During the month of September, Black Lawrence Press author Veronica Montes is on board to critique fiction manuscripts.

Veronica Montes was born in San Francisco and raised in the Filipino American enclave of Daly City, California. Her short stories have appeared in print journals such as Bamboo Ridge and Prism International, as well as in many anthologies including Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, Growing Up Filipino, and Going Home to a Landscape: Writings by Filipinas. Her flash fiction appears online in various journals including SmokeLong Quarterly, Cheap Pop, and Lost Balloon, among others. She is the author of two chapbooks:The Conquered Sits at the Bus Stop, Waiting, which won the Black River Chapbook Competition andI'm Not Lost (Ethel, a Micro Press, 2023).

Veronica is accepting everything from flash fiction to full-length collections.The fees and parameters for each of these categories is as follows:

• Flash fiction, up to two pages in length, $25
• Short stories, up to 20 pages in length, $55
• Fiction chapbooks, up to 40 pages in length, $225
• Short story collections, up to 180 pages in length, $475

All manuscripts should be double spaced and formatted in twelve point font. 

The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is September 30. Veronica will complete her work and respond to all participants by October 31.


Veronica Montes' Statement of Purpose

Flash fiction, my first love, presents a near-perfect writer’s challenge: can you tell a story in less than 1,000 words? Far from inhibiting creativity, this space constraint sends it running free. Flash writers wring meaning from every word, conjure images that echo through the narrative, and dialogue that performs double duty. No matter the length of your manuscript, my purpose is to help you to determine if your choices have made optimal use of space and if your intention for the piece has made its way to the page. Depending on your goals we’ll work together to amplify the strengths in your narrative, refine characters, hone language and pacing, nail your ending, and whatever else might benefit your process and story.   

My own writing leans towards the lyrical and is informed by my experiences as a woman of color. I’m drawn to the inherent beauty of sadness, to speculative elements, to sensory detail. That said, I celebrate the myriad voices and identities in writing today, and I read outside my comfort zone both for pleasure and as a way to broaden my sense of this genre and study the way that other writers shape their flash. It’s not my place to make suggestions that impose on what makes your work uniquely yours, but rather to ask and make observations to help you develop your story your way. I look forward to working together.

During the month of September, Black Lawrence Press author Michal 'MJ' Jones is on board to critique poetry manuscripts.

Michal ‘MJ’ Jones is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet & parent in Richmond, CA. Their poems have appeared in Anomaly, Kissing Dynamite, TriQuarterly Review, & wildness. Often addressing the troubling and haunting aspects of life, violence, and identity, MJ’s work blends the lyrical, documentary, and confessional modes. MJ serves as the Editor-In-Chief of Foglifter Press, a premier journal publishing trans and queer writers. They have received fellowships from Lambda Literary, Hurston/Wright Foundation, VONA/Voices, & Kearny Street Workshop. They received their MFA in Creative Writing – Poetry from Mills College, where they received the distinguished Community Engagement Fellowship. They founded & currently facilitate Litany!, a monthly workshop for a cohort of Black queer poets. They have a debut full-length poetry collection HOOD VACATIONS from Black Lawrence Press, and a chapbook, SOFT ARMOR, from Nomadic Press, both forthcoming in 2023.

MJ is accepting single poems, folios, chapbooks, and full-length collections for critique. The fees and parameters for each of these categories are as follows:

• Individual Poems, up to 2 pages in length, $25
• Folios, up to 7 pages in length, not to include more than 5 poems, $55
• Chapbooks, 16-40 pages in length, $225
• Full-length collections, 45-80 pages in length $350

All manuscripts should be formatted in 12-point font. The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is September 30. MJ will complete their work and respond to all participants by October 31.

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Michal ‘MJ’ Jones' Statement of Purpose

Poetry represents an opportunity to constantly reinvent; to find new words, arrangements, landscapes, and forms with which to express the age-old. I am drawn in by poems that take and then refill my body’s breath. With softness or boldness, a poem must say something beyond beauty and lyric. It must enact. It must make a declaration. It must lead to revolution. It must shock the reader with its aliveness of witness.

When is a poem done, then? We’re rarely blessed with the final poem in our first draft. Our early versions are often akin to channeling, to birthing; revision, then, is the tender care we take to shape and raise the best of our language to fullness. As an editor and consultant, it is my task to understand why you must write, to understand how important your work is to you, to identify your unique poetic cadence. I will treat it with care and grace.

To share these tender beings we call poems with others is an act of bravery, and I am grateful to read them. I can’t wait to enter the world through your words.

During the month of September, Black Lawrence Press author Miah Jeffra is on board to critique creative nonfiction manuscripts.

