Our customers say...

"I love using winningwriters.com. I send poems and manuscripts out to probably 20 contests each month from your listings... I recommend it to all my writer friends and students, too. I don’t see how a writer can live without it. It’s like air or water."
Tom Lombardo, Georgia; Editor-in-Chief, MD Writers

"Your website is invaluable: definitely the best around. I have benefited greatly from the database of contests. Thank you and keep up the fantastic work!... Last year I received first prize in both the Dorothy Prizes and the Room of One's Own poetry competition—both of which I learned of through your database."
Vicki Duke, Alberta, Canada

"As a beginning writer, I had no idea where to send my work for submission or for contest entries... With guidance from your website, I was able to figure out which contests my poetry, short stories and essays might do well in. I've also used it to sign up to receive wonderful magazine and journal publications of contemporary poetry, short stories and nonfiction that I would never have found without your website.

"Since using your website in the summer this past year (just six short months ago), I won First Prize in the Margaret Reid Traditional Verse Contest, a short story of mine, "Magnolia", was a finalist for the 2006 New Letters Alexander Cappon Award for Fiction, my poem "The Blue Laptop" was long listed for the 2006 Bridport Prize, and now, I'm waiting to hear if my poem, "Tombstones", moves up from the short list of the Poetry at Work Challenge. That almost averages out to one placement or prize a month due to your website!

"...I've got a bunch of other pieces out for consideration. I'll keep you posted if anything else wonderful happens. This really has been a tremendous year for me and I truly couldn't have done it without your website."
Susan Keith, California

See more testimonials here, plus coverage of Winning Writers in Writer's Digest and The Writer.

SPONSORS' MESSAGES

The Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference
Next conference: August 24-27
The Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference provides the faculty, connections, and method necessary to set poets with a completed manuscript or manuscript-in-process on a path towards publication. Includes workshops, consultations with press editors, evening poetry readings, editorial panel Q&A, group critique of selected poems, and an after-conference strategy session.

Faculty for 2007 include editors and publishers Martha Rhodes (Four Way Books), Jeffrey Levine (Tupelo Press), Jeffrey Shotts (Graywolf Press), Michael Simms (Autumn House Press), Chase Twichell (Ausable Press) and others; workshop leaders include Director of the Concord Poetry Center, Joan Houlihan, Suffolk University Creative Writing Program Director Frederick Marchant, Director of the Smith Poetry Center, Ellen Dore Watson, and Chair of the Writing and Publishing Department at Emerson College in Boston, Daniel Tobin.

The cost of the August conference is $895, and includes tuition, pre-conference materials, lodging and meals. The August conference takes place in Colrain, a country town in Western Massachusetts, at the unique and magical Round House. For an application and complete guidelines, please visit concordpoetry.org/Colrain. You may also call 978-897-0054, email cpc@concordpoetry.org or write to Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference, Concord Poetry Center, 40 Stow Street, Concord, MA 01742-2418.



On Sale Now: CORY'S FEAST — A novel of mystery, murder, and adventure
In her middle years, Cory is attracted to Taos like many historic women in search of their own strengths; women like Mabel Dodge Luhan whose famous home Cory buys and runs as a B&B.

When a good friend and lover is murdered, Cory embroils herself in pursuit of the killer, endangering not only herself but anyone associated with her. Cory's passion lures her sister Apple to Taos, and Cory's Feast explores the development of their indestructible relationship through many years of struggle. Cory and Apple's sisterhood—the primary coupling in the novel—is testament to the female bond, how it changes and evolves.

The tension associated with trying to solve the murder and Taos's historic magnetism that permeates the setting captivate the reader as Bingham investigates the mysteries of the powerful female—her fears, desires, and relationships—a role Bingham unabashedly explores.

Read more and order Cory's Feast online. Hardcover: $26.95; Softcover: $19.95. Sunstone Press, 800-243-5644 (orders only).

The City of Derby Short Story and Poetry Competition 2007
Entries must be received by May 31
An annual UK competition based in the historic city of Derby in England invites writers of all ages and nationalities to submit short stories of less than 5,000 words and poems of no more than 40 lines. First prize £350, second prize £250, third prize £150 in each category. This year's short story judge is author Martin Goodman, and the poetry judge is accomplished poet and academic Jane Draycott. Entries should be either submitted online (PayPal and credit cards accepted) or mailed, with a reading fee of £3. See the competition website for further information at www.cityofderbywritingcompetition.org.uk. Postal address: The City of Derby Short Story and Poetry Competition 2007, P.O. Box 7065, Derby DE1 OAD, United Kingdom.




