yuki_onna

I can safely announce this now:

My *counts on fingers* fifth book of poetry and second full-length collection, A Guide to Folktales in Fragile Dialects, will be published by Norilana Books around Christmas this year. All my poetry involving folkloric themes will be included, plus a series of false Tale Types modeled on the Aarne-Thompson system that will link the poems together.  I will also make available an ebook version and audiobook version on my website after the new year. It's going to be a hell of a book.

And it needs a hell of a cover. And I know too many good artists to just pull a public domain image from the archives. My last poetry collection had a stunning cover by A.R. Menne, and I couldn't settle for less now. One of the best things about the writer gig is being able to help your friends get a leg up. So, with the publisher's permission, this is what I've decided to do: a contest!

Your work can appear on the cover of my newest collection, shown at my readings and featured on all my promotional materials. It will be great exposure and there will be other payment as well, to be determined. Submit your piece to me at catherynne@gmail.com by September 30th or earlier, and Vera Nazarian and I will choose the winning piece.

Obviously this favors more traditional visual artists (though check out the Interfictions cover), but I'm hoping for something really unique, be it painting, digital art, or entirely otherwise. Ultimately the only requirement is that it has to be renderable in image-form, (again, Interfictions is a great example of installation art used as a cover.) You must be able to provide high-resolution images and some sort of written piece on how you created the cover for promotion--I will likely interview you on my website close to the release date. You may design either a simple cover piece or a wraparound image that encompasses both front and back covers--it is not necessary for you to design the cover itself, i.e. include the title or author name within the image, but if you feel moved, you may. It's really all up to you.

Folktales are the center of this collection, and the cover should reflect that. I will send out the manuscript (85% complete) to artists by request, but many of the included poems are readable through the poetry section of catherynnemvalente.com.

If you have any questions as to Vera or my taste, what we're looking for, or other requirements, leave them in the comments. If you have friends you think might me interested, point them this way!