Recent Winners
Academy for Teachers STORIES OUT OF SCHOOL FLASH FICTION CONTEST
Jennifer Kaplan of New York City won the 2020 Stories Out of School Flash Fiction Contest for “Field Trip.” She received $1,000. Allie Torgan of Los Angeles was the runner-up for “The Sub.” She received $500. Both of their stories were published on Electric Literature. Susan Choi judged. The annual award is given for flash fiction about teachers and school. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
Academy for Teachers, Stories Out of School Flash Fiction Contest, 10 West 90th Street, New York, NY 10024. Rene Marion, Dean of Fellows. rene@academyforteachers.org academyforteachers.org/stories-out-of-school
Academy of American Poets WALT WHITMAN AWARD
Threa Almontaser of New York City won the 2020 Walt Whitman Award for The Wild Fox of Yemen. She received $5,000; a six-week all-expenses paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy; and publication of her book by Graywolf Press in April 2021. Her work will also be featured on the Academy of American Poets website and in American Poets, and copies of her book will be distributed to thousands of Academy members. Harryette Mullen judged. The annual award is given to a poet who has not published a poetry collection in a standard edition. The next deadline is November 1.
Academy of American Poets, Walt Whitman Award, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038. (212) 274-0343, ext. 13. awards@poets.org www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes /walt-whitman-award
American Academy of Arts and Letters LITERATURE AWARDS
Eighteen writers received awards in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Poet, fiction writer, and nonfiction writer Leslie Marmon Silko of Tucson, Arizona, received the $100,000 Christopher Lightfoot Walker Award, given biennially to a writer who has made a significant contribution to American literature. Nonfiction writer Janine Di Giovanni of New York City received the triennial $25,000 BlakeDodd Prize for achievement in nonfiction. Poet Mary Ruefle of Bennington, Vermont, received the $20,000 Arthur Rense Poetry Prize, given triennially to an “exceptional poet.” Fiction writer Christine Schutt of New York City received the $20,000 Katherine Anne Porter Award, given biennially to “a prose writer whose achievements and dedication to the literary profession have been demonstrated.” Poet Stephen Sexton of Belfast, Northern Ireland, received the $20,000 E. M. Forster Award, given annually to a young writer from the United Kingdom or Ireland for a stay in the United States; Jhumpa Lahiri, Colum McCann, and Paul Muldoon judged. Fiction writer Hanya Yanagihara of New York City received the $20,000 Benjamin Hadley Danks Award, given in alternate years to a composer, a playwright, and a poet or prose writer; this year’s award was given in literature. Nonfiction writer Alex Kotlowitz of Chicago received the $20,000 Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award, given annually to a writer whose work “merits recognition for the quality of its prose style.” Translator Linda Asher of New York City received the $20,000 Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation, given biennially for “a significant contribution to the art of literary translation.” Fiction writer Valeria Luiselli of New York City won the $10,000 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for her novel Lost Children Archive (Knopf). The annual award is given to a “young writer of considerable literary achievement” who has published a book during the previous year. Poet Brenda Hillman of Berkeley, California, received the $10,000 Morton Dauwen Zabel Award, given biennially in rotation to a poet, fiction writer, or critic “of progressive, original, and experimental tendencies”; this year’s
award was given in poetry. Arts and Letters Awards in Literature were given to poet Sandra Lim of Lowell, Massachusetts; poet and nonfiction writer Wayne Koestenbaum of New York City; fiction writers Maaza Mengiste of New York City and Viet Thanh Nguyen of Los Angeles; nonfiction writers Marie Arana of Lima, Peru, and Washington D.C., and Joel Harrington of Nashville; and translator Megan McDowell of Santiago, Chile. They each received $10,000. The annual awards are given to poets, fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and translators to “honor exceptional accomplishment” in literature. Isabella Hammad of Baltimore received the $5,000 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction for her novel, The Parisian (Grove). The annual award honors a debut book of fiction published in the previous year. The awards are given by members of the Academy. There is no application process.
