2020 GWENDOLYN BROOKS YOUTH POETRY AWARDS
The contest is open to young people currently in Kindergarten through 12th grade across the state of Illinois. Participating young people can be affiliated with any school (public, private, home, etc.) or other institution.
Each youth can only submit ONE poem and the poem must be written by only ONE author (sorry, we do not accept jointly or co-written poems for this contest).
Poems cannot exceed 16 lines for poems submitted by young people in grades K-5 and cannot exceed 50 lines for poems submitted by young people in grades 6-12. Poems containing visual elements are allowed, if all images/visuals are original to the poet.
Please only submit poems that were written between May 1, 2019 - April 30, 2020, since poems are judged based on grade level.
All entries must be the original work of the young person submitting the poem.
Youth can submit their poem on their own or the poem can be submitted by a parent/guardian or teacher using submittable.com.
When submitting a poem, please only enter your name on the entry form and do not include your name or identifying information on the poem itself, since the judging is anonymous.
Contest winners will be notified by July 1, 2020. Winners will be honored at an Awards Ceremony to take place at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago (915 East 60th Street, Chicago, Illinois) on Saturday, August 1, 2020 from 1:00-3:00 PM.
DEADLINE: May 1, 2020
https://poetryfoundation.submittable.com/submit
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Hispanecdotes
INFO: Hispanecdotes - a magazine providing a platform for Latino writers to share their stories, poetry, and personal essays - is excited to announce the theme of our very first print issue: Ascendencia to be published in October 2020! We are interested in essays, poems, and flash fiction up to 1500 words pertaining to the theme.
Limit for submissions: no more than 2 full prose and/or 3 poems.
DEADLINE: May 1, 2020
http://hispanecdotes.com/ascendenciasubmissions/
2020 Poetry Contest
BOMB Magazine
INFO: BOMB is pleased to open its 2020 Poetry Contest, which will be judged by the acclaimed poet Simone White. The contest winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in BOMB Magazine’s print quarterly.
This year’s judge, Simone White, is the author of Dear Angel of Death (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2018), Of Being Dispersed (Futurepoem, 2016), and House Envy of All the World (Factory School, 2010) and of the poetry chapbooks Unrest (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2013) and, with Kim Thomas, Dolly (Q Ave, 2008). Her writing has appeared in publications including Artforum, e-flux journal, the Chicago Review, and the New York Times Book Review. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Manuscripts may contain no more than 5 poems and no more than 10 pages.
All submissions will be read anonymously. Do not include author name on manuscript pages. Non-anonymous manuscripts will be disqualified.
Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but the fee is not transferable.
Work must be previously unpublished.
READING FEE: $20 (includes a one-year subscription to BOMB for all US entrants).
DEADLINE: May 3, 2020
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/contest2020/
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: QUEER INDIGENOUS POETICS
Anomaly
INFO: Anomaly is seeking poetry and cross-genre work by Indigenous poets & artists who exist as queer two-spirit, non-binary and trans people. We are seeking work that challenges what it means to live as queer Indigenous people in an increasingly technological society that emphasizes post-modern ideologies. We hope to hear from a wide range of Indigenous voices, and from the complete diaspora of post-colonial Indigenous experiences, including federally recognized and unrecognized tribes, Latinx people of Indigenous descent, and Indigenous Creole and Métis communities. Please send work that confronts prevailing paradigms and creates Indigenous futures that transcend and undermine Eurocentric ideologies.
DEADLINE: May 5, 2020
https://medium.com/anomalyblog/call-for-submissions-queer-indigenous-poetics-2b676c0e327
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Writers Space Africa
INFO: Writers Space Africa (WSA), an international literary magazine, published by the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT), is calling for submissions for its 43rd edition (JULY Edition) under the theme “FEAR”.
We accept submissions in the following categories:
Articles/Essays – 1,200 Words maximum
Flash Fiction – 300 words maximum
Poetry – 1 poem, a maximum of 24 lines
Children’s Literature – 700 words maximum (illustrations may be attached)
Short Stories – 1,500 words maximum
DEADLINE: May 14, 2020
http://www.writersspace.net/submissions/
The Emerging Writer’s Contest
Ploughshares
INFO: The Emerging Writer's Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. Read past winners of the contest here.
