New CW Podcast featuring Greg Rodgers

The most recent Creative Writing Program podcast is now available at our website. This month's podcast, hosted by MFA candidate Yael Massen, features fellow MFA candidate Greg Rodgers reading his essay "Storytelling in the Midwest," which was published as part of Ninth Letter's Where We're At feature in the Fall/Winter 2013-14 issue of the journal.

Laura Adamczyk and Natalie Mesnard Win Literary Awards

Congratulations to MFA alum Laura Adamczyk and current MFA candidate Natalie Mesnard on their recent honors! Laura was awarded the Disquiet Literary Prize in Fiction for her short story "Girls," and was also named the Grand Prize winner of this year's competition. "Girls" will be published in Guernica, and Laura will receive full tuition and accommodations for the 2014 Disquiet Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal.

Natalie was awarded a 2014 AWP Intro Journals Award for her poem "Rations." The AWP Intro Journals Project honors the best new writing by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs. "Rations" will be published by the Tampa Review.

David Wright on Writing Race in America

Author and University of Illinois colleague David Wright has an excellent piece on the Chronicle of Higher Education web site, Writing Race in America.


(Also, read more about Steve Davenport's "Black Guy Bald Guy" series, referenced in David's article, at his web site.)

New CW Podcast: Audrey Petty

In our latest podcast, Professor Audrey Petty reads an excerpt from her book High Rise Stories: Voices from Chicago Public Housing, which was published in September as part of McSweeney's Voice of Witness series.

LeAnne Howe Readings in February

Professor LeAnne Howe will be reading from her latest book, Choctalking on Other Realities, at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, on Thursday, February 20, at 7 p.m. The reading is part of the university's Cultural Enrichment Series.


Professor Howe will also be reading at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, at 7:30 pm on February 24. This event is sponsored by the university's Office of Multicultural Affairs. More information can be found here.

Calls for Submissions 1/30

SIMON451: NOVEL-WRITING CONTEST FOR STUDENTS

Simon451, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is pleased to announce a writing contest for students. Submissions must fall in one of the following categories: science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian or dystopian fiction, apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic fiction, or alternate history in literature. Full-length novels only; novellas and short stories will not be considered.

The contest is open to legal residents of the United States who are at least eighteen years of age and are currently enrolled in college at the undergraduate or graduate level, and who possess a student ID card valid as of February 2014. The submission period runs from February 1, 2014 – March 15, 2014, during which entrants are asked to provide a 250-word synopsis and the first fifty pages of their novel via the online entry form at https://simon451.submittable.com/submit, in accordance with the full contest guidelines. Complete contest rules and guidelines can be found here: http://bit.ly/451rules.

SOUTHEAST REVIEW CONTESTS

 

Florida State University's nationally renowned literary journal, The Southeast Review, is now accepting submissions for 2014 contests in three categories:

1. Narrative Nonfiction Contest--judged by Mark Winegardner (1 piece, up to 6,000 words)

2. Gearhart Poetry Contest--judged by Barbara Hamby (up to 3 poems, 10 pages total)

3. World's Best Short-Short Story Contest--judged by Robert Olen Butler (3 shorts, up to 500 words each)
One winner will be chosen and awarded $500. Additionally, the winning entry and finalists will be published in Issue 33.1, spring 2015. This year's submission deadline is March 15, 2014, and you can either send your submission and $16 entry fee via snail mail to:

The Southeast Review
Department of English
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306

Or, you can submit electronically by following via Submittable: https://southeastreview.submittable.com/submit

Please note that all entries must be original and previously unpublished.  For more information about contest guidelines visit http://southeastreview.org/contests.html or email southeastreview@gmail.com.

TRIO HOUSE PRESS POETRY BOOK AWARDS

Trio House Press gives two awards annually: the Trio Award for First or Second Book for emerging poets, and the Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence for a book of poems contributing in an innovative and distinct way to American poetry. The Louise Bogan Award for
Artistic Merit and Excellence is open to all poets, regardless of publication history.  

