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January 2006
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Welcome to our January newsletter. This is the companion to our online database, The Best Free Poetry Contests. It alerts you to upcoming contests and important contest changes.
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RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to PCI subscriber Cheryl Loetscher, winner of the 2005 George F. Wedge Poetry Award for her poem, "At the Window, Dancing". This contest is sponsored by the I-70 Review (Lawrence, KS). Cheryl writes, "The contest was profiled in Winning Writers—so I can't tell you how glad I am that I am a subscriber! The contest apparently had many fine poems submitted, and some of the poets were quite well-known. Needless to say, I am thrilled by the whole thing. Thanks for this wonderful resource."
Congratulations to PCI subscribers Andrea Watson and M. Lee Alexander. They won first and second place, respectively, in the Eleventh Muse Poetry Contest. Ms. Watson won for her poem, "Einstein's Wife". Ms. Alexander won for her poem, "Houdini Kiss".
Congratulations to PCI subscriber Norbert Hirschhorn. He received an honorable mention and publication of his chapbook, The Empress of Certain, from Poet's Corner Press. It is our pleasure to share the title poem with you here. The book may be ordered directly from Mr. Hirschhorn for $12 (includes postage) by emailing bertzpoet@yahoo.com.
THE EMPRESS OF CERTAIN
by Norbert Hirschhorn
In a Levantine land
her lips are filled with milk and honey.
I approach with laughter, cymbals, ankle-bells,
with horses, flutes, basil and marjoram,
coming as guest, coming as caravan.
Chilled infusions of hibiscus await, blood red.
I come to her incomplete, a chrysalis.
If I am silk,
she will nurture me on her mulberry skin
until I burst into ecdysis.
She sits cross-legged inside her pavilion,
its gossamer curtains shadow
color-striped walls, wind
from the west lifting her henna-red hair.
"Men," she smiles, "men are like dogs — call they come,
throw stones they run."
She captures with silk: A guest and a fish each lasts three days,
"But we can always find another fish."
Princes amuse, Queens are her friends. Every child
dreams of the Empress — to be her, to be taken by her,
radiant beneath her rainbows.
Some mistake her clarity for cruelty. Good enough is not enough.
"Are you fasting, Sister," asks the man with dark,
melodic eyes. "Not if I lay the table," she replies.
Take me and plant me in her land.
On that day it ends, as one day it must,
she intends I shall be brave.
Say lemon-tree. Say lavender.
Cold moon. Stone arch. Oregano.
Copyright 2006 by Norbert Hirschhorn
TRY POETRY CONTEST INSIDER
Get profiles on over 750 poetry contests, plus over 100 of the best prose contests. Search and sort contests by deadline, prize, fee, recommendation level and more. Interviews and links to award-winning work help you refine your craft. Explore Poetry Contest Insider for 10 days on us. If you like it, you'll pay just $6.95/quarter. If it's not for you, cancel and pay nothing. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Web Sites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2005). Start your trial of Poetry Contest Insider today.
SPONSOR'S MESSAGE
Closing Next Month
Utmost Christian Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: February 28
The Utmost Christian Poetry Contest seeks poems from
Christian poets. Over US$3,000 in cash prizes will
be awarded in our 6th annual contest, including a first
prize of US$1,000. There are many special categories,
including "Best Poem by an Unpublished Poet", which
will be awarded US$200. Winning entries will be published
at www.utmostchristianwriters.com. Entry fee is US$15 per poem (Can$15 for Canadians). Entries are now being accepted. This is the largest annual poetry prize in North America available exclusively to poets of Christian faith. Please see the complete rules and submit using our entry form:
http://www.utmostchristianwriters.com/poetry-contest/poetry-contest.htm
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Deadlines: January 16-February 28
Here is a summary of upcoming free poetry contests. To get the complete profile for any contest, including guidelines, weblinks and background details, please login
to The Best Free Poetry Contests and click the Find Free Contests link.
