Alexie Featured in WLT

"The July 2010 issue of World Literature Today pays tribute to Sherman Alexie, the featured writer of the 2010 Puterbaugh Festival of International Literature & Culture. As part of a special section devoted to his life and work, in a new interview he talks about the pragmatics of Indian politics, the commercialization of art, his engagement with his critics, Sarah Palin, and much more with characteristic humor, acumen, and abandon. Rounding out the section are two of Alexie’s recent poems; essays on Alexie’s work by Joshua B. Nelson, Scott Andrews, and Susan Bernardin; and an assessment of Native language revitalization by anthropologist Mary S. Linn."

Contest Help Save Purdy A-frame

The newest issues of The Antigonish Review, EVENT, and The New Quarterly each published two of the the winners of the After Al Purdy Poetry Contest, one from each category of Emerging Poets and Established Poets.

Emerging Poets winners: David Huebert (EVENT), Angela Waldie (TAR), Carolyn Sadowska (TNQ).

Established Poet winners: Clea Roberts (EVENT), Susan Stenson (TAR), Antony Di Nardo (TNQ).

The contest was a fundraiser for the Al Purdy A-frame Trust - established to save Purdy's famous home from demolition. Purdy was a significant Canadian poet, also called "the 'most', the 'first' and the 'last Canadian poet'." For more information about his legacy and the efforts to save his self-built home, visit www.alpurdy.ca

Modern Haiku Contest Winners

Modern Haiku has include the winners and finalists for the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Awards in their newest issue as well as on their website:

First Prize: Carolyn Hall
Second Prize: James Chessing
Third Prize: Kirsty Karkow

Honorable Mentions: John Barlow, Jennifer Corpe, Carolyn Hall, Origa, John Soules.

The deadline for the 2011 contest is March 13, 2011.

CNF Launches Audience Development Campaign

The Newly Redesigned Literary Magazine Reaches Out to MFA Students

PITTSBURGH, PA, JUNE 23, 2010: The Creative Nonfiction Foundation (CNF) has received a grant from the BNY Mellon Audience Development Fund to reach writing students in creative nonfiction Master of Fine Arts programs. The campaign aims to develop CNF’s relationships with MFA students across the country, engaging them as not only readers but as potential contributors.

"Creative Nonfiction is an essential resource for anyone studying the genre, and in forming early relationships with MFA students--as both readers and writers--the magazine will continue to reach and publish today's most promising new voices," CNF Editor Lee Gutkind said.

55 organizations applied for BNY Mellon Audience Development Fund grants, but only 21 received funding. The grant will enable CNF to offer complimentary departmental subscriptions to Creative Nonfiction to schools with MFA programs in creative nonfiction; to provide complimentary copies of its Summer 2010 issue (#39) for graduate-level classroom use; to make an editor available for an in-class discussion, in person or via telephone or Skype; and to provide subsidized Creative Nonfiction subscriptions for all active students in these programs (a 4-issue subscription will be available for $12, reduced from $32.).

Edited by Lee Gutkind, Creative Nonfiction has been devoted exclusively to vividly written literary nonfiction since its first issue, published in 1994. In March, with the publication of issue #38, the tri-quarterly journal re-launched as a quarterly magazine with an updated look and larger size. Expanded content combines long-form essays and true stories with columns on craft, reflections on the current state of literary publishing, encounters with editors and writers, regular columns by Phillip Lopate, Richard Rodriguez and Heidi Julavits, and more.

For more information, please contact Creative Nonfiction at (412) 688-0304 or email: fletcher-at-creativenonfiction-dot-org

[Press Release from CNF]

Meridan Editors' Prize Winners

The winners of Meridian’s 2010 Editors’ Prize Contest are included in the latest issue (25, May 2010):

Poetry Winner: Josephine Yu, “Why the Lepidopterist Lives Alone”

Fiction Winner: Allis Hammond, “The Faces”

Both winners received a $1,000 prize and publication. The contest will be open again this fall.

The Beats Persist at Third Mind Books

Third Mind Books is self-proclaimed as "Your Primary Source for Beat Literature." It's the result of Arthur S. Nusbaum's lifetime of involvement in beat literature, including having met many of the orginal artists of the time: "I am a long-time collector & enthusiast of the Beat Generation & its legacy, with particular emphasis on the life & work of William S. Burroughs." Nusbaum has developed "a resource by & for the collector-enthusiast that offers desirable, significant rarities for sale. A description of the condition & content of each item is written or extensively edited by myself." Beat-related writing (essays, interviews, etc.) are posted regularly on the NewsBeat blog (contributions welcomed), and there's also an area to post "My Wants" and "Your Wants" for Beat materials. Future plans for Third Mind Books include a curated museum with tours (Ann Arbor, MI).

Read more about Nusbaum in this Ann Arbor Chronicle article.

Passings :: Peter Seaton

Poet Peter Seaton passed away last month, but news of his death has only recently been making its way through the community. Read more here on fait accompli (Nick Piombino's blog) and here on PennSound.

