In partnership with MBK Boston and the Black Joy Project by Thaddeus Miles, we're launching the Black Joy Writing competition. During a time when the news is mostly dispiriting, we want to read true stories about joy – specifically Black joy: moments, scenes, memories, that celebrate Black families, relationships, culture, and history. We are looking for a vivid story that is transporting and meaningful – maybe funny, maybe poignant, but always with joy at its center. Learn more and apply before this Monday, October 12th.

By Katrin Schuman

All writers are a crazy mixture of egotistical, manic, single-minded, optimistic on the one hand and sensitive, catastrophizing, scattered and pessimistic on the other - at least all the ones I know. How do we live and produce work in a world filled with such extremes? Especially now when our political and physical reality is so chaotic?

In the October 2020 edition of "Best of Boston," we bring you our top Boston lit events this month, taking place virtually. See below for our list of local literary happenings.

Virtual Event: Joanna Schaffhausen in conversation with Edwin Hill

Thursday, October 1st at 7:00 PM | Event Fee: $0

Want to stay connected to your writing this fall? Look no further than our new batch of October workshops. Whether you want to produce fresh work by tackling six stories in six weeks, make the blank page less scary by outlining your novel, or write a genre-bending memoir, we've got a remote workshop for you:

• Writing Transgender and Non-Binary Characters, starting October 1st
• 6 Weeks, 6 Stories, starting October 2nd
• Science Fiction and Fantasy: Remix!, starting October 3rd
• The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House: Political Poetry, starting October 7th
• The Novel Outline, starting ...

The October 2020 edition of "Writing Life Essentials" is a monthly hand-curated list of contests, grants, scholarships, submissions calls, and awards. We try to prioritize opportunities that are at least one of the following: local, free to apply, and/or committed to celebrating and supporting writers from historically marginalized communities