9TH ANNUAL JEFFREY E. SMITH EDITORS’ PRIZE
The Missouri Review
INFO: Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 8,500 words or any number of poems up to 10 pages. Please double-space fiction and nonfiction entries.
Multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions are welcome, but you must pay a separate fee for each entry and withdraw the piece immediately if accepted elsewhere.
Entries must be previously unpublished.
SUBMISSION FEE: $25 – $30.
AWARDS: $5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry
Winners receive publication, invitation to a reception and reading in their honor, and a cash prize.
DEADLINE: October 1, 2019
missourireview.com/contests/jeffrey-e-smith-editors-prize/
WRITERS RESIDENCY
Millay Colony for the Arts
INFO: Each year Millay Colony for the Arts invites up to 62 individuals (including writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and visual artists) for residencies through the colony's application process.
Residency sessions are held each month from April through November, usually lasting around 3 1/2 weeks, with 2 twelve-day sessions also available in June & September. In each discipline, decisions are made by juries of artists, critics and academics.
Your work is presented anonymously to the jury and is considered solely on the merit of your artist statement and work sample. Please keep these factors in mind as you prepare your application. It is very important that you do not include your name anywhere on your artist statement or work samples as you may be disqualified if they are within the body of work shown to the jurors. Your application will instead be assigned a number by the administration.
DEADLINE: October 1, 2019 (Midnight, EST). This deadline is for the following year of April, May, June & July residency sessions.
https://millaycolony.submittable.com/submit
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Gumbo Magazine
INFO: Gumbo Magazine is a one-of-a-kind product and movement of Gumbo Media, a Chicago-based media company and storytelling platform that for over two years has curated content, experiences, and economic opportunities to expand the narrative of Black life, creating space for hundreds of Black creatives, professionals, and community leaders.
Gumbo Magazine is a bi-annual print publication and will be disseminated all over the world. It is the physical embodiment of our vision – a tactile exploration and archive of the expansiveness of Black life.
The theme for Issue 001 will be announced in November 2019.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Black and Brown communities are filled with talent. But opportunities can be hard to come by, especially when steady media narratives are driven by monoliths or entertainment and celebrity. Much in our communities remains unseen, and we’re calling on all emerging artists to help us bring it to light. In the spirit of shining a spotlight, we open our call for submissions to any and all Black creatives—of all identities, expressions, backgrounds, abilities, personalities, and communities (including global)—to submit.
Through October 15th, Gumbo will be accepting pitches, drafts, and completed content under the following sub-themes. All content must be original and previously unpublished to be considered. To maintain balance, please submit no more than 3 total pieces—if we wish to see more, we will request it.
Gumbo Media reserves the right to publicly share any and all submitted responses. Work will only be shared if selected. Creators of selected work will be notified, credited, and compensated for their contributions.
All selected works will be PAID.
** TWO NEW PROMPTS have been added, seen below following asterisks.
ESSAYS/NONFICTION
“Blackness” | An essay on the expansiveness of Black life around the world and the many (changing) definitions of “Blackness.” Answering the question, “what does it mean to be Black?” (750-1000 words max)
Black Baggage | A thoughtful essay on Black baggage. Musings on the generational weight we carry, and why we must learn to let go so that we might make room for ourselves. (750-1000 words max)
Anthology: Unspoken Communication | Assembling a series of short essays about unspoken communication from diverse perspectives. From the head nod to handshakes and dances, each micro-essay should select one form of unspoken communication and speak to its value in the Black community. Can take the form of a (true) story, a reflection, or both. (250 words max per topic)
Q&A: Colorism | Taking submissions in the form of written answers to questions around colorism. We will compile and publish our favorite answers. To submit, please fill out this form.
Anthology: Regional Black Influences on US | Fashion, food, music, business, etc.—we’ve influenced it all. Share what your region of the US is best known for, and give us its history in Black roots. (100 words max per topic)
Q&A: An Ode to Hip Hop | Are you a hip-hop head? We’re taking submissions in the form of written answers to questions on Hip Hop, its influence, and its personal impact. We will compile and publish our favorite answers. To submit, please fill out this form.
