Academic Support Network
Thesis, dissertation, essay and term paper specialists. APA, Turabian, Chicago and MLA formatting. Social science scholars will also want to check out the affiliated site APA Network. Network coordinator Lynda Lotman takes extra care to screen her staff ( read how).

Book Editing Associates
Serving writers, literary agents and publishers. Mainstream, genre, trade and academic publishing specialists. Copyediting, developmental editing, proofreading, critiques, book proposals, query letters, book promotions and creative writing instruction. A Lynda Lotman site.

A+ English Writing and Editing Network
Expert copyeditors and freelance writers specializing in business, technical, scientific, medical, legal and academic subjects. A Lynda Lotman site.

Clayton Eshleman
Poet and scholar Clayton Eshleman's areas of expertise range from prehistoric cave paintings to translations of experimental poetry. We especially liked the poem on his website titled 'Deeds Done and Suffered by Light,' which blends humor, philosophy and the macabre in a manner like that of Ginsberg's Howl. His book Conductors of the Pit, an anthology of surrealist and experimental verse, has just been reissued.

The Fortunes of Formalism
Poet and critic David Yezzi makes the case for mastery of verse forms and prosody as essential to the education of a poet, and gives a historical perspective on formalism's loss of status.

Short Fiction by Nick Antosca
'Movies and Kids', winner of the 2004 fiction contest from Painted Bride Quarterly, is a brilliant, disturbing story that could have been written by Shirley Jackson or Patricia Highsmith.

Selected Prose Contests and Calls for Submissions

CWA Communications Contest +
Postmark Deadline: July 1
Sponsored by the Cat Writers' Association, this contest offers several $500 prizes for previously published or broadcast works on cat-related topics in a wide range of media. Consumer-oriented nonfiction predominates, but there is also a literary category. Read detailed rules on website carefully.

Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers Contest +++
Entries must be received by November 24
$20,000 for best essay by a US author age 20-29. The winner and up to 28 runners-up will also be published in an anthology. We highly recommend this free contest from leading publisher Random House. See website for detailed rules and eligibility restrictions.


More Sponsors' Messages

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: September 30
Open to poems in any style, theme or genre. $2,000 in prizes will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,000. The winning entries will be published. Early submission is encouraged. The entry fee is $5 for every 25 lines. Submit online or by mail. You may submit poems that have been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the anthology and online publication rights. Unpublished work is also welcome. Winning Writers is assisting with entry handling for this contest. Guidelines:
http://www.winningwriters.com/tompoetry.htm


Publish Your Book From Your Computer for as Little as $1.00 Each
InstantPublisher.com will take your manuscript over the Internet from any Microsoft Windows-based program. Publish a book in trade quality from 25 to 5,000 copies in about 7-10 working days. Ideal when you want to publish books to give as gifts, sell at events and readings, or sell from your website. Specify the kind of book you want to print and get an instant price quote. Customers say, "the published book is exactly what I had envisioned. And the cost was so reasonable, I'd recommend InstantPublisher.com to anyone." "I experimented with several different short-run and POD printers during my 90-day adventure from self-published to major book deal, and I have to say that the quality of your books was BY FAR the best. When sending press kits to the media, and anyone we wanted to impress, we'd always send your books, which we affectionately referred to as 'The GOOD books.' "
http://www.instantpublisher.com/default.asp?afcc=1393


IMAGINE YOUR STORY IN A BESTSELLING BOOK!
Do you have a personal story that belongs in today's bestselling anthologies, like Chicken Soup for the Soul, A Cup of Comfort, and Chocolate for Women? You could get published and receive money for your work! Julia Rosien, a publishing veteran and editor at ePregnancy Magazine, will mentor you and show you how to turn your memories into essays that warm the heart...and sell.
http://www.absoluteclasses.com/Rosien/soulstories.htm


WriteSuccess Newsletter
Sign up now for WriteSuccess's free biweekly newsletter for freelance writers. Editor Mary Anne Hahn has a knack for finding the most interesting literary sites and markets. It's easy to feel lonely as a freelancer. Mary Anne's inspiring attitude and success notes from readers create a sense of community.
http://www.listpartners.com/cgi-local/subscribe?4338


Put Your Poems and Pictures on Apparel, Cards, Gifts and More
CafePress.com makes it easy to put your words and images on shirts, greeting cards, postcards, mugs, magnets and posters. Order them for yourself or for gifts, or sell them online at a profit. CafePress makes each item to order, so you don't have to commit to a large batch all at once. It's quick and easy to set up your store, and there's no set-up charge. We've been getting a kick out of our Judge Jendi mugs. Now through June 28, save $3 off all apparel. Use the coupon code LOLSAV. Get started here:
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/storeref.aspx?refby=winwrit


Office Depot - June Coupon
Save on all your writing supplies at Office Depot. Free delivery in select areas when you order $50 or more. This coupon expires on July 1.
Save $30 off Purchases of $150 or More!


