POETRY -- FEBRUARY 2018

ANISFIELD-WOLF FELLOWSHIP IN WRITING & PUBLISHING

Cleveland State University Poetry Center

INFO: The Cleveland State University Poetry Center is accepting applications for the Anisfield-Wolf Fellowship in Writing & Publishing, a two-year post-graduate fellowship that offers an emerging writer time to work toward a first or second book and an opportunity to gain experience in editing, publishing, literary programming, and outreach in collaboration with the staff of the CSU Poetry Center.

The CSU Poetry Center is a 55+-year-old independent nonprofit press that publishes 3–5 books of contemporary poetry, prose, and translation each year. The Poetry Center also hosts the Lighthouse Reading Series and serves as a teaching lab for undergraduate and graduate students at Cleveland State University and within the Northeast Ohio MFA program. The Fellow will be a two-year employee of the CSU English department. The salary is $40,000 per year with health insurance and benefits.

The fellowship will encompass two academic-year (9-month) residencies of 30 hours per week, divided between writing, work at the CSU Poetry Center, and an outreach project of the Fellow’s own design. Poetry Center work will include reviewing submissions, attending editorial meetings, and assisting with Center contests. Possible outreach projects include (but are not limited to): developing an anthology incorporating authors from an underrepresented community; organizing community writing workshops; developing a reading series to engage previously underserved communities; or working with a local organization involved in education, social justice, and the literary arts. The project should be designed and completed in the two years in which the Fellow is in residence. It is expected that this work will further engage an already enthusiastic writing community at Cleveland State University and throughout Cleveland. Additional professional development opportunities for the Fellow will include participation in Cleveland Book Week and public readings of their work for the Cleveland literary community.

This fellowship is named for and supported by the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which honor literature that promotes equity and social justice and are administered through the Cleveland Foundation. Through the creation of this fellowship, Anisfield-Wolf and the CSU Poetry Center hope to support writers from backgrounds and with perspectives historically underrepresented in publishing and creative writing programming. By providing editorial experience and opportunities at a literary press, the fellowship also aims to help address the longstanding lack of diversity in the U.S. publishing workforce.

Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established the book awards in 1935 in honor of her father, John Anisfield, and husband, Eugene Wolf, to reflect her family’s passion for social justice and the rich diversity of human cultures. Founded with a focus on combating racism in America, the Anisfield-Wolf Awards today maintain that commitment to equity and justice in an expanded, global context. Recent winners, for example, have also addressed religious identity, immigrant experiences, LGBTQ+ history, and the lives of people with disabilities.

DEADLINE: February 1, 2017

csupoetrycenter.com/news-1/2017/12/13/anisfield-wolf-fellowship-in-writing-publishing

 

U.S.-JAPAN CREATIVE ARTISTS EXCHANGE FELLOWSHIPS

Japan-United States Friendship Commission

INFO: The Japan U.S. Friendship Commission offers leading contemporary and traditional artists from the United States the opportunity to spend three to five months in Japan through the U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Program.  Artists go as seekers, as cultural visionaries, and as living liaisons to the traditional and contemporary cultural life of Japan.  They also go as connectors who share knowledge and bring back knowledge. Their interaction with the Japanese public and the outlook they bring home provide exceptional opportunities to promote cultural understanding between the United States and Japan.

Since 1978, the Japan-US Friendship Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) have worked  with the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan and the International House of Japan (I-House) to organize the United States-Japan Creative Artists’ Program. Each year five leading U.S.-based artists, representing all genres, are selected from the United States and are provided funding to spend three months in Japan.

This residency program allows the artists to research and experience both the traditional and contemporary artistic milieu of Japan. Artists are free to live anywhere in the country to pursue activities of greatest relevance to their creative process. While many artists chose to remain in Tokyo, others live in Kyoto or other cities, and still others work in rural settings or travel around the countryside. The International House of Japan provides in-depth orientation materials, expert advice and professional contacts, as well as logistical support during the residency period.

