Deadline: October 15, 2020
We are seeking work by survivors of domestic abuse. Creative nonfiction, memoir, flash nonfiction. Maximum word count 4500. Please note that at this time we are not accepting poetry. Deadline: October 15, 2020. The book will be published by McFarland & Company; contributors will receive a complimentary copy. Please send your submission in Word, with a brief cover letter and 50 word bio to Judith Skillman, jskillman54@gmail.com and Linera Lucas; lineralucas@alumni.reed.edu. This text is dedicated to all those who dared to break the silence.
Book News
Contest :: One Month Left to Submit to Orison Anthology Awards
Deadline: August 1, 2020
The 2020 Orison Anthology Awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, & Poetry offer $500 and publication by Orison Books in The Orison Anthology for a single work in each genre. This year’s judges are Blair Hurley (fiction), E. J. Koh (nonfiction), and Joy Ladin (poetry). Entry fee: $15. Submission Period: May 1-August 1. There is now one month left to submit. Find complete details at www.orisonbooks.submittable.com.
Reminder :: Final Month to Submit to the Press 53 Award for Poetry
Deadline: July 31, 2020
Final month to submit! $1,000 and 50 copies will be awarded to an outstanding, unpublished 60-120 page collection of poems. Tom Lombardo, Press 53 Poetry Series Editor, will serve as judge. Press 53 will publish the winning manuscript as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection under a standard publishing contract; all prizes will be awarded upon publication. Deadline: Midnight EST, July 31, 2020. Winner and finalists announced on or before November 1. Reading fee: $30. Complete information at www.press53.com/award-for-poetry/.
Contest :: 2020 Elyse Wolf Prize
Deadline: July 31
Member-run Slate Roof Press is pleased to announce the 2020 Elyse Wolf Prize for our annual poetry chapbook contest. The winner receives $500, becomes an active member of the press, and will have their chapbook published by Slate Roof. We publish limited edition, art-quality chapbooks with letterpress covers. Winners make a 3-year commitment to the press, including monthly meetings, and share work responsibilities for many aspects of publishing. Submit no more than 28 pages of poetry. $10 reading fee; sliding scale available. Deadline July 31. Full guidelines at www.slateroofpress.com.
Reminder :: Main Street Rag Seeks Poetry & Prose on Mental Health Recovery
Don’t forget that Main Street Rag seeks poetry and prose (fiction/nonfiction) for an anthology with a mental health recovery theme; uplifting stories of overcoming mental health challenges and trauma from writers who have experienced a mental illness or love someone who has. Length: up to 6,000 words (prose) or 5 poems. Reading Period: May1-August 1. Simultaneous submissions and previously published considered, however, authors must own the rights (no third-party permissions). Questions may be directed to editor Erika Nichols-Frazer at frazernichols@gmail.com. Submissions should be sent to: mentalhealth.submittable.com/submit.
Reminder :: The Hunger Press Seeks Chapbooks
Deadline: September 1, 2020
Don’t forget that The Hunger Journal has now expanded to include The Hunger Press, starting with their Tiny Fork Chapbook Series. They believe art and literature is eternally important, and want to use this opportunity to welcome new writers and readers into The Hunger community by producing well-designed, dynamic, hand-bound chapbooks. They will be accepting submissions from June 1–September 1. They welcome poetry, prose, and hybrid manuscripts of 15–40 pages. For more details on the Tiny Fork Chapbook Series and submission process, please go to www.thehungerjournal.com/tiny-fork-chapbooks.
Tolsun Books Seeks Volunteers
Tolsun Books is looking to expand our small, collaborative, remote team of volunteers. If you are passionate about energetic works of literature, and have experience in aspects of literary publishing, especially copy-editing and/or proofreading, please send us an email at info@tolsunbooks.com.
NewPages Book Stand – June 2020
This month’s Book Stand is now up at our website. Visit for new and forthcoming book titles, including five featured books.
I’ll Be Here For You: Diary of a Town by Robert McKean is made up of interconnected stories and takes readers to the hardscrabble western Pennsylvania mill town of Ganaego.
In Johnny Cash International: How and Why Fans Love the Man in Black, Michael Hinds and Jonathan Silverman examine Cash’s fan communities and the individuals who comprise them, revealing new insights about music, fandom, and the United States.
Eric Pankey’s Alias: Prose Poems investigates the flexibility and possibility of the prose poem.
Demon Barber by Ruth Bardon explores the grace notes we celebrate in life, and the absences that makes those celebrations ache.
Kari Gunter-Seymour’s A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen explores beyond the boundaries of feminism, science, and spirituality, and renews a sense of understanding and discovery of today’s Appalachian woman.
You can learn more about each of these New & Noteworthy books at our website. Our featured titles can also be found at our our affiliate Bookshop.org. You can find out how to place your book in our New & Noteworthy section here: https://npofficespace.com/classified-advertising/new-title-issue-ad-reservation/.
Reminder :: Palooka Open to Lit Mag & Chapbook Submissions Year-round
Palooka is an international literary magazine. For a decade we’ve featured up-and-coming, established, and brand-new writers, artists, and photographers from all around the world. We’re open to diverse forms and styles and are always seeking unique chapbooks, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, photography, graphic narratives, and comic strips. Issue 11 featured work by Paul Luikart, Duke Stewart, Nils Blondon, Khalilah Okeke, Tim Chapman, Mark Halpern, Clark Merrefield, Leanne Hoppe, Donald Illich, and Malia Nahinu. Give us your best shot! Submissions open year-round. palookamag.com
Contest :: 2022 $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize
Deadline: Rolling
Every year, the University of Arkansas Press accepts submissions for the Miller Williams Poetry Series and from the books selected awards the $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize in the following summer. For almost a quarter century the press has made this series the cornerstone of its work as a publisher of some of the country’s best poetry. The series is edited by Patricia Smith. The deadline for the 2022 Prize is September 30, 2020. For more information visit uapress.com. The 2020 prize winner was Jayson Iwen’s Roze & Blud which was released in March 2020.
Contest :: 2020 Barrow Street Book Prize
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Barrow Street is accepting submissions for the 2020 Book Prize Contest. This year’s contest judge is Pulitzer Prize finalist Dorianne Laux. Past winners include 2019 Simone Savannah collection Uses of My Body, chosen by contest judge Jericho Brown; Meg Day for Last Psalm at Sea Level; Page Hill Stazinger for Vestigial; and Ely Shipley for Boy with Flowers. Prize winner receives publication and $1500 cash prize. Online contest fee $28. Submit manuscripts online here: barrowstreet.org/press/submit/.