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June 2006
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Welcome to our June 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 OUR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to newsletter subscriber Nancy Powers. She won the 80th Annual Wednesday Club Poetry Prize for her poem "Ordinary Light". David Kirby was the judge. Previous winners in this contest include Tennessee Williams and Marianne Moore. Read sample poems by Ms. Powers.
RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Fresh congratulations are due to Poetry Contest Insider subscriber M. Lee Alexander, whose chapbook Observatory will be published by Finishing Line Press as a finalist in the New Women's Voices Chapbook Competition. This competition offers $100 and publication for chapbooks by female authors with no published books. The next deadline will be in January 2007. Meanwhile, Finishing Line's Open Chapbook Competition, with a $1,000 prize, closes June 30. Ms. Alexander has subscribed to Poetry Contest Insider since 2003.
THANKING OUR SOURCES
Winning Writers relies on many different sources to create a comprehensive database of contests for our readers. Some of the most helpful publications that we'd like to acknowledge include Poets & Writers magazine, Hope Clark's TOTAL FundsforWriters newsletter, Erika Dreifus's The Practicing Writer and Allison Joseph's CRWROPPS bulletin board. We thank these sites for letting us gather information from their contest listings.
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FEATURED SPONSOR'S MESSAGE
“Best Character Description”
Here's what we're looking for:
We want to see your best character description for either a fiction or a nonfiction piece. Your entry may be up to 150 words in length. Send as many entries as you wish. Postmark deadline: August 1.
- One Grand Prize: $250
- One First Prize: $100
- One Second Prize: $50
- 10 Third prizes: $25 each
- 50 Honorable Mention Prizes
Winners will be announced on WritingforMoney.com, and top winning entries will be published on the WfM site.
Please see www.writingformoney.com for the contest rules and the results of our last contest.
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Last Call!
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. 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/margaret
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. Learn more about Poetry Contest Insider.
"For a really complete list of poetry competitions, including rankings and summaries, I'd suggest subscribing to Winning Writers, a very good service and quite inexpensive."
Jeffery Bahr, "Awards and Competitions for First-Time Authors"
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Deadlines: June 16-July 31
Here is a summary of upcoming free poetry contests. Click the contest names to be taken directly to their profiles (you may be asked to login on your first click of the day). You may also view the profiles by logging in to The Best Free Poetry Contests here and clicking the Find Free Contests link to search for contests by name.
Forgot your password? Need a password?
Please go to http://www.winningwriters.com/forgot_password.php
We will email your password to you within minutes.
6/28: Costa Book Awards +++
Entries must be received by this date
Formerly known as the Whitbread Book Awards, this highly recommended free contest offers a top prize of 25,000 pounds, plus prizes of 5,000 pounds in each genre, for books first published in the UK or Ireland by authors who have lived in the UK or Ireland for at least six months of each of the preceding three years. Awards are given in the genres of poetry, novel, first novel, biography and children's literature. Books must have been published between November 1 of the previous year and October 31 of the current year. Must be submitted by publisher.
6/30: Juan Rulfo Latin American and Caribbean Literary Award +++
Entries must be received by this date
$100,000 lifetime achievement award is given (by nomination only) to a native of Latin America or the Caribbean writing in Spanish, Portuguese or English or a native of Spain or Portugal writing in Spanish or Portuguese. This is one of several awards sponsored by the Guadalajara International Book Fair.
6/30: National Poetry Anthology +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers 1,000 pounds for an unpublished poem by a UK resident. Over 200 entrants will be published in the National Poetry Anthology and receive a free copy; authors selected for publication vote to determine the prizewinner. Send 1-3 poems, maximum 20 lines and 160 words each.
6/30: Utah Arts Council Original Writing Competition ++
Recommended free contest for Utah residents offers prizes up to $1,000 for unpublished full-length manuscripts of poetry, novels, general nonfiction and juvenile literature, plus smaller awards for individual poems, stories and essays.