Each award winner receives $1000 and twenty copies of his or her book. Additionally, each winner must serve as a Collective Member of Trio House Press for twenty-four months after publication in order to assist with the press and bringing more Trio books into print. 

The reading period for both awards is November 1st through April 30th.
 

Manuscripts must be between 48-70 pages, written in English by a poet residing within the U.S.
 

Translations are not eligible for publication.

Payment of $25 is required for all submissions during our award submissions period.

For complete guidelines and to submit, visit http://www.triohousepress.org/

GULF COAST PRIZES 

The annual Gulf Coast Prizes award $6,000 in total prize money to poets, essayists, and fiction writers. This year's judges are Andrea Barrett (Fiction), John D'Agata (Nonfiction), and Rachel Zucker (Poetry).  

The contests award publication and $1500 each to the best poem, essay, and short story, as well as $250 to two honorable mentions in each genre. The winners will appear in Gulf Coast 27.1, due out in Fall 2014, and all entries will be considered for paid publication on our website as Online Exclusives 

The entry fee includes a year-long subscription to Gulf Coast. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2014
 

Calls for Submissions: 1/24

HARMONY: a creative brief 

Poets from around the world are invited to submit a single previously unpublished poem of a prescribed length in response to the word “Harmony” by March 2014. A selected panel will draw up a shortlist of poems, from which a winner will be chosen. 

The winning poem will be performed at the opening night of the International Glass Exhibition at Swansea Waterfront Museum in July 2014. An award of £2000 will go to the winner and a copy of the poem will be displayed for the next year at the Dylan Thomas Centre. Short listed poems will be invited for inclusion in a subsequent publication celebrating the international award among others.

It is anticipated that the winning poet will be invited to be commissioned by the University for a combined piece of work with the winner of the International Dylan Thomas Glass award, as an on-going tribute to Dylan Thomas.

Details of the award among others being given by the University can be found at: www.tsd.ac.uk/en/dylanthomas/internationalawards/

Spoon River Poetry Review Editors' Prize Contest

First place prize: $1000, publication in Spoon River Poetry Review, and introduction written by prominent outside judge. Two runners up will be awarded $100 each and three to five honorable mentions will be selected.

Entry fee: $20, includes one-year subscription to SRPR

Deadline: April 15, 2014 (postmark)

For full guidelines, visit srpr.org/contest.php

Writers@Work 2014 Fellowship Competition
https://writersatwowritersatwork.org.

The Writers @ Work Annual Fellowship Competition is a great opportunity for emerging writers to have their work vetted by a talented panel of judges, well-known in their respective fields.

Prizes Awarded in each category:
First Prize:
$1,000; Publication in Quarterly West; Tuition for the 2014 Writers@Work conference*; Featured reading at the conference.
Two Honorable Mentions: $250. 

 

Submit online at https://writersatwork.submittable.com/submit 

 

 

Eastern Point Press Poetry and Prose Chapbook Contests

 

Eastern Point Press seeks original poetry, fiction, and nonfiction collections for their second annual chapbook contest. Poetry submissions up to 30 pages including acknowledgements, table of contents, and notes; fiction and nonfiction submissions 10,000 words or less. Submission deadline is February 28, 2014. Winners receive publication and 25 copies. Submissions via  https://extracts.submittable.com/submit. 

 

 

 

Overton Poetry Prize

The Department of English and Drama at Loughborough University has set up the Overton Poetry Prize in memory of Professor Bill Overton who passed away last year. The prize is for a sequence of poems on any subject up to 300 lines. First prize is the publication of the sequence in chapbook form, with two runners-up prizes of £50 each. Amongst the judges is Sarah Jackson, winner of the Seamus Heaney Prize in 2013.
The entry fee is £10 per submission and the competition closes on 31st March 2014. The proceeds from this competition will fund an early-career poet in residence here at the University. Click for complete guidelines.