Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize

Guidelines:
 

• Please submit an original manuscript of 48-120 pages (primarily) in English.
• Cross-genre and hybrid work, verse forms, text-and-image experiments, connected or related pieces, and “beyond category” projects are all within the ambit of the contest. We also welcome more traditional approaches to creative nonfiction.
• Multiple submissions are acceptable as long as they are submitted separately with separate entry fees.
• Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please be sure to withdraw your submission via Submittable if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• Individual essays/pieces may have been previously published in magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks, but the work as a whole must be unpublished. If applicable, please include with your manuscript an acknowledgments page for prior publications.
• The competition is open to writers who have previously published book-length collections, as well as to unpublished writers.
• Be sure that your document is complete and formatted correctly before uploading.
• Please update any changes in contact information via your profile on Submittable.
• No revisions to submitted manuscripts will be considered. The author of the winning manuscript will have the opportunity to work with the editors in making revisions prior to publication.
• There is a non-refundable submission fee of $27 payable through Submittable.
• Your manuscript should include a single cover page with the title of the manuscript only, so that your manuscript document remains anonymous. No identifying material should appear anywhere in the body of the manuscript. (Your identifying information will be available to us via Submittable if needed.)
• To avoid conflicts of interest, the Seneca Review editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts if they can recognize the work of a close friend, relative, or current or former student. Such manuscripts will be re-assigned to a neutral editor.
• Close friends, relatives, and current and former students of the contest judge, Melissa Febos, are not eligible to submit.
• If you are unsure whether or not your manuscript fits the parameters of this book prize, we encourage you to send it! As we have said on Essay Daily, we consider "the lyric essay book prize" as a kind of anti-category category. We err in the direction of receptivity and openness. Thank you!
   

Process and Ethics:
Seneca Review and HWS Colleges Press endorse and abide by the Ethical Guidelines of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP): “CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.”

Throughout our reading and selection process, we will ensure the submitter’s anonymity during review. After the submission deadline, manuscripts will be divided among Seneca Review editors, who will select approximately 15 semi-finalist manuscripts. The Seneca Review editors will then work in a classroom setting with an undergraduate Acquisitions Editorial Board to narrow down the manuscripts to five finalists. The judge, Melissa Febos, will then select, by mid-December, the winning manuscript. We will announce the winner before the end of December.