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Spring 2006 Supplement
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Welcome to our Spring newsletter supplement. These quarterly supplements contain award-winning poems, timely Winning Writers announcements and special offers for poets and writers. We'll release our next regular newsletter on March 15.
RECENT HONORS FOR OUR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to Margy Ohring. She placed first in the Poet category of the 2006 Preditors & Editors Readers' Poll. Her book, Cat-House Sonnets is available from Jorlan Publishing.
Congratulations to Becky Sakellariou. She won the 2005 Blue Light Press Chapbook Contest for The Importance of Bone. She kindly shares the title poem with us below.
RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to F.J. Bergmann. Her short story, "Pale Horse", won the $1,000 Mary Shelley Imaginative Fiction Contest for 2006. This contest is sponsored by Rosebud.
Congratulations to Cheryl Loetscher. She won the Poetry Prize in the Winter 2006 Litchfield Review Competition. Ms. Loetscher kindly shares a poem from her winning entry below.
Congratulations to Ed Miller. His chapbook, The Whole Enchilada, won the 2005 Cervena Barva Press Chapbook Poetry Prize. He kindly shares a poem from this chapbook below.
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.
SPONSORS' MESSAGES
Closing This Month
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. 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
Closing April 1
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
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THE HISTORY OF ANONYMITY
by Jennifer Chang
Winner of the 2004 Campbell Corner Poetry Prize
Postmark Deadline: March 15
Highly recommended contest from Sarah Lawrence College offers $3,000 for poems that "treat larger themes with lyric intensity". The ever-changing yet eternal sea is the unifying image of Chang's compelling meditation on birth, death and nonbeing, structured as fragments from an imaginary treatise.
FILIPINEZA
by Bino A. Realuyo
Winner of the 2005 Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry
Postmark Deadline: March 31
Recommended manuscript contest offers $1,000 and publication by the University of Utah Press. "In the modern Greek dictionary, the word 'Filipineza' means 'maid'," the author tells us in the epigraph. This unsettling poem forces us to confront the economic and erotic connections that must remain unspoken in the encounter between these two cultures. This poem is from Realuyo's prizewinning book, The Gods We Worship Live Next Door.
JOSEPH IN EGYPT
by Anthony A. Lee
Winner of the 2004 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award
Entries must be received by March 31
Recommended manuscript contest for first books of poetry by African-American authors offers $500 and publication by Lotus Press. This retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife burns with the twin flames of sensuality and outrage, linking Joseph's story to the violation of all enslaved bodies. This poem comes from Lee's winning book, This Poem Means.
We are gathering a growing library of award-winning poems in Poetry Contest Insider, over two dozen to date. Enjoy a wide range of today's best work. Sign up for a free trial.
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SPONSORS' MESSAGES
Perigee Call for Submissions, Plus Fiction Contest!
Perigee wants to read your writing. Submit your best poetry or fiction before March 15th for a chance to be included in Perigee's third anniversary issue—our most popular yearly issue. 2006's anniversary issue will include the eagerly anticipated publication of the recent Poetry Contest winners. If you've been waiting for the right venue for your treasured verse or prose, wait no more, Perigee is it.
"Perigee has, in a very short time, established itself as a superb on-line literary magazine. The writing is consistently first rate, and the selection of articles and literary works is always thoughtful and stimulating. Everyone who values quality and high literary standards should make it a point to read and reread each edition of Perigee," says writer Dennis Clausen.
Each day brings new praise for the publication. Jonterri Gadson says Perigee "brought me not only to tears, but back to myself." Poet Brandon Cesmat calls Perigee "the future of literary arts on the Internet." While Marion Roach of Martha Stewart Living Radio praises the web site itself, calling it "by far the coolest thing I've seen in eons," Pushcart Winner Steve Kowit calls the winning poems to be published in our anniversary issue "appealingly shaped and touchingly human."
Our 2006 Fiction Contest is also currently underway. The deadline to submit online or via standard mail is May 31st. This year our popular fiction contest features increased cash prizes totaling $400, with additional chances to win. Send us compelling fiction with something at stake. All three winning entries will be published in our autumn 2006 issue. All styles and subject matters are welcome, but please only send fiction of 3,500 words or fewer. Reading fee: $10 per story. Writers may make multiple submissions at $10 each. Results will be announced on July 15th.