American Academy of Arts and Letters, 633 West 155th Street, New York, NY 10032. (212) 368-5900. www.artsandletters.org
American Poetry Review HONICKMAN FIRST BOOK PRIZE
Chessy Normile of New York City won the 2020 APR/Honickman First Book Prize for Great Exodus, Great Wall, Great Party. She received $3,000, and her collection will be published in September by the American Poetry Review with distribution by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium. Li-Young Lee judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection by a writer who has not yet published a book of poems. The next deadline is October 31.
American Poetry Review, Honickman First Book Prize, 1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103. www.aprweb.org
Ashland Creek Press SISKIYOU PRIZE
Athena E. Copenhaver of Carmel, California, won the 2019 Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature for her novel manuscript “Deep Shade.” She received $1,000 and a residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis, Oregon. Carol J. Adams judged. The biennial award is given for a published or unpublished book of fiction or nonfiction that focuses on the environment, animal protection, ecology, or wildlife. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
Ashland Creek Press, Siskiyou Prize, 2305 Ashland Street, Suite C417, Ashland, OR 97520. John Yunker, Editor. editors@ashlandcreekpress.com siskiyouprize.com
Claremont Graduate University TUFTS POETRY AWARDS
Ariana Reines of New York City won the 28th annual Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for A Sand Book (Tin House Books, 2019). Reines received $100,000 and a weeklong appointment as poetin-residence at Claremont Graduate University. The annual award is given for a book of poetry by a midcareer poet published in the previous year. Tiana Clark of Edwardsville, Illinois, won the 27th annual Kate Tufts Discovery Award for I Can’t Talk About the Trees Without the Blood (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018). Clark received $10,000. The annual award is given for a first book of poetry published in the previous year. The judges for both awards were Timothy Donnelly, Meghan O’Rourke, Khadijah Queen, Luis J. Rodriguez, and Sandy Solomon. The next deadline is July 1.
Claremont Graduate University, Tufts Poetry Awards, 160 East 10th Street, Claremont, CA 91711. (909) 621-8974. arts.cgu.edu/tufts-poetry-awards
Cleveland Foundation ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARDS
Ilya Kaminsky of Atlanta won the 85th annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in poetry for his collection Deaf Republic (Graywolf Press). Namwali Serpell of
San Francisco won the award in fiction for her novel, The Old Drift (Hogarth). Charles King of Washington, D.C., won the award in nonfiction for his book Gods of the Upper Air: How A Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century (Doubleday). Nonfiction writer Eric Foner of New York City won the Lifetime Achievement Award. They each received $10,000. Rita Dove, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Joyce Carol Oates, Steven Pinker, and Simon Schama judged. The annual awards are given to honor books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published in the previous year that “confront racism and examine diversity.” The next deadline is December 31.
Cleveland Foundation, Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1300, Cleveland, OH 44115. (216) 861-3810. www.anisfield-wolf.org
Codhill Press PAULINE UCHMANOWICZ POETRY AWARD
Grant Clauser of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, won the 2019 Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award for Muddy Dragon on the Road to Heaven. He received $1,000, publication of his book by Codhill Press, and 25 author copies. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. The next deadline is December 30.
