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February 2009
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Welcome to our February newsletter. This is the companion to our online database, The Best Free Poetry Contests. It alerts you to upcoming contests and important contest changes, highlights quality resources for writers, and announces achievements and great poems by our readers.
Lost one of our newsletters? Graphics don't look right? Not to worry. All our recent newsletters are posted online at http://www.winningwriters.com/news
Coming March 1: Award-Winning Poems
Each quarter we publish a special edition of this newsletter featuring the winning poems from contests we admire. The next edition is March 1. Please watch for it in your mailbox!
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TOM HOWARD/JOHN H. REID POETRY CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Dawn Raymond is the winner of the sixth annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. This year's contest awarded $5,350 in cash prizes, including a top prize of $2,000, for the best original poems in any style or theme. Raymond's poem "Ghosts" takes readers inside the psyche of a girl haunted by her father's death from cancer. It was judged the best of hundreds of entries from around the world.
Contest judge John H. Reid said, "Dawn Raymond has succeeded in the almost impossible. A frank, totally candid, personalized mood poem in which the writer dissects her own soul... Raymond's grip on the reader is so intense, it's impossible to be objective and move away."
We congratulate Ms. Raymond, second prize winner Harry E. Gilleland, Jr., third prize winner Joseph Gorman and fourth prize winner Wolstan Brown. Five High Distinction Awards of $200 went to Gilleland, Victoria Gouldthorp, Joanne Lau, Meryl Raw and Tamar Diana Wilson. Six Highly Commended Awards of $100 went to Helen Bar-Lev, Tom Berman, Louis Girón, Phyllis Jean Green, Dixon Hearne and Martin Steele, bringing the total to $5,350.
Read all of the winning entries, the complete list of winners and the judges' comments. Read the press release. See the guidelines for this year's contest, open now.
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FEATURED SPONSOR'S MESSAGE
Last Call!
Utmost Christian Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: February 28
US$3,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to poets of Christian faith. $20 entry
fee (US and Canadian funds accepted).
- First Prize: US$1,500
- Second Prize: US$500
- Third Prize: US$350
- Honorable Mentions (4): US$100 each
- Special Prize for Best Rhyming Poem: US$150
- Special Prize for Best Traditional Rhyming Poem: US$100
Click for the complete rules and entry form.
Please enjoy "The Trade", an Honorable Mention winner in the 2008 Utmost Christian Poetry Contest:
The Trade
by Alex Porter
My brother tradesman knew this wood;
how to release angle, shape and line—
see how the crosspiece marries the spine.
This flesh reads the grain;
cedar, perhaps, from Hermon's slopes
or pine from Sataf or Heret—
I've spent nights on those hills, gazing
up at the bright coin of the moon,
chiselling at the self with prayer.
I thought they would disappear—the women,
now shielding their eyes against the sun,
the soldier drawing circles in the dust—
somewhere the knock of dice—I thirst.
I thought he would come, my fellow of the trade,
to check for cracks or crookedness;
but his shadow does not dampen the ground.
If he comes I shall call him—listen brother,
climb up the ropes of my blood
and let me speak of a simple plan—
a single nail to join God and man.
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Closing Next Month
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 31
Now in its 17th year. Prizes of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $250 will be awarded, plus five High Distinction awards of $200 each and six Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. 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 online publication rights. $15 entry fee. 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.
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest - No Fee
Online Submission Deadline: April 1
Winning Writers invites you to enter the eighth annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, called "famous" by Writer's Digest. Fifteen cash prizes totaling $3,336.40 will be awarded, including a top prize of $1,359. There is no fee to enter. Judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.
War Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: May 31
We seek 1-3 original, unpublished poems on the theme of war for our eighth annual contest, up to 500 lines in total. We will award $5,000, including a top prize of $2,000. Submit online or by mail. The entry fee is $15. Judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Now in its sixth year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms such as sonnets and free verse. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. Prizes of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $250 will be awarded, plus five High Distinction awards of $200 each and six Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. The entry fee is $7 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 seventh year, this contest seeks poems in any style, theme or genre. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. Prizes of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $250 will be awarded, plus five High Distinction awards of $200 each and six Most Highly Commended Awards of $100 each. The entry fee is $7 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.
