Welcome to The Writing Pool’s Weekly Writing PostTM! We provide you with a free weekly newsletter filled with notices about contests, events, conferences, and other information that might be useful or of great interest to writers of all leanings. Meanwhile, calls for submission to literary publications as well as information about publishers can be found at The Writing PoolTM, your bottomless pool for great writing resources.
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| The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
~Oscar Wilde |
If you want to include a notice or announcement in the Weekly, please email your submission to weekly@thewritingpool.com
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Everyone knows the best thing about a horror movie or a thriller is the suspense. It’s the suspense that keeps you at the edge of your seat, gripping the arms of your chair or whatever is within reach, waiting for that one monumental moment of horror or fate or tragedy or drama. It’s the same way with literature. When you read a book and you keep turning one page after another, wondering and waiting and wanting to know what will happen next, you have suspense. No matter what genre your writing, you want to achieve the kind of suspense that will keep readers on the edge, wanting to read more each time. The simplest way to study how writers create suspense in their stories begins with withholding information. This might be more difficult in short stories, where you are compelled to minimize unnecessary information and introduce the most important information at the onset. That does not mean you’re divulging everything. A great deal of the suspense comes from wanting to know why, how, and what next. The trick is to feed your reader with crumbs of information that can be crucial to how the story ends. Sometimes, you’ll use red herrings, but too many can frustrate your reader. Try to use your tolerance level as a measure—if you were the main character, how much would you be able to bear before you finally gave up? If you were the reader, how far would you read before you finally got sick and tired or waiting to find out what happened? The better your writing and your story, the more likely your readers will hang on until the end. If your writing is tedious and boring, your readers will not even care to find out how it ends.
Need more tips on writing? Ask us in The Writing Pool™! You can also read about other aspects of writing at Creativity Unlimited.
Happy writing!
~cpl
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NEWS
Last Week of NaNoWriMo!
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing.
On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
To prepare, see what’s going on, or sign up for NaNoWriMo, visit http://nanowrimo.org/http://nanowrimo.org/. It’s free to sign up!
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PEI LOCAL/ATLANTIC
Dramatic Reading at the Library
Confederation Centre Public Library is pleased to present a dramatic reading of “Anne of Green Gables”, the non-musical version, by Paul Ledoux performed by William McFadden and company Saturday, Dec 3 at 2:00 p.m. Find out why Montgomery’s classic endures in this narrative interpretation of the Island’s favorite story.
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Book Launch at the Library
Sally Ross will launch her translation of the groundbreaking work of Jacinthe Laforest and Georges Arsenault on the role played by Acadian women in the formative years of the province and country at Confederation Centre Public Library on Thursday, Dec., 8 at 7:00 p.m. Originally published by Laforest and Arsenault as Les Acadiennes de l le-du-Prince-Ỉ
Édouard: Trois Siècles d’Action, the English title of Ross’s book is literally translated to Acadian Women of Prince Edward Island: Three Centuries of Action. From their arrival on Isle Saint-Jean in the early 1700s, Acadian women played a major role in the survival of the colony. Over generations, they have been active in the home and in the community. They have nursed, taught, worked, sung, prayed, and served. Integrated into a well-documented text with numerous photographs, their testimonies provide a history of the Acadie of Prince Edward Island. The book chronicles how that history was lived by Acadian women and influenced by their action and determination. Join Ross for her discussion of and insights on the formidable role played by Acadian women in the formative years of the province and country.
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THE 30th COX & PALMER ISLAND LITERARY AWARDS
Deadline: January 31, 2017, 9:00pm
The 30th annual Cox & Palmer Island Literary Awards gala ceremony will take place in the spring of 2017. Prizes will be given out in five categories.
ADULT (18+) AWARD CATEGORIES
Submission Guidelines:
Unless otherwise indicated, the entry fee for each submission is $25; cash prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third prize categories. The ILAs are open to Island residents only (six-month resident minimum prior to submission date).
All writing, including self-published work, must be original and unpublished prior to awards ceremony.
Lucy Maud Montgomery* P.E.I. Literature for Children Awards
The manuscript must be a story written for children. One children’s story, maximum length 5,000 words, will constitute an entry. Illustrations may be submitted with the story, but are not necessary.
*L.M. MONTGOMERY IS A TRADEMARK OF THE HEIRS OF L.M. MONTGOMERY INC.
Milton Acorn Poetry Awards
One entry consists of eight (minimum) to ten pages (maximum) of poetry.
Maritime Electric Short Story Awards
One short story, maximum length 2,500 words, will constitute an entry.
Creative Non-Fiction Awards
This non-fiction category includes humour writing, memoir, biography, essay (including personal essay), travel writing, and feature articles. It involves writing about real events, people, or ideas, conveying a message through the use of literary techniques such as characterization, plot, setting, dialogue, narrative, and personal reflection. In works of creative non-fiction, the writer’s voice and opinion are evident. The work should be accessible to a general reading audience (not written for a specialized or academic audience). Maximum length: 2,500 words.
STUDENT AWARD CATEGORIES
Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People:
Students may write on the topic of their choice and submit in one of four sub-categories:
- Early Elementary (Grades 1-3),
- Late Elementary (Grades 4-6),
- Junior High (Grades 7-9), and
- Senior High (Grades 10-12).
