NEO•GRIOT

CutBank Chapbook Contest

Guidelines

The 2012 CutBank Chapbook Competition will soon be open! We welcome poetry and prose manuscripts of 25-40 pages.

Deadline
January 1 – March 31, 2012

Award
Publication, $1000 cash prize, and 25 contributor copies

Eligibility
This competition is open to original English language manuscripts in the genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. While previously published stand-alone pieces or excerpts may be included in a manuscript, the manuscript as a whole must be an unpublished work. Translations and previously self-published collections are ineligible. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable; please note that reading fees are non-refundable, and you must withdraw the manuscript immediately via Submishmash if it is accepted elsewhere. Please do not include cover artwork with your submission; black and white illustrations are acceptable so long as you’ve obtained the rights. The author must not have a close personal or professional relationship with any current or previous CutBank staff members.

Reading Fee
$17. Includes consideration and a copy of CutBank 77 upon its release in summer 2012. (International applicants must send an addition $5 to receive a copy of the issue)

What We’re Looking For
Startling, compelling, and beautiful original work. We’re looking for a fresh, powerful manuscript. Maybe it will overtake us quietly; gracefully defy genres; satisfyingly subvert our expectations; punch us in the mouth page in and page out. We’re interested in both prose and poetry – and particularly work that straddles the lines between genres. Manuscripts should be cohesive and coherent; in other words, your manuscript should resonate and make sense as a book.

Guidelines for Electronic Submissions
Submissions are accepted exclusively through our online submissions manager, Submishmash. Entries must be received no later than March 31, 2012. Please submit 25 to 40 pages of typed poetry or prose in either DOC/DOCX/RTF/PDF format. For poetry and short prose, please include no more than one piece per page. Images are acceptable, but only in black and white; you must obtain reprint rights for any included images. Include page numbers, table of contents, and, if applicable, an acknowledgments page addressing where sections have been previous published. Submissions should include two cover pages as the first two pages of the document: one with the manuscript’s title, the other with the title, author’s name, address, and e-mail address. The author’s name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript. Results will be announced via e-mail and posted at www.cutbankonline.com in late May 2012.

The Long and Short of It
The CutBank Chapbook Contest honors a book of original poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction by a single author; translations are not eligible for this award. The winning author receives a $1000 honorarium plus 25 copies of the published book. The winner will be announced by CutBank, the winning book will be featured on the CutBank website, and we’ll do our best to distribute it to regional independent bookstores. The contest will be judged by the CutBank editorial staff. Entries must be submitted between January 1 and March 31, 2011. All entries must be made through our submission manager. Manuscripts should be 25-40 pages in length of poetry (a cohesive poetry manuscript), fiction (either a short fiction collection or novella), or creative nonfiction (one long essay or a short collection of essays). Please indicate in the acknowledgements if any sections of the manuscript have been previously published, and where; the manuscript as a whole must be an unpublished work. Manuscript revisions are not permitted during the contest. Multiple entries are fine as long as each is accompanied by a submission fee (in which case you will receive an additional copy of CutBank). The author must not have a close personal or professional relationship with any current or previous CutBank staff members.

The CLMP Code of Ethics: CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

It is truly an honor to read your work. We wish you the best of luck!

 

2012 Montana Prize in Fiction, Montana Prize in Creative Nonfiction, and Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry

Submissions for all contests are accepted December 1, 2011 through Feb 29, 2012. Winners receive $500 and publication in CutBank 77. All submissions will be considered for publication in CutBank. The contests’ $17 entry fee includes a one-year, two-issue subscription to CutBank, beginning with the prize issue, CutBank 77.

Please send only your best work.  With all three of these awards, we are seeking to highlight work that showcases an authentic voice, a boldness of form, and a rejection of functional fixedness. For more information, guidelines, and to apply, click here.

Montana Prize in Fiction Judge – Benjamin Percy

Benjamin Percy is the author of two novels, Red Moon (forthcoming from Grand Central/Hachette in 2012) and The Wilding, as well as two books of stories, Refresh, Refresh and The Language of Elk. His fiction and nonfiction have been published by Esquire, GQ, Men’s Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, and the Paris Review. His honors inlcude a fellowship from the NEA, the Whiting Writers’ Award, the Plimpton Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.

Montana Prize in Creative Nonfiction Judge – Eula Biss

Eula Biss holds a BA in nonfiction writing from Hampshire College and an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa. Her second book, Notes from No Man’s Land, received the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. Her work has also been recognized by a Pushcart Prize, a Jaffe Writers’ Award, and a 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library. She teaches writing at Northwestern University and is working on a new book about myth and metaphor in medicine with the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Howard Foundation Fellowship. Her essays have recently appeared in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Best Creative Nonfiction and the Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Nonfiction as well as in The Believer, Gulf Coast, Columbia, Ninth Letter, the North American Review, the Bellingham Review, the Seneca Review, and Harper’s.

Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry Judge – Bhanu Kapil

Bhanu Kapil lives in Colorado where she teaches writing and thinking at Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, as well as Goddard College’s low-residency MFA.  She has written four full-length cross-genre works–The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers (Kelsey Street Press, 2001), Incubation: a space for monsters (Leon Works, 2006), humanimal [a project for future children] (Kelsey Street Press, 2009), and Schizophrene (forthcoming, Nightboat Books).

Big Fish Online Contest: Flash Fiction and Prose Poetry

open October 1 – November 1

A prize of $200 and online publication will be given for the best piece of writing under 500 words that we receive. Flash fiction, short-shorts, micro-prose, prose poems, poetic prose, just plain short stories–whatever you call your briefest prose pieces, send them our way. The contest winner will be chosen by the CutBank editorial staff and announced on our website on December 1. All submissions will be considered for both online publication and print publication in CutBank. Submissions must be accompanied by a $9 submission fee.

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