2022 FIRST BOOK AWARD
Academy of American Poets
DEADLINE: October 1, 2021 at 11:59pm ET
INFO: The Academy of American Poets First Book Award is a $5,000 first-book publication prize. The winning manuscript, chosen by an acclaimed poet, is published by Graywolf Press, an award-winning 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, a 15th century castle in the Umbrian region of Italy, where they will become part of a cohort of accomplished international artists, writers, and composers; distribution of their winning book to thousands of Academy of American Poets members, making it one of the most widely distributed poetry books that year; inclusion and promotion in American Poets magazine, the Academy's newsletter, and Poets.org, among other opportunities.
JUDGE: Tyehimba Jess.
Tyehimba Jess was born in Detroit, Michigan, and earned a BA from the University of Chicago and an MFA from New York University. He is the author of Olio (Wave Books, 2016), winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and leadbelly (Wave Books, 2005), winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. Jess has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, as well as a Whiting Award. Jess is a Professor of English at the College of Staten Island.
This 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 currently made possible by financial support from the members of the Academy of American Poets. From 1975 - 2020, the award was titled in tribute to Walt Whitman. Please see a list of Walt Whitman Award winners below.
https://poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/first-book-award
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 'AWAKE'
Lucky Jefferson
DEADLINE: October 3, 2021
INFO: Lucky Jefferson's digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black writers in American society.
The fourth issue of Awake is titled Odyssey:
Despite being the first Black captain of your crew, you’ve been overlooked for promotions your entire career in the Space Force. One day, you finally receive your chance at your own expedition to the Outer Ring. After launch, your ship experiences technical difficulties and you find yourself plummeting four thousand kilometers off course.
After awakening, you realize it’s been a few days since you lost connection with Mission Control. You stumble through iridescent foliage to discover a bustling city ahead of your own time. You are soon discovered and greeted by the inhabitants of this world—inhabitants that reflect your culture.
Now you have two options: figure out a way to return home or explore this planet and begin a new life. What are you going to do?
Poems, essays, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and art should illustrate your decision.
Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.
COMPENSATION: Accepted authors will receive $15 for each accepted work.
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OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: WOC ANTHOLOGY “Boundaries & Borders”
The Women of Color Writers
DEADLINE: October 3, 2021
READING FEE: $10
INFO: The Women of Color Writers’ Community invites WOC Writers to submit their writing for possible inclusion in Boundaries & Borders, a Theme-Based Anthology that broadly interprets experiences of living within or overcoming the confines of Covid-19 and Police Brutality - written as you choose to write.
We are seeking a Diversity of Voices that Discuss this Emerging Aspect of the Anthology’s Theme
Life within the physical and symbolic confines of the Covid-19 pandemic
The ongoing global crisis of police brutality as a physical and imagined boundary
Our Goal - to Present, Underrepresented Womens' Literary Works to the World
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
✴ Poetry - 1 poems – Maximum Length: 2 pages
✴ Fiction or Nonfiction, Essays – Maximum count 1,500 words (no exceptions)
✴ Original freestanding artwork (unpublished artwork must be your own - No Fee required)
✴ INTERNATIONAL Submissions - NO FEE REQUIRED (All other guidelines apply)
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DIGGING PRESS CHAPBOOK AWARD
Digging Press
DEADLINE: October 15, 2021
SUBMISSION FEE: $12
INFO: The Digging Press Chapbook Award is open for submissions once (or twice) a year for fiction, poetry, or hybrid (multi-genre) manuscripts. We seek innovative manuscripts that are inventively personal and richly imagined.
We are passionate about presenting a unique book design and offering editorial support. We aim to produce beautiful and artistic books. Selected manuscripts have a small print-run (100 copies), and authors receive 20 copies plus a $250 payment. Authors retain all rights to their material within the author’s chapbook.
CHAPBOOK FORMAT: Our chapbooks are printed softcover books with a trim size of 4.25″ wide x 6.75″ high. Each book pagefits approximately 225-230 words; each line fits approximately 45-48 characters across, including spaces, with 26-28 lines to a page. This format is non-negotiable.
GUIDELINES:
We only accept manuscripts between 24 and 40 pages via Submittable. Please read the following carefully:
Respect our blind submission policy. The manuscript must be free of any identity-revealing information, including in the name of your file or in the “title” field in Submittable. Submissions that do not respect this policy will be automatically declined.
