Marion Grace Woolley, author and piano maker, lives in Rwanda. She’s posted an interesting commentary on YouTube.
Link here to view, comment, and learn.
Sunspot Lit announces the results of the Single Word contest’s 2020 edition. Submissions were open for any prose form, poetry, and visual art. We received entries that made us laugh, thoughtful pieces that dealt with the current pandemic, and works that hold meaning no matter what state the world is in.
Truly, this crop of entries showed exceptional talent. It’s heartening to know that people are working creatively to make the world a better place. The lists below reflect the results of multiple judging rounds. Look for the finalists and the winner in the next quarterly edition, due out around the end of June.
Congratulations to everyone on these lists!
Longlist
Compassion, Joshua Molina
Confidence, Tara Strahl
Faith, Trever Sinanovic
Enough, Lisa DeAngelis
One, Wes Finch
Weapon, Mary Lash
Light, Tanita Cree
Equanimity, Hunter Liguore
Consequence, Elizabeth Cain
Chinese, Jill Bronfman
Faith, Jennifer Jones
Unidistancing/Uni-distancing, Corinne Beasley
Turbine, Cameron Lings
Gender, Vicky Prior
Exit, Thomas Mangan
Us, Mary Sheehan
Jarabi, Doley Henderson
Anomie, Angela Kaufman
Shortlist
e/motion, Kerry Rawlinson
Dream, Michael Noonan
Aloha, Stephanie Launiu
You’re Mine, You (for They), Valyntina Grenier
Another Word for Beauty, Mark Henderson
The Meaning of Free, Hannah van Didden
Ubuntu, Ethel Maqeda
Rega, Rosalie Sydes
Yes, Lisa Friedlander
Burning, Olga Gonzalez Latapi
We, Larry Mellman
Self-quarantined, Christopher Buckley
Viral, Claire Lawrence
Stoic, Aileen Boyer
Vulnerability, Hazel Whitehead
The Letter “Hey,” Omer Wissman
Finalists
Aloha, Stephanie Launiu
You’re Mine, You (for They), Valyntina Grenier
Ubuntu, Ethel Maqeda
Burning, Olga Gonzalez Latapi
We, Larry Mellman
Self-quarantined, Christopher Buckley
Viral, Claire Lawrence
The Letter “Hey,” Omer Wissman
Winner and Runners-up
Runner-up: Ubuntu, Ethel Maqeda
Runner-up: Viral, Claire Lawrence
First place: The Meaning of Free, Hannah van Didden
Sunspot Literary Journal is dedicated to amplifying diverse multinational voices. We offer an Editor’s Prize of $50 for the annual edition. Artwork selected for a cover will be paid $20. Visit SunspotLit.com to download digital editions for free.
All types of prose from flash fiction and poetry to stories and essays, including scripts and screenplays, are welcome. We also accept long-form, novelette, and novella length works. Translations welcome, especially with access to the piece in the author’s original language.
One piece per prose submission, including poetry; two works of visual art per submission.
Use the General form for prose from 501 to 3,500 words. Flash fiction and works longer than 3,500 words must be submitted through one of the other forms. If they are submitted through the General form, they will be declined unread.
Using the Fast Flux (two-week turnaround or less)? Select the correct fee option to avoid delays.
All submissions must be unpublished (except on a personal blog). Simultaneous submissions welcome. Submit as many times as you like.
Closes February 29, 2020 at midnight.
For the 2020 edition of the Single Word contest, Sunspot is handing the megaphone over to you. Submit the single word you feel is the most important in today’s world.
You’ll have 1,000 words to describe why using any form of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. If you feel the word speaks for itself, your description can simply state that fact.
Since English doesn’t always convey exact shades of meaning, the word you select can be in any language. A definition written in English will be required, and the definition will count toward the total word count of the description. The description must also be in English.
For the first edition of this contest in 2019, the prize was $50. In 2020, the prize is being increased to $500.
In addition to receiving the cash prize, the winner will be published. Select finalists will have the chance to be published.
Enter as many times as you like. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your piece if it is published elsewhere before the winner is selected. Deadline is March 31, 2020.
June of 2019 will see the last Tin House literary magazine roll off the presses. After twenty years publishing original fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, Tin House is saying goodbye.
The move was done in the face of mounting costs associated with print publishing. Rob Spillman, the co-founder and editor, is moving on to other areas. The closing brings an end to a very long stretch of quality contributions to the literary arena.
While some new works will still be published on Tin House’s website, the loss of yet another print publication is difficult for writers. Much of the industry still gives more weight to credits in print publications, so the loss of even one magazine can be bad news.
There is a bright spot, however. Sunspot Literary Magazine is launching in January of 2019. For the first year, one print edition will be published. The magazine hopes to add additional print editions in subsequent years.
Meanwhile, digital editions are scheduled for every quarter. The founder is also considering adding frequent special editions that focus on a single author or a single category.
The magazine’s mission is to “change the world through words,” and is open to new and established authors and artists. Submissions of short stories, flash fiction, poetry, essays, art, interviews, and reviews of books, movies and galleries are being accepted through Sunspot’s Submittable portal.
This is an excellent opportunity to be heard and to enact the change you want to see.
On Friday, I took advantage of a fourteen-hour layover in Paris, France. With so much time to spend, I headed into the city for a quick look around.
The indie bookstore Shakespeare and Company was on my list. The shop is on a street known for the vendors who set up book stalls along the Seine River. Their location is near Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Louvre.
Shakespeare and Company is an English-language bookstore in the heart of Paris. The building was originally constructed as a monastery. An old tradition held that one monk was assigned the duty of lighting the lamps at nightfall. The bookstore’s founder, George Whitman, cast himself as that monk when he began operating a store that would provide light through literature.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 