7/7: Ishar Singh Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest for students in grades 1-12 offers top prize of C$100 in each of 5 age categories. Send 5 copies of a 1-page poem, one copy with contact information and the others anonymous. 2006 theme is "Anything and Everything". This contest requires exclusive submissions—if you enter, you must wait until the results are announced before you can send your work elsewhere.
7/31: Being at Work Poetry Challenge ++
Recommended free contest from a Canadian center for labor studies offers top prizes of C$300 in beginner and experienced categories, for poems about the worklife experience. No fee, but you may include a donation to the Movement for Canadian Literacy with your entry. Send by mail or email.
7/31: Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award +++
Highly recommended free contest for unpublished poems by authors aged 11-17 offers free books, anthology publication, and tuition to a writing course (for UK entrants only). Online entries accepted.
7/31: Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers 3,000 pounds and a reading at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival in Suffolk for the best first full-length collection of poetry published in Great Britain or Ireland since September 1 of the preceding year. Either publisher or author may submit 3 bound or proof copies of the book with a note indicating the date of publication. Include cover letter with contact information.
7/31: John Glassco Translation Prize +
Neutral free contest offers C$1,000 for an author's first book-length translation into French or English, published in Canada during the previous calendar year; work may be poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or a children's book (all genres compete together). Contest is open to Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Fiction predominates among winners; most recent poetry winner was in 1998.
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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
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Have a Bestseller Ready to Go? Level 4 Press Seeks Authors
Level 4 Press is looking for authors with books complete or almost complete for our 2007 catalog. Prefer nonfiction but will entertain all ideas with the potential to sell 100,000 or more copies. We are a traditional press, not a print-on-demand or vanity publisher. Send your idea in a paragraph or two to william@level4press.com or fax it to 619-374-7311. We will request sample chapters and resumes if we like the idea.
New England Writer's Studio
Editorial Expertise offers writers a period of secluded concentration in Tamworth, New Hampshire. Located between the Lakes Region and the White Mountains, Tamworth is a village with spectacular mountain scenery; quaint shops; winter and summer outdoor activities; a library within walking distance; and easy access to nearby towns and villages in the Lakes Region and White Mountains. The Barnstormers Theatre, the oldest summer stock playhouse in the country, is located in the heart of the village and offers plays and concerts throughout the year. In July and August, actors and directors can be heard rehearsing lines in the restored barn beside the Swift River or enjoying conversation on the deck of the nearby cafe.
The newly renovated, fully furnished studio with a private entrance, bay window overlooking a small cottage and woodlands, and adjoining bathroom/utility room (with washer and dryer) is $200/weekend (Friday-Sunday), $350/week, and $650/month. Since each writer has unique needs and preferences, the cost of the writer's studio is separate from the fee for editorial services. Dr. Elizabeth Tillar is available for editing and consultations at $15/hour. Email Eliztillar@aol.com or call 603-323-2924.
Hotmetalpress.net Call for Submissions
Jack Wolford Memorial Prize for prose and poetry (no fee)
hotmetal press needs prose, poetry, photos, artwork. We publish high-quality works in seasonal issues. Submit your work in the body of an email message. Attach a jpeg image file for artwork. For guidelines, see www.hotmetalpress.net. $500 Jack Wolford Prize awarded for the best poem or prose work accepted for publication on the website prior to December 2006. Enter by email - no fee!
"The mision of hotmetalpress.net is to engage in a conversation that informs and enriches our cultural legacy, displays the myriad colors of our voices, sounds the rhyme and rhythm of inner city music, coastal artistry, campus noises of young dreamers, and illustrates the depth and breadth of our American experience. We invite you to ride with us through the diverse landscape, attend the lyrics that waken the self to woe and wonder that defines this twenty-first century lifespace." —Lois I. Greenberg, Editor
Shakespeare Redux
by Larry Lyall
On sale now at Amazon.com
A poem for poem response to Shakespeare's sonnets in his own terms. Shakespeare Redux counters the rich, "upholstered rhetoric" of the Elizabethans with our contemporary American idiom.