Last Call!
Contest for Classical and Rhyming Poetry from Utmost Christian Writers
Postmark Deadline: May 31

Are you a poet of Christian faith?
Do you prefer to write poetry in traditional styles of rhyming verse?
Are subjects of Christian faith the visible themes of your poetry?

The Christian Publishers Poetry Prize will award US$1,000 to Christian poets for traditional, rhyming, religious poetry. $10 entry fee per poem. Poems must be on Christian themes. Acceptable themes can be Christian faith, the love of God, salvation, the sacrifice of Christ, discipleship, etc. The range of possibilities is great. If your poem is about a Bible event, be sure to go beyond a simple recounting of the story; we want poetry that expresses faith, commitment to Christ, etc. See the complete guidelines. See winning entries from other Utmost contests.



Last Call!
Cedar Hill Press: Poetry & Short Fiction Contests
Postmark Deadline for Poetry Contest: June 1
Postmark Deadline for Short Fiction Contest: July 1
Cash prizes will be awarded to those placing in the top four. The top 10 entries (in each contest) will be published on our site along with the author's bio. Prizewinning works will also be turned into a podcast. For further details and the guidelines, please visit www.CedarHillPress.com.

Cedar Hill Press was created to provide a forum to discover and develop emerging artists. We look for people who are continuously seeking to change the course of their genre, and want to be viewed as an artist of the 21st Century. Cedar Hill Press encourages the use of new mediums, theories and ideas.

Insights from Jeremy Sayers, judge of the most recent Cedar Hill short fiction contest ...

Some of the most important elements of a good story, I think, are a strong sense of voice, and a consistent through-line. In other words, the way the story is told, that it is told by a storyteller we enjoy listening to, and that the story completes itself. In most cases, though, a sign of a good storytelling "voice" is that we don’t really notice it. It’s kind of an ambiance in the world of the story. And, of course, when voice is well done, it is consistent throughout the story. When a writer drops the "voice" of a particular story, it’s glaringly noticeable. The same holds true for the through-line. In a well written piece of fiction, no detail, no turn of phrase, no line of dialogue, is extraneous. But, at the same time, all of the elements of a good story should seem natural, not forced.

Last Call!
The Litchfield Review First Annual Book Contest
Postmark Deadline: June 1
Judges
Editors of The Litchfield Review
Categories
Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction, Short Story Collection, Poetry Collection
Entry Fee
$25.00 each book-length manuscript

Submission Guidelines
Open to all writers.
Send one copy of your manuscript to:
     The Litchfield Review
     7 Bonna Street
     Beacon Falls, CT 06403
Manuscripts must be accompanied by a title page with complete contact information. Manuscripts must also be accompanied by a business-size self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for contest results. Manuscripts will not be returned.

Awards
Winner in each category will receive a $500 Honorarium, publication by The Litchfield Review with a royalty contract, and ten copies of the published book. Winners will be announced in August 2007. The Litchfield Review reserves the right not to choose a winner in a category in case of insufficient submissions; in that event, reading fees in that category will be returned.

For more information and news about our ongoing writing contests, please check our website www.thelitchfieldreview.com or contact Theresa C. Vara-Dannen.



The Litchfield Review Summer Contest
Postmark Deadline: July 31
We seek poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction for our semi-annual magazine competition. Prose entries should be 3,000 words or less. Poetry entries should be 45 lines or less.

To be considered for just publication in The Litchfield Review (no cash prize), please enclose $5.00 with each essay, short story, or set of 1-3 poems. Enclose $7.00 and you may submit an unlimited number of entries.

To be considered for both publication and a cash prize, please enclose $10.00 with each essay, short story, or set of 1-3 poems. Enclose $15.00 and you may submit an unlimited number of entries.

For complete guidelines, please see The Litchfield Review website.



Closing Next Month
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 2008 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 Mark Doty. 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.



Closing Next Month
Third Annual Ghost Road Press Creative Writing Contest: Open Windows
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Since 2005, Ghost Road Press has sponsored a writing contest for poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. We use the best of the contest entries and solicited pieces to create the anthology. The 2005 edition of Open Windows was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award.