Page limit: 24 to 40 pages. Please use a readable font in 12-point. Times New Roman or its equivalent is recommended. Manuscripts should be paginated (and double-spaced for fiction), not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.).
You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.
Include the following in your upload document: a description or synopsis of your work, title page, table of contents, if appropriate, an acknowledgments page. (If the manuscript contains individual stories or poems that have been previously published online or in print, note previously published work on the acknowledgments page with the publication credits.)
The manuscript must be previously unpublished as a collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run).
Simultaneous submissions are permissible, but entrants are asked to notify Digging Press by withdrawing your manuscript in Submittable immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere. Do not email us a withdrawal.–
Entries must be accompanied by a $12.00 entry fee. Entrants may submit multiple manuscripts, but must pay a $12.00 entry fee for each manuscript submitted.
Collaborative collections are welcome.
We cannot accept translations.
US-based submitters have the option to purchase past chapbooks from Submittable with free shipping. Visit our online shop here for items not available on Submittable.
While authors from around the globe may submit to the Digging Press Chapbook Competition, international submitters who wish to make an additional purchase must do so via our online shop and pay additional shipping charges. Visit our online shop here.
https://diggingpress.com/chapbook-series
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FALL 2021 GENERAL SUBMISSIONS: POETRY
Gasher Press
DEADLINE: October 17, 2021
INFO: Founded in 2018 by poet, Whitney Kerutis, Gasher Press is a literary small press and journal publication committed to serving the literary community by the means of providing opportunities in publishing, editing, and scholarship.
Please review the submission guidelines before submitting:
We accept simultaneous submissions. Please, let us know if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
Work must be unpublished. We do not consider self-published works as unpublished.
Please submit your work as a single document in either .docx or .doc
Please include a brief bio with your submission.
Please submit up to 4 poems
Please DO NOT include any identifying materials on the submission document.
We encourage Content Warnings for graphic depictions and/or themes of violence for our reading staff's well-being.
https://gasherjournal.submittable.com/submit
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2022 KWELI JOURNAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Kweli Journal
DEADLINE: October 18, 2021
INFO: Building on Kweli's successful history of mentoring emerging authors since 2009, we will provide three or more early-stage writers with 11-month writing fellowships.
Eligible candidates are early career vocational writers living in New York City, who are not enrolled in degree-granting programs and self-identify as Black, Indigenous/Native, POC, and/or Arab American.
Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply.
Three fellowships will be awarded, which will include:
ten months of editorial support from Kweli Journal editors to prepare a piece for publication in the magazine;
a $1,000 stipend;
admission-free enrollment in four professionally led writing workshops on the short story, poetry, literary nonfiction, and young adult/children's literature
participation in four public readings by workshop participants
admission-free participation in our International Literature Festival, inclusive of pitch sessions with literary agents and editors
optionally, admission-free participation in our Color of Children Literature Conference
publication in Kweli Journal.
Eligibility: Only writers who have not yet published or been contracted to write a book-length work are eligible. Only one submission per person is allowed. Please do not submit a piece you have previously submitted to Kweli Journal, either through the Fellowship category or the General Submissions category. Kweli Journal reserves the right to invite submissions.
Timeline: Submittable will be open for Fellowship submissions from Monday, September 20 – Monday, October 18 only. Submissions for the Fellowships close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on October 18, 2021. Successful applicants will be informed no later than December 15, 2021. The fellowship period will be January 2, 2022 – December 2, 2022.
Procedure: Applications must be submitted through the Fellowship category in Submittable. There is no application fee. Please submit the following:
A cover letter containing a one-paragraph biographical statement; one paragraph that is a favorite of yours from a book you've read recently; and a brief statement telling us why this particular passage is meaningful to you. Please also note in your cover letter if you are a resident of one of New York City's five boroughs.
A CV or résumé
a letter of recommendation
a brief statement of your career goals and what you expect to accomplish as a Kweli Fellow.
A 10 page writing sample. There is no word-count requirement. Eligible genres are fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and cross-genre writing, whether written for adults, young adults, or children.
Selection will be based on (i) quality, promise, and subject matter of the writing sample; (ii) educational or experiential preparation; and (iii) seriousness of purpose and willingness to push beyond one's comfort zone.