"A rarity: a high level of energy and wit sustained throughout an entire collection...in which the comic muse is the antic child of wisdom."
—James Hoggard, Texas Poet Laureate, 2000
"For a Shakespearean, for anyone really familiar with the Sonnets, these are fascinating—at once fine poems in themselves and keen commentaries/readings of Shakespeare's work."
—Sidney Homan, University of Florida
Excerpt from Shakespeare Redux
#130
my mistress' eyes ah god the one's displaced
the other hangs between her cheek & nose
her lips so cruelly twist'd that her face
smiles right scowls left & surely no one knows
if those are breasts these cones one up one down
& yet a third smack center'd on her brow
beneath what's either hair a wiry crown
or just an armpit angl'd god knows how
to voice her fractur'd music I must draw
the raucous cluster of a twelve tone scale
& lead her from my canvas at a crawl
since both her feet are pretzl'd round her tail
(pablescan refrain:)
& yet by god I love this randy dear
whose beauty lies between those thighs (or ears)
Last Call!
Autumn House Poetry Prize: $2,500 and Book Publication
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Winner will receive book publication, a $1,000 advance against royalties and a $1,500 travel grant to participate in the 2007 Autumn House Master Poets Series in Pittsburgh. The contest is open to all full-length collections of poetry 50-80 pages in length. If poems have been previously published, then acknowledgement must be given to other publishers, and the poet must control rights to all previously published material. All finalists will be considered for publication. Final judge is Tim Seibles. Please enclose a $25 handling fee, payable to Autumn House Press. Send your manuscript and fee to Autumn House Press, Attn: Poetry Prize, P.O. Box 60100, Pittsburgh, PA 15211.
Autumn House has published full-length poetry collections by Gerald Stern, Ruth L. Schwartz, Ed Ochester, Julie Suk and many other outstanding poets. For more information, please see www.autumnhouse.org.
Last Call!
Lunch Hour Stories - 2006 Short Story Contest - Cash Prizes & Publication
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Lunch Hour Stories are individual booklets that contain ONE short story each. They are written by authors all over the world. Subscribers receive an issue in the mail every three weeks.
Lunch Hour Stories are great for people on the go, people who love to read but who don't have the time to commit to reading entire novels. The booklets are really small, so you can tuck them into your purse or briefcase and take them with you everywhere. Then if you find yourself with a few minutes to relax, you can pull one out and read. The stories are short too—about 16 pages each—so you can read them in less than an hour. They are great for reading on a lunch break, during a commute, or at the end of the day. You can even read them in the bathtub!
Each Lunch Hour Stories magazine is unique. The stories are literary fiction, meaning they don't lean toward any one genre, like romance or suspense, so they can be read and enjoyed by everyone. Some are crazy or funny; some are serious or moving.
The editors of Lunch Hour Stories will publish 16 stories from 16 different authors during 2007! Visit www.lunchhourstories.com for submission guidelines and contest entry information.
Last Call!
Whim's Place Flash Fiction Contest
Online Submission Deadline: June 30
First prize: $250; Second prize: $150; Third prize: $100; 5 Honorable mentions of $50 each. Entry fee is $5, payable via regular mail or online. Entries must be 500 words or less; any topic, any genre. Winners will be announced August 1 and published on Whim's Place on that date. For more information: www.whimsplace.com/Contest/Contest.asp
Whim's guest judge Laura Hardenbrook is an independent literary agent and editor (www.seshetagency.com) in the Greater Kansas City Metro Area. Her professional experience also includes more than ten years of business composition in the fields of technical writing, corporate and marketing communications, PR and curriculum/training development. Laura enjoys reading from the science fiction and fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller, literary and true crime genres—and everything that falls between.