Prizes: $500 + 4 copies Open Windows 2007 for best story, creative nonfiction piece, and poem; 3 copies Open Windows 2007 for 2nd prize; 2 copies Open Windows 2007 for third prize (nine prize winners total). Categories will be judged separately. There is no set theme for any of the categories. Electronic submissions only.

We founded Ghost Road Press with a long-standing friendship and a love of good books, then focused a lot of energy on finding writers and poets—some regional, some from far away—who had written books we wanted to support and who were willing to take a chance with us. We started small, but we're growing. Ghost Road authors include Peter Anderson, Karen Chamberlain, Meg Withers, Chris Ransick, Robert Cooperman, Eleanor Swanson, Tina Welling, Michael Shay, Janet Bland, David Williams, Laurie Wagner Buyer, and Shari Caudron.

For complete contest guidelines, please see our website: ghostroadpress.com/contest.htm



Closing Next Month
Writing It Real Personal Essay Writing Contest
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Sheila Bender's Writing It Real announces the Writing It Real Essay Contest with cash prizes and more. Your $15 entry fee entitles you to a three-month subscription to Writing It Real Magazine, an in-depth online instructional magazine that delivers weekly articles for those who write from personal experience. Read the complete contest guidelines to submit online or by mail, or email info@writingitreal.com for more information.

Another opportunity—join Sheila Bender, Jack Heffron and Susan Rich for the four-day Writing It Real in Port Townsend Writer's Conference, June 21-25. For more details or to register for the conference, email conference@writingitreal.com.

Sheila Bender on "Finding Your Writing's Occasion"...

Poet Stanley Plumly, a teacher of mine, used to say that poems must weigh more at the end than at the beginning. What matters to us has emotional weight, and as with poetry, the personal essay supplies a vehicle for writers to find out what matters and to feel the weight of what matters. As writers, we take ourselves, and ultimately our readers, on a journey during which we learn from our experience as we relive it on the page. The best essays allow the writer and the reader to establish and maintain solid footing as they go. This solid footing comes partly as a consequence of the speaker inside the essay revealing the reason the essay is being written right now. Although you as a writer may have been interested in your topic for a while, the speaker inside the essay must have an occasion upon which to start talking in the "now" of the essay.

In other words, inside each personal essay, you, in the form of the essay's speaker, have a clear occasion for assembling images and anecdotes that add up to discovery and emotional insight. At the completion of this journey, you will have learned from your writing as will anyone who reads it. Moreover, anyone who reads it will experience the same enlightening journey you took rather than a mere string of events or ideas that do not move toward an emotional destination.

Deadline Extended!
Annual Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize
New Postmark Deadline: August 1
The Milton Dorfman Poetry Prize is sponsored by Rome Art & Community Center of Rome, New York. FIRST PRIZE $300, SECOND $150, THIRD $100, plus honorable mentions. Entries accepted from all over the US and the world. Judge to be announced. Entries must be original poetry, unpublished at time of submission. Guidelines must be followed or entry will be void. Entries must be typed on 8.5" x 11" paper. Author's name, address, and telephone number must appear on the BACK of each entry. Entry fee of $10 per poem, US funds. Checks or money orders accepted. Entries may also be submitted via email with a credit card payment over the phone—call 315-336-1040 for more info.

Contest open to the general public, excluding RACC employees. Winners will be notified by telephone. Winning entries will be published and read during the annual awards ceremony at RACC. More info can be found at www.romeart.org. Make your entry fees payable to Rome Art & Community Center and mail your entries to: Rome Art & Community Center, c/o Dorfman Poetry Prize, 308 West Bloomfield Street, Rome, NY 13440.




OpenMikeCafe.com and TJMFPublishing.com—A new online community
Announcing two fun contests, with additional monthly online contests for members

Here's Your Chance! Now you too can be a politician—or at least poke fun at them and the political process. In our newest contest, My Fellow Americans, we’re looking for a few good poets. Entry is free—see the complete guidelines. Lots of winners in this one. Top prize is $100 plus three copies of the book produced from the best entries. We want a zany, fun look at American Politics, just in time for the next elections. Enter via email by September 30.