We award publication, $2,000, review from Aevitas Creative Management, and a 1-year subscription for one winner in each of the three genres. Submit to the Emerging Writer's Contest through our submission manager. You must be logged in to access our submission manager.
The 2020 contest judges are Kirstin Valdez Quade (Fiction), Ilya Kaminsky (Poetry) and Esmé Weijun Wang (Nonfiction).
PUBLICATION: The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2020 contest will be published in the Winter 2020-21 issue of Ploughshares.
ELIGIBILITY:
Have yet to publish a book (including eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, self-published works, and poetry chapbooks with a print run of more than 300).
Have no book forthcoming before April 15, 2021.
Are not affiliated with Emerson College or with Ploughshares as a contributing author, volunteer screener, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.
Will not have a relationship with Emerson before April 15, 2021 (example: if there is a chance you will attend the Emerson MFA program in the coming year or if your work has been accepted for publication for an upcoming issue).
DEADLINE: May 15, 2020 at noon EST
https://www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest/guidelines
3rd Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize
Singapore Unbound
INFO: The Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize is awarded annually to an unpublished manuscript of original Anglophone poetry by an author of Asian heritage residing anywhere in the world. The winner receives book publication and USD1,000.00.
Past winners were The Experiment of The Tropics by Lawrence Lacambra Ypil and Autobiography of Horse by Jenifer Sang Eun Park, selected by Wong May; and Play for Time by Paula Mendoza, selected by Vijay Seshadri.
This year the prize judge is the poet, fictionist, and critic Cyril Wong. Cyril Wong is the Singapore Literature Prize-winning author of poetry collections, Unmarked Treasure and The Lover’s Inventory. A past recipient of the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award for Literature, his poems have appeared in anthologies by Norton and Everyman’s Library, and have been translated into various languages.
Five finalists will be announced in July 2020, and the prizewinner in August 2020. The winning manuscript will be published in Spring 2021 by Gaudy Boy, an imprint of the NYC-based literary nonprofit Singapore Unbound.
Established in 2017, Gaudy Boy publishes poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction of extraordinary merit by Asian voices. Our name is taken from the poem “Gaudy Turnout” by Singaporean poet Arthur Yap about his time abroad in 1970s Leeds, UK. From the Latin “gaudium,” meaning joy, Gaudy Boy seeks to delight our readers with the various powers of art.
GUIDELINES:
The contest is open to emerging and established poets.
No proof of Asian heritage is required. As writers ourselves, we go by honor between writers.
Submit a 70–120-page unpublished manuscript of original poetry in English. Please number the pages of your manuscript. Include a title page, table of contents, and an acknowledgments page for any previously published poems.
Email Jee Leong Koh at jkoh@singaporeunbound.org with a brief cover letter in the body of your email and the poetry manuscript attached in PDF or MSWord format.
Your name, mailing address, and email address should not appear anywhere in the manuscript. Instead, they should be given in your cover letter in the body of your email.
Submit your entry fee USD10.00 at PayPal to Jee Leong Koh (jkoh@singaporeunbound.org). We cannot consider your manuscript until we receive your entry fee. Your entry fee helps us defray some, but not all, of the editorial costs. We have set the entry fee low so it will not be too much of a barrier for most people. Entry fees are nonrefundable.
You may submit more than one manuscript, but a separate entry fee must accompany each manuscript.
You may submit the manuscript elsewhere simultaneously, but you must notify Gaudy Boy immediately if your manuscript is accepted by another publisher.
ENTRY FEE: $10
DEADLINE: May 15, 2020
https://singaporeunbound.org/opportunities
Spring 2020 Literature Grant
Café Royal Cultural Foundation
INFO: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a publishing grant to authors of fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting.
Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted.
Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying.
The processing time of application can take up to three months. Please make sure to submit your application with ample time before the start date of your project.
GRANT Up to $10,000
DEADLINE: May 18, 2020
https://caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Filipinx-American NARRATIVES
Here-After Magazine
INFO: Here-After Magazine is accepting writing and visual art that centers Filipinx-American narratives. You may submit up to 4 pieces of writing, but be sure to observe the limits for each genre (see below). *For example: you may choose to submit two pieces of poetry and two pieces of prose, but may not submit three pieces of prose and one piece of poetry. Please submit pieces of writing submissions of the same genre in one document. If you are sending both poetry and prose, submit two documents.
