The Journal of Narrative Theory, an international journal, is launching a contest February 1 that is exclusive to those who work and live in the Detroit area. The theme this year is Detroit 20/20. Writings must be 250 words or less and should be inspired by or set at a specific location in the city of Detroit.
Throughout the period of the competition, strong entries will be featured, with shout-outs to individual authors via social media. Winners will receive a prize of $250 and the opportunity to be published. The contest begins February 1. The last day for entries is Feb. 28. The winner will be announced at the JNT 2021 Dialogue on March 18.

The 2021 JNT Dialogue centers on the theme of Detroit, taking a look at how the city serves as a
site that inspires narrative and gives rise to literary, artistic, and activist communities that shape its story. March 18, Detroit-based authors Desiree Cooper and kim d. hunter, will discuss how their creative and activist work is shaped by their hometown.

Desiree Cooper is a 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow, poet, fiction writer, a former attorney, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and community activist. She is invested in the themes of racial and gender equality, reproductive freedom, family-positive public policy and the welfare of women and girls. Her award-winning collection of flash fiction, Know the Mother (WSU Press, 2016), which dives into the intersections of racism and sexism, was published by Wayne State University Press in 2016. She has also contributed an essay to the recently published collection Detroit 1967: Origins, Impacts, Legacies (2017).

kim d. hunter is a 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow, poet, and fiction writer, currently employed as a Social Justice Coordinator at Engage Michigan, which supports progressive movements. He has served as Poet-in-Residence in several Detroit public schools through the InsideOut Literary Arts Project, and he co-directs the Woodward Line Poetry Series. He has published poetry, music reviews, cultural articles, and the award-winning work of fiction, The Official Report on Human Activity (WSU Press, 2018). This is a collection of surreal stories that are linked by themes of racial, gender, and class discrimination in a society “in which media technology and capitalism have run amok.

The Journal of Narrative Theory is a refereed, international journal published three times a year by the Department of English at Eastern Michigan University. Every third issue of JNT is a special issue, which is edited by a guest editor and covers a specific topic relating to narrative.