Does your poetry come alive when spoken aloud? TJMF Publishing announces The Calling Card Prize for Audio Poetry. Submit short audio recordings via email by September 3. One prize of $250 and three prizes of $50 will be awarded. Winners will receive online publication of their audio recording and promotional links to their work. Reading fee: $6 per entry. See the complete guidelines. Need help making audio files? Try Voice2Page—you just need a phone.



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SELECTED FREE PROSE CONTESTS

These free prose contests with deadlines between May 16 and June 30 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.

5/31: Black Orchid Novella Award ++
Recommended free contest offers $1,000 and publication in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine for the best traditional mystery novella. Contest sponsor The Wolfe Pack is the official fan club for Nero Wolfe, a legendary fictional sleuth created by Rex Stout in a series of mystery novels published from 1934 to 1975. Entries should be 15,000-20,000 words. See website for thematic and stylistic restrictions. Essentially, they are looking for an old-fashioned story of deduction, with a witty style and an engaging relationship between the characters, and no explicit sex or violence.

5/31: Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Thrice-yearly free neutral contest offers $100 and web publication for short fiction. The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theatre, 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. Please include "Short Fiction Contest Submission" in the subject heading of the email.

6/1: Chicano/Latino Literary Prize ++
Recommended free contest for English- and Spanish-language writing in various genres offers top prize of $1,000 and transportation to award ceremony in Irvine, CA. Authors must be US citizens or permanent residents, but need not be of Chicano/Latino descent. The award is given in a different genre each year: novel in 2007, short story collection in 2008, poetry collection in 2009, drama in 2010.

6/1: Coast Guard Essay Contest ++
Formerly May 1
Recommended free contest from the U.S. Naval Institute offers top prize of $5,000 for essays on a topic relating to the transformation of the Coast Guard. (See website for annual theme.) Maximum 2,500 words. One entry per person; no simultaneous submissions.

6/1: Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest for high school, college and graduate students awards prizes up to $1,000 for short scholarly essays on an annual theme dealing with current events. 2007 topic is eliminating world poverty. Enter by mail or email. Entries may be written in English or French, and must be received by 5 PM Pacific time on June 1. The Fraser Institute is a Canadian free-market think tank.

6/1: Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers $5,000 for a novel or a collection of short stories on a Jewish theme, which was published in English in the US or Canada in the 18-month period before the deadline. The writer must not be the recipient of a major book award, such as the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize or National Book Award, prior to the application deadline. Author or publisher should send 4 copies of the published book (no manuscripts or galleys).

6/15: Astrobiology and the Sacred Fiction Competition ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers top prize of $1,000 and a public reading at the University of Arizona for stories (maximum 5,000 words) exploring spiritual and ethical questions surrounding life's origins and the possibility of life on other planets. See website for specific themes.

6/15: Robert Traver Fly-Fishing Fiction Award ++
Formerly March 15
Recommended free contest from Fly Rod & Reel, a bimonthly magazine for fly-fishing aficionados, offers $2,500 and publication for the best short story or essay up to 3,500 words that "embodies an implicit love of fly-fishing and a respect for the natural world."

6/15: Wild Blue Yonder Short Fiction Contest ++
Recommended free bimonthly contest for stories on selected themes includes $250, publication in Frontier Airlines' in-flight magazine, and free online or in-person writing workshop from Lighthouse Writers, a Denver-based literary group. Stories should be 2,500 words maximum. The theme for the June contest is "Colorful". See website for other thematic restrictions. Enter by mail or email.

6/29: Bechtel Prize +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly May 31
Highly recommended free contest from Teachers & Writers offers $3,500 for the best unpublished essay or article relating to creative writing education, literary studies, and/or the profession of writing. Maximum 5,000 words. Entries must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern time on the deadline date.

6/30: American Identity Literary Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest awards $500 in each genre for stories and essays about the changing nature of American identity in a multiethnic society. Entrants must be aged 18+ and attending an accredited 2-year or 4-year US college. Entries should be 1,000-2,500 words. The contest is sponsored by writer Charles Hugh Smith, author of I-State Lines. Smith's own family is a mix of Mexican-American, Asian-American, African-American and Anglo heritages, and the contest reflects his interest in the dynamic nature of identity in America. See website for sample writing and entry forms.

