INFO: Breath of Life—Miles Davis, Fatoumata Diawara and 14 covers of 3 Stevie Wonder songs

Classic music from Miles Davis, followed by new music from Malian vocalist/songwriter Fatoumata Diawara, and closing out with covers of Stevie Wonder featuring Tok Tok Tok, Peter Martin, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Tuck & Patti, Nguyen Le, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luther Vandross, Nnenna Freelon, Hank Crawford, Nancy Wilson, Sergio Mendes & Brazil ‘77, Cal Tjader & Carmen McRae, and Stephane Belmondo.

>http://www.kalamu.com/bol/

 

 

 

The age-old truth about our people is our ability to adopt and adapt other cultures thereby creating not only something new but also creating incredibly beautiful hybrids. Hendrix envy notwithstanding, Miles Davis was a master of sophisticated cool jazz, and was never a master of rock or funk. The beauty of Bitches Brew is that the recording ushered in the fusion movement, which ushered to the frontlines musicians and forms that never otherwise would have been considered jazz. I say ‘beauty’ because the immense strength of black music is that the music can genuinely make room for everybody regardless of their ethnic or class background.

Fusion music with its heavy backbeat never intended to swing, moreover in the long run as all the jazz fusion records make clear the predominant influence became rock rather than funk. Many of us old jazz heads have major issues with fusion jazz, not the least of which is the absence of swing but like Courtney Pine said about some Eastern European jazz cats, they had no intentions of swinging. And that’s ok, that’s their prerogative. 

—kalamu ya salaam

HEALTH: Kidney Trade > bombasticelement.org

Kidney Trade

 

A revealing piece over at the Daily Trust tells stories of Nigerians traveling to countries like Malaysia to sell off their kidneys for $10,000, which amounts to the capital many of them need to lift themselves and their loved ones out of poverty. Excerpt:
Mike, also from Edo, sold his kidney in Malaysia and returned back to the country recently. Like Eghosa, he says he was paid $10, 000.00 for his kidney. He says he was left with no choice because it was either he sells one of his kidneys or sits down to watch two of his younger sisters who just graduated from a sewing school become prostitutes because they have no money to set themselves up. He now feels a sense of justification for his action even though he now worries that he is still young and at any time in the future his remaining kidney might not be able to serve him if he falls sick. Mike says there were a lot of people in the queue in Malaysia, most of them Nigerians, who have gone to sell their kidneys. Like him, those who took the risk needed money desperately to start something that will turn their lives around. Back in the country, he now thinks of a suitable business that will keep him out of the reach of poverty forever.

Above, insightful scene from Stephen Frears' 2002 sleeper hit about organ trading, Dirty Pretty Things, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou. Below, scholar Nils Gilman's 2009 lecture on the "Global Illicit Economy" or "Deviant Globalization" - @ 2:19 mins in, he lays out the global economics of illicit organ trading:

 

 

 

 

 

__________________________

 

 

photo by Alex Lear

 

Read a Kalamu ya Salaam short story about buying human organs.

SHORT STORY: ANYONE WHO HAS A HEART

 

 

 

A LUTA CONTINUA: African Americans versus Afro-Caribbean and African immigrants > AFRO-EUROPE

African Americans versus

Afro-Caribbean and

African immigrants

Wednesday, June 17, 2009


A post about a flick called the 'The Neo African Americans' on the blog Shadow and Act, reminded me of an article about an African-American Harvard graduate who found out that a high percentage of 'blacks' on Harvard where from Africa and the Caribbean.

Since she was also the director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, she wanted to know how black immigrant students would fit in that goal of correcting American racial injustices.

In the story entitled 'Among Black Students, Many Immigrants' African-American students were quoted: " Last month, a Harvard Black Students Association message board asked, "When we use the term 'black community,' who is included in this description?" A lively debate ensued, with some posters complaining that African students were getting an admissions boost without having faced the historical suffering of U.S. blacks."