Op-Eds | We’re also accepting op-eds with musings on anything. No specific prompt. If it’s thoughtful and well-crafted, we’ll consider it. Does not have to explicitly relate to race or Black life. Just make it evergreen; avoid writing about a specific news story or passing phase. We want this content to feel relevant to readers whether they’re reading it today or in 5 years. (700-800 words max)
FICTION
**Short Story | No guidelines here. If you’re sitting on any really strong short fiction and wish to submit it, we’ll review it. We’re particularly seeking stories that engage with one or more of the themes discussed across this call for submissions, but all unpublished short stories written by Black writers are welcomed.
Black Faith | Faith traditions are changing. Particularly for Black Millennials and Gen Zers. We’re currently accepting short fiction pieces depicting compelling characters in spiritual and/or religious transition. The story can intersect with any other issues and interests you want, as long as it anchors faith. (4,000 words max)
POETRY
Anthology: Blackness As Genesis | The color “black” has been associated with all forms of darkness and evil. But we see it differently. From the depths of the oceans, the earth, the cosmos, the womb, etc., most life emerges from blackness. We would argue Black culture is also a genesis for global culture. We’re currently accepting poems that run freely with the thought of blackness as a beginning. Will compile the series of poems we feel are the strongest and work the best together. Short to mid-length poems encouraged. (1-page poem max)
Anthology: Lessons to carry forward vs. lessons to leave behind | Some traditions are sacred, others are toxic. We’re accepting poems around the lessons of Black coming of age. Which do we carry forward? Which do we leave behind? You don’t have to take a definitive stance, we’re more interested in the reflection. Each poem should center a specific thought or two. Consider this poem, by Natasha Tretheway, as a narrative example. Short to mid-length poems encouraged. (1-page poem max)
“Black People Time” | We’re seeking a poem exploring time as a social construct, and “Black people time” as something cultural and generational, deeper than a stereotype. The focus can come from any global perspective. (2-page poem max)
DEADLINE: October 15, 2019
https://gumbomedia.com/callforsubmissions
2019 WINTER WORkshops
Tin House
INFO: These weekend workshops combine the rugged beauty of the Oregon Coast with a weekend immersed in all things literary. The program consists of morning workshops with no more than six writers per class, one-on-one meetings with faculty, afternoon craft discussions, and/or generative exercises. Evenings are reserved for conversations by the fire and coastal revelry.
Hotel
The Winter Workshops are held at the Sylvia Beach Hotel. Located in the Nye Beach district of Newport, OR, the property sits on a 45-foot bluff overlooking the Pacific, with coastal panoramas that include the famed Yaquina Head Lighthouse. A true hotel for book lovers, the Sylvia Beach Hotel offers 21 literary-themed rooms. Once registered for the workshop, your room will be assigned through a lottery.
Accessibility
There is one hotel room (Jules Verne) that meets ADA requirements. The dining room is located on the bottom floor of the hotel and can be accessed with the use of an outside ramp (there are no elevators in the hotel). Workshop classrooms can be adjusted so that no stairs are required for access. Our summer workshop is able to offer more assistance and accommodation options for participants. For further questions, please contact our Assistant Workshop Director, India Downes-Le Guin (india@tinhouse.com).
Meals
Daily breakfast and one lunch and dinner are included in the program. Breakfast will be served Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, from 8:00-9:00. Dinner, a five-course meal with a menu being prepared specifically for our workshop, will take place the first evening of the workshop. Lunch will be provided on the last day of the workshop. Participants will be responsible for lunch (Saturday/Sunday) and dinner (Saturday/Sunday). Beverages, including beer and wine, will be provided throughout the weekend.
Transportation
Located two and a half hours southwest of Portland, the city of Newport is best reached by car.
Tin House will be providing a shuttle (at no extra charge) to and from the workshop. Those who sign up will need to arrange to be at our office by 12:00 pm on the Friday of their workshop. The scheduled return time will be 5:00 pm on the following Monday.