A maximum of five pages of poetry, or a ten-page short story, will constitute an entry. Longer submissions will NOT be accepted. There is no entry fee. Cash prizes will be awarded in each sub-category of First, Second, and Third.
For more details, please visit http://www.peiwritersguild.com/ila-call-for-submissions-2017/
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Latest from Island Author J.J. Steinfeld
Fiction writer, poet, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld’s latest book, An Unauthorized Biography of Being (110 Short Fictions Hovering between the Absurd and the Existential), has been recently published by Ekstasis Editions. J. J.’s seventeenth book is an eclectic and thought-provoking collection of short fictions exploring the themes and the psychological terrain the author has been dealing with in all of his writing, from the absurd to the existential, the surreal to the spiritual, the realistic to the fantastical. Steinfeld’s writing grapples with the desire for meaning and sense in the human condition while confronting the chaotic and painful and sometimes strange aspects of history and people’s lives.
In An Unauthorized Biography of Being, J. J. Steinfeld launches readers into the void, again and again, giving structure to the unstructured and sense to the senseless. Steinfeld’s voice powers an awareness of the timeless desire “to be” staking itself against the improbability of life itself etching out our shared comedy and tragedy on a damaged yet fascinating planet. These are stories that test the very boundaries of existence, being, story, and meaning.
— Michael Bryson, author of Thirteen Shades of Black and White and editor of The Danforth Review
J.J. Steinfeld’s latest collection is short fiction as incantation. There is something sinister, playful, and mysterious on nearly every page of An Unauthorized Biography of Being. These dreamlike pieces — ranging from the depths of the existential to the heights of otherworldly speculative fiction — don’t merely stare into the abyss. They interrogate it.
— Mark Sampson, author of Sad Peninsula and The Secrets Men Keep
A maestro of the Canadian short story, J. J. Steinfeld gathers together in An Unauthorized Biography of Being more than a hundred of his minimalist-leaning short fictions, a form whose brevity is in tune with our fast-paced, digitally preoccupied world. Yet these stories, grouped under six thematic headings, range in expansiveness from “Philosophical Thoughts” to “You Remember Sitting Across from God,” “The Comings and Goings of Ordinariness” to “What Will Today’s Thoughts Be About?,” and from “Uncertainty” to “Otherworldliness.” This final section begins with four tales that resemble Aesop’s Fables and bear an ecological lesson; and then moves into darkly fanciful speculative fiction “hovering between the absurd and the existential.”
— Professor Sandra Singer, University of Guelph, editor of J. J. Steinfeld: Essays On His Works
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Cargo Lit Submissions
Hey all you lovers of travel and passion and adventure, Cargo’s reading period is open for Issue 6, due out next month. Whether it’s a photo you took, an experience you want to share, or a piece of art you created inspired by your place in a new world, we at Cargo Lit want to hear about it.
Don’t forget we are always looking for portrait shots for our covers – your photo or art could make the next cover of Cargo.
To drop your submission in our box, follow the links here through Submittable: http://cargoliterary.com/submit/
We are waiting for you!
the cargo team
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Open Invitation
The poetry engine awaits you at www.poetrypei.com!
New poets are always welcome to submit a poem to this site, especially if they have never have done so before. The submission form —with complete guidelines and formatting tips—is at www.poetrypei.com/submit.
Poets already on the site: remember that you are welcome to replace your existing poem with a new one at any time, provided at least three months have passed since your last update.
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CONTESTS AND CALLS
See more at www.thewritingpool.com
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Field of Words Writing Competitions
The 2016 Flash Fiction and Short Story competitions (Round Two) is open from July 1 – Nov 30. Early entrants have the chance to be published online as monthly finalists.
Field of Words is dedicated to helping emerging writers grow. To this end, we now run international writing competitions in the categories of short fiction and flash fiction three times per year. All entrants must be aged 18 and over. Both categories offer cash prizes for the winner and runner-up.
The names and works of competition winners and runners up will be published on our Home page. The names and works of all monthly finalists will be regularly published on either our Short Story Competition Finalists page, or our Flash Fiction Competition Finalists page. The announcement of finalists is dependent upon the quality of work submitted. If stories do not meet the high standard expected of a competition finalist, then no finalists will be chosen for that month.
For more details and guidelines, please visit http://fieldofwords.com.au/writing-competition/
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Tethered By Letters
The Winter 2017 contests are now open for submissions!
Tethered by Letters has launched a new Twitter micro fiction contest, #Blink! Stories must be 140 characters or less. A winner will be selected every two weeks. For more details, follow @TethrdbyLettrs and @FrictionSeries on Twitter.
For details, please visit http://tetheredbyletters.com/submissions/contest/
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Glimmer Train 2015 SUBMISSION CALENDAR AND CATEGORIES
We have five submission categories from which to choose, including our standard category (no reading fees and payment for accepted pieces is $700), and four contests (reading fees allow for 1st place prizes from $1,500 to $2,500). Contests vs. standards. Click on the names of the categories for details.
NOTE: There is always a one-week grace period after the deadline (last day of the month).
Very Short Fiction (1st place – $1,500): Welcome in January, April, July, and October.
Short Story Award for New Writers (1st place – $1,500): Welcome in February, May, August, November.
Fiction Open (1st place – $2,500): Welcome in June and December.