Note that we only accept PDF or Word files (.doc and .docx). The cover letter and manuscript should be submitted as separate files. Incomplete applications will not be considered and will be returned unread.
https://kwelijournal.submittable.com/submit
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Asian American Poetry Chapbook Contest
The Blue Mountain Review
DEADLINE: October 30, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $25
INFO: The Blue Mountain Review is accepting submissions for the Asian American Poetry Chapbook Contest.
Lee Herrick is this year's judge.
Entrants must be Asian American or Pacific Islander. Former students and close friends of the judge are not eligible.
The contest is blind. Do not put your name or any identifiers on your manuscript.
No more than 20 pages of poetry. A page of acknowledgements and dedication is counted in the 20 pages.
Please note in acknowledgements any previously published poems.
PRIZES:
1st Place: $200 & 100 book copies
2nd Place: $100.00
3rd Place: $50.00
All place-winners will be interviewed in the Blue Mountain Review and on the NPR show, Dante’s Old South. Winner and honorable mention announcements to be made on December 30, 2021.
https://bluemountainreview.submittable.com/submit/192468/asian-american-poetry-chapbook-contest
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Fiction, life writing, & poetry
Wasafiri
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021 at 5pm GMT
INFO: For over 35 years, Wasafiri has published the very best works of and on international contemporary writing and culture, placing critics alongside leading novelists, poets, and playwrights, to generate exciting cross-genre and inter-regional conversations. We welcome innovative creative and critical writing that, in form, focus, or theme, seeks to expand the boundaries of global literary culture.
All submissions to the magazine must be submitted via our online submissions portal, except for reviews which should be sent directly to the reviews editor. Please refer to our style guide in formatting your submission.
We are highly selective in what we publish, accepting less than 5% of creative work submitted in our most recent submissions window. Make sure your manuscript is thematically, structurally, conceptually, and grammatically polished before submission. Above all we look for submissions that are thoughtful and nuanced, formally outstanding, and profoundly absorbing. You can browse the fiction and poetry published on our website for examples of the quality of work that we publish.
We are a small, part-time team, and everything we publish is additionally assessed by external readers. For these reasons, we expect to issue decisions on work submitted this autumn in February-March 2022. Thank you for your patience while we work as quickly as we can, while taking the time to give your work the attention it deserves. Work selected for publication from this submissions window will appear in Wasafiri from 2023.
CRITICAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS:
We invite submissions of critical articles and essays, reviews, and interviews year-round.
Wasafiri is a peer–reviewed journal and listed in the Clarivate Analytics’ Arts & Humanities Citation Index. We are seeking conceptually rigorous, substantially researched, accessibly presented articles and essays engaged with any genre of contemporary literature, from writers across disciplines. The magazine particularly welcomes articles that position new critical perspectives within one or more broader contexts.
We aim to make an initial decision on a manuscript within three months of submission, and a final decision within six months, allowing time for mutually-anonymous double peer review.
Read some examples of some of our favourite recent essays and articles here:
‘Whitely’: Race and Lyric Subjectivity in Clare Pollard’s Poetry by Kayo Chingonyi
Nunca Invisibles: Insurgent Memory and Self-representation by Female Ex-combatants in Colombia by Cherilyn Elston
Out of the George Padmore Institute Archive: Venetta Ross, John La Rose and the Creation of New Roots in the West Indies by Alexa Hazel
‘Room’ by Claire Hynes
An Island of Whiteness: Rereading Penelope Lively’s Oleander, Jacaranda by Emma Parker
REVIEWS
If you are interested in reviewing for Wasafiri, please contact the Reviews Editor and include a recent sample of your writing (preferably a book review), as well as a short CV, and contact details. There will always be a list of titles we are keen to review, though we welcome suggestions of other titles.
If you are a publisher, please post review copies to the address below, or email details to wasafiri.reviews@qmul.ac.uk. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that we will be able to review every title we receive.
Please post review copies to: Reviews Editor, Wasafiri c/o School of English and Drama, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
WORD LENGTH:
Critical articles and essays 5000 – 8000 words
Fiction, life writing, and interviews 4000 – 6000 words
Book reviews of one title 800 – 1000 words
Book reviews of two titles 1000 – 1200 words
Review Essays 2500-3000 words
Poems Maximum of 3 totaling up to 6 pages
PAYMENT:
Wasafiri pays for all creative submissions and reviews. The below fees are an indication only of a typical fee offered for publication in the magazine.