Closing Next Month
The Litchfield Review Summer Contest
Postmark Deadline: July 31
The Litchfield Review seeks original, unpublished poems, essays and short stories for its current contest. We provide a forum to both emerging and established writers; our only criterion for acceptance is excellence. We look for good stories beautifully told, quality poetry of substance, and creative nonfiction that lingers long in the minds of readers. The overall winner will receive $250. Other prizes of $100 may also be awarded. The reading fee is $10 per essay, short story, or set of 1-3 poems; or $15 to submit an unlimited number of prose and poetry entries. All prizewinners will be published in The Litchfield Review. Runners-up may also be published. All writers we publish will receive a free copy of the issue in which they appear.
Please submit two copies of your manuscript and make your reading fee payable to The Litchfield Review. Essays and short stories may be up to 3,000 words long. Poems may have up to 45 lines. Your entry should be typed, double-spaced, on one side of letter-size sheets of paper. Staple multiple pages together. Include a cover page with your name, address, phone number, email address (if available) and title for each submission. Indicate the word count (prose) or line count (poetry) on the cover page.
Mail your submission to: The Litchfield Review, 7 Bonna Street, Beacon Falls, CT 06403.
You may submit the same work simultaneously to this contest and to others. Please notify The Litchfield Review if the work you submit is accepted elsewhere. Questions? Please email Theresa C. Vara-Dannen.
Closing Next Month
 The Natchez Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: July 31
First Prize $1,000. Two $250 Honorable Mentions. Seeks original, unpublished poems on any subject, 40-line limit, no limit on the number of poems. Winners and other selected entrants will be published in an anthology by year's end. This contest is held in conjunction with the annual Art and Soul Festival of Natchez, Mississippi. It is managed by the Natchez poetry community under the aegis of Art and Soul, and will be blind-judged by a New Orleans poet. $7 entry fee per poem, payable to A&S Poetry. Read the complete guidelines and obtain your entry form at www.Colin.edu/calendar.htm. Mail your poems, entry form and fee to: Judy Wiggins, Humanities Coordinator, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, 11 Co-Lin Circle, Natchez, MS 39120.
3rd Annual Norumbega Fiction Awards: Call for Entries
Postmark Deadline: August 31
The Norumbega Fiction Awards are now accepting submissions for their 2006 competition. Early submission encouraged. A leading showcase for new literary talent, the Norumbegas award a total of $500 in cash prizes to the best unpublished, self-published, print-on-demand (POD), and independently published fiction. We strive to maintain a fair and equitable competition by ensuring that all entries are read in their entirety and judged equally regardless of genre, length or content. Your work will be read by our expert panel of judges, made up of professors, editors, publishers and writers from the literature-rich San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, including past winners, official rules and how to enter your work online, please visit our website: www.mediadarlings.org/norumbega
As always, the Norumbega Fiction Awards are sponsored in full by Media Darlings Literature Art & Sound, an artist-run collective based in Silicon Valley dedicated to artists' rights advocacy.
10th Annual Robert Frost Foundation Annual Poetry Award
 Postmark/Email Submission Deadline: September 15
The Robert Frost Foundation (www.frostfoundation.org) welcomes poems in the spirit of Robert Frost for its Tenth Annual Award. The winning poem will receive $1,000 and an invitation to be presented at the Frost Festival located at Lawrence Riverfront Park (off I-93, River Road Exit), Lawrence, Mass. on Saturday, October 28, 2006. Festival readers include X.J. Kennedy, Jeffrey Harrison, Maggie Dietz, Cesar Sanchez Beras and Rhina Espaillat. Email submissions are also accepted at frostfoundation@comcast.net. Reading fees are $10 per poem (send fees via regular mail, please). Please submit two copies of each poem, one copy with contact information and one copy without any identifying information. Mailing address: Robert Frost Foundation, 439 South Union, Lawrence, MA 01843.
Read this Boston Globe article about the Frost Foundation and its poetry award.