Family Matters (1st place – $1,500): Welcome in March and September.
Standard Category ($700): Welcome in January, May, September.
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The Monthly Writing Contest
Here at Writing Maps we believe good writing should be encouraged, cherished, shared, and most importantly, published.
We hold a monthly Writing Maps Writing Contest to coincide with the launch each month of a new Writing Map product. We challenge you to write and share a 150-word piece in response to our Prompt of the Month.
Each month’s two winning entries will be published in The A3 Review, the new Writing Maps Journal, a fold-out literary magazine to be published every six months. The first issue appeared in September 2014. Winning entries will also receive free Writing Maps and contributor copies of The A3 Review.
To make sure you don’t miss future contests, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking on this link. Follow us on Twitter for conversation, updates and inspiration.
The Rules:
- Entry is $5 (approx £3). Multiple entries accepted.
- Enter online through Submittable. Click here to enter.
- The contest closes at midnight (GMT) on the fourth Saturday of the month.
- Any entries submitted after the deadline will not be eligible.
- The Writing Maps Writing Contest is open to all writers over 16.
- There is no restriction on theme or style. We encourage prose, poems, prose poems, graphic stories and hybrid forms.
- Maximum number of words is 150.
For more details, please visit http://www.writingmaps.com/pages/contest
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Flash Fiction Competition
Now in its sixth year, this quarterly open-themed competition for fiction up to 500 words has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September, and 31st December.
Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories
Prizes: £300 plus publication in Words with JAM, £200 and £100
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The Booksie Fall 2016 Short Story Writing Contest.
Over $300 in prizes.
Hello, Booksie world! We’re pleased to announce the launch of our fall 2016 short story contest. We’re looking for interesting, original stories that will make us laugh, cry and see the world in a slightly different way. The contest is open to all genres and themes. You can enter a previously posted story on Booksie or post a new one and enter it.
Deadline: November 30, 2016.
Read more at http://bit.ly/2fCefGU
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C.P. Cavafy Poetry Prize
Ends on November 30, 2016
Multiple price options
Every year, Poetry International gives a prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International for a single poem. Editors of Poetry International will judge each submission. Submit up to 3 poems with a $15 entry fee. Each additional poem will require $3 extra.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2frJx4e
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THE GREGORY O’DONOGHUE INTERNATIONAL
POETRY COMPETITION
Closing date: November 30
(Entries from September to November annually)
The Munster Literature Centre holds an annual competition for an international poetry prize for a single poem, named in honour of a late Irish poet long associated with the Centre.
The Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize will have a first prize of €1,000 (approx $1125.48 USD/ £849.14 GBP @ xe.com on 24th August 2016), a week’s residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and publication in Southword Literary Journal. The MLC will subvent travel costs for the winner up to €600 and provide hotel accommodation and meals for four days during the Cork International Poetry Festival.
There will be a second prize of €500, third prize of €250, and ten runners-up will each have their poems published in Southword and receive Southword’s standard fee of €30.
The final date for receipt of entries is November 30.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2fnoXm9
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Wells College Press Poetry Chapbook Contest
Wells College Press invites submissions to its annual Poetry Chapbook Contest. The deadline for the 2017 competition is November 30, 2016. The winner will be announced in January 2017.
The author of the chosen manuscript will receive 20 copies of the letterpress-printed, hand-sewn chapbook. The author will also be invited to read from her or his new chapbook at Wells College in the fall of 2017, and receive a $500 honorarium + room and board for the reading.
We print editions of 150 signed and numbered copies. We craft every aspect of our chapbooks individually and obsessively: Prior chapbooks have included all type and ornament cast in metal at the Bixler Letterfoundry in Skaneatles specifically for those projects. Our books also feature hand-set title pages and hand-sewn bindings. The winning chapbook will continue this tradition of craftsmanship.
For more details, please visit https://wellscollegepress.submittable.com/submit
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Prairie Fire Press 2016 ANNUAL WRITING CONTESTS WITH $6,000 IN PRIZES!
Prairie Fire is now accepting entries for the Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award, Short Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction Contests.
Deadline: November 30 (postmarked).
By entering the Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award Contest, you not only have a chance to win $1,250 in cash, but also a jeweller-cast replica of poet Bliss Carman’s ring, an invitation to THIN AIR (produced by the Winnipeg International Writers Festival), dinner with the staff of Prairie Fire and publication in Prairie Fire magazine.
With your contest submission you’ll receive a one-year subscription to Prairie Fire, so if would like to start reading Prairie Fire as soon as possible, you can send in your entry today!
Prizes are awarded in each of the three categories and winning entries are published in Prairie Fire:
1st prize $1,250
2nd prize $500
3rd prize $250
For more details, please visit: Contest Rules.
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Schneider Family Book Award
The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
Click here for the Schneider Family Book Award Manual (PDF)
Bibliography of Children’s Books about the Disability Experience (pdf)
Three annual awards each consisting of $5000 and a framed plaque, will be given annually in each of the following categories: birth through grade school (age 0-10), middle school (age 11-13) and teens (age 13-18). (Age groupings are approximations). The book must emphasize the artistic expression of the disability experience for children and or adolescent audiences. The book must portray some aspect of living with a disability or that of a friend or family member, whether the disability is physical, mental or emotional.
This award is given out on an annual basis.
