Palooka is an international literary magazine. For a decade we’ve featured up-and-coming, established, and brand-new writers, artists, and photographers from all around the world. We’re open to diverse forms and styles and are always seeking unique chapbooks, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, photography, graphic narratives, and comic strips. Free digital copies of back issues now available for a short time. Give us your best shot! Submissions open year-round. palookamag.com
Contest :: $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize
Every year, the University of Arkansas Press accepts submissions for the Miller Williams Poetry Series and from the books selected awards the $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize in the following summer. For almost a quarter century the press has made this series the cornerstone of its work as a publisher of some of the country’s best poetry. The series is edited by Patricia Smith. The deadline for the 2022 Prize is September 30, 2020. Jayson Iwen’s Roze & Blud, published in March 2020, was the winner of the 2020 Miller Williams Poetry Prize. For more information visit uapress.com.
Call :: Xi Draconis Books Seeks Socially Engaged Manuscripts
Don’t forget that Xi Draconis Books is open to socially engaged, book-length works for publication in 2020 and 2021. They accept novels, short story and poetry collections, memoirs, essay collections, and cross-genre works. Their mission is to publish works examining social justice issues of all kinds. Head to xidraconis.org/submission-guidelines/ to submit. Check out a recent title from their catalog—it’s free. There is no fee to submit. Deadline: July 31.
Call :: Writings on Domestic Verbal, Emotional, and Physical Abuse
Deadline: October 15, 2020
We are seeking work by survivors of domestic abuse. Creative nonfiction, memoir, flash nonfiction. Please note that at this time we are not accepting poetry. Deadline: October 15, 2020. The book will be published by McFarland & Company; contributors will receive a complimentary copy. Please send your submission in Word, with a brief cover letter and 50 word bio to Judith Skillman, [email protected] and Linera Lucas, [email protected]. This text is dedicated to all those who dared to break the silence.
Gival Press Sponsored Contests: Novel Award Deadline Approaching
Gival Press is hosting three contests in 2020: the Gival Press Novel Award, the Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award, and the Gival Press Short Story Award. The Novel Award deadlines is May 30. The prize is $3k and book publication in 2021. The Oscar Wilde Award for the best LGBTQ poem deadline is June 27. The prize is $500 and online publication. The Short Story Award deadline is August 8. The Prize is $1,000 and online publication. For complete details on each contest, visit: www.Givalpress.Submittable.com.
Call :: Four Quartets: Poetry in the Pandemic
Tupelo Press has announced they are moving their Tupelo Broadside Contest submission period to the month of September. This is so they can accept folios for Four Quartets: Poetry in the Pandemic to be published in late fall. They seek four 12-page folios of poetry. Submissions are open now through midnight on June 30. Judges for selection will be Publisher Jeffrey Levine, Editor In Chief Kristina Marie Darling, and Poetry Editor Cassandra Cleghorn. Selected writers will receive a $250 honorarium.
There is a $22 reading fee.
Contest :: 1 Month Left to Submit to Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest
Swan Scythe Press is accepting manuscripts for its 2020 Poetry Chapbook Contest through June 15. Submit a manuscript of 20-32 pages of poems that includes a title page with author’s name, address, phone number, and email address and a second title page without personal identifiers, book title only. Manuscripts can be mailed to 1468 Mallard Way, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 or submitted online, visit swanscythepress.submittable.com/submit. Entry fee is $18.00 payable to Swan Scythe Press. Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. For full guidelines and details, please visit www.swanscythepress.com.
Contest :: KAKALAK 2020 Poetry & Art Contest Closes May 18
Don’t forget that the deadline to submit poetry and art that evokes the spirit of the Carolinas from the Outer Banks and Low Country to the Piedmont and Appalachia is May 18. Anyone can enter. Entry fee: $12 for 1-3 poems or 1-3 images. All entries considered for publication. All contributors will receive one copy for each item selected for publication. Prize money ranges from $300 to $20. Details can be found on the Kakalak contest page of the www.MainStreetRag.com website.