*You must send your pieces as a .pdf or .docx file.
PROSE: Please submit fiction/non-fiction up to 1,200 words, single-spaced 12-pt. font in Times New Roman or Arial; this includes short stories, personal essays, think pieces and more. You may only submit two pieces of prose to be considered.
POETRY: Please submit poetry up to 30 lines, single-spaced 12-pt. font in Times New Roman or Arial. All forms are welcome. You may submit up to 4 pieces of poetry to be considered.
DEADLINE: May 24, 2020
PRIDE POETS
INFO: Last year, Pride Poets popped up with typewriters around West Hollywood throughout the month of Pride, crafting over 600 new poems for passersby commemorating their personal queer histories. This year...Pride Poets is going to look a little different. Parades all over the world are cancelled. But that doesn't mean we stop speaking. Building community. Writing.
We are looking for 10 new poets to join our little cohort in creating poetry as a public service, including writing custom poems for strangers and friends, sharing it in chalk on the streets, and supporting one another's writing lives.
All LGBTQI+ poets & writers are welcome! Queer poets of color, trans poets, poets with disabilities, and West Hollywood-based poets especially encouraged to apply. Since we are all-digital this year, poets from anywhere in the world may apply! Allies, thank you for helping us keep this space reserved for queer writers, you're the best.
WHAT IS INVOLVED:
1. Training and orientation on Sunday, May 31, from 12-2pm, to meet the cohort and learn the RENT Poet service poetry practice.
2. Weekly Poetry Workshops and Mics in June to build our skills and create inclusive queer lit space online (Wednesday evening workshops, Friday evening mics). Each poet is expected to attend at least 2 workshops and 2 mics.
3. Writing custom poems to celebrate the personal queer histories people send us every week (remotely!) to craft into verse.
4. Publication in chalk of excerpts from the poems we write on the streets of WeHo!
5. A $100 base stipend (more for additional duties).
6. Being part of yet another weird little tribe!
DEADLINE: May 27, 2020
Writer-in-Residence Program
Associates of the Boston Public Library
INFO: The Associates of the Boston Public Library's Writer-in-Residence program is intended to:
Provide an emerging children’s writer with the financial support and office space needed to complete one literary work for children or young adults.
Encourage the imagination of young readers, and in so doing, draw attention to the importance of authors and the essential role they perform in nurturing developing minds and furthering our culture.
Promote the awareness of the Boston Public Library and its resources, by establishing a living link between the Library and the community.
Residency Benefits
A total stipend of $20,000, paid in monthly installments over a nine-month period.
Use of a private office, Internet access, and a photocopier.
Access to and use of the Boston Public Library’s collections.
A forum for the presentation/promotion of your finished literary work.
Opportunities to establish connections with writers, publishers, artists, and the community at large through participation in/attendance at Library readings, lectures, and other events.
At the end of the residency, your completed manuscript will be added to the BPL’s collections. (However, you retain all rights to your completed work.)
Eligibility
The proposed literary project should be intended for children or young adult readers. All genres are welcome, including fiction, non-fiction, scripts, or poetry. (The format is flexible and can include illustrated children’s books or graphic novels, but the majority of our submissions are generally Young Adult novels.)
The applicant should demonstrate active engagement as a writer, whether full or part-time, as an avocation or profession.
Since this program is intended for emerging authors, the applicant should not have any prior professional book publications. (Self-published books, works for hire, articles, and short stories published in an anthology do not count against this eligibility criteria.)
Only one proposal may be submitted per person; joint applications or proposed collaborations by more than one author are not permitted.
Works that are already under contract with a publisher are not eligible for submission.
There is NO residency restriction to apply, but you must be able to spend at least nineteen (19) hours per week at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square, if selected.
Must be eligible to work in the US, as a U.S. citizen or green card holder. English fluency required.
There are NO age, gender, race, or educational requirements.
Terms of Residency
Must work in-residence at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square, for a minimum of nineteen (19) hours per week from October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
Participation in a public reception toward the beginning of the residency, on a mutually agreed upon date.