I think this will always be a problem. When the French NAACP, Le Cran, pushed for an investigation into the racial discrimination in France, immediately the French organisation of the French overseas departments (D’outre-mer) made the distinction that blacks from the French Caribbean Islands were different from blacks from Africa, because of their French status.

Maybe it’s time to look at what binds black people from the different countries. Is it race, skin colour, racism, being studied, music, sports, black experience, black men versus black women, slavery, colonialism, segregation, freedom, immigration, identity, selling out, bleaching, crime, ghetto, poverty, struggle, giving back, diaspora, rising, black history, Africa, Caribbean, US, Europe, dislocation, crises, war, Afro, protest, revolution, being the first … ? To be honest, I don’t know.

The documentary ' The Neo African Americans' shows the different shades of black. In a way, a cliché.

 

 

 

__________________________

Among Black Students,

Many Immigrants


By CARA ANNA
The Associated Press 
Monday, April 30, 2007; 10:32 AM

NEW YORK -- Something in the crowd made Shirley Wilcher wonder. As a college graduate in the early 1970s, her black classmates were like herself _ born in the United States, to American parents. But at an alumni reunion at Mount Holyoke College last year, she saw something different and asked for admissions data to prove it.

"My suspicions were confirmed," said Wilcher, now the executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action. She found a rise in the number of black students from Africa and the Caribbean, and a downturn in admissions of native blacks like her.

A study released this year put numbers on the trend. Among students at 28 top U.S. universities, the representation of black students of first- and second-generation immigrant origin (27 percent) was about twice their representation in the national population of blacks their age (13 percent). Within the Ivy League, immigrant-origin students made up 41 percent of black freshmen.

The study, published in the American Journal of Education, found no definitive answer as to why the change is happening. However, "folks I know personally who have worked in admissions have told me that they weren't surprised," said Camille Charles, a University of Pennsylvania professor who wrote the study with three Princeton University professors.Wilcher would like to know why. She asks if her cause has lost its way on U.S. campuses, with the goal of correcting American racial injustices replaced by a softer ideal of diversity _ as if any black student will do.

The researchers looked at data from a national survey of 1,028 freshmen at 28 top colleges and universities in 1999. The eight-year-old material was used because it was specially designed to help find reasons for underachievement by minorities at colleges and universities.

In terms of student background, it found few differences, noting only that far more black immigrant students had fathers with college or advanced degrees than did other black students.

But the authors suggested that the reason for high proportion of immigrant students may lie in how the students are perceived.

"To white observers, black immigrants seem more polite, less hostile, more solicitous, and 'easier to get along with,'" the study said. "Native blacks are perceived in precisely the opposite fashion."

That idea immediately found detractors.

"I can't speak for white people, but that's crazy," said Adoma Adjei-Brenyah, a Columbia University student with college-educated parents from Ghana.

The director of public policy for the National Association for College Admission Counseling agreed. "I reject the notion that admissions officers are somehow deliberately doing this," David Hawkins said.

One legal expert explained the bump in black immigrants by saying that now, decades since the civil rights movement's peak, college diversity is aimed less at correcting American racial injustices and more at creating a variety of perspectives on campus.

Besides, "how many colleges and universities are looking to stand up and say, 'I'm continuing not to cure the problems of the past?'" said Arthur Coleman, a lawyer who co-wrote "Admissions and Diversity After Michigan: The Next Generation of Legal and Policy Issues."

Students agreed the subject of native vs. immigrant background remains sensitive.

Last month, a Harvard Black Students Association message board asked, "When we use the term 'black community,' who is included in this description?" A lively debate ensued, with some posters complaining that African students were getting an admissions boost without having faced the historical suffering of U.S. blacks.

Jason Lee, the Harvard group's president, echoed another thought in the discussion. "There's a historical sense that black Americans are disrespected by immigrants," he said. "Parents don't want their kids to play with them, don't want bad habits rubbing off on them. There's a bit of tension there."

