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MVP DEADLINES | THE AMERICAN FICTION PRIZE
MVP Deadlines
The submission period for the 2009 MVP Competition, a search for book-length unpublished manuscripts by new or emerging writers, is Sept. 15 - Oct. 15 (postmark), 2009. The poetry prize and the prose prize this year are both open to any citizen of the United States. There is a $20 entry fee. The two winning titles will be published in Fall 2011 by New Rivers Press and distributed nationally through Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. Each winning author will receive $1,000 and a standard book contract. Finalist Judges have not been announced. We hope to announce winners by June 1, 2010.For complete guidelines, click HERE.
The American Fiction Prize
First Prize: $1000
Second Prize: $500
Third Prize: $250
Second Prize: $500
Third Prize: $250
Finalist Judge: Clint McCown
Entry Fee: $12/story
Deadline:May 1, 2009
Guidelines:
Mail entries:
American Fiction Prize
5712 Briarwick Court
Hermitage, TN 37076
Contest Guidelines
We accept all genres of unpublished literary fiction. Entries must be: unpublished; strictly 7500 words or less; postmarked by May 1, 2009; clearly marked "American Fiction Prize" on both the story and the outside of the envelope; accompanied by a $12 entry fee per story (make checks payable to American Fiction). Please include a cover page with your name, story title, mailing address, and email address. Do not include your name on the pages of the story. Please ensure all stories are typed, double-spaced, and that the title and page number appear on each page. In lieu of an email address, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
We welcome multiple entries ($12/story). For entries outside the U.S.: please send entry fee in U.S. currency or money order. While we cannot return manuscripts, we will forward a list of the winning stories to any entrant who includes an SASE; as well, we will e-mail contest updates to anyone who provides an active e-mail address. Entrants retain all rights to their stories.
This year's judge, Clint McCown, teaches in the creative writing program at Virginia Commonwealth University and is a recipient of the Associated Press Award for Documentary Excellence for his investigations of organized crime and corruption in Alabama politics, and the Society of Midland Authors Award. His novel, War Memorials, was designated for Outstanding Achievement in Literature by the Wisconsin Library Association. McCown's short stories and poems have appeared widely, and he has published two books of verse. He has worked as a screenwriter for Warner Bros. and as an actor with the National Shakespeare Company. He has edited several literary journals, including the Beloit Fiction Journal, which he founded in 1984. His books include The Weatherman and The Member Guest and he is a two-time winner of the American Fiction Prize (chosen by Louise Erdrich and Wallace Stegner).
Entries must be postmarked by May 1, 2009. Winners and finalists will be announced by September 2009.Please e-mail any questions to americanfictionprize@yahoo.com
Thank you for your interest, and good luck!
Thank you for your interest, and good luck!
BROWSE BOOKS
FictionAnthology
Other
2008 Titles
2007 Titles
Authors Online
Many of our authors are available for telephone or online conversations with book groups. Email or phone (218-477-5870) and tell us what you’re reading, the size of your book group, when you’d like to have a conversation with the author, and whatever else we need to know to help coordinate arrangements.
New Books October 2009
Fallibility, poems
Elizabeth Oness (Houston, MN)
"I am grateful for this beautiful book." Jeffrey Harrison
Friend Among Stones, poems
Maya Pindyck (Brooklyn, NY)
"The best advice re writing a poem is Emily Dickinson's: Tell the truth but tell it slant. Most poets try to do that, most of us fail. Maya Pindyck's poems very often find exactly the right slant, the right channel, the right wire, the right hypodermic--straight to the reader's heart!" Thomas Lux
When Love Was Clean Underwear, novel
Susan Barr-Toman (Philadelphia, PA)
“This novel captures the pulse of life—even when I put the book down and go about my day, I think about these characters. Barr-Toman writes with precision and wonderful humor about the human experience, and the need for forgiveness.” Elizabeth Cox
Click HERE to read first chapter.