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RECENT HONORS FOR OUR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to Kathryn Magendie. Her debut novel, Tender Graces, will be released this spring by Bellebooks. From the review in Publishers Weekly: "Contemporary southern fiction about a woman returning to her childhood home in West Virginia to bury her late mother and reconcile memories of a turbulent childhood. Strong commercial women's fiction showcasing this debut author's powerful, poetic voice. A touch of mysticism makes this a transcendent read." Visit her blog to learn more. Ms. Magendie is the Co-Managing Editor of The Rose & Thorn, an award-winning online literary journal.
Congratulations to Timothy McNeal. His chapbook Timeless Without Time made the top ten list of chapbook bestsellers from Shadow Poetry in January.
Congratulations to Ricky Rapoport Friesem. Her poetry chapbook Mumbai Luck will be published by Finishing Line Press. In addition, her poem "Knesset Eliahu Synagogue" was published in the December 26, 2008 issue of the Jewish Daily Forward, and her poem "Rajasthan Rapunzel" will appear in the anthology Journeys from Eden Waters Press.
RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to Robert Savino. His poetry collection Inside a Turtle Shell will be published by Allbook Books. Turtle Island is a name for the North American continent as well as the Earth in numerous American Indian and worldwide mythologies and origin-stories. Inside a Turtle Shell is the second book in the publisher's Turtle Island Series, whose overall aim, along with providing quality literature, is to raise awareness of Turtle Island. Contact Mr. Savino or Mankh at Allbook Books to pre-order your copy, and receive a free copy of Singing an Epic of Peace by Walter E. Harris III (add $2.00 for shipping).
RECENT PUBLICATION CREDITS FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Madeline Sharples' poems "The Last Night" and "Thursday Morning" will appear in the winter issue of Memoir (and), and her poem "What Is Loss?" will appear in an upcoming issue of The Muddy River Poetry Review. Also, an excerpt from her memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, appeared in Issue No. 22 of Perigee. Madeline is coeditor of The Great American Poetry Show, Volume 1. Volume 2 will be out this Spring.
William Pitt published War Games, a collection of poetry and short stories, through Rosedog Books. He writes that his book "describes the senselessness of war, its absurdity and its dehumanization. But we can choose otherwise. We just have to listen to what the 'others' are saying and learn to understand them."
Andrew B. Totten's poem "Alzheimers" was published in issue #8 of Birds on the Line, a British online literary journal. He kindly shares it with us below.
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TRY POETRY CONTEST INSIDER
If you enjoy using The Best Free Poetry Contests, consider upgrading to Poetry Contest Insider. The Best Free Poetry Contests profiles the 150 or so poetry contests that are free to enter. With your Poetry Contest Insider subscription, you'll get access to all of our 750+ poetry contest profiles, plus over 300 of the best prose contests. Contest rules, addresses and deadlines change constantly. We update Poetry Contest Insider nearly every day to stay on top of them. Search and sort contests by deadline, prize, fee, recommendation level and more. Access to Poetry Contest Insider is just $7.95 per quarter, with a free 10-day trial at the start. Cancel at any time.
Most contests charge entry fees. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars and many hours entering these contests each year. Don't waste your time or money. Out of hundreds of contests, there might only be two or three dozen that are especially appropriate for your work. We help you find them fast. Interviews and links to award-winning entries help you refine your craft. Learn more about Poetry Contest Insider.
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"...about a year ago I shifted my writing focus (novels, nonfiction) to poetry. I use your site exclusively to select contests. I've won, placed, and/or published 13 poems. The site is great. I can't
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"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
See more testimonials here, plus coverage of Winning Writers in Writer's Digest and The Writer, or start your trial now.
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Deadlines: February 16-March 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.
Winning Writers gathers contest information from a wide variety of sources including publishers' press releases, online link directories, Poets & Writers Magazine, and e-newsletters such as TOTAL FundsforWriters, The Practicing Writer and CRWROPPS. We encourage readers to explore these useful resources, and let us know about worthwhile contests we may have missed.
2/27: Judith Siegel Pearson Award +
Neutral free contest offers annual awards averaging $250 for the best creative or scholarly work on a subject concerning women. Award categories rotate each year. Poetry will be the genre of choice in 2009, essays in 2010, fiction in 2011 and drama in 2012. Prose and drama length limit is 20 double-spaced pages, poetry 4-10 poems (maximum 20 pages).
2/27: New Words Poetry Competition +
Formerly February 29
Neutral free contest for Ohio residents offers prizes of $125, $100 and $75 for 1-3 unpublished poems, maximum 5 pages total. Sponsored by the Akron Art Museum.