Codhill Press, Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award, P.O. Box 4263, Kingston, NY 12402 James Sherwood, Contest Coordinator. www.codhill.com
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales POETRY PRIZE
D. L. Pearlman of Norfolk, Virginia, won the 2019 Dogfish Head Poetry Prize for Normal They Napalm the Cottonfields. He received $500, publication by Broadkill River Press, 10 author copies, and two cases of Dogfish Head beer. He also received lodging expenses to give a reading at the Dogfish Inn in Lewes, Delaware. Joseph Millar judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection written by a poet living in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., or West Virginia. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, Poetry Prize, c/o Broadkill River Press, P.O. Box 63, Milton, DE 19968. Linda Blaskey, Contest Coordinator. dogfishheadpoetryprize@earthlink.net www.broadkillriverpress.com
Dogwood LITERARY AWARDS
Fay Dillof of Berkeley, California, won the 2020 Award in Poetry for “Dear You.” Rebecca Timson of Seattle won the Award in Fiction for “Arbor Day.” Rhonda Zimlich of Eugene, Oregon, won the Award in Nonfiction for “The Ritual of Smoking.” They each received $1,000 and their works were published in the 2020 issue of Dogwood. Ellen Doré Watson judged in poetry, Ladee Hubbard judged in fiction, and Daisy Hernández judged in nonfiction. The
annual awards are given for a poem, a short story, and an essay. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Dogwood, Literary Awards, Fairfield University, English Department, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. (203) 254-4000, ext. 2565. Sonya Huber, Editor. shuber@fairfield.edu www.dogwoodliterary.com
Ex Ophidia Press POETRY BOOK PRIZE
Karina Borowicz of Belchertown, Massachusetts, won the fourth annual Ex Ophidia Press Poetry Book Prize for Rosetta. She received $1,000, and her book will be published by Ex Ophidia Press in summer 2020. Sharon Cumberland, Gregory Richter, and Richard-Gabriel Rummonds judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Ex Ophidia Press, Poetry Book Prize, 220 Parfitt Way SW, Apt 111, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. (360) 385-9966. Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Publisher. exophidiapress.org
Fish Publishing FLASH FICTION PRIZE
Kim Catanzarite of Medford Lakes, New Jersey, won the 2020 Flash Fiction Prize for “Morning Routine.” She received €1,000 (approximately $1,090) and publication in the 2020 Fish Anthology. Tania Hershman judged. The annual award is given for a work of flash fiction. The next deadline is February 28, 2021.
SHORT MEMOIR PRIZE
Noelle McCarthy of Auckland, New Zealand, won the 2020 Short Memoir Prize for “Buck Rabbit.” She received €1,000 (approximately $1,090) and publication in the 2020 Fish Anthology. David Shields judged. The annual award is given for an essay. The next deadline is January 31, 2021.
Fish Publishing, Durrus, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland. Clem Cairns, Editor. info@fishpublishing.com www.fishpublishing.com
Furious Flower POETRY PRIZE
Diamond Forde of Tallahassee, Florida, won the 2020 Furious Flower Poetry Prize for “Genesis,” “Exodus,” and
“Book of Laws.” She received $1,000 and publication in Obsidian, and will give a reading at James Madison University.
Kei Miller judged. The annual award is given for a group of poems exploring Black themes. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
Furious Flower, Poetry Prize, James Madison University, 500 Cardinal Drive, MSC 3802, Harrisonburg, VA 22807. furiousflower@jmu.edu www.jmu.edu/furiousflower/poetryprize
Gemini Magazine POETRY OPEN
Carolanne Conerly Griffin of Louisville, Kentucky, won the 2020 Poetry Open for “Ghetto Gold.” She received $1,000, and her poem was published in the March 2020 issue of Gemini Magazine. The editors judged. The annual award is given for a poem. The next deadline is January 2, 2021.
Gemini Magazine, Poetry Open, P.O. Box 1485, Onset, MA 02558. (339) 309-9757. David Bright, Editor. editor@gemini-magazine.com www.gemini-magazine.com
Great Lakes Colleges Association NEW WRITERS AWARDS
Aaron Coleman of Saint Louis won the 2020 New Writers Award in poetry for his poetry collection, Threat Come Close (Four Way Books). Eric Schlich of Memphis won in fiction for his story collection, Quantum Convention (University of North Texas Press).
Sarah Viren of Tempe, Arizona, won in creative nonfiction for her essay collection, Mine (University of New Mexico Press). The winners will each receive a travel stipend and an honorarium of $500 per visit to several of the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s 13 member colleges, where they will give readings, meet with students, and lead classes. Christopher Bakken, Chandra Feldman, and Janet McAdams judged in poetry; Peter Grandbois, Mary Lacey, and Christiana Salah judged in fiction; and Amy Butcher, Peter Graham, and Bruce Mills judged in creative nonfiction. The annual awards are given for first books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published in the previous year. The next deadline is June 25.