Knock All-Play Issue

Knock #13 is an All-Play issue - and means literally that play scripts make up this issue. The issue was built on the KNOCK International Play Contest, judged by Dickey Nesenger, Maria Semple, and John Longenbaugh, and includes the winners (1st John Minigan, 2nd J. Stephen Brantley, 3rd Nick Stokes), finalists (Robert White, Patrick Cole, Karen M. Kinch, John Hayes, Barbara Lindsay, Lillian Mooney, and Judith Glass Collins) and semifinalists (Mark LaPierre, Renee Rankin, Deb Margolin, Lynda Crawford, Erica Slutsky, Stanley Toledo, Richard Goodman, Rey Dabalsa, Theodore D. Kemper, Kate McLeod, Brian Walker, and Joel Allegretti).

Reed Fiction & Poetry Contest Winners

The newest issue of San Jose State University's Reed Magazine (v63) features finalists and winners of the 2009 John Steinbeck Award for fiction as selected by Aimee Bender and the Edwin Markham Award for poetry winner and finalists as selected by Lisa Russ Spaar:

Steinbeck Prize Winner: Michelle Dove, "The Frost Queen of Louisa County"
Stenibeck Finalists: Paul Martone and Sam Wilson

Markham Award Winner: Scott Marengo
Markham Finalists: B.A. Goodjohn and D.E. Kern

The deadline for the 2010 awards is November 1.

NewPages New Office Staff

You may remember Scrappy [right] the mail dog - who faithfully travels to the post office daily to help retrieve mail. Scrappy is now joined in his efforts by Copper [left] - a collie, shepherd, husky mix (+/-/?). The two have known each other for many years, but Scrappy finally lured Copper to join the NewPages staff on a permanent basis (some negotiations about a weekly rawhide bonus and health care, including dental).

On a practical note for dog owners: NewPages would like to recognize PoopBags.com for providing a great product that we wholly endorse. We've worked with another not-so-great online company, and have found PoopBags.com to be the kind of product and business we are happy to support. Please check them out for your green-dog needs.

Santa Clara Jams

The Santa Clara Review opened a new door in their last issue by including a Music Section in the publication. They've received so much positive feedback on it that they'll continue it both in print - providing one-page descriptions and photos of indie groups, and online - offering visitors mp3 downloads of sample songs from the groups featured in the magazine. They are also now accepting music submissions in addition to poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art.

Bombay Gin Features Collom's Eco-Lit Influence

The newest issue of Naropa University's Bombay Gin offers a special focus on "Twenty Years of Eco-Lit" and more specifically on Jack Collom, who back in 1989, "taught his first Eco-Lit course at Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics."

A portfolio section provides a tribute to Collom’s influence: "It opens with an interview of him by two Bombay Gin editors, Jennifer Aglio and Suzanne DuLany. Collom discusses how he introduces his students to a pantheon of writers that includes Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, Stephen Jay Gould, and how his writing projects take radical shapes, investigating the ways old forms evolve into new. The haiku morphs into the lune, or the fourteen-line sonnet’s tight formalism restructures itself as the acrostic or mesostic. At the end of each year’s course, Collom’s group compiles a photocopy anthology of its writings. We’ve reproduced some of this twenty-odd-years of poems, polemics, word-forms, & collages. There are also new poems in the eco-lit vein by Jack Collom, and by Naropa University colleagues Joanne Kyger, Hoa Nguyen, Elizabeth Robinson, & Andrew Schelling. And finally, there is an archival talk on ecology & poetry, given by Eleni Sikelianos at a Naropa Summer Writing Program panel in June 2009." [from the Editor's Note]

BrainStorm Poetry Contest Winners

The Spring issue of Open Minds Quarterly includes the winners of the Brainstorm Poetry Contest.

First Prize - Joan Mazza of Mineral, Virginia
Second Prize - Linda Fuchs of Columbus, Ohio
Third Prize – Carma Graber of Bloomington, Minnesota

And honorable mentions: Zan Bockes, Eufemia Fantetti, Eufemia Fantetti, Kate Flaherty, Catherine L. Martell

Spoon River Change in Editor

In the most recent (Winter/Spring 2010) issue of The Spoon River Poetry Review, Bruce Guernsey announced his stepping down as editor: "When the former and iconic editor Lucia Getsi asked me four years ago if I would consider the position, it was understood that at some point someone from Illinois State University would eventually take over. After all, the magazine is located at ISU, and I came on board as an independent. So let me introduce you to the new boss, the wonderfully bright, articulate, and energetic Kirstin Hotelling Zona. An associate professor in the English department at Illinois State, Dr. Zona is also a fine poet and a sharp-eyed critic. Please give your your heartiest welcome and send her your very best work. She will continue the fine traditions of the magazine."

Mississippi Review Prizes 2010

The newest issue of Mississippi Review is made up entirely of the winners of the 2010 Mississippi Review Prize for Fiction and Poetry.