Mentorships
Once accepted and registered into the program, Workshop participants who have a completed manuscript are invited to apply for a mentorship with select faculty (for an additional fee). To be considered for this program, please fill out the mentorship application included in your acceptance packet. Tin House will then submit a query to your choice of faculty. If the mentor is available, the student is required to submit their book-length manuscript before the Workshop begins.
Applying
For short fiction/novel/nonfiction, we ask for one unpublished writing sample of 5,000 words or less.
For poetry, we ask for four unpublished poems, totaling no more than ten pages.
If you have previously been accepted into a Tin House workshop, please do not apply with the same material (different chapters/excerpts taken from a previously accepted project are fine).
If accepted, you will have the opportunity to switch your manuscript.
DEADLINE: October 16, 2019
https://tinhouse.com/winter-workshops/
Call for Submissions: Lucille Clifton Tribute
Mentor & Muse
INFO: In celebration of Lucille Clifton, Mentor & Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets wishes to compile an issue of craft-centric essays that honor Clifton’s work. We seek essays that explore Clifton’s poetic choices—her voice, diction, figurative language, allusions, music, subject, aesthetic, risks, and so on—and explore how her poetry has influenced your own poems and/or subsequent generations’ poems.
We envision—and are open to!—different approaches to the Clifton tribute. For example, one approach is to consider how one of her poems helped you better understand a specific poetic principle. Another approach is to interview someone who apprenticed with Clifton’s poetry, whose own poetic knowledge and inspiration arose from studying Clifton’s language and lines. Another approach is to consider what you learned from workshopping with Clifton, or how you introduce Clifton’s work to your own students. (Surprise us. We are excited to love—and learn from—Clifton further!)
Furthermore, we encourage potential contributors to begin where they are most compelled, with the Clifton poems that act as touchstones, poems that contributors return to again and again for inspiration, solace, and guidance. Please note that while we do not have a formal structure in mind, we seek essays that are more personal and creative than academic; essays that reveal the insights that we, as poets, gain from reading and studying Lucille Clifton; and essays that are geared toward poets who already possess an understanding of basic poetic elements, poets who wish to further their poetic knowledge.
And, because we believe that writers not only learn by reading and enjoying the work of other writers, but also through the application of what we learn, we encourage essayists to include a writing prompt that relates to their Clifton-inspired discussions and considerations.
For a better understanding of the Mentor & Muse project, please browse our featured and archived essays and interviews. Our first five issues contain essays from Jericho Brown, Patricia Clark, Laurie Clements Lambeth, Jennifer Franklin, A. Van Jordan, Claire Kageyama-Ramakrishnan, David Keplinger, Alexandra Lytton Regalado, Sandy Solomon, Adrienne Su, and others, as well as interviews with Sean Hill, Matthew Olzmann, Shara McCallum, and Sarah Rose Nordgren.
To submit to the Clifton tribute, please email the editors. As we cannot cover reprinting costs, please select poems that are within the public domain or poems that can already be accessed online. While we occasionally print longer work, we suggest essays range from 750 to 2,500 words. Please query us with your questions about subject, style, or mode (mentorandmuse.poets@gmail.com).
DEADLINE: November 1, 2019
WALT WHITMAN AWARD
Academy of American Poets
INFO: The Walt Whitman Award is a $5,000 first-book publication prize. The winning manuscript, chosen by an acclaimed poet, is published by Graywolf Press, a leading independent publisher committed to the discovery and energetic publication of contemporary American and international literature. The winner also receives an all-expenses-paid six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in the Umbrian region of Italy, and distribution of the winning book to thousands of Academy of American Poets members.
The award was established in 1975 to encourage the work of emerging poets and to enable the publication of a poet’s first book. It is made possible by financial support from the members of the Academy of American Poets.
DEADLINE: November 1, 2019
poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/walt-whitman-award
The 2020 Alice James Award
Alice James Books
INFO: Alice James Books will be accepting submissions of poetry manuscripts to the Alice James Award (formerly the Beatrice Hawley Award) postmarked through November 1, 2019. The Alice James Award welcomes submissions from emerging as well as established poets. Entrants must reside in the United States.
The winner receives $2000, book publication, promotion, and distribution through Consortium. In addition to the winning manuscript, one or more additional manuscripts may be chosen for publication as the Editor’s Choice.
