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MVP Project 2009
The Many Voices Project is the distinguished annual competition (since 1981) to find new and emerging writers. (An emerging writer has not published more than two books of creative writing with a commercial, university, or national small press.)Our 2009 submission period is September 15 - November 1 (postmark), 2009. This year, there is a $20 entry fee to enter this book-length competition; there is also a required entry form, available HERE. Both the Prose Prize and the Poetry Prize this year are national prizes. The two winning manuscripts will be published in Fall 2011; each author receives a $1,000 honorarium and a standard book contract. All of our books are distributed nationally by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution.
Finalist Judges have not yet been announced. Recent judges include Jack Driscoll, Leif Enger, Alice Friman, Richard Hoffman, Ann Hood, Antonya Nelson, Ron Rindo, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Charles Simic, and Joyce Sutphen.
2009 MVP Submission Guidelines:
General
• Submit between Sept. 15 and Nov. 1, 2009.
• Submissions MUST include an entry form, available HERE.
• Include a $20 entry fee for each manuscript, made out to New Rivers Press.
• Include a self-addressed, stamped postcard for confirmation of receipt of ms. (optional)
• Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for result notification. (optional)
• Simultaneous submissions are fine, but notify NRP immediately of acceptance elsewhere. (If you fail to give such notification and your manuscript is selected, your signature on the entry form gives NRP permission to proceed with publication.)
• You may acknowledge individual poems, stories, and other pieces published in magazines, anthologies, or elsewhere, but such acknowledgments or your name can not appear in the manuscript itself, since judging is blind.
• Notify NRP in writing of address or telephone number changes.
• MSS. will be recycled.
Manuscript Preparation
• Send complete manuscript in a plain manila folder. We do not accept electronic submissions for the MVP Competition.
• Manuscript must be word processed on 8.5" x 11" paper, one-sided.
• Manuscript pages must be numbered.
• Include a cover sheet with name, address, and manuscript title.
• DO NOT include your name, address or acknowledgments on the manuscript pages; the judging is blind.
Poetry Specs
• In 2009, the poetry competition is national.
• Manuscript length: 50-80 pages.
• Single-spaced.
• No more than one poem per page.
Prose & Creative Nonfiction Specs
• In 2009, the prose competition is national.
• Manuscript length: short stories and novellas (or a combination thereof), or personal essays: 100-200 pages. Novels and memoirs: up to 400 pages.
• Double-spaced.
Mailing Address
Submit your manuscript, entry form, and entry fee to:
Links:
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
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).