Deadline: December 1, 2016.
For more details, please visit http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/1/apply
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St. Martin’s Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition
Sponsored by Minotaur Books and Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
- The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, aged 18 or older, who has never been the author of any Published Novel (in any genre), as defined by the guidelines below, (except that authors of self-published works only may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work) and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a novel. Employees, and members of their immediate families living in the same household, of Minotaur Books or Mystery Writers of America (or a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of either of them) are not eligible to enter. Only one manuscript entry (the “Manuscript”) is permitted per writer. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Please read all of the rules and guidelines before submitting your entry.
If you have questions or need further clarification after reading the following rules and guidelines, you may contact us at MB-MWAFirstCrimeNovelCompetition@StMartins.com
- To enter, you must complete an online entry form and upload an electronic file of your Manuscript. The entry form will allow you to upload one electronic file. Only electronic submissions, uploaded through the online entry form, will be considered; do not mail or e-mail manuscript submissions to Minotaur Books.
To be considered for the 2017 competition, all submissions must be received by 11:59pm EST on December 12, 2016.
For more details, please visit http://mysterywriters.org/about-mwa/st-martins/
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Announcing the 1st annual Fourth River Folio Contest
~DEADLINE DECEMBER 15, 2916~
Genre: Poetry
Judge: Natalie Diaz
Entry fee: $15
The winning entry will be published as a 10-15-page feature in our fall online issue. The author will also receive a cash prize of $500, a subscription to The Fourth River’s print edition, and an invitation to read at the issue launch in Pittsburgh, November 2017.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2fqNJm1
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We want romance
Be it historical or contemporary, a grand love story or the gripping tale of a torrid affair, through December 15 submit your Romance novel for the chance to win prizes and be read by judges from Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Hachette Book Group.
For full guidelines and details on prizes and eligibility, please visit https://www.authors.me/romance-contest/
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The 18th Annual Gival Press Poetry Award
Deadline: December 15, 2016 (postmarked).
Reading Fee: $20.00 (USD)
Our dates never change, if the date falls on a Sunday, then Monday becomes the default postmarked date.
Theme: Completely open.
Eligible Poets: Open to all, national and international poets.
Language: English.
Forms or Style of Poetry: Original work, not a translation of someone else’s poetry. Open to any form or style; simply good poetry.
Length of Manuscript: At least 45 typed pages of poetry, on one side only.
For more details, please visit http://www.givalpress.com/
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The 2016 Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction
Works up to 750 words in length should be typed, double-spaced, accompanied by a money order or check for $5 to cover administrative costs, payable to “The Mona Schreiber Prize.” No limit to entries but each must have a separate fee. Put contact information directly above the title and text on your first page.
No SASEs, please. Include e-mail address for notification of winners. All entries must be postmarked by December 1 for a December 24 announcement of three winners: 1st: $500. 2nd: $250. 3rd: $100. Entries are not returned and must be unpublished. Winners will have their entries posted on www.bradschreiber.com and www.brashcyber.com. All other rights belong to the authors. Humor is subjective. Uniqueness is suggested. Weirdness is encouraged.
The Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction, 3940 Laurel Canyon Blvd. #566, Studio City, California 91604 USA
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Creative Nonfiction Seeks Essays on “The Dialogue Between Science & Religion”
Deadline: December 12. Science and religion, despite their rich, interwoven history, are too often portrayed as opposites in nearly every way. As part of a larger effort to facilitate dialogue between these two ways of knowing the world, Creative Nonfiction and Issues in Science & Technology magazines are seeking original narratives illustrating and exploring the relationships, tensions, and harmonies between science and religion—the ways these two forces productively challenge each other as well as the ways in which they can work together and strengthen one another.
We welcome personal stories of scientists, religious figures, or (just as important) everyday people seeking to explore or reconcile their own spiritual and scientific beliefs. We also welcome research-based narratives about historical moments in scientific and/or religious discovery; stories by or about contemporary scientists wrestling with the ethical quandaries their work entails; or essays by religious, legal, humanistic, or other experts who have encountered interesting and revealing instances of science-religion dialogue and harmonies.
Above all, we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character, detail, and a distinctive voice—that provide a nuanced, thoughtful consideration of the complex interplay and unexplored interdependencies and synergies between science and religion.
Submissions must be 5,000 words or fewer.
$10,000 for best essay; $5,000 for runner-up.
Guidelines at creativenonfiction.org/science-religion.
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The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition Is Now Open!
Are you an unpublished and unagented writer with an original and exciting story for 7-to-18-year-olds? If so, why not enter our competition. The prize will be a worldwide publishing deal with Chicken House, with an advance of £10,000 (subject to contract), plus the offer of representation from a top children’s literary agent. All longlisted entrants will receive a reader’s report of their work.
This year, we’re delighted to introduce the option of online entry to the competition.
Our annual competition opens on Monday 27 June 2016. The deadline for entries is Sunday 18 December 2016. Any entries received after the deadline will be disqualified.
For more details, please visit http://doublecluck.com/submissions/#about
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2016 NIGHTLIGHT READING SHORT STORY CONTEST
Nightlight Reading is requesting submissions for our 2016 Nightlight Reading Short Story Contest. This contest is geared to encouraging professional and amateur writers to write stories for at-risk boys in the 10- to 12-year-old age group who often stop reading for pleasure because of a lack of engaging literature for their age group. Nightlight Reading’s goal is to fund and promote literature that appeals to boys and keeps them engaged and reading.