Fiction and life writing - £150
Interviews (transcribed and edited) - £200
Poems - £40
Book reviews - £50
Review Essays - £120
INCLUSIVITY:
Wasafiri is committed to publishing work that represents the world and creating an inclusive global community of writers and readers. Central to this is our unwavering commitment to equality and advocacy for underrepresented and marginalised voices. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, gender, nationality, race, or sexuality. While we welcome a diversity of opinions and topics in our pages, the validity of the identities of our writing and reading community is not up for debate. In particular, we affirm and support the rights and dignity of transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse people the world over. We seek to publish writers with compatible core values.
https://www.wasafiri.org/submit/
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SAMUEL R. DELANY FELLOWSHIP
CatStone Books
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021
INFO: CatStone Books is proud to present the annual Samuel R. Delany Fellowship to one author from a community that has traditionally been marginalized in speculative fiction. This can include authors of color, LGBT+ authors, female authors, authors with disabilities, and authors living an immigrant experience.
If you are an author from a traditionally marginalized community currently working on a book-length work of speculative fiction or poetry, we'd love to see your application.
REQUIREMENTS:
Cover Letter. Tell us a little bit about you. We'd like to see a holistic picture of who you are as a person and a writer, and why this Fellowship would help you. Please include your social media handles as well.
Statement of Purpose. This is where you tell us what you plan on doing during the Fellowship. In up to 1,500 words, tell us about your fiction or poetry project, your timeline for completion, etc. Please also include any additional needs we may be able to fill, such as reliable access to the internet, a Braille keyboard, etc.
Application. The application is a two-page fillable PDF that includes basic contact and demographic information, as well as information for your references.
Letter(s) of Reference. Please include at least one letter of reference.
The fellowship will award the selected author with:
a $10,000 stipend
mentorship from a member of the Advisory Board
additional resources as requested in order to help the recipient set aside time to work on and complete a speculative fiction project.
The recipient of the fellowship will be announced on December 15.
If, for any reason, you are unable to complete any portion of this application, please include your reason in the cover letter and we will work with you.
For the computer-literate amongst you, please grab all of these documents and put them into a single pdf. You can use a multitude of software or platforms for this, including potentially Combine PDF – Online PDF Combiner. If this is beyond your computer skill level, no worries! You can print your application forms and mail them to:
CatStone Books
C/O Delany Fellowship
PO Box 1537
Dawsonville, GA 30534
If you need help with this, or any other step in the process, please email josh@catstonebooks.com.
https://catstonebooks.moksha.io/publication/fellowship/guidelines
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Long Form Mentorship - NAtional
Diaspora Dialogues
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021 at 11:59pm
INFO: Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions from emerging writers who currently have a full or near-full draft of a manuscript. We accept novels, short story collections, creative non-fiction/memoir, works intended for young adults and poetry. Complete or near complete means that the writer has up to 85,000 words or 300 double-spaced pages of prose; or up to 25 poems (50 pages maximum). Submissions will consist only of excerpts from these works (see guidelines below).
Diaspora Dialogues is committed to supporting a literature that is as diverse as Canada itself. Writers are encouraged to keep this mandate in mind, but addressing this theme directly is not essential in the submission.
Notifications will be made at the end of December. The mentorships will begin in January 2022 and run for six months. Assigned mentors are at the discretion of Diaspora Dialogues. If you have questions, email: zalika@diasporadialogues.com
https://diasporadialogues.com/mentorship/
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2021 BREAKOUT! PRIZE
Epiphany
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $10 (includes complimentary 1-year digital subscription to Epiphany)
INFO: Epiphany announces the 4th Annual Breakout! Writers Prize for undergraduate and graduate students in conjunction with The Authors Guild. Winners receive a $1000 cash prize, publication, and a year-long writing mentorship.
The Fourth Annual Breakout! Writers Prize brings visibility to the creators of our future by honoring and supporting outstanding college and graduate student writers. Winners have gone on to get agents, publish books, and discover new careers in publishing. Submissions close on November 1st. All applicants will receive a complimentary digital subscription to Epiphany.
