All entries will be considered for publication.

Indiana Review 1/2 K Prize

Indiana Review 1/2 K PrizeDeadline: August 15, 2018

Prize: $1000 & publication

Entry: Submittable only; $20 fee includes subscription

This contest will be judged by Seth Pennington and Bryan Borland of Sibling Rivalry Press.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Remember to send up to three pieces. Any genre for this contest! Each piece should be 500 words or less and in a single word document.
  • Entrant’s name must not appear on the submission.
  • A cover letter is not required but can be included in the comments box if you like.
  • Each $20 fee gets you a year-long subscription of the journal. International addressees, please add $12 for postage ($7 for addresses in Canada). If the fee provides a hardship, keep an eye out for discounted rates near the end of July.
  • Be sure to select the genre “2018 1/2 K Prize” on the submission form. Submissions with incorrectly designated genres will not be read.
  • A “Submit Entry” button will appear here when submissions open. Click it to get started. You will be redirected to the Submissions Manager to upload your submission after making the PayPal payment. If you are not automatically redirected, please contact inreview@indiana.edu and we will ensure you are able to complete your submission.

Rattle Poetry Prize

Rattle Poetry PrizeDeadline: July 15, 2018

Prize: $10,000 and publication in the winter edition 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.

Entry: Submittable or hardcopy. $25 fee (includes one-year subscription).

Eligibility: Open to writers, worldwide; poems must be written in English (no translations). No previously published works, or works accepted for publication elsewhere.

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Narrative Magazine’s Tenth Annual Poetry Contest

Narrative Magazine Poetry Contest

Deadline: July 15, 2018
Prize: First Prize is $1,500, Second Prize is $750, Third Prize is $300, and up to ten finalists will receive $75 each. All entries will be considered for publication. All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Poem of the Week.
Entry: Online submissions only. There is a $26 fee for each entry. With your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.
Judging: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by September 30, 2018. All writers who enter will be notified by email of the judges’ decisions. 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.

Narrative Magazine Poetry ContestPoetry Contest Submission Guidelines:

Submissions may contain up to five poems. Your submission should give a strong sense of your style and range. We accept submissions of all poetic forms and genres but do not accept translations.

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