1/19: Poetry Society of Virginia (Student Categories) +
Neutral free contest offers prizes of $25, $15, $10 in each age category, plus small prizes for poems on specific themes. Age categories are Grades 1-2, Grades 3-4, Grades 5-6, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12, and Undergraduate College. One poem per entrant. See website for line lengths and themes for each contest.
1/20: Arts & Letters Awards ++
Recommended free contest for residents of the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Prizes are as follows: Senior division (age 19 and up): 12 awards of C$750 each (four poetry, four fiction, two nonfiction, and two scriptwriting winners); junior division (age 12-18): 10 awards of C$200 (5 for poetry, 5 for all other literary categories). Entries must have been written in the past 12 months. Only one submission per person per art form (literary arts, music or visual arts); i.e. literature entrants must choose between poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama genres. No simultaneous submissions.
1/30: Anthony Abbott Poetry Competition +
Free neutral contest offers top prize of $150, other prizes, for the best poem of up to 40 lines by a full-time undergraduate at a North Carolina college. One poem per person. Winners will be invited to read at the Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) Spring Literary Festival in March. No haiku.
1/30: Nature Poetry Competition +
Neutral free contest offers top prize of $350 for 1-3 poems, maximum 30 lines each. Sponsored by the Friends of Acadia, a group founded to preserve Acadia National Park in Maine. This contest seeks to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. Biennial (even-numbered years only). No simultaneous submissions.
1/31: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest for published books offers two awards of $10,000 each: one for a book of fiction or poetry, the other for a book of nonfiction. The nonfiction category covers both creative nonfiction and scholarly works (biography, history, etc.). This award honors books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism or our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. Books must have been published in the previous calendar year. Plays, screenplays, unpublished and self-published works are not eligible. Author or publisher should submit 5 copies plus entry form from website.
1/31: Ann Arlys Bowler Student Poetry Contest ++
Recommended free contest for students in grades 6-12 offers 6 prizes of $100 plus publication in Read Magazine. Send 1-3 poems (published or unpublished), one-page maximum per poem.
1/31: Archibald Lampman Award ++
Recommended free contest for published poetry books by residents of Canada's National Capital region (Ottawa) offers C$500. Send 3 copies of a book published during the preceding calendar year by a recognized publisher.
1/31: Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize ++
Recommended free contest sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Chicago honors an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the US during the preceding calendar year. Literary novels, short stories, plays, poetry, biographies and correspondences are eligible. Prize is $10,000 plus a 3-month stay at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin and travel expenses for an award ceremony in Chicago in June. Publishers should submit 6 copies of the book along with any relevant publicity materials.
1/31: Jackson/Phelan/Tanenbaum Literary Awards ++
Recommended free contest offers 3 awards of $2,000 for unpublished manuscripts (up to 50 pages) of poetry, fiction, nonfiction or drama. For Jackson award, must be residents of Nevada or northern California (north of the Monterey-San Luis Obispo county line) for 3 consecutive years prior to deadline; for Phelan award, must have been born in California; for Tanenbaum award, must be residents of northern California as defined above. Entrants must also be aged 20-35 as of the deadline date.
1/31: Lohmann Poetry Prize +
Neutral free contest offers 3 prizes of $150 for poems by current residents of Washington State. Submit one poem, maximum 2 double-spaced pages.
2/1: Gannon University's High School Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest for students in grades 9-12 offers prizes of $100, $75, $50, plus reading with distinguished author at award ceremony in April. Send 1-3 poems, any length. Gannon University is a Catholic college in Erie, Pa.
2/1: Japanese Literary Translation Prize ++
Recommended free contest offers $5,000 for book-length translations of classical or modern Japanese literary works: novels, collections of short stories, literary essays, memoirs, drama, or poetry. Entries may be published or unpublished. Prize may be split between two winners. Either publisher or translator should submit 7 copies of book plus entry form.
2/1: Paterson Poetry Prize ++
Recommended free contest offers $1,000 for the best book of poetry published during the previous calendar year. Book must have 48+ pages and a press run of 500+ copies. Publisher should submit 3 copies plus entry form. Recent winners have been well-established poets.