Completion and public presentation of a submission-ready manuscript at the end of residency, on a mutually agreed upon date.
Include an acknowledgment of the Associates of the Boston Public Library in all work created during the residency and during any media opportunities stemming from the program, using mutually agreed upon language.
Optional participation in Boston Public Library programs such as writing workshops and/or presentations to Boston-area students, as mutually agreed upon. (Participation would be only a small portion of your time.)
Application Process
To apply, please complete the application form (below) and upload a proposal (5 pages max.) and writing sample (15 pages max.) by Friday, May 29, 2020. The documents should be double spaced with one inch margins. The attachments should not include any biographical information, since there is a blind judging process.
Basic questions about the application will be answered via email (via hello@AssociatesBPL.org); no calls please. Questions regarding how to present your work will not be considered. Inquiries concerning applications under review will not be answered.
Since the physical Boston Public Library is currently closed due to the pandemic, we cannot accept hard copy submissions this year. If using Submittable creates an undue burden for you, please let us know so we can work out an alternative.
Late applications will not be considered. Once submitted, applications may not be altered by either candidates or Associates' staff.
Selection Process
Finalists are evaluated by a panel of judges, which includes a rotating group of authors, librarians, booksellers, publishers, editors, book designers, teachers, and/or citizens representing different areas of the world of children’s literature. Associates' staff do not vote in this process. The judges do not know the candidates’ names, gender, educational qualifications, or any background information. This blind judging process is focused solely on the quality of the applicant’s writing. The candidate selected to be the 2020-2021 Associates of the Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence will be notified by July 30, 2020.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Application Deadline: Friday, May 29, 2020
Notification: July 30, 2020
Residency Period: October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021
Own Voices Chapbook Prize
Radix Media
INFO: The Radix Media Own Voices Chapbook Prize is an annual contest dedicated to the discovery of two timely, urgent, and interrogative chapbook-length poetry collections from debut poets of color. One chapbook will be published in the Fall of 2020 and the other in the Spring of 2021.
The contest is open from March 1 until May 31, 11:59 pm EST.
The Guest Judge for the 2020 Own Voices Chapbook Prize is Aria Aber.
The Own Voices Chapbook Prize includes a cash award of $500 for each winner, 25 author copies, a book launch in New York City, and a limited print run of 250 copies. At Radix Media, we pride ourselves on the production of superior quality, purposefully designed books. The poets of the winning chapbooks will work with our in-house designers to conceptualize their chapbook cover, letterpress printed on quality cover stock, like our other saddle-stitched chapbooks.
DEADLINE: May 31, 2020
https://radixmedia.org/own-voices-chapbook-prize/
EMERGING WRITER FELLOWSHIPS
Miami Book Fair
INFO: The Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College is pleased to present the Emerging Writer Fellowship program. The program supports new literary voices that demonstrate exceptional talent and promise by providing writers working on a first book with time, space, and an intellectually and culturally rich artistic community.
The goal of the program is to actively support writers working to complete a book-length project within a year, and to help launch the literary careers of three fellows per year. The Emerging Writer Fellowships are designed to provide 12 months of uninterrupted time and studio space to write; mentorship with feedback from a nationally established author in their respective genre; professional experience such as arts administration, teaching creative writing, and other opportunities; $41,000 stipend, and strong literary community support in Miami, Florida.
Each Fellowship Includes:
$41,000 honorarium, to be divided as follows:
$5,000 initial lump sum to be paid to fellow one month before fellowship dates begin.
$36,000 = 12-monthly stipend of $3,000 to cover all living expenses (i.e. utilities, incidentals, transportation, groceries, etc.)
Mentorship with an established writer in your genre. Mentors arepart of the selection committee, and meet with fellow a minimum of 6 times (approximately every two months) during the 12-month fellowship. Fellows are expected to share progress and receive feedback on their manuscript-in-progress throughout the year.
Professional experience. Fellows have the option to gain valuable experience in the field and build their professional resume during the 12-month fellowship:
Creative Writing Workshops: Miami Book Fair offers community creative writing workshops in all genres throughout the year. Fellows have the opportunity to create and teach one workshop during the 12-month fellowship.
School Visits: Give presentations at local elementary, middle, or high schools to inspire and empower students.