But Adjei-Brenyah, the president of the African Students Association at Columbia, argued that drawing an admissions distinction based on suffering under slavery is false. "If you're going to make a slavery case, people from the Caribbean were also displaced and enslaved. How do you begin to differentiate?" he said.

The issue of native vs. immigrant blacks took hold at Harvard in 2004, when professors Henry Louis Gates and Lani Guinier pointed out at a black alumni reunion that a majority of attendees were of African or Caribbean origin. Gates and Guinier cited demographic information in the "Black Guide to Life at Harvard," a survey of 70 percent of black undergraduates published by the BSA.

In part because of the issue, native black alumni have distanced themselves from Harvard, Lee said. That means fewer are conducting admissions interviews with prospective American-born black students, Lee said, so interviewers from other backgrounds, including immigrant backgrounds, step in.

"I think in that situation, perceptions could come into play," Lee said.

The Harvard admissions office declined comment.

The second edition of the "Black Guide" is being prepared now, and Lee expects another angry response _ if the university releases the updated information.

So far, he said, Lee said, it has not.

 

 

GRAPHICS: Emory Douglas - Art for the People! > kiss my black ads

Field Notes: Emory Douglas

 

 

by Kristy Tillman

In light of all the buzz about newly released documentary The Black Power Mixtape, I thought it would be fitting to highlight Emory Douglas. Douglas was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party and the force behind the extremely effective and prolific graphic communications pieces of the Black Panther party, most notably the BPP's newspaper. Douglas was trained as an artist designer at the City College of San Francisco. It was there he received foundational lessons on typography and image making. He credits his time there as essential to learning to make messages with meaning. He would eventually come to offer his design skills to the BPP around 1967 after a meeting with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and becoming an official member. He has a secure place on my all time top 5 favorite designers list. Douglasʼ work exemplifies the notion of design for social impact employing human centered design principles at their barest essence. He truly designed with, not for. 

 


The potent and often very literal images created by Douglas were expressly designed to carry the message of the BPP while contending with the high illiteracy rates in the communities they served. Douglas became a master of distilling often complex messages down into digestible easily understood visual “sound” bytes. This functional aspect undergirded every piece and served to propel the message of the BPP. By the 1970s the newspaper reached hundreds of thousands across the United States. 


He also employed a variety of very cost effective techniques in his work including mimeographs, photostats, lithographs, screentones and offset printing. Douglas did not allow the confines of traditionally low resolution techniques to become a stumbling block for creating images. He effectively used the inherent benefits of the technologies to his advantage.

 


Douglas continues to work as a graphic artist in San Francisco lending his legendary talent to causes in social justice such as black on black crime and HIV/AIDs issues.


 

 

 

 

 

 

TROY DAVIS: A Wrenching Night of Global Solidarity as Georgia Kills Troy Davis > COLORLINES

A Wrenching Night

of Global Solidarity

as Georgia Kills Troy Davis

Protesters chant Anti-death penalty slogans for Davis, hopeful he will receive a stay. Stephen Morton/AP Photo

Thursday, September 22 2011

Wednesday night was a heart-wrenching ordeal for the family, friends and supporters of Troy Davis, who was executed by the state of Georgia. The 42-year-old black man was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of a white, off-duty police officer. Substantial doubt has surrounded the conviction ever since, and people ranging from former FBI director William Sessions to one of the original jurors begged Georgia’s Board of Pardons and Parole to stop the killing. It refused.

As hundreds gathered Wednesday night for a peaceful vigil outside of the Jackson, Ga., prison where Davis was to be executed, Davis’s legal team fought for his life right to the end. The U.S Supreme Court delayed the execution moments before it began, but a little more than three hours later it declined to issue a stay. The state killed Davis and pronounced him dead at 11:08 p.m. Davis’s last words were reportedly, “May God have mercy on your souls.”