Miah Jeffra is author of four books of fiction and nonfiction, most recently The Violence Almanac (finalist for several awards, including the Grace Paley, Robert C Jones and St. Lawrence Book Prizes) and American Gospel,winner of the Clark-Gross Award. Work can be seen in StoryQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, The North American Review, storySouth, DIAGRAM, jubilat and many others. Miah is co-founder of Whiting Award-winning queer and trans literary collaborative, Foglifter Press, and teaches writing and decolonial studies at Sonoma State University.

Miah is accepting everything from flash-length essays to full-length manuscripts. The fees and parameters for each of these categories are as follows:

• Flash Essays, up to 2 pages in length, $25
• Essays, up to 20 pages in length, $55
• Chapbooks, up to 40 pages in length, $225
• Manuscripts, up to 180 pages in length, $475
• Long Manuscripts, up to 300 pages in length, $725

Scholarships are available for this program.

All manuscripts should be double spaced and formatted in 12-point font.The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is September 30. Miah will complete his work and respond to all participants by October 31.

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Miah's Statement of Purpose

We have a general problem in literature, and that is the privileging of certain voices. This has been discussed a lot as an issue within the publishing world, what is assigned in literature courses, and considerations with affirming what constitutes good writing. 

But we perpetuate this narrowly conceived sense of “good writing” in the consultation process, as well, through the discussion of craft and implementation of suggestions for revision. Our notion of what constitutes good craft is bound by white supremacy and unconscious bias. We have defined what is good writing by what has historically been celebrated as good writing, and then we call it craft—we think of exalted craft as being a methodology, one that is color-blind, that is gender-neutral, that is without a particular audience in mind. We think of it as universal. We forget that aesthetic is all relative, and established and perceived good craft is borne of whatever is the most prevalent aesthetic. Thus, we further hegemonic aesthetic unknowingly, in the innocent conceit of being good craft. I have heard it in workshop, even, the argument that “Craft is craft. Good writing is just good writing.” The thing is, it’s not that simple.

In my consultation, I will emphasize not “Good Craft” with a capital G & C, but craft that will be good for achieving authenticity in each particular manuscript. 

When working with nonfiction writers, I focus on getting to the heart of the work’s intention, communicate what I as a reader perceive as the intention, and then provide a range of possibilities on how to achieve that intention without compromising the unique voice, aware that I may also possess failings in my own reading. The potential dissonance between my read and the author’s desire is a great place to negotiate what will be best for the manuscript. 

In my own nonfiction, I lean heavily into voice/point of view, experimentation, and language that evokes character and sensibility. Many folx have called my nonfiction writing lyrical, genre-bending, hybrid, but I am not interested in labels. Each story—each voice—is an experiment. Nonfiction writers I find inspirational include James Baldwin, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Nancy Mairs, Richard Rodriguez, Eula Biss and Claudia Rankine, among others. However, I read across genre and style in order to cultivate writing strategies that move beyond my own identity and practice.

You're in the submission form for poetry. If you're intending to submit prose (fiction, creative non-fiction, etc.), please return to the main page and select the prose category instead. (Chapbooks of prose poems and poetry/prose hybrid projects can be submitted under either poetry or prose, per your preference.)

Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or prose between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.

All entries are read without identifying information by our panel of editors. All manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents (if applicable), and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Manuscripts should be 16-36 pages in length (double-spaced for fiction), not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.). Identifying information for the author should not be included anywhere on the manuscript itself, including in the name of your file or in the "title" field in Submittable. You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.

A note regarding previously published work: Chapbooks containing individual stories or poems that have been previously published online or in print are absolutely eligible for the BRCC–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your chapbook–or a significant portion of the work included in your chapbook–has been previously published as a book or chapbook-length collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run), then the manuscript is not eligible for the BRCC.

• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable and encouraged, but please notify us by withdrawing your manuscript on Submittable immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere.
• Multiple submissions (the submission of more than one manuscript to the contest) are permitted.
• Collaborative collections are welcome.
• Hybrid/multi-genre submissions are also welcome; please enter under the submission category that best fits your work.
• Prose category: Beginning with the Spring 2019 contest, our category previously titled “fiction” has been re-categorized as “prose” to accommodate fiction, creative non-fiction, lyric essay, and prose hybrid manuscripts. (Chapbooks of prose poems and poetry/prose hybrid projects can be submitted under either poetry or prose, per your preference.)
• We cannot accept translations for the BRCC.
• We will consider submissions including visual art (i.e. interior illustrations or photographs), but please note we do not regularly publish chapbooks with interior art. Please do not include suggested cover artwork with your submission.

  The annual deadlines for the prize are May 31 and October 31.

