Pen & Brush Calls for eBook Submissions

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A detail from 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō as Potted Landscapes (1848), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

 

Pen & Brush is currently accepting submissions of literary fiction and poetry, both short and long form, to be published on their website and/or in eBook format through their imprint, P&B Books. Pen & Brush is a 120-year old nonprofit dedicated to supporting women-identified artists and writers. Submissions are currently being accepted on a rolling, open basis, and will be judged by a rotating pool of literary arts curators. Their hope is to give exposure to writers who might otherwise have difficulty being recognized. For more information, including submission guidelines and legal details, see Pen & Brush’s site.

Augury’s own Kate Angus has recently joined Pen & Brush as a literary arts curator. Read an interview between her and P&B’s executive director, Janice Sands, on the Huffington Post.

No, Dear/Small Anchors Press Chapbook Contest: Deadline Approaching

a photo from ‘Transit of Venus’ (1882), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Brooklyn-based poetry journal No, Dear and Small Anchors Press are currently accepting five-to-twenty page submissions to their Poetry Chapbook Contest. The contest is open to writers currently residing in New York City, and a single winner will receive limited edition chapbook publication in 2015, as well as an additional $200 prize. The deadline is March 2nd; only a few days left to submit! See No, Dear‘s site for details.

Randall Horton Featured on Poetry Society of America

Image from James C. Watson’s A Popular Treatise on Comets, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Randall Horton‘s poem “When Winter is a Transitional State” was recently featured on the Poetry Society of America‘s website. The Poetry Society of America is the oldest poetry organization in the country, and its mission is to foster an interest in poetry and to support poets nationwide. Horton discussed his thoughts on the poem:

I wanted to explore what an unconventional love looks like. To most of the outside world, this kind of love would seem abnormal. I worked within the freedom and constraint of the couplet form, going for the duality of thought within the speaker’s mind.”

To read the full poem and Horton’s commentary, click here.

Horton’s second memoir is forthcoming from Augury Books in 2015.

More on Randall Horton

"A Book of Uncommon Prayer" Anthology Features Kate Angus, Alicia Jo Rabins

Augury Books’ founding editor, Kate Angus, will be featured in Outpost19‘s A Book of Uncommon Prayer, an anthology of “everyday invocations,” due out in May 2015. Angus appears alongside Alicia Jo Rabins, a recent winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Prize and reader for our offsite AWP event in 2014, as well as a myriad of other known talents, including Marie Howe, Bob Hicok, Leslie Jamison, Catherine Lacey, and Rick Moody. The anthology is edited by Matthew Vollmer, and all proceeds from book sales will go to 826 Valencia, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting creative and expository writing skills in students ages six to eighteen.

To preorder the anthology, see Outpost19’s site.

Three Opportunities to Publish: AWP, National Poetry Series, and Four Way Books

a detail from “Illustrations of Ventilation” (1869), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

 

As a small press that understands the writer’s most constant struggle, we’d like to highlight three contests that will soon be closing submissions. We recognize them as distinguished prizes from equally distinguished organizations, and we hope they’ll be helpful in your pursuit of publication.

The National Poetry Series’ Open Competition‘s deadline has been extended to February 23rd, 2015. Five manuscripts will be selected by five distinguished poets, and each winner, in addition to a $1,000 cash prize, will receive the opportunity to be published by a participating publishing company. These include HarperCollins Publishers, Fence Books, University of Georgia Press, Penguin Books, and Milkweed Editions.

Four Way Books’ Levis Prize in Poetry will be judged by Martha Collins this year, and it is open to any poet writing in the English language. One winner will receive a book-length publication, a reading sponsored by Four Way Books in New York City, and a $1,000 award. Their deadline for submission is March 31st (postmarked, if mailed), or April 1st, by 3 AM EST (if submitting online).

The AWP Award Series includes a slew of prizes for creative nonfiction, poetry, short fiction, and the novel, offering publication from University of Georgia Press, University of Pittsburgh Press, University of Massachusetts Press, and New Issues Press of Western Michigan University, respectively, with cash awards ranging from $2,5000 to $5,500. Details about each prize, as well as their submission guidelines, can be found here.

Happy submitting.

Joe Pan Publishes Pamphlet with Greying Ghost Press

a detail from A System of Elocution, with Special Reference to Gesture, to the Treatment of Stammering, and Defective Articulation (1846) by Andrew Comstock, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Brooklyn-based publisher and poet Joe Pan has recently released a pamphlet, entitled The Poemthrough Massachusetts-based Greying Ghost Press. The Poem, as described by Pan, is a “reminder to myself that a poem can not only be about anything, but literally be anything–a list, a lampoon, a lamp post–with language & ‘poetic intent’ as its dual engine.” His most recent collection of poetry, Hiccups, or Autobiomythography II, is forthcoming from Augury in 2015.

Greying Ghost, an independent press established in 2007, publishes letterpress and laserprinted chapbooks, broadsides, and pamphlets. Though Greying Ghost’s pamphlets are available for the low price of one dollar on their own, a copy of any pamphlet is included free with the purchase of a chapbook.

 

Frances Justine Post Reads for Poison Pen Series

Taken at the Poison Pen poetry reading, courtesy of Writespace Houston

Augury Books’ Frances Justine Post recently read for the Poison Pen Reading Series, hosted in Houston, Texas on the 29th of January. Several poets were featured, including Scott Blackwood and Tony Hoagland. Post presented pieces from her most recent collection of poems, BEAST. As Tony was her professor and dissertation director, Justine felt the experience of reading together was “extra special.”

Writespace Houston wrote of Justine’s reading:

Taking us backwards through the book, Post began with the darkest poems and worked her way into the light. Poems like “Hannibal,” seethe with both emotion and devastation. Imagery of a body broken into pieces for eating is juxtaposed with lines like “How does it feel to be an object?” The self-portrait series, of which there are twelve in the book, feature titles like “Self Portrait in the Shadow of a Volcano,” “Self Portrait in the Body of the Whale,” and the poem which features the title of her book, “Self Portrait as Beast.”

Read the full article on January’s Poison Pen Reading Series here.

More on BEAST

 

 

Words After War: Supporting Veterans And Nurturing Communities

From A Popular Treatise on Comets (1861) by James C. Watson, courtesy of The Public Domain Review

 

Words After War is a Brooklyn-based literary organization dedicated to providing veterans, their families, and civilian supporters with the tools and opportunities to express themselves while fostering creative communities. They offer many programs and writing workshops with high-quality instruction and support at no cost, including their Literary Mentoring Program, which connects veteran writers with established writers for three-month periods, and studio retreats, giving veterans undisturbed time to focus on their craft. They are always looking for volunteers, and will graciously accept donations. For more information, contact them at info@wordsafterwar.org, and take a look at their work at http://wordsafterwar.org.

Maureen Alsop Featured in Touch the Donkey

An image from “The Flowers Personified” by J.J. Grandville, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Poet Maureen Alsop (Mantic, Augury Books, 2013) has recently been featured in the fourth issue of Touch the Donkey, an online poetry magazine produced through above/ground press. Her poetry is presented among poets such as Laura Mullen and Lisa Jarnot.

To learn more about Touch the Donkey‘s latest issue, visit their site!

Maureen Alsop’s MANTIC