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These free prose contests with deadlines between June 16 and July 31 are included as a bonus in The Best Free Poetry Contests.
Click the contest names below to go straight to their profiles, or login to The Best Free Poetry Contests here. After you login, please click the Find Free Contests link, then search by Prose Contest Type to find prose contests.
6/16: Landfall Essay Competition ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest for New Zealand citizens offers NZ$2,500 for the best essay on any topic, maximum 6,000 words. Sponsored by the literary journal Landfall. The purpose of the competition is "to encourage New Zealand writers to think aloud about New Zealand culture, and to revive and sustain the tradition of vivid, contentious and creative essay writing in this country." One entry per person. Offered in even-numbered years only.
6/30: Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Awards ++
Recommended free contest for short fiction offers top prize of NZ$10,000, plus prizes of NZ$1,500 each for writers aged 13-18 and entrants who have not previously had creative writing published or broadcast for payment (this includes, but is not limited to, a novel, short story, poem or other work of fiction). Entrants must be New Zealanders by birth, naturalization or by continuous residence in New Zealand for three years immediately prior to the deadline. See website for rules and entry form. Enter by mail or online.
6/30: Drue Heinz Literature Prize +++
Highly recommended free contest for an unpublished book-length collection of short fiction (150-300 pages) includes $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals of national distribution.
6/30: Goi Peace Foundation International Essay Contest for Young People ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers top prize of 100,000 yen (about $900) for short essays by children and youth about diversity and tolerance. Prizes awarded in two age categories, under-14 and 15-25. See website for details on the annual theme and formatting rules. Entries may be written in English, Spanish, German or French. Send by mail or email.
6/30: L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest ++
Recommended free contest for emerging writers of short science fiction, fantasy and horror offers quarterly prizes of $1,000 plus an annual $4,000 grand prize for one of the four winners. Send only one story per quarter, maximum 17,000 words. See website for eligibility rules.
6/30: Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers C$15,000 for nonfiction books published in Canada during the calendar year by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Deadline varies depending on whether your book was published in the first or second half of the year: books published between January 1 and May 31 must be received by June 30, while those published between June 1 and December 31 must be received by November 1. Publishers should submit 5 copies of the book (or 3 bound galleys, to be followed by at least 2 copies of the book), press kit, entry form, and list of titles published by that publisher, to establish eligibility. See website for detailed requirements.
6/30: Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers C$15,000 for novels or short story collections published in Canada during the calendar year by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Deadline varies depending on whether your book was published in the first or second half of the year: books published between January 1 and May 31 must be received by June 30, while those published between June 1 and December 31 must be received by November 1. Publishers should submit 5 copies of the book (or 3 bound galleys, to be followed by at least 2 copies of the book), press kit, entry form, and list of titles published by that publisher, to establish eligibility. See website for detailed requirements.
7/1: Michigan Literary Fiction Awards ++
Recommended free contest offers two prizes of $1,000 and publication by the University of Michigan Press for book-length fiction manuscripts (one for novels and one for short story collections) by an author who has published at least one previous book of "literary fiction", either a novel or a short story collection. No simultaneous submissions.
7/1: Richard J. Margolis Award ++
Recommended free contest offers a $5,000 stipend and a month-long residency at the Blue Mountain Center, a writers' and artists' colony in the Adirondacks in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom and concern with social justice. Send at least two nonfiction pieces (published or unpublished), up to 30 pages total, with a short biographical note including a description of your current and anticipated work.
7/3: Linda Flowers Prize +
Neutral free contest offers $500 for the best story or essay with a connection to North Carolina themes or events (out-of-state authors eligible). Submissions should engage readers' understanding of the "humanistic apprehension", bringing to light "real men and women having to make their way" in the face of "changes and loss, triumphs and disappointments." Entries are expected to draw on particular North Carolina connections and/or memories. Entries should be 2,000-2,500 words.