- The 2016 CONTEST THEME is MYSTERY
- The written piece should be considered a SHORT STORY
- MAXIMUM COUNT of 5,000 WORDS
- Written for 10- to 12-year-old boys
Contest entries will be pre-screened and read by an adult jury panel who may be scholars, librarians, teachers, and other special guests who will decide on 10 semi-finalists. Then, a jury of young readers selected from our target readers will read all 10 semi-finalist entries and vote on the winners.
Prizes will be awarded for First, Second, and Third Place as follows:
- First Prize: $1,000 award plus certificate and publication of the story.
- Second Prize: $500 award plus certificate and publication of the story.
- Third Prize: $300 award plus certificate and publication of the story.
All award winners will be publicized nationally by Nightlight Reading.
The Nightlight Reading Short Story Contest is open to anyone who loves to write stories for boys, and may be a professional writer, budding writer, or student.
Submissions must not have been previously published or won any other writing contest. However, simultaneous submissions to other contests are acceptable.
Deadline for submission for the 2016 contest is December 31, 2016.
For more details, please visit http://nightlightreading.org/writing-contest/
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The Fountain Essay Contest 2016
I Am an Immigrant
Submissions to be posted
September 1 – December 31, 2016
We all move. As Einstein said, “Nothing happens until something moves.” Movement is one of the essentials of the physical world.
This movement is a good thing, at least as far as our health is concerned. Moving exercises our muscles, strengthens our heart, and clears our head. Yet, movement is not just a physical activity. For some of us, moving signifies changing almost everything in our lives: changing neighborhoods or cities, enrolling in a college or finding a new job overseas.
For some, movement is an overwhelming ordeal. Not all of us choose to move. Some are forced from their homes against their will. There are more refugees now than at any point in human history. According to the United Nations refugee agency there are more than 65 million people who have had to leave their homes – either as refugees, asylum seekers, or to be displaced in their own countries.
Immigration, whether for a career change or to flee a conflict, is an enormous challenge for both the immigrant and the host country. Both are faced with questions of assimilation, integration, xenophobia, employment, security, education, etc. There are no simple answers to these questions, and both immigrant and host have legitimate concerns.
In the context of this current moment in history, The Fountain’s 2016 Essay Contest invites you to consider the issues facing today’s immigrants. Are you an immigrant, too? Were your parents or grandparents immigrants? Are we all immigrants in this world? How do immigrants contribute to your society? How do they cause problems in your society? How would you help immigrants thrive?
We’re excited to hear your answers to one of the most pressing problems facing our world.
- Deadline for submissions: December 31
- Contest open to all writers worldwide
- Essay word count must be between 1,500 and 2,500
- Essays must be submitted as Word document only through the essay contest page at www.fountainmagazine.com/essaycontest
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THE SEVENTH ANNUAL
GeminiMAGAZINE
POETRY OPEN
GRAND PRIZE: $1,000
SECOND PRIZE: $100
Honorable Mentions (4): $25 each
Entry Fee: $5 (up to three poems)
Deadline: January 3, 2017
All Six Finalists Will Be Published in
the March 2017 Issue of Gemini
We are open to ANY form of poetry, ANY subject matter,
style or length. Poems must be unpublished, but work
displayed on personal blogs is eligible.
We welcome work from new and established poets. Entries
are read blind so everyone gets an equal chance.
For more details, please visit http://www.gemini-magazine.com/poetryopen.html
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2017 San Francisco Writing Contest
The San Francisco Writers Conference is pleased to announce the 2017 San Francisco Writing Contest. The contest is open to all writers everywhere, including those attending the 2017 San Francisco Writers Conference. The entry fee is $35 per item.
Your entry must fit into one of the following categories:
* Adult Fiction
* Adult Nonfiction (including memoir)
* Children’s/YA Books
Entries may have been self-published or not-yet published, but not traditionally published. Entries can be up to 1500 words in length (or less, but not more).
Please use the contest registration form on this web site SFWriters.org/contest-registration to upload your entry/entries and pay. It’s easy! If you prefer to send your fee by check, mail both the entry and check to SF Writing Contest, PO Box 326, Oakley, CA 94561.
All fees and entries must be received by 5:00 pm Pacific Time on January 13, 2017.
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2017 Poetry Contest
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2017 Midnight EST
EXPLORE LOVE IN OUR SECOND CONTEST:
Poetry (1-3 poems per single submission) Total submission, including 1-3 poems, must not exceed 75 lines.
FIRST PRIZE: $1000.00
THREE HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Guaranteed publication in donttalktomeaboutlove.org
What does LOVE mean to you? We want your poetry exploring love in any of its myriad expressions: romantic, platonic, parental, and much, much more. We know there is a whole world of love out there, and we want to read about it. See last year’s winner and honourable mentions to get a sense of what we are looking for.
For more details, please visit http://donttalktomeaboutlove.org/contest/
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Master’s Review Short Story Award for New Writers
Because our Short Story Award for New Writers is a favorite, the contest awards three stories in the winter as well. $2000 to the best short story written by an emerging writer. The Short Story Award not only offers cash prizes, but agency review from some of the country’s best agencies.