2/1: Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Scholarship Awards +++
Highly recommended free contest for Ohio high school seniors offers $2,500 tuition to Kent State University, renewable up to four years pending good academic standing. 2nd & 3rd Prize winners receive $1,500 renewable scholarships. Send 4 copies of one poem, 100 lines maximum.
2/1: Wednesday Club Junior Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest for students in grades 10-12 offers prizes of $100, $75, $50, $25. Entrants must attend high schools in the area of St. Louis, MO. Send 3 copies of 3 poems, any length.
2/1: Wednesday Club Poetry Prize +
Neutral free contest for writers living within a 50-mile radius of St. Louis, MO offers prizes of $500, $150, $100. Must be over 18 to enter. Send 2 copies of 2 poems, any length.
2/6: Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Award +
Neutral free contest from ICON, the student literary journal of Kent State University's Trumbull Campus, offers $100 for the best 1-2 poems, any length. Entries should be typed, single-spaced, with author's name, address and phone number on each poem. One submission per person. Email Gary Ciuba with questions.
2/6: University of Buffalo Student Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest for high school students offers top prize of $200, other prizes, plus reading at the University of Buffalo in April. Send one poem, maximum 25 lines, plus entry form from website.
2/10: Library of Virginia Literary Awards ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers prizes of $1,000 in each genre for books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction published in the preceding calendar year by Virginia authors and/or on a Virginia theme. Publisher or author should send 3 copies of book plus entry form.
2/15: The Binnacle Ultra-Short Competition +
Neutral free contest from The Binnacle, the literary journal of the University of Maine at Machias, seeks poems up to 16 lines, prose up to 150 words, and digital imagery. Prizes of $150, $100 and $50, plus publication. At least one of the prizes will be awarded to a UMM student.
2/24: New Words Poetry Competition +
Neutral free contest for Ohio residents offers prizes of $125, $100 and $75 for 1-3 unpublished poems, maximum 5 pages total. Series judge is award-winning poet Elton Glaser.
2/28: Chistell Writing Contest +
Neutral free contest offers top prizes of $200 for short fiction and $100 for poetry, for writers who have never been published in a major publication. Chistell is an independent publisher of popular literature with a focus on African-American women. Send 1-2 poems or one story; online submission only.
2/28: GLCA New Writers Awards ++
Recommended free contest offers $300 and a reading tour of 12 midwestern colleges for the author of a book of fiction or poetry that is the author's first published book in that genre. One winner in each category. Publisher should submit 4 copies of book along with publicity material. Selection process seems to favor recipients of major first-book awards.
2/28: Toronto Book Awards +
Neutral free contest for published books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto. C$15,000 will be awarded in all. Each shortlisted author (usually 4-6) receives C$1,000 and the winning author is awarded the remainder. There are no separate categories: novels, short story collections, books of poetry, biographies, histories, social studies, books about sports, children's books, photographic collections, etc. are judged together.
Login
to The Best Free Poetry Contests now to view these and all our profiles of free contests. You can browse contests by deadline date, name, recommendation level and more.
Key to Ratings
Highly Recommended: +++
Recommended: ++
Neutral: +
All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise specified.
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SPONSORS' MESSAGES
Lucidity Journal Poetry Retreat 2006
Lucidity sponsors its 14th annual poetry retreat April 4-5-6 at Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Poets from across the country attend this annual 3-day event in the Ozarks for lectures, workshops, read-arounds, awards and peer fellowship. Registration fee for conference $35; hotel $49 nightly. For details please write Ted O. Badger, 14781 Memorial Drive, No. 10, Houston TX 77079, email tedbadger1@yahoo.com or call 281-920-1795.
Sheila Bender's Writing It Real and LifeJournal for Writers
Author of eight writing books for Writer's Digest Books and other presses, poet and essayist Sheila Bender puts her knowledge and classroom-tested writing exercises, discussion, and revision techniques to work for Writing It Real subscribers. Visit www.writingitreal.com to read five sample articles, learn about LifeJournal for Writers software for building an effective writer's journal, and browse previews of recent articles to experience the magazine. On the homepage, you'll also learn how to study with Sheila online or in person. Subscribe now for access to three years of archives as well as a year of new weekly articles.