Troy_Davis_family2.jpg

(Clockwise from right) Surrounded by family and friends, Troy Davis’ sister Martina Davis-Correia (center) talks with media and those gathered at Towaliga County Line Baptist Church across from the prison before the execution; Davis-Correia sheds tears while talking to supporters and reporters; Solana Plains (right) escorts a distraught Elijah West, cousin of Troy Davis, out of the church. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

TroyDavis_vigil_cop.jpg

TroyDavis_police_line.jpg

TroyDavis_police1.jpg

As the evening wore on, people gathered outside the prison reported a growing an increasingly aggressive police presence. Cops gathered in full riot gear to great the peaceful protest, which featured prayer, songs and chants. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

TroyDavis_protestor_chant.png

Protesters chant anti-death penalty slogans for Davis, hopeful he would receive a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. Police confined the people gathered outside the prison for hours in a roped off area. They were not allowed to bring in food and were told if they left they’d not be allowed to re-enter, according to the news program “Democracy Now!” Stephen Morton/AP Photo

 

TroyDavis_prayer.jpg

(Clockwise from right) Beatrice Craft (left) and Lynn Hopkins, a Unitarian minister and friend of Davis, hug after hearing news that the Supreme Court had delayed the execution. Many supporters, such as Lillie Sutton, fell to their knees and prayed that justices would save Davis’s lifeJessica McGowan/Getty Images

 

TroyDavis_delay3.jpg

One supporter collapses to the ground crying, after hearing news about the delay. As news of the delay spread through the crowd just minutes after Davis had been scheduled to die, many of those gathered believed a miracle was coming. Davis’s life had been spared in the final hours on three previous occasions.  Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

TroyDavis_twitter_GA.png

Supporters of Davis tweeted photos from the prison vigil. One of the photos passed along on Twitter came from Big Boi of Outkast, picturing a little boy with a sign reading “Am I Next?” (left). Big Boi, @BigBoi (Left, Top Middle). Jelani Cobb @jelani9 (Right, Bottom).

TroyDavis_twitter_nation.png

 

 

 

Vigils for Davis stretched from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Ore., and as far as Paris and London. Here are some photos that were tweeted. Wade McMullen, @wademcmullen, Protestors at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC (Left top, bottom). Natalie Asikainen, @Nataliea621, Portland, Oregon (Middle top). Kamau M. M., @KamauMandela, Howard University students protesting in front of the White House (Right Top). Amnesty France, @amnestyfrance, Paris (Middle Bottom). AI HackneyIslington, @amnestyihag, London (Bottom Right).

TroyDavis_mourning1.jpg

Unitarian minister Lynn Hopkins (left) consoles her spouse, Carolyn Bond, after hearing news around 10:30 p.m. that the U.S. Supreme Court had refused to grant a stay of the planned execution. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

TroyDavis_vigil2.png

Monica Barrow (left) of California reacts to news of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision with other protestors outside the prison. BarrowJessica McGowan/Getty Images

TroyDavis_announcement.jpg

Public Information Officer Kristen Stancil (center) announces the completion of the execution of Davis. He was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. In his final words, he repeated his innocence and asked God to bless the souls of the corrections officers charged with killing him. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

 

 

 

__________________________

 

Wanna Make Troy Davis

the Last Death Penalty Victim?

Here’s How to Start


Thursday, September 22 2011, 11:58 AM EST

This morning, I’m going to be giving away some money. It’s not the only thing I intend to do to help abolish the death penalty in this country, but it is the first thing. I hate to be crass, but, frankly, there’s no better moment for raising money in the life of a movement than one of shock and disappointment. It takes heart to do this work, and it also takes cash. Please join me in giving whatever you can to help these organizations, or others of your choice, do their work. These are all national organizations, but if you prefer something local, they can lead you to many groups across the country.Last night was terrible and long, and this morning it was challenging to get myself out of bed. I’m sadder and more ashamed than I’ve felt about the U.S. in a long time—it just takes a lot to put holes in my optimism. But there’s work to do, and it’s some combination of anger and hope that we need to generate now.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Thirty-four states still have capital punishment. NCADP works to reduce that number, with their most recent victory in Illinois earlier this year. In part, it’s important to drive that number down so that the death penalty can be proven not just cruel but also unusual punishment.