Optional book bundle: Interested in reading a few of our chapbooks while we read yours? Below you will have the option to purchase a bundle of five of our chapbooks, which includes Nonfiction by Shane McCrae, Inconsiderate Madness by Helen Marie Casey, Families Among Us by Blake Kimzey, Pilgrims: A Love Story by TJ Beitelman, and This is not a sky by Jessica Piazza. The discounted price of $39.95 for this chap bundle includes the cost of shipping. Purchase not required for submission to the BRCC!

You're in the submission form for prose. (This includes fiction, creative non-fiction, lyric essay, and prose hybrid manuscripts.) If you're intending to submit poetry, please return to the main page and select the poetry category instead. (Chapbooks of prose poems and poetry/prose hybrid projects can be submitted under either poetry or prose, per your preference.)

Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or prose between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.

All entries are read without identifying information by our panel of editors. All manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents (if applicable), and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Manuscripts should be 16-36 pages in length (double-spaced for fiction), not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.). Identifying information for the author should not be included anywhere on the manuscript itself, including in the name of your file or in the "title" field in Submittable. You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.

A note regarding previously published work: Chapbooks containing individual stories or poems that have been previously published online or in print are absolutely eligible for the BRCC–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your chapbook–or a significant portion of the work included in your chapbook–has been previously published as a book or chapbook-length collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run), then the manuscript is not eligible for the BRCC.

• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable and encouraged, but please notify us by withdrawing your manuscript on Submittable immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere.
• Multiple submissions (the submission of more than one manuscript to the contest) are permitted.
• Collaborative collections are welcome.
• Hybrid/multi-genre submissions are also welcome; please enter under the submission category that best fits your work.
• Prose category: Beginning with the Spring 2019 contest, our category previously titled “fiction” has been re-categorized as “prose” to accommodate fiction, creative non-fiction, lyric essay, and prose hybrid manuscripts. (Chapbooks of prose poems and poetry/prose hybrid projects can be submitted under either poetry or prose, per your preference.)
• We cannot accept translations for the BRCC.
• We will consider submissions including visual art (i.e. interior illustrations or photographs), but please note we do not regularly publish chapbooks with interior art. Please do not include suggested cover artwork with your submission.

The annual deadlines for the prize are May 31 and October 31.

Optional book bundle: Interested in reading a few of our chapbooks while we read yours? Below you will have the option to purchase a bundle of five of our chapbooks, which includes Nonfiction by Shane McCrae, Inconsiderate Madness by Helen Marie Casey, Families Among Us by Blake Kimzey, Pilgrims: A Love Story by TJ Beitelman, and This is not a sky by Jessica Piazza. The discounted price of $39.95 for this chap bundle includes the cost of shipping. Purchase not required for submission to the BRCC!

The immigrant narrative is at the heart of the American experiment. However, despite the contributions of immigrants to the cultural, financial, scientific, and artistic makeup of the United States, there is no clear home for new immigrant writings in the United States. To remedy this, Black Lawrence Press proudly announces the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series, an innovative program designed to provide a home for new immigrant writings in the United States and fill a much needed gap in the American literary community. The Series will remain a self-standing body with complete autonomy within Black Lawrence Press, and its editorial and advisory boards will be composed of immigrant writers and/or authors whose works explore the immigrant experience.

Mission Statement:

The Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series aims to provide a clear and consistent home for new Immigrant Writings in the U.S. Book selections will be made by a four-member editorial board composed of writers in the U.S. who are either immigrants or whose works focus on the immigrant experience. Selections will be based on merit with the goal of publishing the best works by immigrants. Poets and authors, at any stage of their careers, who identify as immigrants are welcome to submit a book manuscript of poetry or prose or a hybrid text for consideration. Submissions are accepted year-round. However, selections are made in June and November for a total of two books per year. In addition to publication, marketing, and a standard royalties contract from Black Lawrence Press, authors chosen for the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series will receive a travel stipend of $500, which can be used for book tours or in any manner chosen by the authors.

Editorial Board:
Sun Yung Shin
Rigoberto Gonzalez
Ewa Chrusciel
Abayomi Animashaun

Advisory Board:
Barbara Jane Reyes
Ilya Kaminsky
Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka
Virgil Suarez

Rules & Eligibility

1. Works by immigrants will be considered for the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series. 

2. Submission is open to any individual living in the U.S. who identifies as an immigrant and who either (i) was born in another country, (ii) has at least one parent who was born in another country (iii) is a refugee, or (iv) lives in the United States under Asylum or a Protection Program, such as TPS or DACA .