7/10: Tell Tale Press Writing Contest +
Neutral free contest for short fiction offers 3 prizes of $200 savings bond, other gifts. Complete one of the 24 story openings on the website, or write a story involving any of the Tell Tale Press characters or places. Maximum 2,000 words.
7/15: Bard Fiction Prize +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers $30,000 for US authors aged 39 and under who have published a book of fiction. Winner also receives one-semester appointment as writer-in-residence at Bard College. Send 3 copies of book, proposal for new project, and CV.
7/15: Marine Corps Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest from the US Naval Institute offers top prize of $2,000 for essays on any subject relating to the Marine Corps' warfighting excellence. Maximum 3,000 words. One entry per person; no simultaneous submissions.
7/31: Chicago Tribune Young Adult Book Prize +++
Highly recommended free contest from a major newspaper offers $5,000 for the best published book of fiction for readers aged 12-18. For the 2006 award, publishers should submit books published between August 1, 2005 and July 31, 2006.
7/31: Chicago Tribune's Heartland Prizes +++
Highly recommended free contest offers prizes of $7,500 apiece for the best published novel and nonfiction book "embodying the spirit of the nation's Heartland." Not limited to Midwestern writers or regional subjects. For the 2006 award, publishers should submit books published between August 1, 2005 and July 31, 2006.
7/31: Iris Chang Memorial Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest offers top prize of $1,000 for essays that bring a personal perspective to human rights issues raised by Iris Chang's acclaimed book The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of WWII, which detailed Japanese atrocities in China. Tragically, Chang committed suicide in 2004, at the age of 36. Essays should be 2,500 words maximum, submitted by mail or email. See website for complete rules and annual theme. The 2006 theme is: "How has Iris Chang's book, The Rape of Nanking: the Forgotten Holocaust of WWII, affected my life and thinking?" The rules state, "Please give your reflections of how the book affected your life. Iris had traveled through the country on her book tours and gave hundreds of public speeches, and radio and TV interviews. She personally met thousands of people during the tours and influenced many readers and viewers. We would like to see the influence and impact of her work on your life and thinking. What do Iris Chang's life and her book mean to you?"
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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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LocusPoint
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Each issue of this online journal contains poetry from a particular group of US cities or regions, plus links to community organizations and poetry resources for that area. The guest editor for each location selects five pages of poetry apiece from seven local poets, and writes an introduction commenting on the poetry scene in that place. They are currently seeking work from Chicago poets; the deadline is June 30, 2006.
Association for Research on Mothering
Postmark Deadline: September 1
Canada's Association for Research on Mothering (ARM) is seeking submissions for an anthology of poetry on motherhood to be published in 2007. White Ink is a rare and unique anthology of poems on the theme of mothers. Beginning with a comprehensive critical introduction by editor and poet Rishma Dunlop, this book will explore the changing role of the mother in contemporary society by bringing together diverse poetic voices. White Ink will select some of its poems from ARM Journal, the journal of the Association for Research on Mothering (ARM). However, White Ink will also include poems about motherhood that have not appeared in ARM Journal.
The title, White Ink, is borrowed from Hélène Cixous' metaphor for mother's milk, a metaphor that grounds women's writing in the female body. Tentative section headings include: When Water Breaks: The Birth of the Mother; Apron Strings: Motherhood as Institution; Cutting the Cord: Mothers in Violent Times; Rocking the Cradle: Redefining Motherhood; Positively Glowing: The Beauty of the Mother. Established and emerging writers—female, male, Canadian and international—should submit 3-6 poems along with a 50-word bio and contact info (including an email address where you can be reached). Send your submission to:
Association for Research on Mothering (ARM)
726 Atkinson, York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Phone: 416-736-2100 x60366
Fax: 416-736-5766
arm@yorku.ca
Submissions in the body of emails are also acceptable. No attachments accepted. Please indicate White Ink in the subject header.