Essay Contest: I Found It In My Attic
Postmark Deadline: March 1
DUCTS.org, the webzine of personal stories, is seeking the best personal
essay about artifacts and you. We are looking for deeply personal essays,
no more than 2,000 words, telling us how some artifact—something
discovered cleaning the attic, the garage, the basement—affected and
changed your life. What does that old diary remind you of now? That old
photo? A long lost letter? Inspire us, make us laugh, make us cry, shock us.
Tell us what you've found in your attic besides that rusty, old fan! First
prize: $150. www.Ducts.org for more details.
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2006 Key West Robert Frost Poetry Festival and Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 28
The 12th Annual Robert Frost Poetry festival will be held April 21-23, 2006 in the Heritage House Garden, Robert Frost Cottage, and at select Key West venues. The festival again will feature poetry and haiku workshops and readings, an art and film event, and an international poetry and haiku contest. Featured poets are Dr. Michael Wyndham Thomas, Birmingham, England; Lee Gurga, Editor of Modern Haiku; Key West author and poet Rosalind Brackenbury; and Rebecca Seiferle, author of Bitters. For further information and registration details, please visit heritagehousemuseum.org or write to The RFPF, 410 Caroline Street, Key West, FL 33040.
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Annual Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize 2006
Postmark Deadline: April 30
Sponsored by Rome Art & Community Center, Rome, NY. Open to the public. First Prize $500, Second Prize $250, Third Prize $150. Submit original, unpublished poems. Entries must be typed on 8.5" x 11" paper, with author's name, address and phone number appearing on back of entry. Entry fee: $15 per poem. Winners will be notified by telephone no later than May 31. Winning entries will be published in regional publications and read during the awards ceremony. Mail your entry and fee to:
Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize
c/o Rome Art & Community Center
308 West Bloomfield Street
Rome, NY 13440
Please make your check payable to Rome Art & Community Center. US funds only. Questions? Please call Lauren Getek at 315-336-1040.
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These free prose contests with deadlines between January 16 and February 28 are included as a bonus in The Best Free Poetry Contests. View their profiles by logging into The Best Free Poetry Contests. After you login, please click the Find Free Contests link, then search by Prose Contest Type to find prose contests.
1/30: Lulu Blooker Prize +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers prizes up to $2,000 for published and self-published "blooks"—a book of fiction, nonfiction or comics whose content was originally developed on the author's blog or website. Ebooks not eligible. Sponsored by Lulu.com, a provider of self-publishing services. Author or publisher should send 3 copies of the book and a completed entry form.
1/31: Betty Trask Prize +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers awards totaling 25,000 pounds for a published first novel of "a romantic or traditional nature", i.e. not experimental. Author must be a Commonwealth citizen. If published, the work must have been published in the UK in 2005 or be due for publication in 2006. Entrants must be under 35 as of December 31, 2005. Winner must agree to use the prize money for foreign travel.
1/31: Caine Prize for African Writing +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers $15,000 for published short stories by African writers, defined as someone who was born in Africa, or who is a national of an African country, or whose parents are African, and whose work has reflected African sensibilities. Up to 5 shortlisted authors receive a travel stipend. For the 2006 contest, entries must have been published between February 1, 2001 and January 31, 2006. Must be submitted by publisher. Send 12 copies of published story.
1/31: International House of Japan Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest offers top prize of 300,000 yen (about $2,600) for unpublished essays in English or Japanese on the following theme: "In Search of Coexistence for Plural Values: What we can do to create a society and a world where we can share our values beyond cultural, ethnic and religious barriers." Essays should be no more than 5,000 words (English) or 12,000 characters (Japanese). One entry per person. Submit by mail or email.
1/31: Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Thrice-yearly free neutral contest offers $200 and web publication for short fiction. The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-20th century America. Entries should appeal to a reader with these characteristics. Submit stories of 1,000-5,000 words by email to jm@jerryjazz.com as an MS Word or Adobe Acrobat attachment. Please be sure to include your name, address and phone number with your submission, and include "Short Fiction Contest Submission" in the subject heading of the email.