The 2010 Fiction Prize winners judged by Frederick Barthelme: Cheryl Alu, David Driscoll, Chelsea Lemon Fetzer, Cary Groner, Kristen Iskandrian, Rich Ives, Lee Johnson, Kate Kraukramer, Jim Ruland, Melissa Swantkowski.

The 2010 Poetry Prize winners judeged by Angela Ball: Susan Thomas, Victoria Anderson, Kaveh Bassiri, Deborah Brown, Andrea Carter Brown, Laurie Capps, Joseph Michael Farr, Jeff Hoffman, Rich Ives, Vandana Khanna, Martin Lammon, David Dodd Lee, Matt McBride, Joe Sacksteder, Wallis Wilde-Menozzi, Cecilia Woloch.

The Mississippi Review annual contest awards prizes of $1,000 in fiction and in poetry. Winners and finalists will make up the winter print issue of the national literary magazine Mississippi Review. The 2011 contest deadline is October 1, 2010.

Join PEN American's Online Reading Group

PEN American Center Announces the launch of PEN Reads, an online reading group to go live on July 6:

PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world’s oldest literary and human rights organization, announced today the creation of PEN Reads, an online reading group that will bring readers and writers together to discuss works of literature relevant to PEN’s mission. The inaugural title will be The Hour of the Star (New Directions) by the legendary Brazilian author Clarice Lispector.

Each book will be discussed for five weeks on the PEN web site, which will feature a series of posts by writers, translators, scholars, and other prominent literary figures. They will discuss the novel and its author and how the book speaks to PEN’s mission to foster support for basic human rights and promote mutual understanding through the shared experience of literature.

Readers will be able to comment on each post, participating in a larger dialogue with the discussion’s contributors and with each other.

The initiative was created by PEN’s Membership Committee under the leadership of former Chair Jaime Manrique. He says, “PEN Reads’ choice of The Hour of the Star by the great, and incomparable, Clarice Lispector as its inaugural author reaffirms PEN’s commitment to honor, and help preserve, the literary legacy of the writers of the world whose works matter in a major way.”

The inaugural post, by award-winning novelist Colm Tóibín, will appear at www.pen.org/penreads at noon on Tuesday, July 6.

NewPages encourages group participants to check with local, independent booksellers to purchase The Hour of the Star - and to purchase an extra copy to donate to your local library if they don't already have one.

Pongo Call for Volunteers (WA)

Based in Seattle, WA, the Pongo Teen Writing opportunity will train you to help victims of trauma (abuse, violent loss, etc.) to heal through poetry writing. The skills will benefit you in current and future careers in counseling and teaching. Pongo poetry writing is uniquely helpful for distressed individuals, and uniquely nurturing for caregivers. Participation in Pongo requires serious commitment to be on a Pongo team in a site such as juvenilte detention, where volunteers will work one weekday afternoon per week from mid-Sept to mid-April. (Currently, the state psychiatric hospital site meets on Mondays in Tacoma, and the juvenile detention site meets on Tuesdays in Seattle.)

To begin the process for selection as a Pongo volunteer, please email your resume and a writing sample (preferably poetry) to richard-at-pongoteenwriting.org. In your resume or email message, please include all of your experience working with youth. Also, please state your availability to volunteer on a weekday afternoon during the coming school year. Finally, please review the Pongo web site, including the expectations on this page.

http://www.pongoteenwriting.org/volunteering.html

McSweeney's Garage Sale

McSweeney's is currently running their summer sale this week with mark downs on their entire stock. For even better deals, check out their Garage Sale: "Not long ago, we found a secret storage space of our old books. They were hurt—some bruised, others a little scratched—but then again some were in perfect condition. So, we thought, why not offer these to you, dear customer? Why not let you have a $5 Maps and Legends? Or a $10 Everything That Rises? Hurt books need homes too. And once these slightly damaged books are gone, they are gone forever."

Narrative Puzzler World Cup Challenge

From Narrative Magazine:

Until the final showdown on July 11, thirty-two soccer teams will compete in South Africa to steal Italy’s crown as World Cup champions.

For the players, the games are the ultimate moment of competition. For the countries they represent, it’s a time for national pride. For South Africa, the World Cup is a chance to grow, pumping more than 50 billion dollars into the economy and turning the world’s eye to their spot on the map.

The face of the World Cup is Zakumi, a golden leopard with flowing green hair. He’s fifteen, called “Za” for short, and lives by the official motto, “Zakumi’s game is fair play.”

The designers assigned to create Zakumi set out to integrate the many aspects of the World Cup into a single marketing image: a mascot. What would you have come up with?

This week, Literary Puzzler challenges you to create your own World Cup mascot. In just three or four sentences, provide a portrait of the character you’d craft as the image of the summer’s competition.

Send your mascot to Puzzler by Sunday noon, Pacific daylight time.