Great Lakes Colleges Association, New Writers Awards, 535 West William Street, Suite 301, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Gregory Wegner, Director of Program Development. wegner@glca.org www.glca.org/glcaprograms/new-writers-award
Grid Books OFF THE GRID POETRY PRIZE
Dennis Hinrichsen of Lansing, Michigan, won the 2020 Off the Grid Poetry Prize for This Is Where I Live I Have Nowhere Else to Go. He received $1,000, and his book will be published by Grid Books. Jon Davis judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection by a poet over the age of 60. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Grid Books, Off the Grid Poetry Prize, 24 Quincy Street, Somerville, MA 02143. info@grid-books.org www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press
Howling Bird Press BOOK CONTEST
John Medeiros of Minneapolis won the 2020 Howling Bird Press Book Contest for his memoir, Self, Divided. He received $1,000, and his book will be published by Howling Bird Press in the fall. The annual award is given in alternating years for a poetry collection, book of fiction, and book of nonfiction. The 2021 prize will be awarded in poetry. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Howling Bird Press, Book Contest, Augsburg University, 219 Memorial Hall, 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454. James Cihlar, Publisher. cihlar@augsburg.edu augsburg.edu/mfa/howling-bird-press
Jewish Book Council BERRU NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY
Ilya Kaminsky of Atlanta won the 2019 Berru National Jewish Book Award for Poetry for Deaf Republic (Graywolf Press). He received $1,000 and promotion of the book through the Jewish Book Council. The annual award, which honors Ruth and Bernie Weinflash, is given for a book of poetry with Jewish themes published during the previous year. The next deadline is October 2.
Jewish Book Council, Berru National Jewish Book Award for Poetry, 520 8th Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018. (212) 201-2920. Naomi Firestone-Teeter, Executive Director. njba@jewishbooks.org www.jewishbookcouncil.org
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation WRITING FELLOWSHIPS
Twenty-five writers received 2020 Guggenheim Fellowships in creative writing. The fellows in poetry are Michael Dickman of Princeton, New Jersey; Janice N. Harrington of Champaign, Illinois; Ada Limón of Lexington, Kentucky; Philip Metres of Cleveland; Aimee Nezhukumatathil of Oxford, Mississippi; Lisa Olstein of Austin, Texas; Jana Prikryl of New York City;
Diane Seuss of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Brian Teare of Charlottesville, Virginia. The fellows in fiction are Oscar Cásares of Austin, Texas; Garth Greenwell of Iowa City; Yiyun Li of Princeton, New Jersey; Valeria Luiselli, Sigrid Nunez, and Helen Phillips, all of New York City; Celeste Ng of Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Susan Steinberg of San Francisco. The fellows in nonfiction are Jenny Boully of Evanston, Illinois; Michael Frank of New York City and Liguria, Italy; Jeff Goodell of Austin, Texas; Lacy M. Johnson of Houston; Rebecca Mead of London; Alexander Rose of Chappaqua, New York; Rachel Louise Snyder of Washington, D.C.; and Amy Wilentz of Los Angeles. The fellowships of approximately $50,000 each are given annually in recognition of “achievement and exceptional promise.” As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Writing Fellowships, 90 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016. www.gf.org
Langum Foundation PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION
Mark Barr of Little Rock, Arkansas, won the 2019 David J. Langum Sr. Prize for American Historical Fiction for Watershed (Hub City Press). He received $1,000. The annual award is given for a work of historical fiction published in the previous year that “helps to make the rich history of America accessible to the general reader.” The next deadline is December 1.
Langum Foundation, Prize for American Historical Fiction, 2809 Berkeley Drive, Birmingham, AL 35242.
djlangum@samford.edu langumfoundation.org
Ledbury Poetry Festival POETRY COMPETITION
Elisabeth Murawski of Alexandria, Virginia, won the 2019 Poetry Competition for “Duplex.” She received £1,000 (approximately $1,235); a course at Ty Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales; publication of her poem on the Ledbury Poetry Festival website; and an invitation to read at the festival in July. Daljit Nagra judged. The annual award is given for a poem. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Ledbury Poetry Festival, Poetry Competition, Master’s House, Bye Street, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 1EA, United Kingdom. Sandra Dudley, Finance Manager. finance@poetry-festival.co.uk www.poetry-festival.co.uk/ledbury-poetry -competition
Michigan Quarterly Review LAWRENCE FOUNDATION PRIZE
Sean Gill of New York City won the 42nd annual Lawrence Foundation Prize for his story “Dignity and Urgency in Edinburgh and London,” which appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. He received $2,000. Laura Kasischke judged. The annual award is given for a story published in Michigan Quarterly Review in the previous year. There is no application process.