Finalist Poetry Judge:
Michael Hettich
Finalist Prose Judge:
Ann Hood
American Fiction Series:
Whiskey Heart (novel) by Rachel L. Coyne (Minnesota)
"Coyne understands the human heart - she knows all the dark corners, twisted by the heat and hurt of love, and she knows the odd paths back from ruin. I couldn't put it down." Jonis Agee
Minneapolis Star Tribune review
Interference and Other Stories by Richard Hoffman (Massachusetts)
"The stories in Interference are moving, wise, and bracingly unsentimental. Richard Hoffman writes about male sadness and vulnerability with unusual insight and tough-minded compassion." Tom Perrotta
Click here for MPR Midmorning interview with Ed Bok Lee, author of Real Karaoke People
FictionAnthology
Other
2008 Titles
2007 Titles
Authors Online
Many of our authors are available for telephone or online conversations with book groups. Email or phone (218-477-5870) and tell us what you’re reading, the size of your book group, when you’d like to have a conversation with the author, and whatever else we need to know to help coordinate arrangements.
New Books October 2009
Fallibility, poems
Elizabeth Oness (Houston, MN)
"I am grateful for this beautiful book." Jeffrey Harrison
Friend Among Stones, poems
Maya Pindyck (Brooklyn, NY)
"The best advice re writing a poem is Emily Dickinson's: Tell the truth but tell it slant. Most poets try to do that, most of us fail. Maya Pindyck's poems very often find exactly the right slant, the right channel, the right wire, the right hypodermic--straight to the reader's heart!" Thomas Lux
When Love Was Clean Underwear, novel
Susan Barr-Toman (Philadelphia, PA)
“This novel captures the pulse of life—even when I put the book down and go about my day, I think about these characters. Barr-Toman writes with precision and wonderful humor about the human experience, and the need for forgiveness.” Elizabeth Cox
Whiskey Heart (novel) by Rachel L. Coyne (Minnesota)
"Coyne understands the human heart - she knows all the dark corners, twisted by the heat and hurt of love, and she knows the odd paths back from ruin. I couldn't put it down." Jonis Agee
Minneapolis Star Tribune review
Interference and Other Stories by Richard Hoffman (Massachusetts)
"The stories in Interference are moving, wise, and bracingly unsentimental. Richard Hoffman writes about male sadness and vulnerability with unusual insight and tough-minded compassion." Tom Perrotta
Other
2008 Titles
2007 Titles
Authors Online
Many of our authors are available for telephone or online conversations with book groups. Email or phone (218-477-5870) and tell us what you’re reading, the size of your book group, when you’d like to have a conversation with the author, and whatever else we need to know to help coordinate arrangements.
New Books October 2009
Fallibility, poems
Elizabeth Oness (Houston, MN)
"I am grateful for this beautiful book." Jeffrey Harrison
Friend Among Stones, poems
Maya Pindyck (Brooklyn, NY)
"The best advice re writing a poem is Emily Dickinson's: Tell the truth but tell it slant. Most poets try to do that, most of us fail. Maya Pindyck's poems very often find exactly the right slant, the right channel, the right wire, the right hypodermic--straight to the reader's heart!" Thomas Lux
When Love Was Clean Underwear, novel
Susan Barr-Toman (Philadelphia, PA)
“This novel captures the pulse of life—even when I put the book down and go about my day, I think about these characters. Barr-Toman writes with precision and wonderful humor about the human experience, and the need for forgiveness.” Elizabeth Cox
Click HERE to read first chapter.
Finalist Poetry Judge:
Michael Hettich
Finalist Prose Judge:
Ann Hood
Whiskey Heart (novel) by Rachel L. Coyne (Minnesota)
"Coyne understands the human heart - she knows all the dark corners, twisted by the heat and hurt of love, and she knows the odd paths back from ruin. I couldn't put it down." Jonis Agee
Minneapolis Star Tribune review
Interference and Other Stories by Richard Hoffman (Massachusetts)
"The stories in Interference are moving, wise, and bracingly unsentimental. Richard Hoffman writes about male sadness and vulnerability with unusual insight and tough-minded compassion." Tom Perrotta
Click here for MPR Midmorning interview with Ed Bok Lee, author of Real Karaoke People
Ronna Wineberg's Second Language was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2009 Eric Hoffer Award for Books (for Excellence in Independent Publishing) in the category of Legacy Fiction (books that are more than two years old).