2012 Sandburg-Auden-Stein Residency

2012 Sandburg-Auden-Stein Residency: Intensive Learning Term poet-in-residence program, from 30 April to 18 May 2012. An award of $3,100 (plus room and board) will be given to the 2012 poet. The Humanities Department faculty will evaluate the submissions and choose the winner. Poets who have published at least one book of poetry are eligible. Submissions are due on Sept. 10, 2010, and should include the following: five poems from your most recent book, a single page personal statement regarding your poetics and teaching, a current résumé and two references. There is no entry fee. Contact Kirk Hendershott-Kraetzer, Ph.D., Humanities Department chair with any questions.

Marginalia Letterpress

Starting with its previous issue (#4), Marginalia began to include letterpress works with their publication. The letterpress works are produced on a Chandler & Price Platen Press, with chapbooks designed and printed at Now It’s Up to You (157 S. Logan, Denver CO 80209) with the assistance of expert printer Tom Parson. The newest issue (v5) - the Eksphrasis Issue - includes three letterpress postcards, showcasing the work of Sasha Chavchavadze, Rachel Burgess, and William Gillespie.

G.W. Review Senior Contest Winners

Every spring, The George Washington University's national/international literary review, G.W. Review, holds a contest for outgoing seniors; one senior artist, poet and fiction writer have their work featured in the Review, along with a short bio and photograph. This year's contest winners are Carrie Wilkens for fiction, Anya Firestone for poetry, and Nida Jafrani for art. Their work is featured in the Spring 2010 issue.

Glimmer Train April Family Matters Winners

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their April Family Matters competition. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers for stories about family. Word count should not exceed 12,000. (All shorter lengths welcome.) The next Family Matters competition will take place in October. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: Jenny Zhang (pictured), of Iowa City, IA, wins $1200 for “We Love You Crispina.” Her story will be published in the Fall 2011 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Joy Wood, of West Bloomfield, MI, wins $500 for “The Man in the Elevator.” Her story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing her prize to $700.

Third place: Linda Legters of Newtown, CT, wins $300 for “When We’re Lying.” Her story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing her prize to $700.

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline soon approaching!

Fiction Open: June 30

Glimmer Train hosts this competition quarterly, and first place is $2000 plus publication in the journal. It’s open to all writers, no theme restrictions, and the word count range is 2000-20,000. Click here for complete guidelines.

Jobs

English Department and Creative Writing Program of Bowling Green State University seek applicants for a tenure-track assistant professor in Poetry Writing and Literature. Deadline November 15, 2010.

The Department of English and the BFA program at Stephen F. Austin State University seek applications for a tenure-track assistant professor of creative writing, with a specialization in literary non-fiction and a possible strong secondary area in poetry or fiction.

Oklahoma City University seeks applications for part-time faculty to teach in a new low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program, scheduled to begin in Summer 2011. Submit materials by June 31, 2010.

Crab Creek Review Editors' Prize

Crab Creek Review has named the first recipient of their new annual Editors' Prize, a $100 award given to a writer or poet whose work appeared in one of the previous year's issues. Their 2009 Editors' Prize was awarded to Shannon Robinson, who wrote the short story, "Everyone Has a Tell," which appeared in the Summer 2009 issue.

Words With Friends

Seems I'm not alone in my addiction.

The Ledge Poetry and Fiction Contest Winners

The Summer-Fall 2010 issue of The Ledge includes works by the winners of The Ledge 2008 Poetry Awards: First Prize, Jennifer Perrine for the poem "A Transparent Man is Hard to Find"; Seond Prize, Elizabeth Harrington for the poem "Witness"; Third Prize, J. Kates for the "Learning to Shoot."

The Ledge 2009 Poetry Awards Competition winners and finalists have been announced and will have their poems published in The Ledge #33, to be published in 2011:

First Prize ($1,000)Philip Dacey of New York, NY
Second Prize ($250) Jennifer Perrine of Des Mones, IA
Third Prize ($100) by Kate Hovey of Northridge, CA

Finalists: Samantha Barrow of New York, NY; Francis Klein of Glen Ridge, NJ; Joyce Meyers of Wallingford, PA; Debra Marquart of Ames, IA; Tiffanie Desmangles of West Lafayette, IN; and Marsh Muirhead of Bemidji, MN.

Also to be published in The Ledge #33 are the winners of The Ledge 2009 Fiction Awards Competition:

First prize ($1000) Michael Thompson of Indianapolis, IN
Second prize ($250) Kate Reuther of New York City, NY
Third prize ($100) Paullette Gaudet of Seattle, WA

Honorable Mention: Clare Beams of Norwell, MA; Sean Lanigan of Somerville, MA; Anne Trooper Holbrook of Tunbridge, VT; and Kelly Luce of Woodside, CA.

Politics and Prose Up for Sale

Politics and Prose (Washington, D.C.) bookstore owners Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade planning their retirements, have announced the sale of their independent bookstore.

Spring 2011 Emerging Writer Fellowships

The Writer's Center, metropolitan Washington, DC's community gathering place for writers and readers, is currently accepting submissions for several competitive Emerging Writer Fellowships for Spring 2011. We welcome submissions from writers of all genres, backgrounds, and experiences in the following genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The deadline to submit is September 30, 2010.

