Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel.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.

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.

Jenny Irish is the author of the hybrid poetry collections Common Ancestor (Black Lawrence, 2017) and Tooth Box (Spuyten Duyvil, 2021),  the short story collection I Am Faithful  (Black Lawrence, 2019), the chapbook Lupine (Black Lawrence, 2023) and most recently Hatch (Northwestern University Press, 2024). She teaches creative writing at Arizona State University and facilitates free community workshops every summer. 

Jenny 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 Jenny at no additional charge.

Jenny is accepting everything from flash fiction to novels for critique. The fees and parameters for each of these categories are 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
• Novellas, up to 100 pages in length, $425
• Short story collections, up to 180 pages in length, $550
• Novels, up to 300 pages in length, $795

All manuscripts should be double spaced and formatted in 12-point font. The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is February 28. Jenny will complete her work and respond to all participants by March 31.

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Jenny Irish's Statement of Purpose

Foundational to my engagement with any manuscript is the understanding that it is a work-in-progress: a space of possibility. Rather than approach a manuscript as a flawed object needing to be fixed, my first priority is to understand the goals of the writing, how those goals are currently being achieved, and then determine how my feedback can help to more fully realize them.

Writing isn’t formulaic, so it’s vital to treat every piece as unique and meet it on its own terms. For example, a non-linear, fragmentary novella is very different than a linear sequence of micro prose pieces. Each unique piece will receive the most benefit from feedback that encourages that particular manuscript to be the strongest version of itself. Working together, our objective is to strengthen, not to “correct” your work.

I don’t seek to primarily draw an author’s attention to what is “flawed,” so much as I read to identify areas where the writing could benefit from more, less, or different. More, less, and different are macro concepts that can help generate useful questions about a piece. Where would the writing benefit from more? This could involve the foreshadowing that makes a revelation feel like a discovery for the reader, as opposed to a manipulation, or, could be about the groundwork for thematic concerns a piece of writing wants to engage, or, an absence of clear motivation. Asking where more is needed can help with cohesion and clarity. Asking where less is needed, can help point to areas where authorial strategies are perhaps being overused, or, a recurring image that appears more than is needed, diluting its effect, or, a situation where an author has written their way into a narrative that actually begins on the third page. Different, can help a writer think about an element that isn’t achieving what it intends, and encourage the consideration of alternatives. This might apply to the relationship between content and form, or the ordering of a sequence.

As well as engaging with a manuscript on a macro level, I will be reading and responding to it on a micro level: at the level of the line—not line editing—but speaking to language and image, the texture and flow created by diction and syntax.

As a writer, I am interested in the vast possibilities for movement and the accumulation of meaning in different structures. My work is narrative, often moves associatively, and draws on a range of genre influences including fiction, poetry, and the essay. I do love a striking sensory detail. I love sound and texture on the page. As a reader, I am often drawn to works that challenge easy genre classification. I enjoy a wide range of aesthetics and read broadly. Some of my recent favorites are The White Book by Han Kang, Spectacle by Susan Steinberg, Many Restless Concerns by Gayle Brandeis, and Not Merely Because of the Unknown that was Stalking Toward Them by Jenny Boully.

Rainie Oet is a trans woman who writes fiction and poetry for adults and young readers. She is the author of Robin’s Worlds (Astra), Monster Seek (Astra), and Glitch Girl! (Kokila). She received her MFA in Poetry from Syracuse University, where she was awarded the Shirley Jackson Prize in Fiction. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her cat, Skipper.

Rainie is accepting chapbooks and full-length collections. The fees and parameters for each of these categories is as follows:

• Chapbooks, up to 40 pages in length, $275
• Full-length manuscripts, up to 80 pages in length, $425

Rainie will provide detailed comments on your manuscript as well as a cover letter. After receiving these files, participants may also book phone/video conferences with Rainie at no additional charge.

All manuscripts should be formatted in 12-point font.The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is February 28. Rainie will complete her work and respond to all participants by March 31. 

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Rainie Oet's Statement of Purpose

In a collection of poetry, I am deeply interested in the relationalities of micro/macro -cosms, where the whole reflects every choice within it. I hold that writing is a spiritual endeavor by which we understand, and communicate, reality. (When I say reality, I don’t just mean the hard stuff, like facts; I actually mostly mean the soft stuff—subjective patterns, feelings, opinions, frictions.) My favorite poetry collections are the ones that teach you how to read them through a commitment to their own soft-stuff, and in doing so, give you a different way to see life. And my favorite poems are the ones which own their failure to name the unnameable, making beauty of that failure. Also, I just love poetry that cares about the reader having fun (even as that fun might be sobbingly hard).

As a reader and critiquer of poetry, my guiding principle is non-normative subjectivity. As a critiquer, I apply non-normativity to my feedback. A poem’s greatest strengths are often the parts that get cut by well-meaning peers and teachers. I enjoy helping poems and collections find their most authentic voice. I like to work simultaneously on both the most macro and most micro level. On the macro level, I apply principles from fiction, investigating plot (either on a literal or emotional level), character, and worldbuilding. On the micro level, I think about how things such as unusual rhythmic structures or comma placements can actually help the reader intuit truths about the speaker’s inner world. Above all, I am interested in getting to know what is most complexly real in the writer/speaker’s world, and then supporting the writer in communicating that reality effectively and pleasurably to a reader. 