Contest :: Conduit Books & Ephemera’s 2020 Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize Accepting Submissions
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Now in its third year, the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize awards $1,000 and publication to a poet writing in English who has not yet published a full-length book of poetry. If you have a smoking hot manuscript or know someone who does, please give us a shot. The Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize champions poets who dance to their own tune not to be different but to be true. Previously unpublished manuscripts of 48-90 pages should be submitted through our Submittable page or via the USPS. Please visit www.conduit.org/book-prizes for details.
Deadline Extension :: 2020 Sandeen Prize in Poetry
Deadline has been extended to June 1 due to COVID-19.
The Sandeen Prize in Poetry is open to any author, with the exception of ND graduates, who has published at least one collection of poetry. We pay special attention to second volumes. A $15 administrative fee should accompany submissions. Make checks payable to University of Notre Dame. The volumes of the Sandeen Prize will be published in trade paperback format. The author will be offered a standard contract with the University of Notre Dame Press. There will be a $1,000 prize, a $500 award, and a $500 advance against royalties from the Notre Dame Press. Submission information on program website: english.nd.edu/creative-writing/.
Driftwood Press Extends Application Deadline for Online Seminars
Good news! If you missed the April 30 deadline for Driftwood Press’s 2020 Online Seminar Series, you’re in luck! They have extended the deadline to apply to May 30. These seminars will run for five weeks starting on June 1 and ending on July 3.
The Erasure Poetry Seminar instructor is Jerrod Schwarz who teaches creative writing at the University of Tampa. This seminar features an in-depth look at the history, practices, and importance of erasure poetry. Every week students receive a video lesson, tailor-made writing prompts, and detailed feedback. The course will culminate in a Showcase Booklet of students’ work which will be made available for free download on Driftwood’s website.
The Editors & Writers Seminar is targeted towards three types of writers: writers submitting to magazines and wanting to fight through the slushpile, writers who wish to be editors of short fiction or run a magazine, and writers who wish to become better editors of their own and others’ work. The instructor will be Driftwood Press Fiction Editor James McNulty. Students receive weekly video lessons, a writing or revision assignment, a reading assignment, and detailed feedback on writing assignments.
Don’t forget that the biannual journal is open to submissions year-round and the publishing arm is currently open to submissions of novellas, graphic novels, and comic collections. They do charge a reading fee. Expedited response options available for journal submissions.
Contest :: 2020 Cathy Smith Bowers Chapbook Contest
Open: May 1–June 15
Prize: $1000, publication, 50 author copies. Reading Fee: $15 (electronic submission $17). Length: 28-40 pages of poetry. First round judging done blindly by Main Street Rag editors. Final Judge: Cathy Smith Bowers, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina. 2019 Contest winner, Doralee Brooks of Bridgeville, PA for her book, When I Hold You Up to the Light. All entries considered for publication. Details: www.mainstreetrag.com.
Call :: Wordrunner eChapbooks Seeks Mini-Fiction Collections
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Two fiction collections will be selected for our fall 2020 e-chapbook series, to be published in August and December, online and as epubs. Stories may be flash or longer, from 500 up to 5,000 words each. We’d like at least five stories, but no more than 15 (if flash fiction). We will also consider novel excerpts. No genre fiction, please. Stories by authors who receive Honorable Mentions will be considered for our 2021 themed anthology. See www.echapbook.com/submissions.html for detailed guidelines and Submittable link. Payment: $100 plus royalties. Submission fee: $6.
Contest :: 2020 Orison Anthology Awards
Deadline: August 1, 2020
The 2020 Orison Anthology Awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, & Poetry offer $500 and publication by Orison Books in The Orison Anthology for a single work in each genre. Judges: Blair Hurley (fiction), E. J. Koh (nonfiction), and Joy Ladin (poetry). Entry fee: $15. Submission Period: May 1-August 1. Find complete details at www.orisonbooks.submittable.com.