NewPages Updates

New additions to the The NewPages Big List of Literary Magazines:

Motherhood Muse – poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, essay, photography
Visions – poetry, fiction, art
Ezra: An Online Journal of Translations poetry, short prose, excerpts, and play scenes from any era
SpringGun - poetry, flash fiction, book reviews, essays, interviews, and any form of intermedia art (video art, screen literature, electronic writing, digital poetry)
The Broken City - poetry, fiction, non-fiction, comics, art and photography
Bull Men's Fiction
Dante’s Heart – fiction, drama, poetry, art, mixed media
ScissorTALE Review – poetry, short fiction, flash fiction
Shadowbox - creative nonfiction, interviews, reviews, art


New additions to the NewPages Guide to Independent Publishers & University Presses:

Rescue Press


New additions to the NewPages Guide to Writing Conferences, Workshops, Retreats, Centers, Residencies & Book & Literary Festivals:

Words and Music Festival, New Jersey
Write to Publish (Oolicon) Conference

IR Back Issue Blog Sale

This month on the Indiana Review blog, Under the Blue Light, IR is having a back issue sale: "We'll be highlighting some past issues, tracking down a few authors, seeing what they have been up to recently, and marking down the prices of journals past so that we can all enjoy the good work done by writers of the years before."

New Lit on the Block :: Shadowbox

Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, editor, has announced the publication of the first issue of of Shadowbox, an online magazine exclusively devoted to contemporary creative nonfiction "of every shape, style, and incarnation. Each issue will include new writing, interviews with masters of the form, reviews of provocative published work, a gallery of visual and literary collaborations, an archive of resurrected writings, interactive links with like-minded types, and much more."

The Shadowbox site is designed to be interactive (click the objects), and will be published biannually. The first issue features interviews with Brenda Miller, a book review of David Shield's Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, an art gallery featuring words and images of Margo Klass and Frank Soos, and new writing by Bev Aliff, Julie Carr, Noah Eli Gordon, Daniel Hales, Jena Huisken, Stephen Graham Jones, J. Michael Martinez, Kerry Muir, Megan Nix, Linda Norton, Karen Michelle Otero, Robert Vivian, and Jake Adam York.

Shadowbox reads submissions May 15 - October 15 and December 15 - April 15.

Memoir (and) Contest Winners

The latest issue of Memoir (and) includes the winners for the 2009 Prizes for Memoir in Prose or Poetry:

Grand Prize to Joe Wilkins
Second Prize to Cynthia Helen Beecher
Third Prize to Melanie Drane

The Memoir (and) Prizes for Memoir in Prose or Poetry are awarded to the most outstanding prose or poetry memoirs—traditional, nontraditional or experimental—drawn from the publication's open reading period (May 1 - August 16). There is no contest entry fee.

Lit Mag News and Reviews

It may be summer, but NewPages is still cranking! We've got a smash lineup of new Lit Mag reviews, including reviews of Avery, Bateau, Big Muddy, Briar Cliff Review, Camera Obscura (premier issue), Cold Mountain, Court Green, Dark Sky Magazine (online), Elder Mountain (premier issue), F Magazine, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, Jelly Bucket (premier issue), The Journal, the minnesota review, Paul Revere's Horse, Rhino, River Styx, Shenandoah, Sou'wester, Spinning Jenny, Tampa Review, and Whitefish Review.

We're also trying out a new format for our reviews - if you love it or hate it, let us know.

The NewPages Magazine Stand is frequently updated, including short blurbs and cover images of new lit mags. It's a virtual newsstand, better than any bookstore or library selection I know! Stop by and check it out to get an inside (and outside) look at some latest issues.

Memoir: It's All in the Writing

With its latest issue (v3 n1), Memoir (and) welcomes Claudia Sternbach as the new Editorial Board Chair. Sternbach wastes no time in tackling the identity of the memoir genre in her introductory note, in which she recounts a "well-known" author's comment that "unless you have lived an extraordinary life, there is no point in writing about it." Sternbach's response? "Balderdash." Recounting extraordinary exploits can be interesting, she goes on, as long as they are well written, "But no more interesting than an exquisitely told story of aging, or of spending years in pursuit of a perfect smile. It is all in the writing."

The Frost Place Residency

The Frost Place in Franconia, New Hampshire, invites applications for a six- to eight-week residency in poet Robert Frost's former farmhouse, which sits on a quiet north-country lane with a spectacular view of the White Mountains, and which serves as a museum and conference center.

The residency begins July 1st and ends August 31st, and includes an award of $1,000. The Resident Poet will have an opportunity to give a series of public readings across the region, including at Dartmouth College, for which the Resident Poet will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. There are no other specific obligations.

To be eligible, applicants will have published at least one book of poems. Applications will be judged by members of The Frost Place Board of Trustees.

BatCat Press Open Reading Period

BatCat Press summer reading period runs until July 31. They take all genres in any length, and ultimately aim to publish 2-3 full books a year, with 1-2 smaller projects (chapbooks, broadsides, etc).