I am a subjective reader. I always read your work as myself, unfolding and communicating my authentic personal responses for your consideration. If you’re choosing me to read your work, it will probably be because you are excited about getting feedback from a reader like me. I am transfeminine, neurodivergent, and—most importantly in this context—deeply excited to uplift the idiosyncracies that set your writing apart from everyone else. 

As a writer and reader, I see the poetry collection as a cohesive unit, telling one complicated story. I love to write and read things that maximize iconicity and emotional clarity. I love collections that “break the rules” while also bringing me along for the ride. I love speculative energy—thinking about how things could be as much or more than how they are. I particularly love reading work by writers with experiences that lie far beyond the status quo, as I find that they often have the most interesting and important things to say.

Marcela Sulak’s fifth title with Black Lawrence Press,  a novella-in-verse, The Fault, was published in 2024. Her previous four titles include three poetry collections, City of Skypapers, a 2021 finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Decency, and Immigrant, as well as her lyric memoir, Mouth Full of Seeds. She’s co-edited with Jacqueline Kolosov the 2015 Rose Metal Press title Family Resemblance: An Anthology and Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres. Her essays have appeared in The Boston Review, The Iowa Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Asymptote, and Gulf Coast online, among others. Marcela Sulak directs the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University. She also edits The Ilanot Review.

Marcela 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, $275
• Manuscripts, up to 180 pages in length, $550
• Long Manuscripts, up to 300 pages in length, $795

Marcela 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 Marcela at no additional charge.

All manuscripts should be double spaced and formatted in 12-point font.The deadline to submit work for this consultation program is February 28. Marcela will complete her work and respond to all participants by March 31.

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Marcela's Statement of Purpose

All literary genres--especially nonfiction genres--contain within them particular expectations with regard to truth telling and the position of the writer/speaker/reader in the world of the text, and in the world at large. My interest and education in creative nonfiction comes from documentary poetics and witness, as well my work in hybridity. While co-editing and creating the Rose Metal Press title, Family Resemblance. An Anthology and Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres, I fell in love with braided essay, lyrical memoir, hermit crab essay, and flash and micro forms for their ability to create containers for content that had not yet been dreamed of, for truths that had not yet been explored but they had not yet been heard, seen, or noticed.

Engaging in more standard forms of literary nonfiction, biography, and memoir, I am interested in turning facts into truths; in creating engaging, complex characters, unforgettable scenes. From my poetry training, I bring a fervent devotion to syntax and word choice, fresh imagery, and precision. 

As a reader, I love what feels urgent, but allows itself the time it needs to unfold its big heart, like Mary Karr's The Liar's Club. I love the combination of the researched and the personal we see in Shelley Puhak's "Detained. A Genealogy of Whores and Wolves," or Valeria Luiselli, Eula Biss. I especially love a sense of self irony, Noam Drorr's Love Drones. Some of my loves interrogate what we accept as truth--Joy Harjo's Crazy Brave or, Claudia Rankine's work, Laylie Long Soldier's "38."  Finally, epistolary essays by James Baldwin, Vaclav Havel, which are written from prison, or to keep someone from prison, live inside me as fine and powerful reminders of the sacredness of the human individual and the responsibility we have for ourselves and for one another. 

No matter what the topic, a good piece of writing makes use of its sub-genre and its truth-expectations, uses language effectively, and is aware of the individual within the system of meaning-making that is our world.

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. 

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. 

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. ​
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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 February 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.

Mission Statement:

In keeping with our commitment to being a clear and consistent home for immigrant writing, we are proud to announce The Black Lawrence Fellowship for New Immigrant Authors. The fellowship is for immigrant authors at the start of their literary careers, who have published no more than one book in any genre at the time of application. Applicants are welcome to submit a one page project proposal along with a five page writing sample. Successful applicants will receive a package of support that includes a free 12-month subscription to Sapling worth $50, a gift card in the amount of $150 to purchase books from Black Lawrence Press, a full manuscript consultation for a full-length project worth between $425 and $795, and $150 in cash.

Rules & Guidelines

1. The fellowship is open to immigrant authors who have published no more than one book at the time of application

2. The fellowship is open to any individual living in the U.S. with no more than one book, 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. New immigrant authors working in any genre are welcome to submit a one-page project proposal along with a five-page writing sample for consideration.

4. Black Lawrence Press authors are not eligible for the fellowship.

5. Fellowship applications will be considered once a year between January 1 and April 31.

6. Only one application will be selected each year for the fellowship. 

7. There are no entry fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

1. I am an immigrant author who hasn't published a book. Will my application be considered for the fellowship?

Yes! Immigrant authors who haven't published a book are encouraged to apply for the fellowship.

2. Do you accept submissions year-round?

No. Fellowship applications are considered once a year between January 1 and April 31. 

3. Can applicants for the fellowship submit work for the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series?

Yes! Fellowship applicants can submit work for the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series. The fellowship and Writing Series are separate programs within Black Lawrence Press. 

4. Can applicants submit more than one application for the fellowship each year?

No. Fellowship applicants can submit no more than one application each year. 

5. I am an immigrant author, but I have no publication credits. Will my application be considered for the fellowship?

Yes! Immigrant authors with no publication credits are encouraged to submit applications for the fellowship.