Four writers, two in prose and two in poetry, will receive:
Publication in the Fall/Winter 2021 Breakout Issue of Epiphany
A $1000 cash prize each
A year-long mentorship, including an additional short manuscript review, with Epiphany's editor-in-chief Rachel Lyon
A one-year membership with The Authors Guild
A one-year subscription to Epiphany
Eligibility: Candidates must have been enrolled in an accredited university, at least part-time, for the academic years 2020 or 2021. The prize is open to both graduate and undergraduate students. Students need not be enrolled in MFA programs or creative writing programs.
Submission: Applications will be submitted by individual writers. Interested applicants must submit a creative manuscript and a “Statement of Interest,” which includes the creative manuscript title, author’s enrollment status and the name of college or university attended, and an email address and telephone number for the department head of the student’s program of study or academic advisor (if applicable). Prose manuscripts may consist of one short story, a novel excerpt, or a work of creative nonfiction not to exceed 5000 words. Poetry manuscripts may include up to five poems, formatted in accordance with standard poetry conventions using a 12-point font. The author’s name should not appear on the creative manuscript. Please number all pages of the manuscript and include the manuscript title.
Judging: Honorees will be selected blind on the basis of the work’s creative merit by a judging panel comprised of Rachel Lyon, Nadia Owusu, and Shane McCrae.
Rachel Lyon is the author of Self-Portrait with Boy (Scribner 2018), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and which is currently in feature film development at Topic Studios. Rachel's shorter work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in One Story, Longreads, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, and other publications. A cofounder of the reading series Ditmas Lit, she has taught for Catapult, Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Slice Literary, and elsewhere. Subscribe to Rachel's Writing/Thinking Prompts newsletter at tinyletter.com/rachellyon, and visit her at www.rachellyon.work.
Nadia Owusu is a Ghanaian and Armenian-American writer and urbanist. Her first book, Aftershocks, topped many most-anticipated and best book of the year lists, including The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, TIME, Vulture, and the BBC. It was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. Nadia is the recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times, Orion, Epiphany, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others. By day, Nadia is Director of Storytelling at Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned consulting firm working for justice and liberation in partnership with philanthropic and nonprofit organizations. She teaches creative writing at the Mountainview MFA program and lives in Brooklyn.
Shane McCrae's most recent books are Sometimes I Never Suffered, shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Rilke Prize, and The Gilded Auction Block, both published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He has received a Lannan Literary Award, a Whiting Writer’s Award, an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.
Epiphany is a semiannual literary journal and independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) that supports practicing writers at every stage of their careers. During our open reading periods we consider every submission seriously. We also publish online essays, fiction, and poetry on a rolling basis. For 18+ years we have published work that transcends convention and demonstrates literary mastery. Our name derives from the Joycean idea that an epiphany is the moment when “the soul of the commonest object… seems to us radiant.” Like the semicolon in our logo, an epiphany is a pause in time followed by a shift in thinking.
The Authors Guild Foundation is the charitable and educational arm of the Authors Guild. It educates, supports, and protects American writers to ensure that a rich, diverse body of literature can flourish. It does this by advocating for authors’ rights, educating authors across the country in the business of writing, and promoting an understanding of the value of writers.
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CALL FOR SUBMISSION: ‘ODYSSEY’ ISSUE
Lucky Jefferson
DEADLINE: November 7, 2021
INFO: Lucky Jefferson's digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black writers in American society.
The fourth issue of Awake is titled Odyssey:
Despite being the first Black captain of your crew, you’ve been overlooked for promotions your entire career in the Space Force. One day, you finally receive your chance at your own expedition to the Outer Ring. After launch, your ship experiences technical difficulties and you find yourself plummeting four thousand kilometers off course.
After awakening, you realize it’s been a few days since you lost connection with Mission Control. You stumble through iridescent foliage to discover a bustling city ahead of your own time. You are soon discovered and greeted by the inhabitants of this world—inhabitants that reflect your culture.
Now you have two options: figure out a way to return home or explore this planet and begin a new life. What are you going to do?
Poems, essays, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and art should illustrate your decision.
Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.
Accepted authors will receive $15 for each accepted work.
*Writers looking to be published in upcoming print issues should plan to submit their work to the appropriate form during open calls.*
When submitting:
- Send no more than three poems in a submission. Separate poems by titles or page breaks.
- Essays should be no more than 1500 words.
- Flash Fiction should be no more than 1000 words.
- Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the lack of diversity in Science Fiction is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).
- In the cover letter box include: your name, email address, current address, and bio (third-person, 50 words max).
We do not accept translations or work that has been previously published in print or online.