PRIZES: First place wins $2000, publication on the site, and agency review. Second and third place writers win $200 and $100 respectively, publication on the site, and agency review.
DEADLINE: Jan 15, 2017
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Rising Writer
The Rising Writer Contest is for a first full-length book of poetry by an author 33 years old or younger. Autumn House believes in supporting the work of younger, less-established writers who will become the voices of an emerging generation.
Guidelines for the 2017 AHP Rising Writer Contest:
For the 2017 contest, the preliminary judges are members of the Autumn House staff, and the final judge is Ada Limón. The winner will be awarded publication of a full-length manuscript and $1,000. The contest opens November 1, 2016 and the deadline for entries is January 31, 2017. For further questions, feel free to email us.
For more details, please visit http://www.autumnhouse.org/contest-submissions/rising-writers/
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The Prole Laureate Poetry Competition, 2016
Prize
Winner: £200, Publication in Prole 22 in April 2017.
Publication on the Prole website
2 x runner up prizes of £50, publication in Prole 22.
Publication on the Prole website
We will receive entries from October 1st 2016 to January 31st 2017.
Winners will be announced in issue 22 of Prole in April 2017 and on our website by April 20th 2017.
We are, as ever, open regarding style, content and length. What we are after is poetry that epitomises the editorial values of Prole: to make writing engaging, accessible, entertaining and challenging. Quality is all.
All work must be the original work of the writer and be unpublished.
£3.00 for first entry, £2.00 for any subsequent entries.
For more details, please visit http://prolebooks.co.uk/poetry%20competition.html
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The Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition 2017
Most of the stories we publish at The Fiction Desk are more or less realistic, but we try to stray outside that from time to time: some genre fiction should be part of any balanced reading diet. One genre that we particularly like to feature is the ghost story.
The competition is judged by Rob Redman, editor of the anthology series and founder of The Fiction Desk.
The 2017 competition is open now.
This year, there is a first prize of £500, a second prize of £250, and a third prize of £100. The deadline is Tuesday, 31 January 2017, and entry costs £8 per story.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/1y8B4FL
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The 13th Annual Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest
The writing contest whose name is almost as long as the entries! Deadline: February 1, 2017.
How it works:
1) Send us a story and a postcard—the relationship can be as strong or as tangential as you like, so long as there is a clear connection between the story and the image.
2) If you’re not sure where to look for a postcard, you can make your own or visit Wikimedia Commons.
3) The story can be fiction or non-fiction; maximum length is 500 words.
Prizes:
First Prize: $500Second Prize: $250Third Prize: $150
All winning entries will be published in Geist and on geist.com
Short list: Swell Geist gifts and publication on geist.com
Entry Fee: $20
Includes a one-year subscription to Geist, Canada’s favourite literary magazine. International entrants will receive the digital edition.
All additional entries are $5.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2gwcR9R
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The Malahat Review 2017 Long Poem Prize
Submissions for the 2017 contest (deadline February 1) will be accepted starting November 2016.
The Malahat Review, Canada’s premier literary magazine, invites entries from Canadian, American, and overseas authors for the Long Poem Prize. Two awards of $1,000 CAD each are given. Poets contributing to The Malahat Review have also won or been nominated for National Magazine Awards for Poetry and the Pushcart Prize. The Long Poem Prize is offered every second year, alternating with the Novella Prize.
Entries may be sent by regular mail or email.
Pay only $15 for each additional entry after the first.
The deadline for the 2015 Long Poem Prize is February 1, 2017.
For more details, please visit http://www.malahatreview.ca/contests/long_poem_prize/info.html
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Flash 500 Short Story Competition
Welcome to our short story category. This is an open-themed competition and we accept all genres, including those written by or for children. Adult material is also acceptable providing the content fits the story and is not gratuitous.
We are looking for stories ranging between 1,000 and 3,000 words, with strong characters, a well-crafted plot and realistic dialogue (where used). Make us laugh, make us cry, but most of all, make us feel!
This is an annual competition: entries close on the last day of February 2017.
For more details, please visit http://www.flash500.com/index_files/ss.html
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Wundor Short Fiction Contest 2017
Novellas, Short Stories and Flash Fiction
At Wundor we plan to champion interesting, unusual fiction in all of its forms. Brevity can be one of literature’s great virtues, and we do not believe in filling out short stories into novella form if they are supposed to be short stories, or lengthening a novella to try to make a novel, when the story suits the novella form just fine.
Whether you have a single piece of work, a collection of pieces or a brilliant novella on your hands, we would like to read it. The only stipulation is that the sum total word count of your submission should fall between 5,000 and 45,000 words.
The deadline is 28 February 2017 and winners will be announced at the end of March 2017.
For more details, please visit http://www.wundoreditions.com/wundor-editions—contests.html
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Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize—2017
The Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize is a writing competition sponsored by the stage and radio series, Selected Shorts. This long-running series at Symphony Space in New York City celebrates the art of the short story by having stars of stage and screen read aloud the works of established and emerging writers. Selected Shorts is recorded for Public Radio and heard nationally.
The 2017 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize will be judged by Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies. The winning work will be performed and recorded live at a Selected Shorts performance at Symphony Space in May 2017, and published on Electric Literature. The winning writer will receive $1000 and a free 10-week course with Gotham Writers.