1/31: Jerry Jazz Musician Seeks "Accent on Youth" Columnist
Entries must be received by this date
Contest is open to youth aged 14-17. Write an essay of approximately 500 words on this theme: "Your best friend Jerry knows nothing about jazz music, and has just sent an email asking that you write him back and tell him what you like about it. He also asks that you tell him who your favorite historic or contemporary jazz artist is, why you like that particular artist (or group) so much, and which recordings you would recommend." Winner will become their next "Accent on Youth" columnist. Entries are sent via email. See website for details.
1/31: Virginia Commonwealth University First Novelist Award ++
Recommended free contest offers $1,000 for a first novel published during the previous calendar year. Author, agent and editor also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Richmond, VA to participate in the Virginia Commonwealth University First Novelist Forum. Send 3 copies of published book.
1/31: Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant ++
Recommended free contest offers a $1,000 grant to an Ohio writer aged 30 and under with no published books. Submit 1-6 prose pieces (fiction or creative nonfiction), each of which should be 10-60 double-spaced pages in 12-point font. See website for details and entry form.
2/15: Vincent Astor Memorial Leadership Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest from the U.S. Naval Institute is open to U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers, regular and reserve, in pay grades O-1, O-2, and O-3, and officer trainees within one year of receiving their commissions. Top prize $1,500 for essays on any subject relating to leadership in the sea services. Maximum 3,500 words. One entry per person; no simultaneous submissions.
2/28: Anchoring Sea Enterprise Essay Contest +++
Highly recommended free contest from the U.S. Naval Institute offers $15,000 top prize, other large prizes, for essays of 3,500 words maximum on the following theme: "Write an essay for this contest that addresses barriers to change and how to remove them, proposed mechanisms to incentivize Sea Enterprise activity that motivates meaningful change, and/or new opportunities for Sea Enterprise engagement at the corporate or activity level that will help make our Navy the right force, at the right readiness, for the right price!" One entry per person; no simultaneous submissions. Anyone may enter, but only Department of the Navy employees — active military, reserve, and civilians — are eligible for the cash awards.
2/28: Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook Children's Story Competition ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest seeks unpublished stories for children aged 9-12 on the theme of "Secrets," maximum 2,000 words. Prize is 500 pounds, or A&C Black books worth 1,000 pounds, plus publication in the Times Educational Supplement and on the A&C Black website. A&C Black publishes the Children's Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, an annual directory of markets in all areas of children's media (similar to the Writer's Market series from Writer's Digest in the US). Online submission only.
Login
to The Best Free Poetry Contests now to view these and all our profiles of free contests.
Key to Ratings
Highly Recommended: +++
Recommended: ++
Neutral: +
All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise specified.
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Aroostook Review: Call for Submissions
The Aroostook Review, a new online journal edited by students and faculty at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, seeks poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction for its Spring 2006 inaugural issue. Maximum one story, one essay, and 3-5 pages of poetry per person. Prose entries should be 500-2,500 words. Submit as MS Word .doc or .txt attachments, and include short bio (50 words) in body of email. See website for guidelines before submitting.
Fire Story Contest
Postmark Deadline: January 31
Free contest seeks true-life stories from survivors of kitchen fires. Prizes are $500, $200, $100, and four runners-up of $50 each. Winners will be published in a book about the dangers of kitchen fires and the experiences of those who have survived them. Include supporting photographs or news clippings if available. Multiple entries accepted, but no simultaneous submissions. Sponsored by SafeStove, a maker of kitchen safety products. See website for rules and entry form.
The Genome Literary Project
Submissions must be received by April 1
Iowa State University seeks unpublished poems, stories and creative essays for an anthology on the ethical and cultural issues raised by genetic technology. "Just as science has advanced, so have our concerns as humans about the role science plays in our lives.... The proposed anthology will explore through a body of creative work how the science of genomics overlaps with social values. The project is intended to be an expression of how scientific discovery—and practices—can inspire and energize the ideas of writers, artists, and thinkers in the twenty-first century." Maximum 30 pages; for poetry, maximum 5 poems. See website for full details. Email Diana L. Boeckmann with questions.