Primary Eligibility:

  • Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
  • Candidates must live and work professionally primarily in the United States.
  • Candidates must be professional creative artists (contemporary or traditional) working as: architects, choreographers, composers, creative writers, designers, media artists, playwrights, librettists, visual artists and solo theater artists who work with original material (including puppeteers, and performance artists). For additional eligibility requirements, please click here.

AWARD: A grant award of $20,000 for three months, and $28,000 for up to five months will be provided to each artist to cover housing, living and professional expenses.  Artists will be responsible for converting their U.S. Dollar award into Japanese Yen.  The Commission will also provide grantees up to $2,000 to cover the cost of their round-trip transportation to Japan.

DEADLINE: February 1, 2018 at 11:59 EST

jusfc.gov/creative-artists-programs/

 

CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIP

Luminarts

INFO: The Creative Writing Fellowship awards five $5,000 Luminarts Fellowships for excellence in creative writing in the categories or prose and poetry. Applicants submit a two-page written piece (either a stand-alone piece or an excerpt of a larger piece such as a novel or short story). Entries are submitted and reviewed by an initial panel of jurors. Once reviewed, all top entries go to the final juror panel and the winners are selected. Jurors are comprised of professional authors, novelists, and poets, literary contributors, publishers, editors, journalists and media contributors.

Fellowship applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30, live within 150 miles of the Chicago Loop, and be enrolled in, or graduated from, a degree program, or other professional artist development program. 

DEADLINE: February 9, 2018

luminarts.org/creative-writing-opportunities

 

ARTISTS RESIDENCY

Mineral School

INFO: Mineral School is an artists residency located in a former 1947 elementary school near Mt. Rainier, in Mineral, Washington. During summer 2018, we're offering three two-week residency periods to 8 writers of poetry and prose and 4 visual artists, providing accepted applicants with space and time to create new work without the interruptions of normal life and with the bonus of healthy meals prepared by culinary volunteers using locally-grown organic food whenever possible. During September 2018, we'll offer a one-week residency to 4 writers who are parents of children under 18. 

Each resident will live in an 800-square foot former classroom that offers peekaboo views of Mineral Lake and Mt. Rainier, and that will double as their writing studio, with desk and chair, lighting, bookcase, and lots of chalkboards. Visual artist residents will be offered space to work outside of their classrooms (unless they wish to work in their medium in the room where they sleep). The school building has bathrooms with showers. Residents are served all meals and snacks daily and have the opportunity to share work with the public. Mineral features a swimmable fishing lake and boat rentals, a bar, a bed and breakfast, a general store, churches, a post office, and more deer than people. It's 25 minutes by car to Mt. Rainier National Park.

Visiting authors and artists: During each two-week residency, resident alumnae will visit and present work and bring with them a special guest artist they've chosen to introduce to Mineral. Additionally, during June's residency there will be a free musical event onsite on the last night, Saturday, June 30, by the Portland band Swimfish.

Resident presentations: If they wish, residents can share with one another and the public at our monthly residents' "show and tell" held during residency. These presentations are held after dinner in our library/multi-purpose room.

Notification will be given at least two months before the residency period for which you've applied. Residency sessions are held during the following time periods.  

Two-week residency periods for 2018:

  • June 17-July 1
  • July 15-July 29
  • August 19-September 2 

One-week parents' residency

  • September 15-September 23

DEADLINE: February 15, 2018

mineralschool.submittable.com/submit

 

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: ISSUE 3

The Shanghai Literary Review

 INFO: The Shanghai Literary Review accepts submissions for web and print on a rolling basis. They are interested in art and criticism about urbanism, globalism, identity, and transnationalism, though by no means should submissions be limited to those topics. Selected works will be published in print, and with a delay, also online. They strongly urge submitters to check out their TSLR Online section on this site or view back issues of the magazine to get a sense of what they are looking for.

