DePaul University is excited to announce the formation of the new Black Graduate Student Community.  This organization was formed by a small group of graduate students to create a sense of community and fellowship and to be a pillar of support for black graduate students, and they are now ready to open the organization to the entire DePaul community.

The Black Graduate Student Community’s inaugural event, a Mix and Mingle, will take place on November 2nd at 6:30 p.m.  The event will be held at the Center for the Black Diaspora in the Schmitt Academic Center 551-D on the Lincoln Park Campus.  All graduate students are welcome.  More information is available on the flyer.

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Harpur Palate, a nationally acclaimed biannual literary journal published by graduate students at Binghamton University, is actively seeking quality fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction by established and emerging writers.  They are accepting submissions for issue 12.2 through November 15th, 2012.

Harpur Palate regularly solicits work from internationally established writers as well as emerging writers in MA, MFA and PhD programs and encourages emerging writers to partake in their annual contests for poetry and creative nonfiction. Previous contributors include David Lehman, Nin Andrews, Lee Upton, and Sherman Alexie. Harpur Palate regularly nominates contributors for the Pushcart Prize.

In addition to submissions for issue 12.2, Harpur Palate is now accepting submissions for two annual contests: the Milton Kessler Memorial Prize For Poetry, and the Harpur Palate Creative Nonfiction Prize. The annual winner receives a $500 prize and publication in the winter issue of Harpur Palate. All entrants receive a one-year subscription to Harpur Palate, and all pieces are considered for publication in the magazine. The postmark deadline for both contests is also November 15th.

Please visit the Harpur Palate website for details on the poetry and creative nonfiction prizes and information on how to submit electronically or through the mail:  http://harpurpalate.binghamton.edu/

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Southern Illinois University Press’s Crab Orchard Series in Poetry is seeking submissions for their 2013 Open Competition Awards for collections of poetry. The final judge is Rodney Jones and the prize is $3500 and publication for two collections of poems. All unpublished, original collections of poems written in English by United States citizens and permanent residents are eligible (individual poems may have been previously published).

Two volumes of poems will be selected from an open competition of manuscripts postmarked October 1st through November 17th, 2012. The winners will each receive a publication contract with Southern Illinois University Press. In addition, both winners will be awarded a $2000 prize and $1500 as an honorarium for a reading at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Both readings will follow the publication of the poets’ collections by Southern Illinois University Press. Entries may be mailed in or submitted online. The winner will be given an opportunity to work with the series editor before the manuscript is delivered to SIU Press.

There is a $25.00 fee per entry for postal submissions; $28.00 per entry for online submissions through Submittable. All entrants will receive a year’s subscription to Crab Orchard Review, beginning with the 2013 Summer/Fall issue. Manuscripts are recommended to be a minimum of 50 pages to a recommended maximum of 100 pages of original poetry. No more than one poem should appear on a page.

 For complete rules and details, please visit craborchardseriesinpoetry.submittable.com/submit.

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The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living is now accepting submissions for the Poetry of the Sacred 2013 Contest. First Prize receives $500 and there will be three Honorable Mention Prizes of $100 each. Winning poems will also be published in The Merton Seasonal, a publication of scholarly articles about noted spiritual leader Thomas Merton, and will be posted on the Merton Institute website, mertoninstitute.org.

Only one unpublished poem typewritten in English may be submitted per poet. Please limit the poem to no more than 100 lines. All poems must be sent via through the postal service, and the deadline to submit is January 15th, 2013.

Poems will be judged on literary excellence, spiritual tenor, and human authenticity. Winners will be announced by April 1, 2013.

For more information, including complete submission guidelines, please visit the contest page.