Contest submissions now open!

CutBank is now taking submissions for the Montana Prize in FictionMontana Prize in Creative Nonfiction, and the Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry. Take a look at our contest submission guidelines and send us your best work! In the meantime, check out this list of articles about the lives of the literati, culled from the New Yorker archives.

Or this blog post about the relationship between reality and fiction, from the New York Review of Books.

Finish up with this humorous take on how to write a sentence from the New Yorker.

 

CONTESTS OPEN SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1

2015 CutBank Contests

CutBank sponsors a variety of contests, including the Montana Prize in FictionMontana Prize in Creative Nonfiction, and the Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry, as well as our annual CutBank Chapbook Contest. Submission dates vary so please see details below. Please send only your best work. With all three of these awards, we’re looking for work that showcases an authentic voice, an original perspective, and a willingness to push against the boundaries of form. All entries must be submitted electronically.

Montana Prize in Fiction

Judged by Susan Steinberg

The Montana Prize in Fiction seeks to highlight work that showcases an authentic voice, a boldness of form, and a rejection of functional fixedness. The winner, chosen by Susan Steinberg, will be featured in CutBank 83 and receive $500. All submissions will be considered for print publication. We look forward to reading your work!

Submissions are accepted November 1 through January 15. Submissions are accepted through our online submission manager only. The $20 contest entry fee includes a one-year subscription to CutBank and covers the reading of a single submission in a single genre. Please send only a single work of no greater than 35 pages. Please submit only once per genre, though writers are permitted to submit in multiple genres.

 Include a short cover letter that mentions your address (where your subscription will be sent), phone number, and email address, as well as the title of your work. Please include the author’s name on the manuscript—names will be removed from the pool of submissions that goes before our contest judges. Current subscribers must submit the same $20 fee, and their CutBank subscriptions will be extended by one year. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your submission via Submittable immediately should it be accepted elsewhere. We are unable to offer refunds.

Entrants will be notified of their submission status no later than March 15, 2015. One winner in each genre, as chosen by our guest judges, will receive a $500 award and publication in CutBank 83, our summer 2015 issue. Winners will be required to complete a W-9 form to receive payment. All manuscripts are considered for publication in CutBank. All rights to selected manuscripts revert to the author upon publication. The author grants their permission to have their work electronically archived as part of CutBank 83 in EBSCO International’s subscription-based research database. Current University of Montana students and faculty and former CutBank staff are not eligible for the awards.

Montana Prize in Creative Nonfiction

Judged by Will Boast

The Montana Prize in Nonfiction seeks to highlight work that showcases an authentic voice, a boldness of form, and a rejection of functional fixedness. The winner, chosen by Will Boast, will be featured in CutBank 83 and will receive $500. All submissions will be considered for print publication. We look forward to reading your work!

Submissions are accepted November 1 through January 15. Submissions are accepted through our online submission manager only. The $20 contest entry fee includes a one-year subscription to CutBank and covers the reading of a single submission in a single genre. Please send only a single work of no greater than 35 pages. Please submit only once per genre, though writers are permitted to submit in multiple genres.

 Include a short cover letter that mentions your address (where your subscription will be sent), phone number, and email address, as well as the title of your work. Please include the author’s name on the manuscript—names will be removed from the pool of submissions that goes before our contest judges. Current subscribers must submit the same $20 fee, and their CutBank subscriptions will be extended by one year. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your submission via Submittable immediately should it be accepted elsewhere. We are unable to offer refunds.

Entrants will be notified of their submission status no later than March 15, 2015. One winner in each genre, as chosen by our guest judges, will receive a $500 award and publication in CutBank 83, our summer 2015 issue. Winners will be required to complete a W-9 form to receive payment. All manuscripts are considered for publication in CutBank. All rights to selected manuscripts revert to the author upon publication. The author grants their permission to have their work electronically archived as part of CutBank 83 in EBSCO International’s subscription-based research database. Current University of Montana students and faculty and former CutBank staff are not eligible for the awards.

Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry

Judged by Matt Rasmussen

The Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry seeks to highlight work that showcases an authentic voice, a boldness of form, and a rejection of functional fixedness. The winner, chosen by Matt Rasmussen, will be featured in CutBank 83 and receive $500. All submissions will be considered for print publication. We look forward to reading your work!

Submissions are accepted November 1 through January 15. Submissions are accepted through our online submission manager only. The $20 contest entry fee includes a one-year subscription to CutBank and covers the reading of a single submission in a single genre. Submit up to five poems. Please submit only once per genre, though writers are permitted to submit in multiple genres.

 Please include a short cover letter that mentions your address (where your subscription will be sent), phone number, and email address, as well as the title of your work. Please include the author’s name on the manuscript—names will be removed from the pool of submissions that goes before our contest judges. Current subscribers must submit the same $20 fee, and their CutBank subscriptions will be extended by one year. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your submission via Submittable immediately should it be accepted elsewhere (to withdraw a single poem, email us at editor.cutbank[at]gmail[dot]com). We are unable to offer refunds.

Entrants will be notified of their submission status no later than March 15, 2015. One winner will receive a $500 award and publication in CutBank 83, our summer 2015 issue. Winners will be required to complete a W-9 form to receive payment. All manuscripts are considered for publication in CutBank. All rights to selected manuscripts revert to the author upon publication. The author grants their permission to have their work electronically archived as part of CutBank 83 in EBSCO International’s subscription-based research database. Current University of Montana students and faculty and former CutBank staff are not eligible for the awards.