LAURENCE GOLDSTEN POETRY PRIZE
Carolyn Oliver of Worcester, Massachusetts, won the 18th annual Laurence Goldstein Poetry Prize for “Reading Szymborska Under a Harvest Moon.” She received $500, and the poem will be published in the Summer 2020 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. Linda Gregerson judged. The annual award is given for a single poem. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
PAGE DAVIDSON CLAYTON PRIZE
Arash Saedinia of Los Angeles won the 11th annual Page Davidson Clayton Prize for Emerging Poets for “Proof,” which appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review. He received $500. Katie Willingham judged. The annual award is given for a poem or group of poems published in Michigan Quarterly Review by a poet who has not published a book at the time of publication in the journal. There is no application process.
Michigan Quarterly Review, University of Michigan, 0576 Rackham Building, 915 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. mqr@umich.edu www.michiganquarterlyreview.com
National Book Critics Circle BOOK AWARDS
Morgan Parker of Los Angeles received the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry for Magical Negro (Tin House Books). The finalists were Jericho Brown of Atlanta for The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press); Ilya Kaminsky of Atlanta for Deaf Republic (Graywolf Press); Mary Ruefle of Bennington, Vermont, for Dunce (Wave Books); and Brian Teare of Charlottesville, Virginia, for Doomstead Days (Nightboat Books). Edwidge Danticat of Miami received the fiction award for her story collection Everything Inside (Knopf). The finalists were Myla Goldberg of New York City for Feast Your Eyes (Scribner); Ben Lerner of New York City for The Topeka School (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Valeria Luiselli of New York City for Lost Children Archive (Knopf); and Colson Whitehead of New York
City for The Nickel Boys (Doubleday). Chanel Miller of San Francisco received the autobiography award for Know My Name (Viking). The finalists were Laura Cumming of London for Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother’s Disappearance as a Child (Scribner); Ronan Farrow of New York City for Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators (Little, Brown); Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman of Newport, Kentucky, for Sounds Like Titanic (Norton); and Mira Jacob of New York City for Good Talk (One World). Patrick Radden Keefe of New York City won the nonfiction award for Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (Doubleday). The finalists were Kate Brown of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., for Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future (Norton); Peter Hessler of Cairo for The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution (Penguin Press); Walt Odets of Berkeley, California, for Out of the Shadows: Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); and Rachel Louise Snyder of Washington, D.C., for No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us (Bloomsbury). Josh Levin of Washington, D.C., won the biography award for The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth (Little, Brown). The finalists were Charles King of Washington, D.C., for Gods of the Upper Air: How A Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century (Doubleday); Lucasta Miller of London for L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated “Female Byron” (Knopf); George Packer of New York City for Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (Knopf); and Sonia Purnell of London for A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II (Viking). Saidiya Hartman of New York City received the criticism award for Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval (Norton). The finalists were Hanif Abdurraqib of Columbus, Ohio, for Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest (University of Texas Press); Lydia Davis of Albany, New York, for Essays One (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Peter Schjeldahl of New York City for Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light: 100 Art Writings 1988–2018 (Abrams); and Maria Tumarkin of Melbourne, Australia, for Axiomatic (Transit Books). The National Book Critics Circle, a professional organization composed of 750 book critics and reviewers from across the country, select the winners of the annual awards, which honor books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published in the previous year. The next deadline is December 1.
JOHN LEONARD PRIZE
Sarah M. Broom of New York City won the John Leonard Prize for her memoir, The Yellow House (Grove Atlantic). The annual award is given for a first book in any genre. There is no application process. National Book Critics Circle, c/o Marion Winik, Treasurer, 4600 Keswick Road, Baltimore, MD 21210. info@bookcritics.org bookcritics.org
New Millennium Writings NEW MILLENNIUM AWARDS
Hannah Perrin King of Cool, California, won the 48th annual New Millennium Poetry Award for “Addendum.” Cora Cruz of New York City won the Fiction Prize for “Free Energy.” Kristina Woods of New Canaan, Connecticut, won the Flash Fiction Prize for “Getaway.” Laura Rose of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, won the Nonfiction Prize for “Gracias a la Vida.” They each received $1,000, and their winning works will be published in New Millennium Writings and on the journal’s website. The awards are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay. (SEE DEADLINES.)