The NAACP: President Ben Jealous used to work at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and his long commitment to this issue, and to the family of Troy Davis, has shone throughout this long orderal. Now would be an excellent time to join or renew your membership.

The Innocence Project: These are the folks who use DNA technology to get falsely convicted people out of prison. Enough said.

The Advancement Project: Just to get to the root of this problem, support the Advancement Project’s work to end the School-to-Prison pipeline. This isn’t about how education will make everything better (although it is a human right), but about breaking the social control of communities that people have been taught to fear.

 

VIDEO: Nneka > SoulCulture

| Music Video

Nneka – “My Home” 

 

September 21, 2011 by  

Freshly unveiled is the official video for Nigerian/German singer, songwriter, musician and activist Nneka‘s first single from her forthcoming third solo studio album release Soul Is Heavy. The anthemic “My Home” gives us exactly what we want to hear from the young artist and reminds us of exactly why we fell in love with her. The video which was filmed in Nigeria tells a story of the struggles our brothers and sisters are facing in certain parts of Africa and brings them right to the forefront. Watch the visuals below.

Soul Is Heavy will be released soon. Stay locked for further details.

 

__________________________

Pure Nneka:

A 9-Minute Introduction

 

March 1, 2010 by  

Photograph by Tamar Nussbacher for SoulCulture.


Footage from her album release party at SOBs, New York last month features afri-soul woman of the moment Nnekatalking about her music, her influences, her life experiences and responsibility of being an artist – chopped inbetween performances from the show (including rousing crowd favourite, ‘Heartbeat’).

From the perspective of one who has been a fan of her music for a couple of years now, I have to say this video does a fantastic job at encapsulating Nneka – right down to her nuances.

The essence of Nneka, purified into 9 minutes and 15 seconds.

 

>via: http://www.soulculture.co.uk/blogs/pure-nneka-your-9-minute-introduction/

 

 

 

VIDEO + INTERVIEW: Fatoumata Diawara – Malian pathbreaker > Fly Global Music

 by Youri Lenquette

Fatoumata Diawara

– Malian pathbreaker

 

I can’t think of a single female musician in Mali with a sound like yours and certainly not a female guitar player and singer. What made you decide to take up the guitar?
The decision came one day before a show.  My guitar player cancelled and I didn’t have anyone to replace him at such short notice. Another musician told me to just play myself, so I did. Since then I play every day. 

You must have had strong positive and negative responses to your musical path. From family, friends, when you play in Mali and the expatriate community in France. Can you tell us more about that?
I’ve only had positive responses to my music from my family, friends and other people. In particular I get a very positive response from Africans, not just from Mali. I have of course had negative experiences in other aspects of my music but I have learned to transform these negative experiences into positive ones. 

Before we got to know you as a musician, you had a successful career as an actor. What made you  to music? Have you carried anything over from acting into the music you make?
I decided to switch from acting to music after touring with Dee Dee Bridgewater. When she was on stage something magic happened, it was like a transformation. She forgot all of her troubles. I had many conversations with both Dee Dee and  Oumou about becoming a musician and I decided that I wanted to share what I have with the world. It’s a lot to do with sharing. 

You’ve played some huge gigs already. I remember seeing you looking out at a packed Royal Albert Hall alone on stage and thought how brave you were. What has the last year been like for you, with all the touring and promotion?
It was a very important experience for me. It helped me a lot. I like to challenge myself. I think it’s important to do this. I wasn’t nervous before but when I got onstage I was surprised to see so many people. It made me laugh. I like to surprise myself.  

It’s been good to talk to all of the journalists over the past year. It’s great because many of them have listened to my songs and have got in touch with them in different ways, so they all have different questions.

It’s a great debut album. What are you saying with your music, what makes it personal and unique to you?
Thank you! I am saying all sorts of different things with my music. All of the subject matter comes from my own experience, from the difficult times I have had in the past. I never create anything – I just try to be in touch with myself. 

