The Larry Levis Prize 2014

2014 Levis Prize of $10,000 for a First Book of Fiction
The Larry Levis Post-Graduate Stipend is an award given to support a graduate of the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers who is completing his/her first book. The Levis Stipend alternates between awards for poetry and for fiction and the 2014 award will be made to a fiction writer in the amount of $10,000. The current judge, a nationally-recognized fiction writer, will be announced at the time the award is made, in January 2014.Eligibility: The Levis Stipend is open only to alumni who have not yet published a full-length collection of fiction in a standard edition. A standard edition is defined as 150 or more pages in a print run of 1500 or more copies. Entrants to the competition must hold the MFA degree from Warren Wilson College prior to July 15, 2012, or from Goddard College prior to June 30, 1981.

Guidelines: An entry fee of $25 is required to process the application and should be made on-line via the donation page at friendsofwriters.org. Please note the “receipt ID number” provided after payment.All entries must be submitted electronically, in two pdf attachments:

1) A cover letter specifying

  • Your name, address, telephone number and email;
  • The month and year you received the MFA from Warren Wilson or Goddard College;
  • The titles of the stories or novel excerpt(s) submitted; if submitting an excerpt, give a brief description of the shape and remainder of the manuscript-in-progress;
  • The “receipt ID number” for your entry fee payment;
  • A list of publication credits;
  • A statement explaining how the award will assist the projected completion of your book.

2) A fifty-page manuscript of fiction must be included. The prose should be double-spaced with margins of at least 1inch. Pages submitted above the fifty pages required will not be considered. Please use 12-point readable fonts for the manuscripts. Your name should not appear anywhere in the manuscript submitted. The manuscripts are judged blindly and should your name appear in the manuscript, your application will be disqualified and removed from consideration.The entry should be submitted by electronic mail to [email protected]  The email should have two attachments as specified above, one labeled “cover letter” and one labeled “manuscript.” Both attachments must be .pdf files.

Deadlines:

  • Submissions will be accepted between August 15, 2013 and October 15, 2013.
  • The Stipend will be awarded in January 2014. It is fully-taxable under United Stated tax laws, and Friends of Writers must declare the award to the Internal Revenue Service. Taxes and payments of taxes are solely the responsibility of the award winner.

Larry Levis (1946-1996) was an award-winning poet who wrote six books of poetry during his lifetime. His last collection, Elegy, was published posthumously. A Selected Poems was published in 2000. Levis was a much beloved member of the faculty at the MFA Program for Writers, cherished as much for his incisive mind as for the care and attention he gave to his students.

Any queries or requests for more information should be addressed to:

Nan Cuba
Levis Fellowship Administrator
[email protected]