Perigee's brand new blog is also open and available for your comments. We want to take this artistic conversation to the next level with continually updated content, writing prompts, literary links, and interactive exchanges between the editors and other Perigee readers and contributors.
So come visit our award winning web site, read some fantastic writing, view our submission and contest guidelines, and submit your work directly through our web site. You'll be glad you did—and so will we.
http://www.perigee-art.com
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Annual Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize
Entries are now being accepted for the Annual Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize, sponsored by Rome Art & Community Center in Rome, NY. This national poetry contest is open to all adult poets. The First Place winner will receive $500. The Second Place winner will receive $250 and the Third Place winner will receive $150.
The Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize was established by Mrs. Ava Dorfman of Rome, NY, to honor the memory of her late husband, Dr. Milton Dorfman. Dr. Dorfman was a long-standing patron of the arts and many community organizations. Mrs. Ava Dorfman continues the poetry prize each year as a living tribute to her husband. It celebrates the art of poetry and affords poets nationwide a chance to have their poetry reach the public. Rome Art & Community Center is proud to host this prestigious contest.
The judge for this year's Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize will be announced at a later date. Entries must be original poetry and unpublished at the time of submission. Entries must be typed on 8.5" x 11" unlined paper. The author's name, address and telephone number must appear on the BACK of each entry.
Entries must be postmarked by April 30. There is a reading fee of $15 per poem. Please make checks payable to Rome Art & Community Center (US funds only). Entries will not be returned. Please keep a copy of your entry.
Winners will be notified by telephone and in writing on or before May 31. Winning entries will be published in various regional publications and read at the Rome Art & Community Center during the awards ceremony. The awards ceremony will be held in early June and is attended by winning poets, local politicians, and poets from Central New York and across the United States. The public is welcome to attend the awards ceremony and reception free of charge.
Entries should be mailed to: MILTON DORFMAN POETRY PRIZE, c/o Rome Art & Community Center, 308 West Bloomfield Street, Rome, NY 13440.
For questions about this poetry contest, please call the RACC office at 315-336-1040. Rome Art & Community Center is a nonprofit organization open to the public.
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The Writ Gives You Feedback on Your Work
The Writ is a workshop and publication built by people who believe in the power, expression, and free sharing of words. Membership is free and benefits are plentiful.
The workshop exists to provide valuable feedback for writers developing their work. We encourage honest and respectful suggestions. The goal of the workshop is to improve writing and fuel personal growth. Currently, we have workshop editors whose job it is to make sure every piece posted on the workshop gets some kind of constructive criticism as feedback. Anyone that goes to the site can post comments on pieces. This allows for a community of writers to utilize one another to the fullest. All writing begins in the workshop and moves to the publication when approved by the editors.
The publication, WRIToracle, exists to showcase exceptional writing. When we publish, we look for original writing styles and fresh approaches to topics. Creative word choices, powerful images, and thoughtful observations all help to create a successful piece. We choose compositions that maintain exceptional qualities consistently throughout, and need no further revision to stand on their own.
Writers maintain all rights to published writing, and are free to publish the same piece elsewhere.
To post or submit your work you need to register. Registration goes as follows:
- go to www.thewrit.org
- click on ENTER WORKSHOP
- on the menu bar on top of the screen click on MY WRIT
- on the bottom right hand corner of the screen click on REGISTER NOW
- once you have registered you will have a user name and password
- to log in you must always go to MY WRIT
- once signed on you can go to the MENU bar and choose MY WRITING then highlight ADD WRITING
- the piece will be posted on the WRIT WORKSHOP
- if you want the piece to be considered for publication in our next issue you may go to MY WRITING again and click SUBMIT FOR ISSUE.
(Please only submit one or two pieces for publication consideration per issue, but feel free to post as many pieces in our workshop as you like—up to 3 per day).
We are always looking for staff writers for WRIToracle and editors for both the workshop and publication. If interested, or have any other questions about the site, please contact Julián Esteban Torres, Editor-in-Chief, julian@thewrit.org.
www.thewrit.org
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In this new feature, we'll pass along news about selected literary travel opportunities from time to time...