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ABCtales.com
ABCtales provides advice, support, exposure and community for aspiring writers. Visit their discussion forums to post poems, chat about literature, and exchange tips for getting published.
F.J. Bergmann
Non sequiturs like bear traps plunge you through the surface of this poet's world into an absurd, slightly sinister, often funny alternate reality. We especially love the William Carlos Williams parody 'An Apology'. Buy her prizewinning chapbook, 'Sauce Robert', from Pavement Saw Press (only a few copies left).
The Flarf Files
"Flarf" is a collaborative poetic technique that creates nonsensical poems from the results of odd Google keyword searches, Internet chat-room lingo, and the "corrosive, cute, or cloying awfulness" of the amateur poetry that is popular in online forums. Begun as a spoof of Poetry.com's low standards, the Flarf "movement" also satirizes how so-called "mainstream" poetry is actually produced by and for an irrelevant elite class, while the poetry that most people read is the (generally bad) amateur poetry circulated between individuals and posted on the Internet. For more on the latter point, see the related website http://mainstreampoetry.blogspot.com/
Poetry and Songs of World War I
Directory includes links to biographies and sample work by war poets such as Owen, Sassoon, and Graves, as well as lesser-known figures. Other links include literary criticism, historical discussion, and sheet music and recordings of popular songs from the period.
Poetry Express
Fun, attractive site introduces the basics of poetic technique, plus a few writing prompts to get you started. The addictive "e-muse" poetry generator creates surprisingly good free verse by asking you to fill in the blanks, Mad Libs style.
Representative Poetry Online
Comprehensive site from the University of Toronto Library features a glossary of poetic terms, a daily calendar of events in the lives of famous poets, poetry critiques, and extensive poetry archives. Site is indexed by poem titles, first lines, last lines, author names, keywords and more.
Rupert Brooke
One of the great soldier-poets of World War I, Brooke was a romantic figure and socialist activist whose social circle included E.M. Forster, Henry James, and the Bloomsbury Group. Unlike contemporaries who emphasized the horrors of modern warfare, Brooke wrote of patriotic idealism and comradeship in the face of death. He served in the Navy during WWI and died in 1915, at the age of 28, while stationed in Greece.
The Writer Magazine
Since 1887, The Writer has been America's essential resource for writers. The magazine covers a broad range of writing fields and provides support, motivation and inspiration to writers of all levels.
See all our resources now at http://www.winningwriters.com/resources/ur_web.php. This is also the gateway to our recommended books, magazines, service providers, advice for writers (with manuscript tips) and poetry critiques.
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The Dead Alive and Busy
By Alan Shapiro. These carefully structured poems, tinged with classical allusions, honor the sick and dying with the poet's patient vigil and unflinching observation of the body's joys and failures. Winner of the 2001 Kingsley Tufts Award.
The Sparrow
By Mary Doria Russell. Members of a Jesuit-led expedition to another planet face the ultimate test of their wisdom and endurance when they encounter two intelligent alien species, one of which uses the other as both servants and prey. This well-written novel and its sequel, Children of God, raise profound questions about the spiritual meaning of suffering and the unforeseen consequences of our actions.