BatCat Press is staffed by high school students who attend Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter High School (Midland, PA). All staff members "major" in literary arts and are upperclassmen who have taken at least two semesters of bookbinding (both of which are taught by Deanna Mulye, who also runs the press). The students read submissions, discuss what should be published, and then physically print and make all of the books in-house, by hand. Their run numbers vary depending on the project - they averaged about 200 copies per title this year.

New Issues Poetry Prize Winners

Jeff Hoffman has won the 2010 New Issues Poetry Prize for his manuscript Journal of American Foreign Policy. Linda Gregerson, author of Magnetic North, judged.

Jeff wins a $2,000 award and publication of his manuscript in the spring of 2011.

Lizzie Hutton’s manuscript She’d Waited Mellennia was named runner-up and will be published in the fall of 2011.

Guidelines for the 2011 prize are available on the New Issues Poetry website.

Contest Fee "Early Bird Special"

Black Lawrence Press is now accepting submissions for the 2010 St. Lawrence Book Award, an annual award that is given for an unpublished collection of short stories or poems. The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length collection of short stories or poems. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication. The entry fee for the prize is $25 and the deadline is August 31, 2010.

However, Black Lawrence Press just sent out an e-mail with the following information:

Because we know that many writers have been hit especially hard by the economic downturn, we are offering a fantastic early bird special. If you submit your manuscript to The St. Lawrence Book Award before June 30, 2010, we will only charge you the price of one of our titles. The choice is yours. Most of our titles are priced between $14 and $18. (And we carry great chapbooks that are only $9!)

Here’s how it works:

1) Go to www.blacklawrencepress.com.
2) Click on the “Books” button on the left side of the page.
3) Order a title that interests you.
4) Shortly after placing your order, you will receive an email from Paypal with your receipt. Keep that for your records. Don’t worry about forwarding it to us; we can cross-check everything on our end.
5) Send your cover letter and manuscript to editors@blacklawrencepress.com before June 30, 2010. In your cover letter, note the title that you purchased.
6) That’s it!

Send a Soldier a Book

There's still time to participate in Press 53's Send a Book to a Soldier offer:

"From now until Flag Day, June 14, buy a book at www.Press53.com and we will send another book to a soldier in your name at no additional cost to you. Choose from any of our 50-plus titles and we will send a copy of the same book to an active duty soldier in your name. Soldiers will be selected from www.AnySoldier.com."

Skating Matters

Check out Kitintale Skateboarders, a series of photos by Yann Gross featured in Guernica's art section: "Faced with a lack of concrete, these Ugandan skateboarders took matters into their own hands and built what was likely the first skatepark in East Africa."

Narrative Winter Contest Winners

Stories by the Narrative Winter Contest Winners are now available online.

FIRST PLACE ($4000)
"A. Roolette? A. Roolette?" by Adam Prince

SECOND PLACE ($1500)
"Savior Games" by Cori Jones

THIRD PLACE ($500)
"Every Good Marriage Begins in Tears" by Katie Chase

FIVE FINALISTS ($100 each)
Greg Brown
David Rabe
Helen Maryles Shankman
James Silberstein
Terese Svoboda


The Spring 2010 Story Contest, with a $3,250 First Prize, a $1,500 Second Prize, a $750 Third Prize, and ten finalists receiving $100 each. Open to fiction and nonfiction. All entries will be considered for publication. Contest Deadline: July 31, midnight, Pacific daylight time.

The Second Annual Poetry Contest, with a $1,500 First Prize, a $750 Second Prize, a $300 Third Prize, and ten finalists receiving $75 each. All entries will be considered for publication. Open to all poetry submissions. The contest runs from May 26 to July 18, at midnight PDT.

Vote for Pongo

Richard Gold from the Pongo Teen Writing Project wrote to announce he's a finalist for the "All-Star Among Us" competition. Winning will give Richard a chance to promote Pongo's mission and methods for healing through poetry. He's asking us to please participate in the final vote and make him an All-Star. Voting ends June 20, and winning means a boost for Pongo with publicity at the All-Star Game in July.

Here's what you do:

1. First forward this email to your friends and encourage them to vote a bunch.
2. Click on this link - http://mlb.mlb.com/peopleallstarsamongus/
3. Click on "Seattle Mariners."
4. Vote for me.
5. Do it again and again. (You have to refresh the link each time you vote.)

And while you're there - check out the other teams and finalists - if Seattle isn't your team, you can go on and vote for your own state. There's no limit on voting, no registering, no nonsense. Just a couple clicks is all it takes!

FC2 Announces Book Contest Winners

Fiction Collective Two announced the results of its two book contests, the Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize and the FC2 Ronald Sukenick/American Book Review Innovative Fiction Contest.

Tricia Bauer, of West Redding, Connecticut, was awarded the first annual FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize for her novel Father Flashes. The prize includes publication by FC2, an imprint of University of Alabama Press, and $15,000. Melanie Rae Thon received special mention for her manuscript The Voice of the River. The judge was Carole Maso.