Deadline: March 1, 2017
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2dDOvzf
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Hourglass Literary Magazine Writing Competitions
At the confluence of the West and the East, Hourglass Literary Magazine proudly announces its second international writing competition for:
- Best Short Story
- Best Poem
- Best Essay
- Final closing date: 11:59 P.M. April 30, 2017 (US Central time).
- Jury/Judges: SibelanForrester, Jelena Lengold and John K. Cox.
- The competition is internationaland is open to all authors writing in English or any of the BCMS languages (comprising Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin.)
- There are no theme, or genrelimitations and boundaries.
- Work must beoriginal and unpublished.
- One author can compete in all categories, for all three awards respectively.
- Multiple submissions are allowed (as well as simultaneous submissions).
For more details, please visit http://hourglassonline.org/contest/
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Palooka Press Chapbook Contest
$10.00 USD
About Palooka Press
The press was founded to offer an opportunity to writers seeking a home for shorter manuscripts.
How It Works
We take great pride in reading every word and giving each manuscript its due attention. We consider manuscripts of all types, styles, and genres and aren’t looking for a particular aesthetic. We’ll give anything a fair chance. Please send your best fiction, poetry, nonfiction, graphic narrative, or hybrid genres. Manuscripts should be roughly 35-50 pages, but we’re flexible. The $10 entry fee comes with an electronic issue of Palooka.
The Winner Receives…
*Publication by Palooka Press (a perfect-bound book with a glossy color cover)
*$200 honorarium
*20 free copies of the book
*A bio and photo featured on our website
*Chapbook will be sent out for review and promotion
Deadline: May 15, 2017
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New England Poetry Club Contests
New England Poetry Club has always recognized the outstanding work of poets with its annual awards and contests. Some awards, such as The Golden Rose and the May Sarton Award, are given in recognition of career excellence, while others are run as contests. This page is a complete listing of annual awards and contests. If you choose to enter a contest, please be sure to read the guidelines before entering, as they may have changed from previous years. The link to submit entries online can be found in the guidelines tab.
Submissions accepted only in May and June each year.
For more details, please visit http://www.nepoetryclub.org/contests/
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Neil Postman Award for Metaphor
Rolling Deadline
(no fee)
Although primarily known as an educationist and a media critic, Neil Postman was, at his core, a “noticer”—and he particularly noticed what we do with metaphor and how metaphor shapes and creates our cognitive world. Postman maintained that words (and words, in truth, are metaphors) are as much the driver of reality as they are the vehicle. Consequently, metaphor was not a subject to be relegated and limited to high school poetry units wherein a teacher drones on about the difference between “like” and “as” and considers the job finished. For Postman, the study of metaphor was unending and metaphors were as crucial as they were omnipresent; they served to give form to and dictate experience.
In honor and remembrance of Neil Postman, who died on October 5, 2003, we have established the Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. The motivation for the award is simple and two-fold: To reward a given writer for his or her use of metaphor, and to celebrate (and hopefully propagate) Postman’s work and the typographical mind.
Each spring the editors will choose one poem from all of the submissions received by Rattle during the previous year. The author of the chosen poem will receive $500. There are no entry fees or special submission guidelines. Send up to 5 unpublished poems plus a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to: Rattle, 12411 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604. To browse previous winners, and for information on how to submit electronically, visit our website: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/extras/postman/
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Nonfiction Book Awards
Welcome to the NEW Nonfiction Book Awards! As an extension of the Nonfiction Authors Association, we are committed to honoring excellence in nonfiction books and welcome submissions by self-published and traditionally published authors alike, in both print and ebook formats. Publishers are also welcome to submit books for award consideration.
– See more at: http://nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/nonfiction-book-awards/#sthash.H0SVcAFl.dpuf
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The Thistle Dew Theatre & KTDT Dramady seeks plays for Stage and Radio
http://thistledewtheatre.blogspot.com/
Call for play submissions: monologues, short plays, one act or full-length plays for stage and radio.
Monthly themed monologues and short plays needed. On-going, no submission fee, no deadline. This is a competition with one winner per production: $25.00.
Continuing call: No fees… no deadlines….
Tales/Lies for THE LIAR’S LAIR
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Zone 3 Nonfiction Award
Zone 3 is accepting submissions for its nonfiction contest. For online submissions, click here to complete the submission manager form, choose “Zone 3 Nonfiction Award” for your genre, and upload your essay. You will be directed to another webpage for secure payment. For paper submissions, submit one essay with SASE and $10 entry fee to: Zone 3, APSU, P.O. Box 4565, Clarksville, TN 37044. No deadline. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription. The winner will be announced on our website. Prize: $250 and publication. For details, visit http://www.apsu.edu/zone3/contests
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Zone 3 Fiction Award
Zone 3 is now accepting submissions for its twelfth annual fiction award. For online submissions, click here to complete the submission manager form, choose “Zone 3 Fiction Award” for your genre, and upload your story. You will be directed to another webpage for secure payment. For paper submissions, submit one story with SASE and $10 entry fee to: Zone 3, APSU, P.O. Box 4565, Clarksville, TN 37044. No deadline. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Zone 3. The winner will be announced on our website. Prize: $250 and publication. For details, visit http://www.apsu.edu/zone3/contests
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Zone 3 Poetry Award
Zone 3 is now accepting submissions for its annual poetry award. Submit up to three poems via our online submissions manager. Click here to log in and upload your poems; choose “Zone 3 Poetry Award” for your genre. You will be directed to another webpage for secure payment. No deadline. All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Zone 3. The winner will be announced on our website. Prize: $250 and publication. For details, visit http://www.apsu.edu/zone3/contests
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Wielding Power Essay Writing Contests
Prizes
Winner- The winner will have their answer published, receive ten free copies of the issue (pdfs), and $1000. There will be one winner.