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 (including, but not limited to, a novel, short story, poetry or other work of fiction) published or broadcast for payment. Entrants must be New Zealanders by birth, naturalization or by residence in New Zealand for three years continuously immediately prior to the Closing Date. See website for rules and entry form. Enter by mail or online. No simultaneous submissions.

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 $840) for short essays by children and youth on themes of cross-cultural reconciliation. Prizes awarded in 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: Iris Chang Memorial Essay Contest ++
Formerly July 31
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.

6/30: L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest +++
Highly recommended free contest for emerging writers of short science fiction, fantasy and horror offers quarterly prizes of $1,000 plus an annual $5,000 grand prize for one of the four winners. Send only one story per quarter, maximum 17,000 words. See website for eligibility rules. Entrants may not have professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium.

6/30: Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest from prestigious publisher offers top prizes of $5,000 for unpublished short fiction for children in two age categories: Junior (stories for children 8-12) and Senior (stories for teens 13-17). Contest is open to authors aged 16+ who are current nationals or naturalized citizens of Africa (any of the countries on the African continent), or authors who were born as citizens of an African country. All stories must have a strong African content. Contest runs in odd-numbered years 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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CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Poetry of Recovery Anthology
Postmark Deadline: June 15
New imprint Sante Lucia Books seeks poems for an upcoming anthology titled The Poetry of Recovery. Both published and unpublished poems are eligible. "Recovery will be defined broadly as recovery from grief, addiction, alcoholism, divorce, and other types of loss, including loss of innocence, loss of health, etc. The poems must be about some aspect of recovery: Poems covering successes and failures, victories and defeats, stress and relief are all welcome." The book will include work by contemporary American poets Cathy Smith Bowers, Fred J. Marchant, and Susan Meyers, as well as reprinted classics. Mail your submissions and a SASE (or email address for non-US authors) to Sante Lucia Books, Suite 500, 1401 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309. Feel free to send up to 10 or 12 poems. If poems have been published, please cite the source in full. If unpublished, please note that on the poem. Include a short bio. Email editor Tom Lombardo with questions.

Kore Press Anthology
Postmark Deadline: June 29
Kore Press, a well-regarded independent publisher of women's poetry, seeks poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or memoirs by women who served or continue to serve in the military. They are particularly interested in work by women who served in the US-led wars in Iraq or Afghanistan and those who enlisted or continued to serve after September 11, 2001.

Arabesques Review: Globalization Issue
Postmark Deadline: June 30
The Arabesques Review, an Algerian print and online literary journal, seeks submissions of poetry, fiction, essays, reviews and drama, in English, French or Arabic languages.

Silver Boomers Anthology
Postmark Deadline: August 1
This anthology seeks poems up to 50 lines and fiction and essays up to 1,500 words, concerning the challenges and triumphs of Baby Boomers as their generation ages. "We're looking for stories by Baby Boomers and those who know them, stories of ordinary lives in extraordinary times, for values and philosophies fashioned from Volkswagen vans and discothèques, for ideas, views, discernment, and perspicacity. What do you know now you wish you'd known then?" See website for formatting guidelines. Enter by mail or email. Payment is $5-$10 per piece plus a copy of the anthology. Previously published work accepted.

Futuristic Motherhood Anthology
Postmark Deadline: September 15
Mama Specific Productions seeks submissions of speculative short fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, mystery and related sub-genres), 7,500 words maximum, for an anthology on the theme of motherhood in the future. Possible topics: What do you imagine the function of motherhood to be? How do you think the image of motherhood will change? How do you think the image of motherhood will stay the same? What possible customs, norms or laws will be in place in the future that would have an impact on changing or affecting mothers? How will science and technology affect pregnancy, birth, and child rearing? How might full social equality affect childcare in the home and workplace? How does a lack of social equality in a highly technological society affect pregnancy, birth, and childcare? How about in a future culture with a highly evolved social order but low technology? Contributors will receive $100 and 2 copies of the anthology. Previously published work accepted if you own the rights. Enter by email only.

Canadian Federation of Poets Anthologies
Postmark Deadline: October 31
The Canadian Federation of Poets seeks unpublished poems of any length for their "The Poetry of..." anthology series. Topics in the series include The Poetry of Birth, The Poetry of Spirituality, The Poetry of Travel, and seven others. CFP members can submit 3 poems, other authors can submit one poem. Enter by email only. Include your poem and complete contact information in the body of the message, and also attach your poem as an MS Word document. If under 18, also include your age. The subject line of your email should be "The poetry of..." whichever of the 10 topics you have chosen. Click on the topic of your choice on the main website to see guidelines and the submission address for each anthology.