Sara Greenslit, of Madison, Wisconsin, has won this year’s FC2 Ronald Sukenick/American Book Review Innovative Fiction Contest for her novel As If a Bird Flew by Me. The prize includes publication by FC2 and $1000. Kathleen M. McLaughlin, for her manuscript Burn, and Erin M. Kautza, for her manuscript Expiration Dates of Various Creatures, were both cited for special mention. The judge was Susan Steinberg.

Through these contests, Fiction Collective Two aims to publish and promote the work of writers of fiction deemed experimental, innovative, or too challenging for contemporary commercial presses.

Writers with at least three published books of fiction (story collections or novels or a combination) are eligible for the Doctorow Prize. The next judge will be Ben Marcus.

The Sukenick Prize is open to any writer of English who is a citizen of the United States and who has not previously published with Fiction Collective Two. Its next judge will be Kate Bernheimer.

The submission period for both contests is 15 August to 1 November. Visit the website, fc2.org, for further information and guidelines.

Writer Anecdotes Wanted

Jeffrey Skinner and Leslie McGrath at Sarabande Books are working on a project about the careers of poets and literary prose writers. How do poets and other literary writers move ahead in their careers (other than via their blazing talent?) This is your chance to share the anecdotes you’ve only told your closest friends. The editors are interested only in the stories, not in names and places. They offer anonymity and gratitude in exchange. And, if they use your anecdote, a free copy of the resulting book. Please email your anecdotes to mcgrath.leslie-at-gmail.com by July 1, 2010 under the heading “Book Anecdote.”

Les Figures Press Contest Winners

Les Figures Press has announced the winners of their Not Blessed A Little Story Contest in which writers remixed selections from Harold Abramowitz's recently released Not Blessed. Abramowitz also selected the winning entries.

Winner: Barbara Maloutas for "Her Not Blessed"

Runner-Ups (in no particular order):
"The first day of spring" by Erin Hinkes
"28 DAYS / (from Temporality) by Stephen Radcliffe
"Not Blessed, A Collaboration" by Soham Patel, Deborah Marie Poe & Gene Tanta

Les Figures will be posting these stories (one story per day) on the Les Figues blog: GIVE A FIG. The stories will also be archived as PDF's on their website.

3-Day Novel Contest

Registration is now open for the 33rd Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest.

"The goal: write a complete novel in only 72 hours. The reward: a heck of a creative experience and one coffee-stained, tear-tinged, rule-breaking first draft. And for the winning author, publication. (Cash prizes too.) It's a Canadian born, now international, literary rite-of-passage."

The contest takes place every Labor Day weekend - this year: September 4-6, 2010.

Carolina Chocolate Drops Rock

Honoring Leslie Scalapino

In mourning Leslie Scalapino's death and in celebrating her multi-genre poetry, Laura Hinton, Professor of English at City College of New York, is coordinating a "Streaming/Reading Memorial" on her blog, Chant de la Sirene. Several pieces have thus far been posted, and she is looking forward to more. Contributions of short piecse about Leslie, on the topic of reading/re-reading her work can be sent to: laurahinton12-at-gmail.com

2011 Vilcek Prizes in Literature

The 2011 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature guidelines and application forms are now available. Deadline: July 30, 2010.

No entry fee.

The awards are for non-American-born writers of poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction who are living and working in the U.S., age 38 and under; one $25,000 prize, + four $5000 prizes.

There is also a $100,000 Vilcek Literature Prize for one non-American-born writer of poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction who is living and working in the U.S., no age restriction, but there is no application process for this prize.

2011 Motherwell Prize Winner

Fence Books announced the winner of the 2011 Motherwell Prize for a first or second full-length collection of poems by a woman writing in English. Negro League Baseball, by Harmony Holiday, of New York, New York, will be published in 2011, and the author will receive a $5,000 prize.

Musicians Wanted

Mad Hatter's Review has put a call out for musicians who would be interested in creating tunes to accompany the works published in their literary/arts magazine. E-mail Carol Novack, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief at madhr.12-atgmail.com, subject line: AVAILABLE MUSICIAN.

Passings :: Leslie Scalapino

Born in Santa Barbara in 1944, Leslie Scalapino passed away on May 28, 2010 in Berkeley, California.

"Author of 30 books of poetry, new fiction, criticism, and plays. Most recent poetry books include Day Ocean State of Stars' Night (Green Integer, 2007), New Time (Wesleyan), and It's go in/quiet illumined grass/land (The Post-Apollo Press). Works of new fiction include Defoe (Green Integer), Dahlia's Iris (FC2), and Orchid Jetsm (Tuumba). Her Selected Poems, 1974 2006/It's go in horizontal will be published by University of California Press in spring 2008. Awards: American Book Award (Before Columbus Foundation), Poetry Center Award (San Francisco State University), and Lawrence Lipton Prize." (Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts)

CNF Experimental Nonfiction CFS

Creative Nonfiction is currently looking for experimental nonfiction for the "Pushing the Boundaries" section of the Summer issue. ("Experimental," "boundaries," yes, these can be loaded terms; let's not get bogged down.) We want new work that in some way, well, pushes the boundaries of the genre--in form, in content ... really, in anything except nonfiction-ness (though we might even be open to that, depending on how it's done).