Kathy Fish Fellowship for Flash Fiction
Email Submission Deadline: September 15
Neutral free contest from SmokeLong Quarterly, a flash fiction e-zine, is open to all writers who have not been published in the zine. Send 5 stories of 1,000 words maximum apiece, plus a short statement (1,000 words maximum) about what you hope to accomplish in the next year with your flash fiction writing. One flash fiction piece by the winner will be published in each of the four issues for 2007. The $500 prize will be paid in five installments; $100 in December 2006, and another $100 upon publication of each story. This one-time contest honors retiring editor Kathy Fish. Submit by email only.
Dancing Girl Press
Email Submission Deadline: October 31
Poetry chapbook manuscripts by women may be submitted to this press, the print-publishing offshoot of the e-zine Wicked Alice, between April 1 and October 31, 2006. Manuscripts must be between 22 and 34 pages, numbered accordingly, with only one poem per page. Send your submission as a Microsoft Word file attached to an email message to dancinggirlpress@yahoo.com. Please include "Chapbook Submission/LAST NAME" in your subject line. Payment is 25 copies plus 60% discount on additional copies. Browse samples from the books in their catalog before submitting.
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Boston Comment
Hard-hitting essays on the state of contemporary poetry, by poet and critic Joan Houlihan. Among her targets: incoherent experimental poetry, free verse that sounds like prose, and famous names who are past their prime. Houlihan's Algonkian Poetry Workshops are worthwhile online classes for more advanced poets who have outgrown the feedback available from most online forums and writing schools. She is also founding director of the Concord Poetry Center which offers conferences and workshops in Massachusetts.
EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection)
Professional organization for published and contracted e-book and print authors. EPIC's mission is to provide a strong voice for electronic publishing. Their offerings include an annual conference focusing on e-publishing, and a free writing competition for middle school and high school students.
Forms of Poetry for Children
Page of links to writing exercises and examples of forms such as haiku, cinquains, nursery rhymes, songs and concrete poetry.
Irish Writers Online
Bio-bibliographic database of over 500 classic and contemporary Irish writers, plus an impressive variety of links to authors' websites, booksellers, publishers and other literary resources.
Kaleidowhirl
Quarterly online journal publishes poetry and flash fiction by emerging and established writers. Both formal and free verse are welcome. Submit by email only (no attachments). No simultaneous submissions. Recent featured authors include Barbara Crooker, Tamara Kaye Sellman, Ravi Shankar and Jeanne Murray Walker.
Raving Dove
Online literary journal dedicated to sharing thought-provoking writing, photography and art that opposes the use of violence as conflict resolution, and embraces the intrinsic themes of peace and human rights. Also features a good list of links to humanitarian organizations.
Rhyme or Reason—What Makes a Good Poem?
J. Paul Dyson, editor of FirstWriter magazine, discusses how to integrate rhyme more effectively into your poem and choose the right style for your subject. Too often, says Dyson, beginning poets focus solely on making the lines rhyme, at the expense of word choice and flow.
Science Fiction Poetry Association
The SFPA brings together writers and readers interested in "poetry with some element of speculation—usually science fiction, fantasy, or horror," as well as surrealism and poems about science. They publish the literary journal Star*Line. Their website has many useful links to journals specializing in SF poetry, anthologies, and individual author websites, as well as a free contest with small cash prizes (next deadline June 30).
Soulful Synergy
Online creative arts magazine with an African-American focus includes an amateur poetry forum, audio clips from black musicians, world news updates and more.
The Family Poet
Hundreds of family-friendly humorous rhyming poems, written and illustrated by R. Wayne Edwards. Categories include "Church Humor", "Mangled Nursery Rhymes", and wacky odes to creatures from Chameleon to Vulture.
Writecorner Press
Online publisher and writers' resource site offers a selection of well-crafted short fiction and nonfiction by emerging and established writers, including the winners of Writecorner's $1,100 E.M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award. Copies of novels, short fiction collections, poetry books, oral history works and memoirs from established publishers will also be accepted for possible review on their site.