Fellows may visit Miami Dade County Public School Title 1 schools and/or Miami Dade College classes to give presentations and/or readings.
Additional benefits:
Fellows may attend one community creative writing workshop per semester for free.
Fellows may attend one Miami Writers Institute workshop in the genre of their manuscript-in-progress. This includes one 15-minute manuscript consultation with that year’s MWI literary agent/editor.
Fellows are invited to attend any and all year-round Miami Book Fair events.
Studio space to work during your residency.
DEADLINE: Extended to May 31, 2020
https://www.miamibookfair.com/fellowships/
2020 BEACON STREET PRIZE - POETRY
Redivider Journal
INFO: Enter here for the 2020 Beacon Street Prize, poetry category. One winner will receive $1,000 and publication in Redivider 18.1 -- This year's poetry category features judge Chen-Chen. Please double-check our guidelines before submitting:
GUIDELINES:
Length Restrictions: three (3) poems max in a single file
Multiple submissions: Entrants may submit as many times as they please, to as many categories as they please, but the entry fee must be paid separately for each entry.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If accepted for publication elsewhere, simply withdraw the piece promptly (for fiction/nonfiction using the withdraw feature on Submittable, for poetry using the notes feature on Submittable to tell us which poem(s) is unavailable).
Manuscript Specifications: Submissions must not contain the author’s name or any other identifying information. All entries must go through our online submission manager.
Eligibility: All are eligible except current and former Emerson College students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, our judges’ students, or those with a personal connection to any one judge, are asked not to submit to that judge’s category.
PRIZE:
$1,000 prize for fiction
$1,000 for nonfiction
$1,000 for poetry
SUBMISSION FEE: $10
DEADLINE: Extended to May 31, 2020
https://redivider.submittable.com/submit/161100/2020-beacon-street-prize-poetry
CBC Poetry Prize
CBC Books
INFO: The CBC Poetry Prize is open to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada. Submit your original, unpublished poem or poetry collection. You can write a poem or collection of poems, up to 600 words in length. There is no minimum word requirement.
PRIZE: The winner receives $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, will have their story published on CBC Books and will have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their story published on CBC Books.
WHAT YOU CAN WRITE: You can write a poem or collection of poems, up to 600 words in length. There is no minimum word requirement.
SUBMIT IN FRENCH: If you're looking to submit in French, you must log in to the French site at prixlitterairesrc.submittable.com
SUBMISSION FEE: $25
DEADLINE: May 31, 2020
https://cbcliteraryprizes.submittable.com/submit
Annual Poetry Contest
Boston Review
INFO: Who are your people? Who made you who you are? What about you only makes sense to someone who knows where you’re from? What’s a secret about your past?
It is rare now for people to stay where they were raised, and usually when we encounter one another—whether in person or online—it is in contexts that obscure if not outright hide details about our past. But even in moments of pure self-invention, we are always shaped by it. Ancestors asks today’s most imaginative writers to consider what it means to be made and fashioned by others: parents, grandparents, family, the deep past, the animal and natural world, epigenetic memory, predispositions for health or illness, political forebears, inherited social and economic circumstances, settled (and unsettled) ideas about gender and sex, class and racial history, the elders of whatever you feel beholden to or unable to outrun—not to mention your own best and worst decisions. Can we choose our family, or is blood always thicker? And looking forward, what will it mean to be ancestors ourselves, and how will our descendants remember us?
Judge: Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Prize: $1,000
DEADLINE: May 31, 2020
Poems in Translation Contest
Words Without Borders
INFO: Words Without Borders is pleased to announce the 2020 Poems in Translation Contest to spotlight some of the groundbreaking poets working around the world today and to celebrate the art of translating poetry.
The contest is open to contemporary international poetry translated from other languages into English. Four winning translated poems will be co-published on Words Without Borders, the digital magazine for international literature, and in Poem-a-Day, the popular daily poetry series produced by the Academy of American Poets, throughout September, which is National Translation Month.
The winning poems will be selected by acclaimed poet David Tomas Martinez, along with the editors of Words Without Borders.
The winning poets and translators will be awarded $150 each. (In the case of multiple translators, the translator award shall be split evenly.)
DEADLINE: June 1, 2020