Call :: An Anthology of Mental Health Recovery
Main Street Rag seeks poetry and prose (fiction/nonfiction) for an anthology with a mental health recovery theme; uplifting stories of overcoming mental health challenges and trauma from writers who have experienced a mental illness or love someone who has. Length: up to 6,000 words (prose) or 5 poems. Reading Period: May 1-August 1. Simultaneous submissions and previously published considered, however, authors must own the rights (no third-party permissions). Questions may be directed to editor Erika Nichols-Frazer at [email protected]. Submissions should be sent to: mentalhealth.submittable.com/submit.
Contest :: Lynx House Press 2020 Blue Lynx Prize
T
here is now one month left to submit poetry collections of at least 48 pages to Lynx House Press for their Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry. The $28 submission fee includes a copy of a book from their catalog.
The winner will receive $2,000 and publication. Previous judges have included Previous judges include James Tate, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Dara Wier, Melissa Kwasny, and Robert Wrigley. Submit your manuscripts at lynxhousepress.submittable.com/submit by June 1.
Contest :: North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books
Deadline: June 30, 2020
6th year. Grand prize of $5,000. Top winner in each category will win $1,000. Co-sponsored by BookBaby and Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Categories: Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Poetry, Children’s Picture Book, and Graphic Novel & Memoir. $12,500 in total cash prizes. Fee: $65 per book. Final judges: Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche. Submit online or by mail. Winning Writers is one of the “101 Best Websites for Writers” (Writer’s Digest). Guidelines: winningwriters.com/north.
Contest :: Orison Chapbook Prize Open to Submissions
July 1 is the deadline to submit 20-45 page manuscripts to the 2020 Orison Chapbook Prize. Submissions are welcome in any literary genre, i.e. poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid. Orison Books founder and editor Luke Hankins will judge. The winner receives $300 and publication. $12 entry fee. For complete guidelines, see www.orisonbooks.submittable.com.
Tupelo Press Recent Releases and BOGO Sale
Tupelo Press presents two recent releases, Shahr-e-jaanaan: The City of the Beloved by Adeeba Shahid Talukder, and our latest printing of Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones” onto broadsides. Also be sure to check out the Tupelo Press BOGO sale going on at tupelopress.org. View the entire April eLitPak Newsletter here.
Call :: Palooka Open to Submissions Year-round
Don’t forget that literary magazine and chapbook publisher Palooka is open to submissions year-round. Even better? They are currently offering free digital copies of past issues to help lift the spirits of creatives and book lovers. So go ahead and grab a copy today. Palooka is open to all voices, forms, and styles. Submit unpublished chapbooks, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, photography, graphic narratives, and comic strips. There is a $3 fee for fiction, poetry, and nonfiction journal submissions and an $8 fee for chapbook manuscripts.
Call :: Tolsun Books Closes to Submissions on May 31
There is just over a month remaining to submit manuscripts to Tolsun Books, an independent, non-profit press based in the Southwest. They are accepting both full-length and chapbook-length manuscripts composed of parts. This includes poetry, short stories, essays, hybrids, translations, and things they haven’t dreamed of. They want both new and experienced writers with high-energy voices. They offer free submissions on the 15th of every month otherwise it is $15 to submit.
Call :: Washington Writers’s Publishing House Seeks Work for Anthology
Washington Writers’ Publishing House is accepting poetry and short fiction for their first anthology in 25 years. If you are a writing living in or connected to DC, Maryland, and Virginia, you have until June 1 to submit work to the This is What American Looks Like anthology. They seek new and established writers, a cross-section of diverse voices, to write on America today. Be provocative, be personal or political (or both). There is a $5 fee to submit.
Call :: Xi Draconis Seeks Socially Engaged Works for Publication in 2020-21
Deadline: July 31, 2020
Xi Draconis Books seeks socially engaged, book-length works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for its 2020 and 2021 production years. We accept novels, short story and poetry collections, memoirs, essay collections, and cross-genre book-length works. Our mission is to publish works that examine social justice issues of all kinds. Head to xidraconis.org/submission-guidelines/ to submit.