Also on another level is it unique to me because I write and sing in Bambara, the language from my village and the language of my grandparents. What makes it unique to me even more is that I use the language in my own personal way, unlike anyone else.

How did you get picked up by World Circuit? Your label is better known for working with older, classic bands and less for breaking new artists.
I was a backing singer for Oumou. We were recording with  on the imagine project and was there. Oumou told nick about me. It surprised him and me how well it worked. I think it’s important that World Circuit is interesting to young people.

Tell us more about your connection with Oumou Sangaré
I met her through . He invited me to do backing vocals on Seya. I was 8 months with Oumou. I learned a lot. We were both aware that it was just for experience and that I wasn’t going to stay with her for the long term. It was an important education for me and Oumou taught me a lot and gave me a lot of encouragement. She was surprised that I was able to listen to her because my generation sometimes think they know everything. We are in touch a lot. I love her, she is my second mother. 

Lastly, what would you say to a young Malian girl who wanted to be a musician like you?
I think my life has become an example to lots of people in Mali. I would say to her ‘it is possible, just doit, don’t sit and wait’. I would encourage her to develop her own opinion about her life think about what she wants to do.

Fatou’s debut album Fatou is out on 19 September 2011 and her next UK gig is at the  Café on 13 October

Play
0.00 / 3.15

More info here: http://www.worldcircuit.co.uk

Find Fatoumata on Facebook http://on.fb.me/mNO27q
New EP out now: http://bit.ly/jEV9ki

 

 

PUB: International HLF-4 Essay Contest Launched

“Building a New Global Partnership

for Effective Aid & Development”


The Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) will take place in Busan, Korea, from 29 November to 1 December 2011. The HLF-4 presents a unique opportunity for achieving better aid and development through more effective, harmonized cooperation among governments, civil societies and the private sector. This multi-stakeholder event will seek a new vision and  strategies for a more effective and inclusive development partnership to meet new development challenges and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015

 

As a preparatory event, the Government of the Republic of Korea will host the 2011 HLF-4 International Essay Contest to share young people’s inspiration and vision on aid and development. Young people from around the world are invited to submit their innovative ideas on effective aid and development.


THEME

  • Visions of Youth on Effective Aid & Development

GUIDELINES

  • Essays may be submitted by anyone ages between the ages of 18 and 32 (as of December 1, 2011).
  • Essays must be 2000 words or less and be in English.
  • Essays must have a cover page indicating the (1) essay title (2) name (3) address (4) contact number (5) e-mail address (6) nationality (7) age as of December 1, 2011 (8) gender (9) school name (if applicable) and (10) word count.
  • Entries may be submitted online to hlf4_essay@mofat.go.kr This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  • Essays must be original and unpublished.
  • Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays will not be accepted.
  • Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the event organizers.

DEADLINE

  • Entries must be received by October 7, 2011.

PRIZES

  • 1st Prize - Certificate and Prize of $ 2,000      1 entrant
  • 2nd Prize - Certificate and Prize of $ 1,000     2 entrants
  • 3rd Prize – Certificate and Prize of $ 200        5 entrants

1st and 2nd prize and 2nd prize winners will be invited to the Youth Forum which will be held during the HLF-4 as one of its special events. (Travel expenses and accommodation will be covered by the Government of Korea).


All prize winners will be announced in October 2011 on the HLF-4 website www.busanhlf4.org.


QUESTIONS

For questions relating to the essay contest please email: hlf4_essay@mofat.go.kr

 

PUB: The APR/Honickman First Book Prize > The American Poetry Review

The APR/Honickman First Book Prize

The annual American Poetry Review /Honickman First Book Prize offers publication of a book of poems, a $3,000 award, and distribution by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium.

Each year a distinguished poet is chosen to be the judge of the prize and write an introduction to the winning book. The purpose of the prize is to encourage excellence in poetry, and to provide a wide readership for a deserving first book of poems.

Note:  The reading period for the 2012 prize will begin on August 1, 2011 and extend through October 31, 2011.