Guidelines for Manuscript Submission:
Screening for the Alice James Award is blind. Because of this, no contact information is allowed within your manuscript, including within the filename, if electronically submitted. Electronic submissions will have contact information collected via Submittable, which is hidden from our screeners. Hardcopy submissions must include a separate title page, which lists the title of your manuscript and contact information (name, address, e-mail address, and phone number).
Do not include any preambles, bios, or acknowledgements within your submitted manuscript.
Manuscripts must have a table of contents.
No illustrations, photographs or images should be included.
Manuscripts must be typed in a no less than 12 point font, paginated, and 50 – 100 pages in length (single spaced). We accept double sided manuscripts.
Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks of less than 25 pages, but the collection, as a whole, must be unpublished.
Translations and self-published books are not eligible.
No multi-authored collections, please.
MANUSCRIPTS CANNOT BE RETURNED. Please do not send us your only copy.
If hardcopy: send one copy of your manuscript submission with two copies of the title page (one title page that includes just the title of your manuscript, the second which includes the title and your contact information [your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and an optional biographical note]). Use only binder clips. No staples, folders, or printer-bound copies.
For notification of winners, include a business-sized SASE.
If you wish acknowledgment of the receipt of your manuscript, include a stamped addressed postcard. Winners will be announced in February 2020.
Entry fee for the Alice James Award is $30 for online and hardcopy submissions. Checks or money orders for hardcopy submissions should be made payable to Alice James Books.
Manuscripts may be submitted online or by regular mail. Mail hard copy entries to: Alice James Books, Alice James Award, 114 Prescott Street, Farmington, ME 04938. Online submissions are open until 11:59 PM EST on 11/1.
SUBMISSION FEE: $30
DEADLINE: November 1, 2019
https://alicejames.submittable.com/submit/138667/the-2020-alice-james-award
FAMILY RESIDENCY
SPACE on Ryder Farm
INFO: Now in its sixth year, SPACE on Ryder Farm’s Family Residency, founded in association with The Lilly Awards Foundation (spearheaded by Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman and Pia Scala-Zankel), provides a weeklong residency on the farm for working parents and their children.
The Family Residency offers an artist-parent with structured time to create, while their child(ren) participate in nature-focused arts programming under the guidance and expertise of professional theatre educators. All family residents (parents and children) enjoy three communal farm-fresh meals daily. The residency culminates in short, informal sharings of the work accomplished by both parents and children while in residence at SPACE.
SPACE welcomes applications from artist-parents with children who will be 3 to 12 years old at the time of the residency.
If both adults in a two parent/guardian household want to apply for a residency--regardless of whether they are working on the same or distinct projects--both parents/guardians must submit separate applications. Please know that while SPACE has hosted two-parent/guardian households previously, it is possible that only one adult will be accepted. Please refrain from applying if this is a deterrent.
The Family Residency is offered during these two weeks:
July 20th-25th, 2020 (for children 6-12 years old)
August 10th-15th, 2020 (for children 3-5 years old)
If your availability and your child’s age does not correspond to the designated week, we ask that you check back for our 2021 application, which will be posted in Fall 2020. If you would like for more than one child to join you at SPACE but the children fall into two different age categories, please contact residencies@spaceonryderfarm.org to discuss your options.
Family Residencies are fully-subsidized. Residents may need to cover their travel to and from the farm. If you are traveling from New York City, a round-trip off-peak Metro North ticket from Grand Central Terminal to Brewster Terminal is $30.00. Transportation between the Brewster Terminal and farm is provided by the SPACE team. As of 2018, those selected for the Family Residency are able to apply to a travel fund to help offset their travel costs. The allocation of funds is based on a resident’s geographical location and financial circumstances.
Before applying, please review the guidelines below as well as the FAQ page. If you have questions about applying to SPACE, please contact us at residencies@spaceonryderfarm.org.
Semi-finalists will be notified by late December 2019. Finalists will be interviewed in February and March 2020. Final decisions will be made by early April 2020.
DEADLINE: November 6, 2019