Contest :: Swan Scythe Press 2020 Poetry Chapbook Contest
Swan Scythe Press is now considering manuscripts for its 2020 Poetry Chapbook Contest. Submit a manuscript of 20-32 pages of poems that includes a title page with author’s name, address, phone number, and email address and a second title page without personal identifiers, book title only. Manuscripts can be mailed to 1468 Mallard Way, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 or submitted online, visit swanscythepress.submittable.com/submit. Entry fee is $18.00 payable to Swan Scythe Press. Deadline is June 15th. Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. For full guidelines and details, please visit www.swanscythepress.com.
Green Mountains Review Launches Social Distance Reading Series
Literary magazine Green Mountains Review has partnered with the Vermont School to highlight writers whose book launches have been “snuffed out” by the COVID-19 pandemic.
They post new videos to their Social Distance Reading Series twice a week on Wednesday and Sunday so that authors can read from their newly released collections of poetry. Right now the focus is on writers whose book events were cancelled in the months of January through May.
You can currently find readings by Chard deNiord, Kathryn Nuernberger, Felicia Zamora, Philip Metres, Tommye Blount, Penelope Crazy, and Matthew Lipman.
Memoir Magazine Extends Inaugural Book Prize Deadline
Online literary magazine Memoir Magazine has extended the deadline for its first-ever book contest to April 30. The Memoir Prize is dedicated to memoirs and creative nonfiction of book-length works of exceptional merit. They have three categories: published, self-published, and unpublished. The grand prize winner receives $2,000. The fee to enter is $95. Results to be announced in June.
Contest :: Sandeen Prize for Poetry Deadline is April 30
The University of Notre Dame is accepting submissions to its Sandeen Prize for Poetry through April 30. This is open to poets who have published at least one full-length collection. $15 administrative fee. First place receives $1,000 and publication by the University of Notre Dame Press. Learn more…
Contest :: KAKALAK 2020
Deadline: May 18, 2020
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES apply to both poetry and art. Anyone can enter. Goal: We’re looking for work that evokes the SPIRIT of the Carolinas from the Outer Banks and Low Country to the Piedmont and Appalachia. Submission Period: March 1—May 18, 2020. Entry fee: $12 for 1-3 poems or 1-3 images. All entries considered for publication. All contributors will receive one copy for each item selected for publication. Prize money ranges from $300 to $20. Details can be found on the Kakalak contest page of the www.MainStreetRag.com website.
Contest :: 3rd Annual Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Our third annual first book prize is open and accepting manuscripts. If you have a smoking hot manuscript or know someone who does, please give us a shot. Awarded annually to a poet writing in English who has not yet published a full-length poetry book, the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize champions poets who dance to their own tune not to be different but to be true. Previously unpublished manuscripts of 48-90 pages should be submitted through our Submittable page or via the USPS. Please visit www.conduit.org/book-prizes for details.
Internet Archive Launches National Emergency Library
Last week Internet Archive launched the National Emergency Library which contains 1.4 million digitized books to serve the needs of students, educators, and learners. This means that they have suspended the waitlists, at least through June 30. This allows students to have the access they need to assigned readings and other library materials.
Brewster Kahle, founder of Internet Archive, says, “Think of this as a huge experiment. In one big push, we can improve online learning and its infrastructure in a way that may otherwise have taken years. This crisis encourages universities to be bold, to make investments that ultimately may mean many more students can benefit. Perhaps 500 undergraduates can fill a hall at MIT, but how many millions can take an online MIT course, once the books, materials and lessons are online?”
The library brings together all the books from Phillips Academy Andover and Marygrove College with much of Trent University’s collections. There is also over a million other books donated by other libraries to readers worldwide. Yes, worldwide. The timeline for the waitlist is timed to the crisis in the U.S., but readers all over the world are able to utilize this collection.
This launch has met with much criticism from the publishing community and writers. In a recent NPR article, it has been revealed that many writers and publishers say that the Internet Archive has been sharing full digital copies of books without permission before the establishment of this new library. The Authors Guild, which provides legal assistance to writers, stated the Internet Archive “tramples on authors’ rights by giving away their books to the world” without permission.
They recommend utilizing your own local libraries and their own e-book lending platforms instead.