Essays must be: unpublished, 3,000 words or less, postmarked by June 4 , 2010, and clearly marked “Pushing the Boundaries ” on both the essay and the outside of the envelope. Please send manuscript, accompanied by a cover letter with complete contact information (address, phone, and email) and SASE:

Creative Nonfiction
Attn: Pushing the Boundaries
5501 Walnut Street, Suite 202
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

Harvard Review Online

Harvard Review Online has a new monthly online literary journal designed to complement the print edition of the Harvard Review. Included are a book reviews, and expanded poetry section, and other special features, such as an interview with Chris Wallace-Crabbe, conducted by Ronald A. Sharp, and a link to the new online submission site, Tell It Slant. Harvard Review Online will continue to feature new poetry and book reviews, plus occasional interviews, short fiction, and literary essays.

Glimmer Train March Fiction Open Winners

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their March Fiction Open competition. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers for stories with a word count range between 2000 – 20,000. The next Fiction Open will take place in June. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: John Stazinski [pictured], of Lancaster, MA, wins $2000 for “Bangor.” His story will be published in the Summer 2011 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Sean Padraic McCarthy, of Mansfield, MA, wins $1000 for “The Piper.” His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Third place: Nick Yribar, of Ann Arbor, MI, wins $600 for “The Getaway Driver.” His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700.

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline soon approaching!

Short Story Award for New Writers: May 31

This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5000. No theme restrictions. Word count should not exceed 12,000. (All shorter lengths welcome.) Click here for complete guidelines.

Video :: Stavans and Brodsky: Once 9:53

Mexican American scholar and writer Ilan Stavans to Argentine photographer Marcelo Brodsky speak on the fotonovela - a form of photographic comic book that was once beloved throughout the Spanish-speaking world, as a vehicle for literary experiment and political commentary - and their work on Once 9:53, their forthcoming fotonovela shared with Habitus. Once 9:53 is set in Buenos Aires’ historically Jewish Once neighborhood, in the hours leading up to the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center building.

Poetry Response to Gulf Oil Disaster

Poets for Living Waters is a poetry action in response to the Gulf Oil Disaster of April 20, 2010, one of the most profound man-made ecological catastrophes in history.

The first law of ecology states that everything is connected to everything else. An appreciation of this systemic connectivity suggests a wide range of poetry will offer a meaningful response to the current crisis, including work that harkens back to Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing regional effects.

Please submit 1-3 poems, a short bio, and credits for any previously published submissions to: poetsforlivingwaters-atyahoo.com

New Press on the Block :: Rescue Press

Daniel Khalastchi, visiting Assistant Professor at Marquette University Department of English has teamed up with poet Caryl Pagel to start a unique small press and have just released their first book, Marc Rahe's poetry collection, The Smaller Half.

Rescue Press publishes work by activists, artists, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, list-makers, philosophers, poets, scientists, writers, and creative thinkers of all kinds. They are interested in small collections of artwork, comics, compositions, essays, experiments, how-tos, interrogations, lectures, lists, manifestos, notes, outlines, poetry, procedures, questions, reviews, sketches, stories, technical prose, textbooks, travel writing, and more. As their byline says: "Rescue Press is a library of chaotic and investigative work."

Rescue Press is based out of Milwaukee and will have an open reading period soon hopes to publish three more books within the next calendar year (fiction, non-fiction, maybe more poetry, etc.).

Cheaper than Amazon

From now until June 20, Tarpaulin Sky Press is offering backlist titles for $10 - shipping included - when you buy two or more books. Some books include the current Lambda Award Finalist Ana Božičević's Stars of the Night Commute and works by Jenny Boully, Kate Bernheimer, Rebecca Brown, Brian Evenson, Laird Hunt, Bhanu Kapil, Lance Olsen, Mark Cunningham, Danielle Dutton, Noah Eli Gordon & Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Gordon Massman, Joyelle McSweeney, Andrew Zornoza, and more.

The Crazyhorse Fiction Prize Winners

Crazyhorse has announced the winners of the The Crazyhorse Fiction Prize and The Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize, each of which receive $2000 and publication in Crazyhorse (Number 78, November 2010):

Fiction judge: Aimee Bender

Fiction Winner: Marjorie Celona for the story “All Galaxies Moving”

Fiction finalists: Clifford Garstang, Jacob M. Appel, Lucy Ferriss, Nicolaus Aufdenkampe, Jamey Bradbury, Becky Margolis

Poetry judge: Larissa Szporluk

Poetry Winner: Juliet Patterson for the poem “Extinction Event”

Poetry finalists: Sam Witt, Andrew Demcak, Steven Kilpatrick, Paige Ackerson-Kiely, Sierra Nelson, Bianca Stone, Broc Rossell, Susan Sonde, Cecilia Woloch, Jay Peters, Patrick Haas