They publish: 

  • Fiction - less than 5,000 words
  • Poetry - 2 poems submission limit per person
  • Nonfiction & Essay - less than 5,000 words
  • Flash Fiction or Nonfiction - less than 500 words
  • Visual Art - photography, video, photo essay, collage, painting, sketch, etc.
  • Translation - translation into English of any poetry, essay or short fiction from Asia, or vice versa, along with the original text
  • Book Review - pitch book review ideas to us, on fiction or non-fiction from or about Asia 

DEADLINE: February 15, 2018

hshanghailiterary.com/submissions/

 

MACONDO WRITERS WORKSHOP

INFO: The Macondo Workshop is a master’s level workshop, meaning that participants are expected to be established writers capable of reviewing each other’s work with compassionate rigor and vision. In 2018 we will hold three workshops, which meet for four days, three hours each day. We will have fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry workshops. Maximum number of participants in each workshop is 12.

In addition to the morning workshops, afternoon/early evening seminars, open to everyone, give Macondistas a chance to discuss artistic, political, publishing, and other topics related to writing. Events planned throughout the week provide opportunities for Macondistas to visit, get to know each other, and exchange ideas. A large, open mic gathering on one of the evenings brings us all together to read our work and enjoy the company of the larger community. Sandra Cisneros will conduct a fundraiser reading to support the Macondo Writers Workshop on one evening between July 25 and 28.

Texas A&M University-San Antonio has generously offered classroom and performance space and housing in its residence halls at a reduced rate, along with sponsorship of the Welcome Dinner, Final Breakfast, and other services to Macondo participants. We are grateful to University President, Dr. Cindy Teniente-Matson and her wonderful faculty, staff, and students for their commitment to ensuring a successful Macondo workshop.

FEES / TUITION:

  • Application Fee: $25
  • Tuition: $500 tuition, plus additional cost for five nights’ accommodations either arranged on your own or in campus residence halls at a reduced rate. (Actual cost for residence hall accommodations is not expected to exceed $200 for five nights.) 

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Deadline: February 16, 2018
  • Notification: by March 31, 2018
  • Welcome Dinner: July 24, 2018
  • Workshops: July 25 – 28, 2018
  • Farewell Breakfast: July 29, 2018

lizgonzalez.com/pages/macondo.html 

 

2018 AWARD SERIES

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

INFO: AWP’s Award Series is an annual competition for the publication of excellent new book-length works. The competition is open to all authors writing in English regardless of nationality or residence, and it is open to published and unpublished authors alike.

The Award Series conducts an evaluation process of writers, for writers, by writers. AWP hires a staff of “screeners” who are themselves writers; the screeners review manuscripts for the judges. Typically, the screeners will select ten manuscripts in each genre for each judge’s final evaluations.

Eligibility Requirements

Only book-length manuscripts are eligible. The Award Series defines “book-length” as:

  • Poetry: 48 pages minimum text;
  • Short story or creative nonfiction collection: 150–300 manuscript pages; and
  • Novel: at least 60,000 words.

Poems and stories previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion in submissions, but manuscripts previously published in their entirety, including self-published manuscripts, are not eligible. As the series is judged anonymously, no list of acknowledgements should accompany your manuscript.

The AWP Award Series is open to all authors writing original works in English for adult readers. Mixed-genre manuscripts cannot be accepted. Criticism and scholarly monographs are not acceptable for creative nonfiction, which the Award Series defines as factual and literary writing that has the narrative, dramatic, meditative, and lyrical elements of novels, plays, poetry, and memoir.

AWARDS:

  • Donald Hall Prize for Poetry
  • $5,500
  • Judge: Ross A. Gay
  • Publication from the University of Pittsburgh Press

Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction

  • $5,500
  • Judge: Kelly Link
  • Publication from the University of Massachusetts Press

AWP Prize for the Novel

  • $2,500
  • Judge: Paula McLain
  • Publication from New Issues Press

AWP Prize for Creative Nonfiction

  • $2,500
  • Judge: TBA
  • Publication from the University of Georgia Press

DEADLINE: February 28, 2018

awpwriter.org/contests/awp_award_series_overview 

 

SELF-PUBLISHING LITERARY AWARDS

Black Caucus of the American Library Association

INFO: The Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA) honors the best self-published ebooks by an African American author in the U.S. in the following genres: Fiction and Poetry. The judging committee will be comprised of a BCALA-appointed panel. They will select one winner in each genre.

