Reginald Dwayne Betts didn’t consider himself a reader until he was sent to solitary confinement for the first time. Betts, then a teenager serving an eight-year prison sentence for carjacking, was surprised by what he saw: a world centered in many w

FEW literary honors inspire as many mixed emotions as “best” lists. These festivities are still primarily annual, still primarily relegated to Q4, but in recent times the promotional bonanza seems to have exploded, both in terms of the number of lis

WHEN I WAS TEN YEARS OLD I LEARNED A HARD LESSON ABOUT trust—and the value of hard work and the power of humility, but mostly trust—that has endured over the years, solidifying into a kind of fence post in the center of my mind that I’ve held on to d

I AM HERE to tell you about the time I rage-puked with envy over another author’s success. When my first novel came out in summer 2011, I knew very few other writers, so the ones I met that year became not only my instant friends, but also—it was ine

A prize of $1,000, publication by 42 Miles Press, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to give a reading at University of Indiana South Bend in fall 2025. David Dodd Lee will judge. Current or for

Karisma Price of New Orleans won the 2023 Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize for “The Art of London Firearms.” She received $1,000, and her poem was published in the September/October 2023 issue of American Poetry Review. The editors judged. The annual aw

For ten years Split/Lip Press (splitlippress.com) has been dedicated to publishing “boundary-breaking prose” in chapbook- and full-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and hybrid texts. Founded in 2014 as an offshoot of Split Lip Magazine, t

IN 2016, Goodreads surprised me with an e-mail informing me that I had written so many reviews—393, to be exact—I was in the top 1 percent of contributors to the site. Looking at the golden “Top 1%” graphic at my work desk, I was certain there had be

The Writers’ League of Texas (WLT) 2024 Agents & Editors Conference will be held from June 21 to June 23 at the Hyatt Regency on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. The conference features presentations, panels, authors in conversation, and a keynote ad

In her debut poetry collection, Self-Mythology (University of Arkansas Press, April 2024), Saba Keramati explores the shifting nature of the self. In lyrics and a variety of poetic forms, such as the cento and abecedarian, Keramati’s speaker consider

WINNING a writing contest can lead to amazing things beyond a fancy line on your CV, including prize money, publication, and promotion. Contests can also connect you with judges and other writers who respect your work. But as with many aspects of the

Use our Writing Contests database to find details about more than 400 grants and awards for poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators. Filter by genre, deadline, and entry fee to find the best opportunities for you and your

WHAT’S more important than learning to lose? In the social sciences, there is a whole field of inquiry called resilience studies, which examines the question of how people carry their losses and burdens. We’ve all wondered this from time to time—why

Suggested Reading: Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories (Zando, April 2024) by Steve Almond Three decades of writing and teaching culminate in this new craft book by Steve Almond, the author of a dozen bo

If your publisher has asked you for input about your book’s future cover, the more concretely you can illustrate what you have in mind, the easier it is to be on the same page. When you spot a cover you like, research who designed it—the book’s jacke

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Julie Weiss, a poet living in Spain, wrote “Pink Bunny” to express her sorrow, shock, and fear of a wider European conflict and how it might affect her two children. Her poem was published in One Art in April 20

웅녀, 가위눌림, 태몽. THESE are a few of the words written in Hangul in my novel The Stone Home, published by William Morrow in April. They appear midsentence, a sprig of Korean characters in a landscape of English. Though my book has been completed for some

YEARS before I became a published author, I’d heard about author questionnaires, and nothing I’d heard about them was good. Writers whose books lined my shelves often tweeted about having to complete these long and sometimes outdated documents provid

“Woke up at the edge / of Hasbro, / at the guardrail, / with the stinger / still interred.” Children in Tactical Gear (University of Iowa Press, May 2024) by Peter Mishler. Third book, second poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: James McCoy. Publi

Editor in Chief KEVIN LARIMER Senior Editor JEN DEGREGORIO Senior Editor EMMA KOMLOS-HROBSKY  Production Editor MARVA SHI  Features Editor  INDIA LENA GONZÁLEZ  Associate Editor KAREN NG Assistant Editor LUCIANO GRIGERA NAÓN Art Director MURRAY GREEN

WHAT’S better than an opportunity to have your work published by a favorite press, lauded by an author you admire, or honored with a cash prize? How about a chance at these and other prizes at no cost to you? Each year dozens of contests reward write

HAVING worked on peace and justice initiatives for Palestine and Israel for twenty-five years, and published poetry on the subject, I’ve been devastated in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s assault on Gaza. The former killed

“Before I meet Gloria, my life belongs to me.” The Other Profile (Europa Editions, February 2024) by Irene Graziosi, translated from the Italian by Lucy Rand. First book, novel. Agent: Giulia Pietrosanti. Editor: Michael Reynolds. Publicist: Kristi B

The Weird Sister Collection: Writing at the Intersections of Feminism, Literature, and Pop Culture (Feminist Press, February 2024) assembles selections from Weird Sister, a blog launched in 2014 to bridge mainstream cultural and feminist criticism wh