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NEW LITERARY RESOURCES

FactCheckED.org
Educational reference site from the award-winning media watchdog group FactCheck gives high school students the tools to become critical consumers of political and commercial advertising. FactCheck, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, won two Webby "People's Choice" awards in 2007 in the Politics and Government categories.

Poetry Publishers Who Accept Online Submissions
Rutgers professor emeritus Louie Crew maintains this useful alphabetical list of links to magazines that accept poems by email.


See our complete directory of resources 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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NEW RECOMMENDED BOOKS

A Liturgy for Stones
By David Wright. Musical, compassionate poems find God's spirit incarnated in the Midwestern landscape and its inhabitants' modest trades. Wright is equally at ease with formal and free verse techniques.

Waiting to Burn
By Angela Cleland. Memorable chapbook whose poems are always about so much more than their literal subject matter. Cleland trusts her readers to recognize the story of an unhappy marriage in a cat's transformation into a dog, or the divine-human power struggle over forbidden knowledge in a guided tour of a factory. This book was one of the three winners of the 2006 Templar Poetry Pamphlet and Collection Competition. Their book design and materials are above-average.


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MORE SPONSORS' MESSAGES

Last Call!
War Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: May 31
Sponsored by Winning Writers. We seek 1-3 original, unpublished poems for our sixth annual contest on the theme of war, up to 500 lines in total. We will award $5,000, up from $3,000 in the previous contest. The top prize is $2,000. Your entry fee of $15 includes three months of online access to Poetry Contest Insider, a $6.95 value. Submit online or by mail. Judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.


Closing Next Month
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Now in its fourth year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms such as sonnets and haiku. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. 50 cash prizes totaling $4,500 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,000. The entry fee is $6 for every 25 lines you submit. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See the complete guidelines and past winners.


Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: September 30
Now in its fifth year, this contest seeks poems in any style, theme or genre. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. 30 cash prizes totaling $3,500 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,000. The entry fee is $6 for every 25 lines you submit. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See the complete guidelines and past winners.


LEARN TO WRITE FOR MAGAZINES!
Want to freelance for magazines but don't know how? Need a little motivation to get started? Learn how to develop ideas, research markets, write your query letter, and make your pitch to editors! In only eight lessons, veteran freelancer Linda Formichelli will show you the ropes. She's written for more than 120 publications, including USA Weekend, Family Circle, Men's Fitness, and Woman's Day. Let Linda show you how you can, too!
http://www.absoluteclasses.com/Formichelli/magazines.htm


2007 Poet's Market
The 2007 edition of Poet's Market is on sale 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.


Office Depot - May Coupon
Save on paper, toner, binders and all your writing supplies at Office Depot. Free delivery in select areas when you order $50 or more.
Office Depot's May Coupon $30 off $150


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FEATURED POEMS FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS

After the Light
by Berwyn Moore

for Constance Doris Roberts Moore (1922-2006)

1. The Mother

At ten, charmed, her unexpected bleeding
clouded mirrors, cracked the china, dulled knives,
snapped fiddle sticks and scared away every
honeybee in sight. That night, three men carried
her to a red-webbed chair beside a river.
They tickled her ears with spears of grass
and played tunes with the bones of a cat.
She saw the moon as a sliver of ice,
melting into songs around her feet,
its florid effulgence so blue it lifted
her to the sky where she welcomed the rain.
Her true love found her leaning on the maple
tree, where he sat, mesmerized, then whisked
her away to 60 years of bliss—children,
a fine house, and copper-bottomed kettles.

2. The Daughter

Her daughter steered the barge toward yellow lights
winking through the blue dawn. When she stepped on
the pier, her legs buckled and a woman
running past asked if she had MS. She
didn't know and didn't know where she was
and limped to someone's porch to get out
of the rain. On the beach, a man and woman
slithered like snakes across the hot sand
to a beached row boat. She knew she should hide
and hobbled up the lighthouse where spiders—
thousands of them—skittered across the walls,
their legs tangling into patterns, a code,
hieroglyphs her mother had taught her to read,
and she understood then her mother's gift,
the power that dulls the knife, that rises
above the fire when we can't snuff it out.