3. No more than two book manuscripts can be submitted per year per author.

4. A third book manuscript submitted in a given year by an author will not be considered for the Writing Series.

5. All manuscripts received after May 31st will be considered for the November Reading Period.

6. All manuscripts received after October 31st  will be considered for the June Reading Period.

7. Only full length manuscripts of poetry (at least 45 pages), prose (fiction or nonfiction), and hybrid texts of poetry and prose (at least 100 pages) will be considered for the Writing Series. We are not accepting chapbook manuscripts at this time.

8. An author whose book manuscript has previously been selected for the Writing Series and published through Black Lawrence Press will not be considered a second time for the Series. However, the author in question is welcome to send new book manuscripts to Black Lawrence Press (BLP) for consideration during BLP’s June and November Open Reading Periods.

9. Only authors who have not previously published with Black Lawrence Press will be considered for the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series.

10. Aside from Rules 1 through 9, there are no conditions for submitting manuscripts.

11. There are no entry fees.

12. Submissions are accepted year-round.

*13. Only one book manuscript will be selected for the June Reading Period, and only one book manuscript will be selected for the November Reading Period, for a total of two books per year. (* If no book manuscript is chosen for a June Reading Period, the Series Editors reserve the right to choose two book manuscripts (instead of one) in the November Reading Period immediately following the June Reading Period in question)

14. The Series Editors reserve the right to choose no book manuscript for the Writing Series during any given year or any Reading Period.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do you define an immigrant?
Anyone who identifies as an immigrant and who either (i) was born in another country, (ii) has at least one parent who was born in another country, (iii) is a refugee, or (iv) lives in the United States under Asylum or a Protection Program, such as TPS or DACA

2.  I live outside the United States, can I submit my work?
No, immigrant authors must be living in the United States when they submit their work for consideration

3. Can I submit an anthology for consideration?
No, anthologies will not be considered for the Writing Series. However, Black Lawrence Press (BLP) welcomes proposals for anthologies during its June and November Open Reading Periods

4. Are collaborations welcome?
No, works should be by one author only. However, collaborations are welcome during BLP’s June and November Open Reading Periods

5. Are BLP’s June & November Open Reading Periods the same as those of the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series?
No, these are different and distinct programs within the Press. While the readings occur concurrently, The Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series is a self-standing entity with its own eligibility and rules and editorial and advisory boards. The editorial board, composed of immigrant authors, has complete autonomy in selecting book manuscripts for the Writing Series. Each year, these editors recommend up to two books for publication through Black Lawrence Press. Please see the program’s mission statement , rules and eligibility, and bylaws.

6. How many book manuscripts can I submit in a given year?
Only two book manuscripts will be considered each year per author

7. Can I submit two book manuscripts in different genres?
No, each author can submit no more than two manuscripts in a given year, regardless of genre

8. I am an immigrant and I have two book manuscripts, can I submit both at once or at different times of the year?
Yes. Each author is welcome to submit a maximum of two books per year either together or at different times in the given year

9. It’s the end of June or November and there’s been no announcement yet on the manuscript selected for the Writing Series. What’s going on?
Thanks for your patience. The four-member editorial board will announce the selected manuscript as soon as they’ve made a decision. That said, the editors also reserve the right to choose no manuscript during a reading period.

10. I have other questions not addressed here. Who should I contact with my questions?
Please send questions to immigrantwritingseries@blacklawrencepress.com. 

You may send an email to the same address to request a copy of the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series bylaws.7. Only full length manuscripts of poetry, prose (fiction or nonfiction), and hybrid texts of poetry and prose will be considered for the Writing Series. We are not accepting chapbook manuscripts at this time.

Black Lawrence Press now offers scholarships for our consultation program. Although we work hard to keep the costs of our consults as low as possible, we understand that many writers are not able to afford these services. 

We plan to award a total of $1,000 in scholarships per month. The deadline to submit your manuscript is September 30. We will award the scholarships in the first week of October. If your manuscript is not selected for the scholarship, please feel free to apply again in the future.

Scholarship recipients will be chosen by senior Black Lawrence Press editors and will be selected based on the merit of the submitted work. While we do not request that submitters disclose any personal financial information, we want to be clear that these scholarships are intended for writers who would not otherwise be able to afford the cost of our consultation service. 

FAQ

1. Who is eligible for this scholarship?

Any writer who is looking for feedback on their work and would not otherwise be able to pay for a manuscript consultation is eligible. Applicants may be at any stage in their writing careers and we heartily welcome new writers. 

2. I'm not currently a student, may I apply?

Yes. This scholarship is open to both students AND applicants who are not currently pursuing degrees or otherwise enrolled in academic institutions. 

3. Do I need to demonstrate need to receive this scholarship?

No. We do not require any such demonstration.