Finalists- The finalists will be published and receive ten free copies of the issue (pdfs). There will be two finalists.
Who May Submit
Submissions are open to all US and Canada residents (except Quebec) above the age of 18. Submission is free. You may submit up to 10 entries per question. Submissions cannot be the work of multiple authors.
How and What to Submit
IMPORTANT: failure to adhere to the following may result in disqualification. See Official Rules for complete details.
- All entries should be between 500 and 2000 words.
- To ease reading and ensure uniformity of entries- please format your answer in 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced.
- Please send your entries as a Microsoft Word or Google Document attachment to submit@wieldingpowerpublishing.com
For more information, visit http://www.wieldingpowerpublishing.com/submit/
Ongoing deadlines.
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The People’s Book Awards
Welcome to the people’s Book Awards where anyone can nominate or vote for titles available on the *Amazon sites worldwide, or support those important people who provide services to authors. Monthly winners.
The monthly and annual voting closes at 17:00 hours British Standard Time on the last day of each month and the votes of non-winning titles are carried forward, except in December. Monthly winning titles are taken out of the competition and will be returned in December if confirmed as a nomination for the Annual Awards by a direct message (DM) on Twitter or email to winner@thebookawards.com. Each year the voting closes on December 31st following the Annual Awards and all votes are returned to zero for the coming year.
To learn more, visit http://thebookawards.com/awards/
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Ekphrasis Prize for Poetry
Ekphrasis is a poetry journal looking for well-crafted poems, the main content of which addresses individual works from any artistic genre. Please identify the specific work that is the focus of your poem. Acceptable ekphrastic verse transcends mere description: it stands as transformative critical statement, an original gloss on the individual art piece it addresses.
All poems published in Ekphrasis within a given calendar year will be considered for the Ekphrasis Prize for Poetry.
The winning poem will be selected by the editors of Ekphrasis.
No entry fees are required and there is no self-nomination procedure for the prize.
For submission guidelines, visit http://www.ekphrasisjournal.com/home
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Diana Woods Memorial (DWM) Award
Creative nonfiction authors are invited to submit an essay of up to 5,000 words on the subject of their choice to be considered for the Diana Woods Memorial (DWM) Award in creative nonfiction. Winners will receive $250 and their work will be featured in the next issue of Lunch Ticket. Each award recipient must submit a 100-word biography, current photo, and send a brief note of thanks to the Woods’ family.
For more details and to submit, visit http://lunchticket.org/the-diana-woods-memorial-award/
The reading period for the award will be the month of February for the issue that publishes in June, and the month of August for the issue that publishes in December. Please note that previously published work will not be accepted.
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L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest
- Entrants retain all publication rights
- No entry fee is required
- All awards are adjudicated by professional writers only
- Prizes every three months: $1,000, $750, $500
- Annual grand prize: $5,000 additional!
- Opportunity for new and amateur writers of new short stories or novelettes of sf or fantasy
There shall be three cash prizes in each quarter: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in US dollars. In addition, at the end of the year the winners will have their entries rejudged, and a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000. All winners will also receive trophies.
The Contest has four quarters, beginning on October 1, January 1, April 1 and July 1. The year will end on September 30. To be eligible for judging in its quarter, an entry must be postmarked or received electronically no later than midnight on the last day of the quarter. (Deadlines: December 31, March 31, June 30, September 30). Late entries will be included in the following quarter and the Contest Administration will so notify the entrant.
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EVENTS & WORKSHOPS
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The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival
The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival each Fall in Banff, Alberta is nine epic days of mountain stories that includes profound journeys, unexpected adventures, and ground-breaking expeditions told by authors, photographers, and filmmakers from around the globe. Following the Festival in Banff, the World Tour hits the road bringing some of the audience favourites and special tour edits to a location near you.
For more details, please visit https://www.banffcentre.ca/banff-mountain-film-and-book-festival
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Winter Writer’s Retreat
February 13 – February 24, 2017
Application deadline: November 16, 2016
Overview
The Winter Writer’s Retreat is a self-directed program which offers time and space for writers to retreat, reconnect and re-energize their writing practice. In addition to a single room which doubles as your private studio, you will be surrounded by a community of artistic peers, you will have the opportunity to attend inspiring talks and performances and meet with guest faculty to consult on your work.
What does the program offer?
This self-directed residency offers the opportunity to work away from the constraints of everyday life. Delve deep into your creative project and take advantage of the artistic community around you. Writing circles, formal and informal lectures and opportunities to workshop your project will be provided. Take advantage of Banff National Park’s natural environment and ignite your senses by taking part in trips to unique locations like Lake Louise, Yoho National Park or Johnson Lake.
For more details, please visit http://bit.ly/2dChwZJ
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http://www.thewritingpool.com
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The Writing Pool 