New Millennium Writings, New Millennium Awards, 4021 Garden Drive, Knoxville, TN 37918. Alexis Williams Carr, Editor. www.newmillenniumwritings.org
Nightboat Books POETRY PRIZE
Muriel Leung of Los Angeles won the 2019 Nightboat Poetry Prize for Imagine Us, The Swarm. She received $1,000, publication of her book by Nightboat Books, and 25 author copies. Kazim Ali judged. The annual award is given for a poetry collection. The next deadline is November 15. Nightboat Books, Poetry Prize, 310 Nassau Avenue #205, Brooklyn, NY 11222. info@nightboat.org nightboat.org
North Carolina Writers’ Network ROSE POST CREATIVE NONFICTION COMPETITION
Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin of Cullowhee, North Carolina, won the 2020 Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition for “Plum Song.” She received $1,000, and her essay will be considered for publication in Ecotone. Jane Wong judged. The annual award is given for an essay that “is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The next deadline is January 15, 2021.
JACOBS/JONES AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY PRIZE
Barbara Johnson-Davis of Charlotte, North Carolina, won the 2020 Jacobs/ Jones African American Literary Prize for “The Last Straw.” She received $1,000, and her story will be considered for publication in the Carolina Quarterly. Bridgette A. Lacy judged. The annual award is given for a short story or an essay by an African American writer who resides in North Carolina. The next deadline is January 2, 2021.
North Carolina Writers’ Network, P.O. Box 21591, Winston-Salem, NC 27120. Ed Southern, Contact. ed@ncwriters.org www.ncwriters.org
PEN America EMERGING VOICES FELLOWSHIPS
Five writers received 2020 Emerging Voices Fellowships from PEN America. They are poet Megan Dorame of Santa Ana, California, and fiction writers Shannon Gatewood and Claire Lin and nonfiction writers Damien Belliveau and M. Kiguwa, all of Los Angeles. They will each receive $1,000 and professional mentorship with an established writer. They will also participate in public readings and other programming in Los Angeles and attend courses at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. The annual awards are given to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
PEN America, Emerging Voices Fellowships, 8444 Wilshire Boulevard, Fourth Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. afletcher@pen.org www.pen.org/emerging-voices-fellowship
PEN/Faulkner Foundation AWARD FOR FICTION
Chloe Aridjis of London won the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for her novel
Sea Monsters (Catapult). She received $15,000. The finalists were Yiyun Li of Princeton, New Jersey, for her novel Where Reason Ends (Random House); Peter Rock of Portland, Oregon, for his novel The Night Swimmers (Soho Press); Maurice Carlos Ruffin of New Orleans for his novel, We Cast a Shadow (One World); and Ocean Vuong of Northampton, Massachusetts, for his novel,
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press). They each received $5,000. Patricia Engel, Ru Freeman, and Porochista Khakpour judged. The annual award is given for a work of fiction by a U.S. writer published in the previous year. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
PEN/Faulkner Foundation, Award for Fiction, 641 South Street, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001. (202) 898-9063.
www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction
Perugia Press PERUGIA PRESS PRIZE
Jacqueline Balderrama of Salt Lake City won the 2020 Perugia Press Prize for Now In Color. She received $1,000, and her book will be published by Perugia Press in September. The annual award is given for a first or second book of poetry by a woman. The next deadline is November 15. Perugia Press, Perugia Press Prize, P.O. Box 60364, Florence, MA 01062. Rebecca Olander, Director. www.perugiapress.com
Ploughshares ALICE HOFFMAN PRIZE FOR FICTION
Mario Alberto Zambrano of New York City won the 2019 Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction for his story “Some of You,” which was published in the Spring 2019 issue of Ploughshares. He received $2,500. The editors judged. The annual award is given for a work of fiction published in the journal in the previous year. There is no application process.
