SUNY – Subnivean, SUNY Oswego’s globally popular digital publication, has opened two literary competitions. Poet Major Jackson, recipient the 2023 Academy of American Poets Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement, will serve as final judge of the 2023-24 Subnivean Awards in Poetry, open to writers around the world. Gish Jen, praised in Oprah Magazine and recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, will judge in fiction.
In addition, Subnivean, run by SUNY Oswego undergraduates, has also opened the second annual New Writers Award. The deadline for this literary competition — which will recognize five of Central New York’s most skilled young writers, granting one a $1,000 scholarship — is Dec. 15.
“High school students, show up and show out! Send us your best poems and stories,” urged Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, the creative writing professor who founded Subnivean. “Our editors are loving what we’ve read from you so far, and there’s still time.”
While the competition judged by Jackson and Jen is for writers of all ages, the scholarship competition only considers writing by high school students living in the local region of Oswego County, Onondaga County, Oneida County, Herkimer County, Madison County, Cayuga County and Cortland County.
Beyond the $1,000 scholarship, which was made possible by a grant from the Shineman Endowed Fund @ SUNY Oswego, the winner will earn a $100 bookstore gift certificate and the winning poems or short story will be published in the magazine. Five finalists will also receive two mentorship sessions from an award-winning author, as well as blurbs about their writing to enhance their college or job applications. And the finalists and winner will be invited to read their work at a public event to take place next spring on SUNY Oswego’s campus.
“We just published a new issue,” Frazier noted. “It includes an audio episode as well as pages of poetry and fiction by writers working here in New York and as far away as the U.K. and India. So, we hope young Central New York writers will find inspiration there. We advise high school students to check out a few issues before going to the Submissions page to enter the scholarship competition.”
To learn and read more, visit the magazine online at Subnivean.org.
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