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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Till We Have Faces
By C.S. Lewis. In this fantasy novel loosely based on the myth of Cupid and Psyche, an unloved queen recounts her grievances against the gods, only to discover the struggle between selfish and unselfish love in her own soul. This is Lewis's most "feminist" book, showing a remarkable grasp of women's experiences in a male-dominated society.
What She Said
By Lisa Suhair Majaj. Provocative poetry chapbook by a Palestinian-American writer whose creative and academic work on Middle Eastern and women's issues has been widely anthologized. The title poem in this collection was a finalist in our 2004 War Poetry Contest.
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MORE SPONSORS' MESSAGES
Last Call!
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/margaret
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/tompoetry
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http://www.absoluteclasses.com/Rosien/soulstories.htm
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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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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
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This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "A Day in the War" by Mike Scheidemann.
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!
A DAY IN THE WAR
by Mike Scheidemann
We lurked in the shades of a wasted heritage;
We scorpions in uniform awaiting orders to act.
Heights lined the horizon like drums
Tolling the knell of another man's war.
"Just give us time," Air-command demanded;
And the razed brush blazed like symphonic scales
Of sunlight strumming waves on the Kinneret.
The skies churned black as if vomited
From the bowels of the earth.
Then the words from the wireless
Wafted through the silence
"Move in after me!"
Columns of armor and swift moving armaments
Lurched into action.
No one could boast that the going was good;
Slopes steep as they were,
And our guns probing the sky
Beyond enemy bunkers, antennae
Impotent as blind insects.
Yet when we'd surmounted ravaged slopes,
With barrels of our arms
Still shining and cold,
The plateau stretched ahead
All bleak, charred and shelled. No cohorts
Were gleaming with purple and gold,
But the Syrian lay strewn
Like a frieze out of hell.
Copyright 2006 by Mike Scheidemann
Critique by Jendi Reiter
This month's critique poem, "A Day in the War" by Mike Scheidemann, blends firsthand war reporting with literary and historic allusions to depict not only the immediate sensations of this Israeli soldier, but the tradition that he draws upon to explain to himself why he fights. Though he would like to mythologize his actions, the predominance of mechanical and insectile imagery suggests that the contemporary conflict is only a mocking imitation of more-heroic battles of yore.
The vivid opening lines take us right into a scene of darkness and conflict, hinting at a reverse evolution that has turned men into insects and civilization into decadence: "We lurked in the shades of a wasted heritage;/We scorpions in uniform awaiting orders to act." The first thing we learn to situate ourselves is that we are fighting "another man's war". This phrase suggests the soldiers' lack of personal belief in the mission. It could also be read as "another of Man's wars"—which one, it scarcely matters. As the title suggests, this could be any day, any war; the idea of human progress is a joke.
Later details, such as Lake Kinneret and the Syrians, let us know that this is an Israeli-Arab conflict, most likely the Six-Day War of 1967 when Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. The last four lines rework a famous quote from George Gordon, Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib", which itself is based on the Biblical account of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:13-19:37).
In the original story, God sends angels to slay the Assyrian warriors. "A Day in the War", like the Bible passage, ends with the soldiers discovering that their enemy has already been killed, but the culprit is more likely a disorganized military bureaucracy that was unaware that the protagonists' campaign was redundant. By giving his poem such an anticlimactic, absurd ending, Scheidemann calls into question the ideology that would cast the Israeli soldiers as modern-day warriors for the Lord.
While this poem says something important and has a number of elegant lines, there are a couple of missing elements that might keep it out of the running in our annual War Poetry Contest. This is the hardest kind of poem to judge, one that has clear poetic merits but somehow doesn't knock me out....
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_0606scheidemann.php
See
all of our 2005-2006 poetry critiques
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COMING IN OUR JULY 15 NEWSLETTER
Winners Announced for the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest
The Best Free Poetry Contests for July 16-August 31
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