During our June and November open reading periods, we accept submissions in the following categories: novel, novella, short story collection (full-length and chapbook), poetry (full-length and chapbook), biography & cultural studies, and creative nonfiction. We also enthusiastically accept hybrid submissions.
We also hold several annual contests. Here is our reading schedule:
The Big Moose Prize: November 1 – January 31
(Open competition, novels)
The Hudson Prize: January 1 – March 31
(Open competition, poetry and prose collections)
The Spring Black River Chapbook Competition: April 1 – May 31
(Open competition, poetry and prose chaps)
Open Reading Period 1: June 1 – June 30
The St. Lawrence Book Award: June 1- August 31
(First book competition, poetry and prose)
The Fall Black River Chapbook Competition: September 1 – October 31
(Open competition, poetry and prose chaps)
Open Reading Period 2: November 1 – November 30
Please submit your work to the appropriate category below. If you are submitting a hybrid manuscript, please select the submission category that best fits your work.
If you require a fee waiver, please contact editors@blacklawrencepress.com at least seven days before the submission deadline.
Recipient of the 2021 William Peden Prize in fiction, Adam Prince earned his B.A. from Vassar College, his M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas, and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. His award-winning fiction has appeared in The Missouri Review, The Southern Review, Narrative Magazine, and Sewanee Review among others. Bret Anthony Johnston described his short story collection, The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men as an example of “the power and sweep of what short stories can do.” His novel-in-progress earned him a 2024 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Currently, he serves as a Visiting Writer for the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama and is a freelance editor.
Adam will provide detailed comments on your manuscript as well as a cover letter. After receiving these files, participants who submit chapbooks and full-length manuscripts may also book phone/video conferences with Adam at no additional charge.
Adam is accepting everything from flash fiction to novels.The fees and parameters for each of these categories is as follows:
- Flash fiction, up to 2 pages in length, $25
- Short stories, up to 20 pages in length, $55
- Chapbooks, up to 40 pages in length, $275
- Short story collections, up to 180 pages in length, $550
- Novellas, up to 100 pages in length, $425
- Novels, up to 300 pages in length, $795
All manuscripts should be double spaced and formatted in 12-point font with standard margins.
The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is January 31. Adam will complete his work and respond to all participants by February 28.
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Adam's Statement of Purpose
Though my writing education started with the short story, I’ve recently branched out a great deal—into novel writing, creative nonfiction, screenplays, and even some poetry. In all of this, though, my emphasis is narrative. I live in awe of the many various forms stories can take. Often, it’s just a matter of following our stories rather than trying to control them. We think we’re shaping the work, but the work has a shape of its own, if only we can find it.
I don’t believe in rules, but I do believe in choices. Writing any narrative is a series of choices—about who our characters are, about tone, point of view, plot, genre and so on. Many of these may be subconscious, but they’re choices we make all the same.
My Ph.D. helped me learn about the wide variety and deep history of narrative. So, when I’m working through a conundrum in my own work, I can often look into how other writers have tackled similar conundrums. As an editor and teacher of writing, then, I see my role as helping the writer see some of the choices open to them. For the most part, I focus on the bigger picture issues that give a narrative life and shape.
As a reader, my interests tend to vary quite a lot. I love the giant drama of Charles Dickens and Patrick O'Brian. I love the quiet precision of Virginia Woolf and James Salter, the sheer mastery of James Baldwin and Alice Munro, the imaginative force of George R.R. Martin and Neil Gaiman, the quirk of Kazuo Ishiguro and George Saunders, the lyrical power of Toni Morrison and Jhumpa Lahiri. And on and on . . .
Really, I can fall in love with any good story, no matter the genre or subject matter. And I don’t believe that my interests need to be your interests. More, I want to help you see what’s happening in your work already, and how you might help it along. I love diving into the guts of a narrative to really see how it's built—and how it might be made even better.
Michal ‘MJ’ Jones (they/he) is an award-winning poet, parent, and editor living in Oakland, CA. Their poetry has appeared in the American Academy of Poets, Obsidian, Split This Rock, Muzzle Magazine, TriQuarterly Review, ANMLY, & elsewhere. Their debut collection of poetry, HOOD VACATIONS, won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry. They are also the author of a chapbook, SOFT ARMOR (2023), from Black Lawrence Press. Often addressing the troubling and haunting aspects of life, violence, and identity, MJ’s poetry blends lyrical, documentary, and confessional modes.
MJ will provide detailed comments on your manuscript as well as a cover letter. After receiving these files, participants who submit chapbooks and full-length manuscripts may also book phone/video conferences with them at no additional charge.