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MORE SPONSORS' MESSAGES
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 31
Now in its 14th year. Prizes of $1,000, $600 and $400 will be awarded, plus four High Distinction awards of $250 each. The top entry will be published in a triennial anthology. Other entries may also be published. Submit any type of short story, essay or other work of prose, up to 5,000 words. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the anthology and online publication rights. $12 entry fee. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. Winning Writers is assisting with entry handling for this contest. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. Guidelines:
http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tomstory/ts_guidelines.php
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest - No Fee
Online Submission Deadline: April 1
Now in its fifth year. Sponsored by Winning Writers. Prizes of $1,190, $169, $60 and 5 honorable mentions of $38 each. A humor contest with a special twist. No fee to enter. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Submit online:
http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/wergle/we_guidelines.php
War Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: May 31
Sponsored by Winning Writers. We seek original, unpublished poems for our fifth annual contest on the theme of war. Submit 1-3 poems, up to 500 lines in total. $3,000 in prizes will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,500. The entry fee is $12. This fee includes three months of online access to the Poetry
Contest Insider database, a $6.95 value. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Submit online or by mail. Guidelines:
http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/war/wa_guidelines.php
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Now in its third year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms such as sonnets and haiku. 30 cash prizes totaling $3,500 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,000. All winners of cash prizes will be published in an anthology. The entry fee is $6 for every 25 lines you submit. Enter online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. 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. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. Guidelines:
http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/margaret/ma_guidelines.php
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: September 30
Now in its fourth year, this contest seeks poems in any style, theme or genre. 30 cash prizes totaling $3,500 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,000. All winners of cash prizes will be published in an anthology. The entry fee is $6 for every 25 lines you submit. Enter online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. 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. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. Guidelines:
http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/tp_guidelines.php
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http://www.absoluteclasses.com/Rosien/soulstories.htm
2006 Poet's Market
The 2006 edition of Poet's
Market is on sale for $16.49 at Amazon. Published each August by Writer's Digest, this is the best annual guide to 1,800 journals, magazines, book publishers, chapbook publishers, websites, grants, conferences, workshops and contests. Helps you find publishers who are looking for your kind of work. Also updated are Novel & Short
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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
ProLiteracy Letter to the Editor
NAAL Survey Results Suggest Major Challenge to Country
To the Editor:
The release of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) on December 15, 2005 and its news that the literacy skills of adults in the US have not changed in ten years was not encouraging.
We should not be complacent about the fact that adults' ability to read, write, and do math in English is no worse than the last time they were tested. In 10 years literacy rates in this country may have stayed the same but the world around us has not stood still. Managing the increased complexities of economic, social, and political life in the US requires greater literacy skills, not less nor the same as ten years ago.
The NAAL showed that 14% of the individuals age 16 and over in this country—some 30 million individuals—read so poorly, they could not calculate a five cent per gallon deduction on a heating oil bill. They had difficulty filling in the name and address on a certified mail receipt. Adults at the bottom of this below basic literacy level could not even find a straightforward piece of information in a very simple pamphlet. Difficulties with these tasks can be explained for the 7 million individuals in this group for whom English is not their native language, but that leaves some 19 million English speakers who exhibit no more than the simplest literacy skills.
We also should not be content with the fact that 63 million adults fall into the basic literacy category. While adults in this category were able to find simple facts in a newspaper article, they had difficulty understanding articles about differing political systems and evaluating information in legal documents. And less than one-third of all individuals tested could use the math skills taught in third and fourth grade to compute gas mileage since a previous fill-up.
How can we expect our citizens to be informed voters when they cannot compare and contrast news articles about different political systems or make well-reasoned decisions as jurors when they don't understand legal documents? How can we expect them, as parents, to oversee the education of their children when they themselves cannot solve the simplest of math problems? How can we expect them to find jobs that pay them enough to support their families unassisted when they can't read well enough to fill out an application? How can we expect the US to maintain a competitive position in the global marketplace if employers can't find adequately educated unskilled labor, not to mention the engineers and scientists they currently seek? We cannot and we must not!
If the US is to remain competitive in the increasingly globalized economy, if we are to ensure stable and responsive government, and if we expect to leave no child behind in education, we cannot afford to leave behind a substantial number of adults either.
The NAAL survey results suggest a major challenge to our country. National education policies need to be consistent with the economic, social, and political needs of our population. How we accomplish this should be at the top of our national agenda.
Robert Wedgeworth
President and CEO
ProLiteracy Worldwide
ProLiteracy Worldwide is a nonprofit international literacy organization based in Syracuse, NY, that was formed by the 2002 merger of Laubach Literacy International and Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. ProLiteracy Worldwide is now the oldest and largest nongovernmental literacy organization in the world and pursues a mission of sponsoring educational programs that help adults and their families acquire the literacy practices and skills they need to function more effectively in their daily lives.