A Journey to the Ice Age Painted Caves in Southwestern France
June 5-18, 2006
For the past decade the poet Clayton Eshleman (author of Juniper Fuse: Upper Paleolithic Imagination & the Construction of the Underworld) has been conducting a journey to some of the actual caves that contain the animal images of the primordial psyche and the roots of poetry. This year, poet and NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu will be coming along as a guest lecturer. The journey, limited to a small group, begins and ends in Paris and includes stays in charming inns and dining in Michelin-rated restaurants. Learn more at www.arttravel.org
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The Importance of Bone
by Becky Sakellariou
She measures my skull with her fingertips, parting
my hair, gently drawing the lines, quadrants
that will meet at the crossroads of remembering.
I wait for my mother to appear in my dreams,
for my father to return home.
My palm encloses Sophia’s head, newborn
lines of soft bone curving up the peak, wisps
of brown hair lying over the crack
that pulsed liquid, body hot through the membranes,
bursting out into gravity, wanting air.
I run my thumb over Miocene fish bones
found in a dig south of Sparta,
minute particles of ridged calcium
telling stories of forgotten seas, a people
who buried their dead in small goatskin boats,
who understood algae and bamboo.
You write that when your mother finally dies,
the spectrum of color that contains us all
will fall to earth, the smooth glass talisman
split into wings. I wait for the impossible air
to take a breath, for the cicadas
to stop singing their death.
Copyright 2005 by Becky Sakellariou
Becky Sakellariou won the 2005 Blue Light Press Chapbook Contest for The Importance of Bone. This book can be ordered from Blue Light at bluelightpress@aol.com, or write to Blue Light, P.O. Box 642, Fairfield, IA 52556. Ms. Sakellariou kindly shared the title poem with us. She has been a Winning Writers newsletter subscriber since 2003.
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Letter to McMahon I
by Ed Miller
The day shift arrives. Pac Bell reps.
Life's rich tapestry...my morning fillip.
They park at the empty gas station across the street.
They park their Chevy Cavaliers, their Saturns,
their Ford Probes. Old cars. They climb out,
look around, eyes crowded with the hour;
they are young, not perfectly young, perhaps,
though young enough, probably new mothers
once or twice removed, blonde, brunette, redhead.
A few sweet talkers, husbands, boyfriends, behind them,
new ones ahead, somewhere down the road.
Anyway. They get out and chirp
their car alarms from heavy keyrings; their ID badges
dangle and sway from snapchains as they move past
like exotic birds, casting spells on the innocent,
carrying their Igloo lunch coolers, Walkman radios,
purses full of baby photos, Kleenex and lipstick,
purses full of...stuff; I think:
Man, they have so much ahead of them.
Will they make it work or will it waste them, life?
Will it break them down? I don't know, Mike.
(Yesterday I got a letter from
something called The Academy of American Poets.
I could join their lordly club if only I sent in $45.
Or $125. Or $500. There were various levels:
Chairman's Circle, Patron, Benefactor, etc...
Smells like a Ponzi, I thought to myself.)
Then I imagine their voices curling like smoke
around me, lavender-pillowed voices,
voices smooth like sapphires, and I wonder
if the next time I pick up the phone and I dial
information will it be one of these, one of my hallucinated
consorts, who answers the call. If that happens—well,
she will be the one asking the questions,
What City, What Street, What Name,
anonymous
interlocutor of my raddled dreams,
and it will be out of my hands,
as it should be.
Ah yes. This is what it has come to. This is what I do.
I stare out the window and rephrase the obvious—
an inadvertent spectator lost in the peanut gallery,
falling all over myself, falling down.
Copyright 2005 by Ed Miller
Ed Miller's chapbook, The Whole Enchilada, won the 2005 Cervena Barva Press Chapbook Poetry Prize. Mr. Miller has kindly allowed us to share this poem from the chapbook. He has subscribed to Poetry Contest Insider since 2005.
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Amplitude
by Cheryl Loetscher
Let my aging body under tender hands not betray me.
Let it quicken, sleek as a midnight cormorant,
to sinewy rhythms, hum and thrum to the heart’s tempo,
that iambic marriage of blood and muscle.