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, $275
- Full-length collections, 45-80 pages in length $425
All manuscripts should be formatted in 12-point font. The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is January 31. MJ will complete their work and respond to all participants by Feburary 28.
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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.
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes will be awarded on publication.
The Big Moose Prize is open to traditional novels as well as novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.
Entries are read blind by senior Black Lawrence Press editors and a rotating panel of former Big Moose Prize winners.
All manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page and table of contents. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Manuscripts should be 90-1,000 pages in length, 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. 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.
Manuscripts containing previously published excerpts are absolutely eligible–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your manuscript has been previously published as a whole (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.
- 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 manuscripts are welcome.
The annual deadline is January 31.
The previous winners of The Big Moose Prize are Tracy DeBrincat, Jen Michalski, Betsy Robinson, Genanne Walsh, Megan McNamer, Robley Wilson, Shena McAuliffe, Colin Hamilton, Ron Nyren, Caroline Patterson, Jill Stukenberg, Sara Johnson Allen, and Leslie Li. Below, you will have the option to purchase a selection of their novels for a discounted fee, which includes the cost of shipping. While authors from around the globe may submit to the Big Moose Prize, these discounted book prices are only available to those with U.S. mailing addresses.
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Hudson Prize for an unpublished collection of poems or prose. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes awarded on publication.
Entries are read blind by senior Black Lawrence Press editors and a rotating panel of former Hudson Prize winners.
Manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents, 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 45-95 pages in length (poetry) or 120-280 pages in length (prose), 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. 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.
Manuscripts containing individual stories, essays, or poems that have been previously published online or in print are absolutely eligible–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your manuscript has been previously published as a 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.
- 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.
The annual deadline for the prize is March 31. Please enter prose submissions here.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Submit your manuscript by January 31 and enjoy a $5 discount on the entry fee!
The past winners of The Hudson Prize are Jo Neace Krause, Daniel Chacón, Abayomi Animashaun, Patrick Michael Finn, Sarah Suzor, B. C. Edwards, Jacob M. Appel, Bettina Judd, Matthew Cheney, Gillian Cummings, Caroline Cabrera, Beth Mayer, Alan Chazaro, Gwendolyn Paradice, Ananda Lima, Raena Shirali, JoeAnn Hart, and Jeremy Griffin. Below, you will have the option to purchase a selection of their titles for a discounted fee, which includes the cost of shipping.
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Hudson Prize for an unpublished collection of poems or short stories. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes awarded on publication.
Entries are read blind by senior Black Lawrence Press editors and a rotating panel of former Hudson Prize winners.
Manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents, 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 45-95 pages in length (poetry) or 120-280 pages in length (prose), 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. 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.
Manuscripts containing individual stories, essays, or poems that have been previously published online or in print are absolutely eligible–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your manuscript has been previously published as a 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.
- 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.
The annual deadline for the prize is March 31. Please enter poetry submissions here.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Submit your manuscript by January 31 and enjoy a $5 discount on the entry fee!
The past winners of The Hudson Prize are Jo Neace Krause, Daniel Chacón, Abayomi Animashaun, Patrick Michael Finn, Sarah Suzor, B. C. Edwards, Jacob M. Appel, Bettina Judd, Matthew Cheney, Gillian Cummings, Caroline Cabrera, Beth Mayer, Alan Chazaro, Gwendolyn Paradice, Ananda Lima, Raena Shirali, JoeAnn Hart, and Jeremy Griffin. Below, you will have the option to purchase a selection of their titles for a discounted fee, which includes the cost of shipping.
tr. is an international literary journal that celebrates and highlights the cultural power and vital contributions of literature in translation to the english-speaking world.
tr. publishes poetry and prose translated from any language. we read submissions on a rolling basis. we publish work on a rolling basis.
tr. reads the world. join us. . .
Submissions should be formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Please attach your work as a .pdf, .doc, or .docx file and include a copy of the original text as well as a cover letter and bios for the author and the translator.
It is the translator’s responsibility to secure all relevant and appropriate translation rights.
All submissions must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
If you have a pending submission, please wait for a response before submitting again. Our average response time is 2–3 months.
General submissions require a submission fee of $2.00 per submission.
Fiction and Nonfiction (up to 3000 words)
Poetry (no more than 5 poems)
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 January 22. We will award the scholarships in the first week of February. 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.
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 bridge a 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.
Please note: this category is open only to our current BLP authors (those with forthcoming or previously published chapbooks or full-length titles). Submissions entered via this category from writers who are not currently published by BLP will not be considered. If you are not a current BLP author, please exit out of this category and submit through the relevant open category or contest. Our full reading schedule appears on our Submittable page. Thank you!
Current BLP authors: We're so happy that you'd like us to consider another manuscript from you. Please submit it here.