Public Service Announcement

ProLiteracy October Conference to Offer 100+ Workshops
Register by June 30 for a special discount

ProLiteracy Worldwide's annual professional development conference at the Tucson, AZ Starr Pass Marriott Resort and Spa, October 26–29, will offer more than 100 workshops. Subjects include financial, health and workplace literacy skills, life skills training for prison inmates, tips for how learners can uncover and nurture their personal dreams, and instructional strategies for overcoming vision problems and learning disabilities.

There are a dozen workshops targeted to teachers of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and 14 developed specifically for students. Along with the Student and ESL tracks, workshops fall into the areas of Innovative Practices, Program Improvement and Accountability, Literacy Awareness and Advocacy, and Linking Research to Practice.

Literacy professionals will also have the opportunity for more in-depth development offered by 14 daylong "pre-conference" sessions to be held Wednesday, October 26.

Register by June 30 to enjoy a special discount off the regular registration fee. ProLiteracy affiliates may attend for just $260, non-affiliates may attend for $325. See the complete conference details at:
http://www.proliteracy.org/news/index.asp?aid=114


Advertise to 15,000 Poets and Writers
Promote your contests, websites, events and publications in this newsletter. Reach over 15,000 poets and writers for $35. Ads may contain up to 100 words and a headline. Place your reservation at:
http://store.yahoo.com/winningwriters/wiwrnead.html

"I want to thank all of you at Winning Writers again for providing such a wonderfully beneficial service for poets and writers.... The staff at Perigee is impressed with how many of our readers and contributors learned about our online publication through Winning Writers."
Ben Arnold, Co-Editor, Perigee

This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present 'Trapped in New Mexico' by Lana Loga.

If you would like a chance to be critiqued, please email your poem to me at critique@winningwriters.com. Send the poem in the body of your email message (no attachments) and put "poetry critique" in the subject line. One submission per poet per month. Thanks!

Trapped in New Mexico
by Lana Loga

So...the men want to hear about meat.
About how the carcasses would bleed
when we'd strip away the hides after
slicing a bit at the stomach and feet.

Do they want to hear about hunger,
do you think? The emptiness that
drives an animal to take the bait
moments before cold steel jaws spring

shut

killing

and

maiming

everything they catch in their grip?
Should I tell about the owl I saw
upon a riverbank? One crisp morn,
early spring, as I ran the traps?

Ran steel traps on the riverbank.

The broken thing sat with one leg snared
and the other leg free, bobbing,
bobbing, bobbing...so I tried to drive
a .22 into its wise old brain.

Turns out I drowned it with a heel
there in the icy water passing.
Yes, I drowned it with a heavy heel
to bring to an end our suffering

early in the New Mexico spring.

Copyright 2005 by Lana Loga


Critique by Jendi Reiter

This month's critique poem, 'Trapped in New Mexico' by Lana Loga, assaults the reader from the outset with the brutal facts of survival in a predatory world. The plain-spoken, repetitive lines summon echoes of old folk songs where nature's laws harshly repay human violence. Here, the trappers themselves are trapped, victims of a fate that their own actions brought down on them. Even the noble owl, an unintended casualty, is implicated in the cycle of predation. His hunger and our own may be equally irresistible, culpable and deadly.

The first line effectively sets the tone of the poem. "So...the men want to hear about meat." The female narrator throws down a challenge to those who prefer not to face the bloody realities undergirding their existence. She is determined to make them see the cost of the life she leads. Setting herself up in opposition to "the men" establishes her basic stance of alienation and aggression. In her world, men and women, human and animal, are at war. The only gesture of sympathy in the poem is an act of violence; she reaches across the divide to kill the owl even as she becomes one with it. "I drowned it with a heavy heel/to bring to an end our suffering"...

critique continues

This poem, our critique and contest suggestions for poems in this style appear in full at:
http://www.winningwriters.com/critiques/2005/0506-loga.htm

Coming in the July 15 Winning Writers Newsletter
Best Free Poetry Contests for July 16-August 31