Let it still be possible for true desire
to flame the minds of greying boys
who gratefully unloose their own flawed dreams,
the vain eccentricities of youth at last subdued.
When lips meet creped skin tasting of ginger tea
and sweet tangerines, consider the gratitude
of advancing age, where every touch is fresh and possible,
the last thing remembered as sleep extinguishes twilight,
where the simple sound of tandem breathing
grows dearer, and every connection of sense to season
occupies more of our attention, intensifies the urgency
concealed in these timeless tarnished bones.
Copyright 2005 by Cheryl Loetscher
Cheryl Loetscher won the Poetry Prize in the Winter 2006 Litchfield Review Competition. She has kindly allowed us to share this poem from her winning entry. Ms. Loetscher has subscribed to Poetry Contest Insider since 2005.
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Closing This Month
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. 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
Closing April 1
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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Save on paper, toner, binders and all your writing supplies at Office Depot. Free delivery in select areas when you order $50 or more. Coupon:
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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.
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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
Story Writer's Market and Writer's Market for works of prose. Writer's Market is "the most valuable of tools for the writer new to the marketplace," says
Stephen King in On Writing.
WriteSuccess Newsletter
Sign up now for WriteSuccess's free 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. Get started here:
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Advertise to 16,000 Poets and Writers
Promote your contests, websites, events and publications in this newsletter. Reach over 16,000 poets and writers for $35. Ads may contain up to 100 words and a headline. Place your reservation at:
http://www.winningwriters.com/advertisers.php
"The ads we have run in the Winning Writers newsletter
have garnered more response and inquiry than any other
ads we have run in 20 years of publication."
Ted O. Badger, Editor, Lucidity Poetry Journal
"Thanks for the great advertising value your service
continues to offer. Your subscriber base continues
to serve as the foundation for our submissions."
Robert Woerheide, Editor in Chief, Perigee
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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Bridge Refugee Services Receives National Book Scholarship Fund Grant
Bridge Refugee Services of Knoxville has received a $1,070 grant from ProLiteracy Worldwide through its National Book Scholarship Fund (NBSF). Educational materials from the NBSF are designed to meet the unique learning needs of adult literacy students, tutors, teachers and trainers.
Bridge Refugee Services works with new Sudanese, Liberian, Colombian, former Soviet Union, Somali and Ukrainian refugees in the Tennessee cities of Knoxville, Chattanooga and Bristol. The program is receiving English–as–a–second–language (ESL) resources from the NBSF to use with refugees such as Liberian women, who often have no reading or writing skills. These resources will also be used with current learners who need higher-level materials. For refugee learners who cannot attend evening ESL literacy classes, volunteer tutors will use books from the NBSF to tutor them in their apartments.
"The impact of the NBSF materials is immediate," states Cathy Hogan-Davies, the ESL coordinator for Bridge Refugee Services. "These adult learners realize they have the ability to learn just like everyone else, a chance denied them in the past. They see they have the opportunity to achieve their dreams. They start understanding letters sent home from their children's teachers. They start reading food labels. They start understanding important mail. With more books, we see more smiling faces."
NBSF grants are given to family literacy programs that work to improve the literacy skills of parents and their children. Grants also are awarded to English-as-a-second-language (ESL) projects, adult basic educational programs and projects that involve women-focused basic literacy or ESL programming. To qualify for a grant, programs must obtain funding for up to 20 percent of the amount requested, specify the need and proposed use for the materials, and agree to provide a follow-up written report.
This year marks the 11th anniversary of the National Book Scholarship Fund. Over 1,000 NBSF grants have been awarded and more than $2 million of New Readers Press books and educational materials have been distributed to qualified literacy providers around the country. Last year, $166,952 in NBSF grants was awarded to 84 programs. NBSF grants are made possible through donations from foundations, institutions and individuals nationwide.
Support ProLiteracy's vital mission. Click
here to learn more. Click
here to contribute.
Send this page to a friend and we'll donate 15 cents to ProLiteracy for each friend you refer.
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COMING IN OUR MARCH 15 NEWSLETTER
Best Free Poetry Contests for March 16-April 30
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