PRIZES:

  • Each genre prize winner shall receive: $500.00.
  • Two (2) $500.00 awards: one for adult fiction, one for adult poetry;
  • Formal recognition at the Black Caucus of ALA Literary Awards;
  • BCALA Literary Award Seal to use in marketing.

DEADLINE: February 28, 2018

bcala.org/e-book-award/

 

THE 2018 ELIZA SO FELLOWSHIP

Submittable

INFOSubmittable is thrilled to announce the second annual Eliza So Fellowship, in partnership with The Writer’s Block and Plympton. This month-long residency in Las Vegas will offer award recipients time and solitude to help them finish a book that is already in progress. The program’s inaugural fellow was Melissa Sipin in 2017.

The 2018 fellowships will include room and board at The Writer’s Block, along with a $500 food stipend and $400 toward travel.  They are pleased to expand the program this year to offer two residencies between September and December, and awarded in the following categories:

  • The Eliza So Fellowship for Immigrant Writers
  • The Eliza So Fellowship for Montana Indigenous Writers

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

  •  You have a novel, collection of stories, memoir, or other prose work (fiction, nonfiction or hybrid) in progress (100 pages minimum) or poetry collection in progress (30 pages minimum)  
  • You are either: a) A US immigrant (documented or undocumented), b) An indigenous writer with significant ties to Montana (either you are from Montana, live in Montana currently, or have another significant affiliation with Montana).

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Submission Period: Through March 25, 2018
  • Results Announced: June 1, 2018

blog.submittable.com/2017/12/the-2018-eliza-so-fellowship/

 

ARTIST FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM       

The Jerome Foundation

INFO: The Jerome Foundation is pleased to announce the first round of a new Artist Fellowship program that offers flexible, two-year grants to support the creative development of early-career generative artists in the state of Minnesota and the five boroughs of New York City. Artists may apply individually or together with other members of ongoing collectives or ensembles.

The Jerome Foundation makes a distinction between generative artists (those artists responsible for artistic control in generating entirely new work, including writers, choreographers, film directors, visual artists, composers, playwrights, etc.) and interpretive artists (those who interpret or execute the work created by others, including actors, editors, dramaturgs, singers, dancers, musicians, designers, etc.). The Foundation recognizes that some artists do both generative and interpretive work. Nevertheless, the Fellowship program supports only those artists with a significant history of generative work.

All eligible applicants must have a history of making and presenting new work to the public beyond student work (if the applicant has pursued formal training). While an applicant’s past projects are reviewed as part of the selection process, the program’s primary focus is supporting an artist’s future potential through the creation of new work or activities that support professional development and/or career advancement.

The Foundation will make 10 grants in each of six categories:

  • Dance
  • Literature (fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry)
  • ·Media—including Film, Video and Digital Production (documentary, narrative, animation, or experimental) and New Media (artistic work that is computational and distributed digitally, in the form of websites, mobile apps, virtual worlds, computer games, human-computer interface or interactive computer installations)
  • Music
  • Theater, Performance and Spoken Word
  • Visual arts

Artists whose work spans multiple disciplines may request to be reviewed in two different disciplines. The Foundation reserves the right, however, to direct such applications to a single panel.

AWARD: Each fellow will receive $20,000 per year for two consecutive years, making the total cash award $40,000 over the two-year period. Individual artists may petition the Foundation to reduce the award amount but must present specific, compelling reasons to do so. Artists applying as part of a collective or ensemble will share one $20,000 per year award.

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Application Period:  Now through May 8, 2018 at 4pm Central / 5pm Eastern Time
  • Notification of grant awards: By April 15, 2019
  • Earliest Date to Receive Funds: May 8, 2019

jeromefdn.org/apply/artist-fellowship