 GUIDELINES

JUDGE: TOM SLEIGH

The prize of $3,000, with an introduction by the judge and distribution of the winning book by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium, will be awarded in 2011 with publication of the book in the same year. The author will receive a standard book publishing contract, with royalties paid in addition to the $3,000 prize.

The prize is open to any writer in English who is a U.S. citizen and who has not published a book-length collection of poems with an ISBN assigned to it. Poems previously published in periodicals or limited-edition chapbooks may be included in the manuscript, but the manuscript itself must not have been published as a book-length work exceeding 25 pages. Translations are not eligible nor are works written by multiple authors. The editors of The American Poetry Review will screen manuscripts for the judge.

Please note: Manuscripts cannot be returned.

Manuscripts must be postmarked between August 1 and October 31, 2011.

Please use first class mail. Do not use Federal Express, Overnight Mail, or UPS or any other service that requires a signature.

The winning author and all other entrants will be notified by February 15, 2012. An announcement of the winner will appear in the March/April issue of The American Poetry Review.

You may simultaneously submit your manuscript elsewhere, but please notify us immediately if it is accepted for publication. Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible; each must be under separate cover with a fee, a return postcard, and a notification envelope.

The winning author will have time to revise the manuscript after acceptance, but please send no revisions during the reading period.

To be considered for the prize, send:

1. A clearly typed poetry manuscript of 48 pages or more, single-spaced, paginated, with a table of contents and acknowledgments. A good copy is acceptable.

2. Two title pages: one with your name, address, e-mail, phone number, and the book title; a second title page should contain the title only. Your name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript except the first title page.

3. An entry fee of $25 by check or money order, payable to The American Poetry Review.

4. A self-addressed stamped envelope for notification of contest results.

5. A self-addressed stamped postcard for notification of receipt of the manuscript. Your manuscript identification number will be included on this card when it is returned to you. If no postcard is included in your entry, you will not be notified of its receipt.

Send your submission to:

The American Poetry Review

Honickman First Book Prize

1700 Sansom St. Suite 800

Philadelphia, PA 19103

 

PUB CALL: EFG Private Bank Short Story Award

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2012

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2012 is launched.

We are delighted to announce we are now accepting entries from publishers, agents and authors for the third Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award - the world’s richest short story prize.

The Award is open to authors with a previous record of publication in creative writing. Entries may be previously unpublished, or first published/scheduled for publication after 1 January 2011. All entries must be under 6,000 words and entirely original.

The judging panel for the 2012 Award will be announced on 25 September.

The winning author will receive £30,000 and the five runners-up £1,000 (an increase of £500 on last year’s Award). The longlist will be released on 19 February 2012, the shortlist will follow on 4 March and the winner will be announced at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival on 30 March.

Last year’s winner was American author Anthony Doerr, for his story ‘The Deep’, which went on to be published in The Sunday Times Magazine and online (paywall)

Read more about this year's Award on the Sunday Times website

How to Enter

This year, for the first time, the Award is accepting electronic entries by email, as well as entries by post. For full details of eligibility and how to enter, please download the instructions, terms and conditions and entry form.

Download the 2012 instructions/terms and conditions (.pdf 84Kb) - right click/save as to your desktop

Download the 2012 entry form (.pdf 100Kb) - right click/save as to your desktop

The deadline for submissions is 10am on 28 October 2011.

If you have any queries, please contact hannah.davies@booktrust.org.uk or on 0208 516 2960.

About the Award

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award honours the finest writers of short stories in the UK and Ireland. Worth £30,000 to the winning author, it is open to anyone with a previous record of publication in creative writing. The inaugural Award was won in 2010 by New Zealand author C K Stead for his story ‘Last Season’s Man’ and 2011’s Award was taken by American writer Anthony Doerr for his story ‘The Deep’. The winner is announced at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival each spring.

The prize follows the success in The Sunday Times Magazine of a regular story slot which has attracted some of the most talented names in short-story writing.