Ploughshares, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. (617) 824-3757. Ellen Duffer, Managing Editor. pshares@pshares.org www.pshares.org
Poetry Society of America FOUR QUARTETS PRIZE
Brian Teare of Charlottesville, Virginia, won the 2020 Four Quartets Prize for his poem “Toxics Release Inventory (Essay on Man)” from his collection Doomstead Days (Nightboat Books, 2019). Teare received $20,000. The finalists were Ilya Kaminsky of Atlanta for Deaf Republic (Graywolf Press, 2019) and Prageeta Sharma of Claremont, California, for Grief Sequence (Wave Books, 2019). The finalists each received $1,000. The annual award, cosponsored by the T. S. Eliot Foundation, is given for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in the United States during the previous year. Cyrus Cassells, Forrest Gander, and Maureen McLane judged. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
FROST MEDAL
Toi Derricotte of Pittsburgh won the 2020 Frost Medal. Derricotte, whose most recent poetry collection is “I”: New and Selected Poems (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019), received $5,000. The annual award is given by the Poetry Society of America Board of Governors to recognize distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry. There is no application process.
Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. www.poetrysociety.org
Poets & Writers, Inc. JACKSON POETRY PRIZE
Ed Roberson of Chicago won the 14th annual Jackson Poetry Prize. Roberson, whose most recent book, Asked What Has Changed, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press in 2021, received $70,000. Nikky Finney, Anne Waldman, and Robert Wrigley judged. The annual award is given to “an American poet of exceptional talent who deserves wider recognition.” There is no application process. Poets & Writers, Inc., 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. (212) 226-3586. www.pw.org
Pulitzer Prizes PRIZES IN LETTERS
Jericho Brown of Atlanta won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press). The finalists were Dorianne Laux of Raleigh, North Carolina, for Only as the Day Is Long:
New and Selected Poems (Norton) and Mary Ruefle of Bennington, Vermont, for Dunce (Wave Books); Marilyn Chin, Adam Kirsch, and Patrick Phillips judged. Colson Whitehead of New York City won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for The Nickel Boys (Doubleday). The finalists were Ben Lerner of New York City for The Topeka School (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and Ann Patchett of Nashville for The Dutch House (Harper); Marie Arana, Eric Banks, Min Jin Lee, Danielle Trussoni, and Oscar Villalon judged. Benjamin Moser of Les Eyziesde-Tayac-Sireuil, France, received the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in biography for Sontag: Her Life and Work (Ecco). The finalists were the late Deirdre Bair for Parisian Lives: Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Me (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) and George Packer of New York City for Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (Knopf); Kai Bird, David I. Kertzer, and Theodore Rosengarten judged. Anne Boyer of Kansas City, Missouri, and Greg Grandin of New Haven, Connecticut, both won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction; Boyer won for The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and Grandin won for The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America (Metropolitan Books). The finalists were Louise Aronson of San Francisco for Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life (Bloomsbury) and Albert Woodfox of New Orleans with Leslie George of Syracuse, New York, for Solitary (Grove Atlantic); Christopher Carduff, Anne Fadiman, Anand Gopal, Gilbert King, and John Leland judged. The winners each received $15,000. The annual awards honor books by U.S. writers published in the United States during the previous year. The annual deadlines are June 15 and October 1.
Pulitzer Prizes, Prizes in Letters, Columbia University, 709 Pulitzer Hall, 2950 Broadway, New York, NY 10027.
(212) 854-3841. pulitzer@pulitzer.org www.pulitzer.org
Rattle POETRY PRIZE READERS’ CHOICE AWARD
James Davis May of Macon, Georgia, won the 2019 Rattle Poetry Prize Readers’ Choice Award for “Red in Tooth and Claw.” He received $2,000, and his poem was published in Issue 66 of Rattle. The editors selected the finalists and Rattle subscribers chose the winner. The annual award is given for a poem. The next deadline is July 15.
NEIL POSTMAN AWARD FOR METAPHOR
Craig van Rooyen of San Luis Obispo, California, won the 2020 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor for “Siege Machinery.” He received $2,000, and his poem was published in Issue 64 of Rattle. The editors judged. The annual award is given for a poem “exhibiting the best use of metaphor” among submissions to Rattle received during the previous year. There is no application process.