Contest :: The Orison Chapbook Prize 2020
The 2020 Orison Chapbook Prize is open for submissions of 20–45 pages in any literary genre (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid) from April 1–July 1. Orison Books founder and editor Luke Hankins will judge. The winner will receive $300 and publication by Orison Books. Entry fee: $12. For complete guidelines, see www.orisonbooks.submittable.com.
Reader, Writer, Editor – Driftwood Press Has You Covered
Driftwood Press has plenty on the horizon for both readers and writers.
Writers looking to hone their craft can benefit from the two seminars Driftwood Press offers—Editors & Writers: The Path to Publication, and a seminar for Erasure Poetry. These are both conducted online and have plenty of information to help guide writers and editors better their work. The deadline to apply for each of these is April 30.
Readers can now order copies of Helli Fang’s new chapbook Village of Knives from the press. Chen Chen says of the collection, “The poems here listen to immigrant life and dream, to gendered expectation and subversion, to desire, to the body’s surging, briny rhythms.”
If you’re interested in having your own poetry read by the editors, consider submitting your full-length manuscript. Submissions are currently open for the rest of the month, so act fast! If you do end up missing this submission period, there are still two contests currently open until July.
Whether you’re looking to learn, read, or submit, Driftwood Press has you covered!
Fates Intertwine in Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House
Book Review by Ken Brosky
Galaxy “Alex” Stern has been given a free ride to Yale, despite a shady past and nonexistent high school grades. Why? Because she can see ghosts, and one of Yale’s secret societies has use of her unique gift. If that’s not enough to get you interested, how about this: in the first 20 pages, the society Skull and Bones has already opened up a living man’s body to perform a ritual designed to pick winning stocks. That’s just a taste of the incredible creativity that awaits readers as Alex investigates the strange goings-on of the secret societies, searching for answers to a suspicious murder.
Leigh Bardugo’s writing style shifts perspective with ease, moving between two main characters whose fates are intertwined. But what sets this book apart is the incredible creativity. Each secret society in Yale practices a form of magic, with consequences that go beyond the campus. It’s difficult to come up with something new in the fantasy genre, but Bardugo’s twisted imagination succeeds so well that this book is impossible to put down.
The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Flatiron Books, October 2019.
About the reviewer: Ken Brosky teaches English, plays guitar, and works in his woodshop when he’s not busy writing. He is short stories have been published in The Portland Review, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, among others. He’s currently represented by agent Sandra Sawicka, and they’re working on a mystery novel.
That’s Some (Weird) Pig!
Southeast Missouri State University Press may have their orders closed at the moment, but you can still learn about their forthcoming titles. In October 2020, they’ll publish Weird Pig by Robert Long Foreman, winner of the 2018 Nilsen Prize for a First Novel.
Although it’s his first novel, Foreman has made his mark by winning Pleiades Press’s Robert C. Jones Prize for Short Prize with his collection of essays Among Other Things and by winning a Pushcart Prize for fiction.
Find out more about the 2018 competition at SEMO Press’s website. And if you’re interested at trying your own luck at entering the Nilsen Prize for a First Novel, you have plenty of time—submissions close in November.
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions Announce New Titles
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, publisher of online lit mag Sheila-Na-Gig online, is not just celebrating the release of two new titles Robert DeMott’s collection of prose poems, Up Late Reading Birds of America, and Barbara Sabol’s Imagine a Town) but also two new titles in the hopper.
First they have their first-ever fiction title. This will be a re-release of John Bullock’s novel Mark Small: This is Your Life. It was previously titled Making Faces. This is a coming-of-age story set at the British seaside.
The winner of their Spring Poetry Contest, Kari Gunter-Seymour, has agreed to let them publish her forthcoming chapbook A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen. Stay tuned for more information on these titles and grab a copy of their current releases.
Oh, and don’t forget their Poetry Manuscript Contest is open through July 1 annually.
Best Microfiction 2020
Mark your calendars! The Best Microfiction 2020 anthology is slated for release this April from Pelekinesis Press. The series is edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. The guest editor this year was Michael Martone.
