In Portugal, everyone goes naked, on and off the beaches. By this I mean that what I found at Disquiet were people, not writers, not speakers, not editors, not panels. Over two very potent weeks, I got a chance to see my colleagues up close for who they really were and not for their titles. I heard their work, broke Pao de Deus with them, and realized that there is something alarmingly honest about Disquiet’s mission: when the time and place are right, we writers become true to ourselves, both on and off the page. I realized wasn’t just among writers at Disquiet, I was among colleagues in a shared experience of discovery.

DISQUIETer Annie Liontas writes about her experiences in Portugal this summer for South85. Lots more over here.

There’s only two days left to enter both the luso scholarships and the literary prize! For some motivation/inspiration/general wisdom, check out Oona Patrick’s Town Crier piece about Disquiet’s Luso scholarships, the North American Luso writing community, Presence/Presença, Fidalgo Books, and the upcoming AWP conference.

Oona also has an essay on “Portuguese contributions to, and representation in, North American literature” in the upcoming Spring, 2014, issue of The Puritan. Can’t wait!

There’s only two weeks left to enter The DISQUIET Literary Prize for writing in any genre! Now with three–count ’em, three!–ways to get published, with fiction in Guernica, nonfiction in Ninthletter.com, and poetry in The Collagist. And one grand prize winner, to be selected by an outside judge, will receive a full scholarship including tuition, lodging, and airfare to Lisbon in 2014. What more could you ask for? Enter now!

Our friend Derek Nikitas discusses the DISQUIET experience as part of EKU’s low-res MFA program, “The Bluegrass Writers Studio.” You can read his blog post here: http://www.creativewriting.eku.edu/insidelook/summer-highs-our-low-residency-mfa

There’s only one month left to enter the DISQUIET Literary Prize with your best fiction, poetry, or nonfiction. Winners will be published in Guernica, Ninthletter.com, and The Collagist. That’s three ways to get published! On top of that, one grand prize winner will be chosen by an outside judge to receive a full scholarship (including travel, tuition and lodging) to attend this year’s program in Lisbon, Portugal. More details available here.