Rattle, 12411 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604. (818) 505-6777. Timothy Green, Editor. tim@rattle.com www.rattle.com
Red Hen Press NOVELLA AWARD
Thea Prieto of Portland, Oregon, won the 2019 Novella Award for From the Caves. She received $1,000, and her novella will be published by Red Hen Press in fall 2021. Doug Lawson judged. The annual award is given for a novella. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Red Hen Press, Novella Award, P.O. Box 40820, Pasadena, CA 91114. (626) 406-1203. Rebeccah Sanhueza, Editorial Assistant. editorial@redhen.org www.redhen.org
Stone Canoe LITERARY AWARDS
Danny Bunyavong of New York City won the 2020 Bea Gonzalez Prize for Poetry for “Where the Dead May Speak.” E. S. Love of Syracuse, New York, won the Robert Colley Prize for Fiction for his story “Dancing With My Daughter.” They each received $500, and their winning works were published in Issue 14 of Stone Canoe. The editors judged. The annual awards are given for a poem and a story by writers who are current or former residents of upstate New York. (SEE DEADLINES.)
Stone Canoe, Literary Awards, c/o YMCA Downtown Writers Center, 340 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, NY 13202. Phil Memmer, Executive Director. ycny.org/stone-canoe
The Story Prize
Edwidge Danticat of Miami won the 2019 Story Prize for Everything Inside (Knopf). She received $20,000. The finalists were Kali Fajardo-Anstine of Denver for Sabrina & Corina (One World) and Zadie Smith of New York City for Grand Union (Penguin Press). They each received $5,000. Jo Ann Beard, Ron Charles, and Veronica Santiago Liu judged. Ayşe Papatya Bucak of Boca Raton, Florida, won the 2019 Story Prize Spotlight Award for The Trojan War Museum (Norton). She received $1,000. Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey judged. The annual awards are given for short story collections published during the previous year. (SEE DEADLINES.)
The Story Prize, 41 Watchung Plaza, #384, Montclair, NJ 07042. Larry Dark, Director. info@thestoryprize.org www.thestoryprize.org
Tucson Festival of Books LITERARY AWARDS
Laura Apol of Lyons, Michigan, won the 2020 poetry award for “Mothering” and other poems. Tara Deal of New York
City won the fiction award for her novel excerpt “Life / Insurance.” Jenny Fran Davis of Iowa City won the nonfiction award for her essay “Style Guide.” Gina Franco judged in poetry, Ann Harleman judged in fiction, and Bruce Holsinger judged in nonfiction. The winners each received $1,000. The annual awards are given for a group of poems, a short story or novel excerpt, and an essay or memoir excerpt. The next deadline is October 31.
Tucson Festival of Books, Literary Awards, P.O. Box 855, Cortaro, AZ 85652. Meg Files, Director. masters@tucsonfestivalofbooks.org tucsonfestivalofbooks.org
University of Pittsburgh Press DRUE HEINZ LITERATURE PRIZE
Caroline Kim of Walnut Creek, California, won the 2020 Drue Heinz Literature Prize for The Prince of Mournful Thoughts. She received $15,000, and her book will be published by University of Pittsburgh Press. Alexander Chee judged. The annual award is given for a collection of short fiction. The next deadline is June 30.
University of Pittsburgh Press, Drue Heinz Literature Prize, 7500 Thomas Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. info@pitt.edu www.upress.pitt.edu
Winning Writers TOM HOWARD/MARGARET REID POETRY CONTEST
Melissa Studdard of Cypress, Texas, won the Tom Howard Poetry Contest for “Migration Patterns.” Chelsea Dingman of Edmonton, Alberta, won the Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for “Psychogeography.” They each received $2,000, publication on the Winning Writers website, and a two-year gift certificate from Duotrope. Soma Mei Sheng
Frazier judged. The annual awards are given for a poem in any style and a poem written in a traditional style. The next deadline is September 30.
Winning Writers, Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060. Adam Cohen, President. winningwriters.com