Featured in this edition is work originally published in Cherry Tree, E. Kristin Anderson’s “Ted Cruz Attends a Goldfish Funeral” and Catherine Edmunds’ “Her Wing”; Apple Valley Review, “Teeth” by Tim Fitts; Kenyon Review Online, “Thaddeus Gunn’s “An inventory of the possessions of William Kevin Thompson, Jr., age 19, upon his expulsion from the family residence on October 20, 1971”; Anomaly, “This Is A Comb” by Leila Ortiz; Into the Void, JJ Peña’s “the summer heat feels just like love”; The Sonder Review, CC Russell’s “Caught”; and much more.
Pre-order yourcopy today and support the awesome journals these pieces were originally published in.
Call :: This is What America Looks Like Anthology
Calling poets & fiction writers from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (and all those who have links to these areas), The Washington Writers’ Publishing House’s first anthology in 25 years is open for submissions—This is What America Looks Like—and we want your poetry and short fiction. We are a 47-year old nonprofit, cooperative, all-volunteer press. We are looking for new and established writers, a cross-section of diverse voices, to write on America today. Be provocative, be personal or political (or both), we are looking for writing that helps us see and reflect on this moment we are living in. More information at www.washingtonwriters.org. Submit at wwph.submittable.com/submit. Deadline: June 1.
NewPages March 2020 Digital eLitPak
The March eLitPak was mailed to our newsletter subscribers yesterday afternoon. Not a subscriber yet? Sign up today to get not only our monthly eLitPak, but also our weekly newsletter full of updates on great lit mags, books, events, and more. Plus, you get early access to calls for submissions and writing contests before they are posted to our site.
View the March 2020 eLitPak Newsletter. Continue reading “NewPages March 2020 Digital eLitPak”
“Social Poetics” Uncovers the Poetry of Everyday Workers
“Social Poetics” Uncovers the Poetry of Everyday Workers. By Harris Feinsod. In These Time.
Goldman and Antonio both participated in the Worker Writers School (WWS), founded by poet and activist Mark Nowak, who has offered creative writing workshops with trade unions and social movements since 2005. In Nowak’s stirring new book, Social Poetics, he documents how writing workshops can embolden workers who, to paraphrase Trinidadian historian and writer C.L.R. James, seek to chronicle their own struggles “to regain control over their own conditions of life.”
…Nowak’s work follows in the tradition of Langston Hughes, whose 1947 essay, “My Adventures as a Social Poet,” turned away from lyric poems of individual experience to the poetry of social commitment, poems that “stop talking about the moon and begin to mention poverty, trade unions, color lines and colonies.” Social Poetics relates the history of this tradition: Young English Professor Celes Tisdale and the Abenaki author Joseph Bruchac, for example, created poetry classes in prisons (which included participants in the 1971 Attica uprising).
Contest :: Sandeen Prize in Poetry 2020
Deadline: April 30, 2020
The Sandeen Prize in Poetry is open to any author, with the exception of ND graduates, who has published at least one collection of poetry. We pay special attention to second volumes. A $15 administrative fee should accompany submissions. Make checks payable to University of Notre Dame. The volumes of the Sandeen Prize will be published in trade paperback format. The author will be offered a standard contract with the University of Notre Dame Press. There will be a $1,000 prize, a $500 award, and a $500 advance against royalties from the Notre Dame Press. Submission information on program website: english.nd.edu/creative-writing/.
Zizzle Literary Branches Out in 2020
Zizzle Literary launched as a flash fiction literary magazine for families in 2018. Since its inception, it has morphed into a short story anthology series for readers young and old.
Zizzle is now evolving into a small press and hopes to begin to offer novels, graphic novels, and short story collections in the near future. The first of their new offerings, Zizzle Selects, will be released in June 2020. This anthology for teens features flash fiction stories from previous issues of Zizzle Literary and includes a discussion guide.
Jessica Lind Peterson 2020 Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize Winner
In December of 2019, Seneca Review announced the winner of its annual Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize.