3. The Mother

When she saw the artist, the accountant,
and the teacher, she thought it was Christmas
again. She told them not to leave before
she found the cookies and presents, baubles
for the tree; she'd remember where she hid
them—she'd look right after a little nap
and one more verse of what was it again?—
then she'd find it all, her keys, the colored eggs,
the hamster that escaped, the sapphire broach,
the pencils, so many pencils—just wait!
Hundreds of doves fluttered overhead,
their collective shape like that of an angel,
and one by one, they took pieces of her
with their beaks—strands of hair and eyelashes,
then cuticles, bones and skin—and suddenly
she was in the air, the hot world shining
below her, her family waving, contorting
smiles and holding their breath until nothing
remained but the faint echo of her voice,
one last verse: Jesus loves me, this I know.


Copyright 2007 by Berwyn Moore

This poem won the 2007 Bellevue Literary Review Prize for Poetry. Reprinted by permission from Bellevue Literary Review.


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Prostitute Promises
by Erum Ahmed

The day I stop refusing deals, the day
He comes to me to hold me in his arms
The day I bring him candy on a tray
O God! I shall also end using balms

It is day after tomorrow, he said
Did he lie to me, God, you must confess
Say, shall I sprinkle roses on our bed
Will he kiss my nose, my hair, tress by tress

I would remember my prayers to thee
As he dances before my eyes, o God
I know, too, my heart shall beat rapidly

I shall have a future; it's true, no fraud
For I have loved thee day by day for him
And for thee I shall kiss him limb by limb.


Copyright 2007 by Erum Ahmed

This poem won an honorable mention in the 2007 Sonnet Writers Annual Sonnet Contest.


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JENDI'S CRITIQUE CORNER

This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "Stillborn" by Obed Dolo.

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!


Stillborn
by Obed Dolo

In my groins the fire of your passionate kicks
Still burns, though lifeless on my lap
Lie your little legs limp and still.
Last night I heard little footsteps on my wooden floor
They scurried through the open door and faded fast
On the wet wings of the monstrous darkness
Tailed by explosion of liquid light and thunder
That unnerved the firmaments and ripped my inside.
Now I know it was you leaving.

Silence sits so serene on your soft blue lips
That never learned to curse and lie.
Though you speak not I hear you loud
As I always have, when you flipped and tumbled
In your cozy water world deep in my belly
That became your deathbed.
What did you say you'd become?
A president, a preacher, pilot, piper, pauper?
It doesn't matter now!
I'm content to know you were here—one of us.
And in your still little veins ran
The hopes and dreams, the passion and pain,
The frailty and fear that make us human.


Copyright 2007 by Obed Dolo


Critique by Jendi Reiter

I chose Obed Dolo's "Stillborn" as this month's critique poem for its intense imagery and assured pacing. There is a wonderful strangeness to this poem that reveals the clashing spiritual forces contained in the child's death, without sacrificing the tenderness and immediacy of the particular relationship. Birth and death: so commonplace yet so mysterious.

I admired this poem's consistency of tone and its use of varied sentence lengths for dramatic effect. Dolo is not embarrassed to employ a prophetic voice worthy of his serious subject matter, and does not break the spell with interjections of casual diction the way a beginning poet might. Minor suggestions for the first stanza: I would change "groins" to the singular "groin" because that is the more common usage, and the unusual form of the word here is distracting. Instead of repeating "little" in two successive lines, perhaps use a different modifier for "footsteps" in the fourth line (e.g. "faint" or "light"), or none at all. The alliteration of "Lie your little legs limp and still" is effective, so I would preserve that instance of the word and replace the other one.

Elegies work best when they connect the commemoration of a specific person to broader insights about finitude, love and loss. Thomas Gray's famous "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard" still resonates with us today because its theme is the universality of death. Gray emphasizes how much is not known about the souls asleep beneath their humble markers, and we nod in recognition because each of us feels like that "mute inglorious Milton" whose significance is obscured by time and mortality....

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/2007/urc_0705dolo.php

See all of our poetry critiques.


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COMING JUNE 1: AWARD-WINNING POEMS
Our Summer 2007 selection of winning poems from contests we admire


COMING IN OUR JUNE 15 NEWSLETTER
The Best Free Poetry Contests for June 16-July 31