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This month, Critique Corner
is pleased to present "Anthem for the Official Rhode Island State Shellfish" by
Matthew Farrell.
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!
ANTHEM FOR THE OFFICIAL RHODE ISLAND STATE SHELLFISH
by Matthew Farrell
Oh beau-ti-ful, crus-ta-ceous life
A-bid-ing in our muck
Through what a bi-valve knows of strife
We wish you e-very luckkkkkkk
Tho' sed-i-ment, and kinds of silt
May blanket o'er your reign
Sow seeds of roe and mind your milt
Peee-ple your wet domainnnnnnnnnnnn
Behind your bulging azure eyes
Through your breathy mollusk sighs
A clammy ethos mild and meek
Your shell is strong but mind is weak.
When aenemone with stinging spine
Or jellyfish with limbs like twine
Should on your restful time impinge
You just contract—and close your hinge.
While quick seas rush and swell above
The lang'rous shellfish dreams of love
But below in lonely briney sand
His mussel amors meet faint demand
And Lo! his mournful wails expand
Across the Stygian marine land
To fill with rueful cry the oceans
With his forlorn longing a-balone notions
Though sun may shine in air-filled skies
In ombrageous acqueous torpor he lies
His love as great as ever seen. She
Now doth garnish cheese linguini......
Embittered neither, not to grow sick
From thoughts on fate: a clam is Stoic
Would suffer samely less nor mo' joy
Had she wound up upon a PoBoy...
On sunny beaches all palm-fretted
Natives drumming frond-envetted
Stew-pots boil with what they've netted
Clams seek not to be so feted
New England too, its sounds and shores
Abound in Yale and Harvard bores
Who deem it is a mark of stah-tus
To shew our friend their learned glottis
Still so some other humbler genus
Treat the clam in ways as heinous
See the otter on his back
Give the Quahog rocky whack
Seagulls using no stone mallet
No less seek clams to gift their palate
Even octopi, of man-like heart
Are known to prise their shells apart
But though many foreign nation
From his husk seeks his ablation
He cannot loathe he doth not hate
Regards placidly his fate
For when there are two halves of you
Whether in chowder or island stew
Seabird slurp or otter bang
The end is self-same, yin or yang
Copyright 2006 by Matthew Farrell
Critique by Jendi Reiter
It's mid-January; your driveway has been covered with ice for two months; and already your resolutions to eat less carbs and read War and Peace are looking like a pipe dream. Here comes Critique Corner to start off your new year on a more cheerful note with this fine example of light verse, Matthew Farrell's "Anthem for the Official Rhode Island State Shellfish". Our Wergle Flomp Poetry Contest, which spoofs vanity contests by rewarding poems so bad they're good, is currently open to submissions through April 1. A poem like Farrell's would be a strong contender. We hope this critique will enhance your understanding of some characteristics of successful humor poetry.
The central joke of Farrell's poem is, of course, the absurdity of writing an elaborate rhyming ode about a clam, yet the poem would not succeed nearly as well were it not for his inventive use of rhyme, which allows him to extend the joke over numerous verses even after we've gotten the basic idea. Pacing is important in all poetry, but especially in humorous verse. We've all sat through comedic sketches that would have been great 30-second gags but are dragged out over several repetitive minutes.
Farrell holds our interest with his rich vocabulary (our hapless hero is variously described as a mollusk, a Quahog, an abalone, a mussel, etc.) and creative elaboration of the perils that can befall a clam. Another way he keeps the joke alive is by creating a storyline, complete with a bit of philosophical wisdom at the end. Thus, the poem not only pokes fun at flowery verse in general, but at a particular old-fashioned genre, the nature poem as moralistic allegory. (See, for instance, Isaac Watts' "How Doth the Little Busy Bee", famously parodied by Lewis Carroll....)
critique continues here
This poem, our critique and contest suggestions for poems in this style appear in full at:
http://www.winningwriters.com/resources/critiques/2006/urc_0601farrell.php
See
all of our 2005-2006 poetry critiques
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COMING IN OUR FEBRUARY 15 NEWSLETTER
The Best Free Poetry Contests for February 16-March 31
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