Final judge Jenny Boully selected Living Room Horses by Minnesota-based essayist and playwright Jessica Lind Peterson. The book will be published in November 2020.
Finalists:
Vanessa Saunders, The Flat Woman
Dennis James Sweeney, You’re the Woods Too
Nance Van Winckel, Sister Zero
Vote for Your Favorite Lake Covington Couple
The people behind literary magazine Gold Man Review started SMOLDR back in 2018 with the launch of a writing contest for romance stories based around fictional characters living in Lake Covington.
They released Lake Covington on Valentine’s Day this year and are now accepting votes through March 14 for readers to choose their favorite couple. The top three writers whose couples are chosen will receive cash prizes. Grab your copy of the anthology today and vote for your couple.
Oh, and don’t forget that Gold Man Review is currently open to submissions from West Coast writers for their annual issue through May 1.
Contest :: Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry 2020
Deadline: June 1, 2020
Lynx House Press seeks submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts for the annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication. Entries must be at least 48 pages in length. The fee for submitting is $28, and includes a copy of a book from our catalog. Previous judges include James Tate, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Dara Wier, Melissa Kwasny, and Robert Wrigley. lynxhousepress.submittable.com/submit
Call :: Flexible Press 22 Under 22 Anthology
Deadline: April 30, 2020
This anthology seeks to offer a channel for people under 22 to talk to older people about their experiences and concerns. We are looking for short stories, poetry, essay, memoir, from people under 22 discussing what worries you? What angers you, or delights you? In other words: what’s on your mind? Submit up to three poems, or one short story, essay, or memoir up to 5000-words. Art and graphic stories are more than welcome, but the book will in black and white. Everyone under 22 is welcome. We are especially interested in voices from undeserved communities too often left out of the discussion. www.flexiblepub.com/22_under_22
Contest :: Jacar Press Book & Chapbook Contests 2020
Jacar Press, A Community Active Press, publishes poetry chapbooks, full-length collections, anthologies, and an award-winning online magazine, One which features Pulitzer Prize winners and new poets from 6 continents. Book sales support progressive organizations, including groups that address racism, gender discrimination, immigration issues, women’s initiatives, violence and abuse, prisoner reintegration programs, and others. Jacar Press offers low-cost workshops featuring writers like Lynn Emanuel, Patricia Spears Jones, Dorianne Laux, Li-Young Lee, Marilyn Nelson, Ilya Kaminsky, etc. Chapbook and full-length contests open through April 30. Past judges have included Chana Bloch, Toi Derricotte, Hélène Cardona, Lola Haskins, Rickey Laurentiis, Dorianne Laux, Jamaal May, and others. jacarpress.com/submissions/#contests
Call :: Tolsun Books 2020 Open Reading Period
Independent publisher Tolsun Books is open to unsolicited manuscripts made from parts through May 31. These can be either full-length or chapbook-length. Poetry, short stories, essays, hybrids, translations, and more. $15 fee. Free submissions accepted on the 15th of every month. Learn more…
Contest :: Cow Creek Poetry Chapbook Prize
Pittsburg State University and its literary magazine Emerald City are accepting submissions to the Cow Creek Poetry Chapbook Prize. Deadline to submit is May 15. Winner receives $1,000, publication, and 25 author copies. This year’s judge is Marcus Wicker. Learn more…
Contest :: Gival Press 2020 Contests
Gival Press is hosting three contests in 2020: the Gival Press Novel Award, the Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award, and the Gival Press Short Story Award. The Novel Award deadlines is May 30. The prize is $3k and book publication in 2021. The Oscar Wilde Award for the best LGBTQ poem deadline is June 27. The prize is $500 and online publication. The Short Story Award deadline is August 8. The Prize is $1,000 and online publication. For complete details on each contest, visit: www.Givalpress.Submittable.com.
New Titles :: Diode Editions
Diode Editions will be releasing five new books in March 2020 by Allison Joseph, Julia Cohen, Gregory Donovan, Michele Poulos, Nancy Chen Long, and Zeeshan Khan Pathan. They will also be at AWP 2020 and hosting a few events. Learn more…