2/28: California Federation of Chaparral Poets Youth Contest +
Formerly February 23
Neutral free contest for California students in grades 7-12 offers prizes up to $50 in each of 6 categories for poems 20 lines maximum. Categories are Junior (grades 7-9), Senior (grades 10-12), Light Verse, and three themed contests: "Hope", "Youth's View of Humanity", and "I Remember". Email Elaine Harper for more information.
2/28: Chistell Writing Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers top prizes of $100 for short fiction and poetry, for writers aged 16+ who have never been published in a major publication. Chistell is an independent publisher of popular literature with a focus on African-American women. Send 1-2 poems or one story; online submission only. 2009 theme is "Courage".
2/28: Dylan Days Writing Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest sponsored by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's hometown offers top prizes of $100 for poems and short stories in both open and student categories, plus a prize of $100 for one-act plays. Enter poetry and fiction by email only, drama by mail only. Send 1-2 poems, maximum 2 pages, or one story, 1,000-1,500 words. Student category is for current high school or undergraduate students with no literary publishing credits other than school publications. "Entries need not be about Bob Dylan or use his style of writing; but they should strive for creativity, originality and literary theme."
2/28: Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Awards +
Neutral free contest offers prizes of $100, $50 and $25 in each of four age categories: children who live or attend school in Evanston, IL (grades K-5 and 6-8), and Chicago-area high school students and adults. Send 2 copies of 1-5 unpublished poems. (We did not have the rules for the children's contest when we listed this contest in our last newsletter. These are the more current guidelines.)
3/1: Beverly Hopkins Memorial Poetry Contest for High School Students +
Neutral free contest for high school students living within 100 miles of St. Louis offers prizes of $50 and $35, plus reading at annual poetry concert in May. Send 1-3 poems, any length, that are unpublished and not previously awarded a prize. Entries should be typed, single-spaced, signed with pseudonym only; include a 3"x5" index card with author's real name and pseudonym, address, phone number, email, high school name and poem titles.
3/1: Eastern Shore Regional Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest offers top prize of $100 per age division (children, students, adults, seniors) for poems by residents, students or employees from the following Maryland counties: Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's or Talbot. Send 2 copies of 1-2 poems, 20 stanzas or 3 pages maximum per poem along with entry form.
3/1: Fresh Meadows Poets Teen Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest for teen poets living in Queens, NY offers top prize of $150. Submit one poem, any length, that is suitable for a general audience, along with contact information by email to ghnorthrup@earthlink.net.
3/1: Iris N. Spencer Undergraduate Poetry Award +
Neutral free contest offers prizes of $500 and $250 for formal poetry by undergraduates enrolled in a college/university in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties). Send one unpublished poem, any length.
3/1: Milton Kessler Poetry Book Award ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest from Binghamton University offers $1,000 for the best book of poetry published in the previous calendar year by an author over 40, minimum press run 500. Publishers should send 3 copies of published book (no galleys) plus entry form.
3/1: Myong Cha Son Haiku Award +
Neutral free contest offers $300 for haiku by undergraduates enrolled in a college/university in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties). Send one unpublished poem.
3/11: Anthony Abbott Undergraduate Poetry Competition +
Formerly March 5
Neutral free contest offers top prize of $150, other prizes, for the best poem of 40 lines maximum by a part-time or full-time undergraduate at a North Carolina college. One poem per person. Winner and runners-up will be published in the CWC anthology and invited to a public reading in April. No haiku.
3/13: Collision Poetry & Creative Nonfiction Contest +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly March 14
Twice-yearly neutral free contest from Collision, the University of Pittsburgh's creative nonfiction magazine, offers prizes of $150, $100, $75, plus publication, for poetry and creative nonfiction by undergraduate students anywhere in the world. Entries should be 1-4 poems or 1-2 essays, maximum 10 pages total from any author. Prizes are across all genres, not per genre (personal essays and narratives, travel pieces, feature articles, and poems).
3/15: Howard Nemerov Creative Writing Awards ++
Recommended free contest for US high school juniors and seniors offers three prizes of $250 in each genre (poetry and fiction). One entry per person per genre. Sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis.
3/15: Lynn DeCaro Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest offers prizes of $75, $50, $25 for unpublished poems by Connecticut high school students (public, private, home-schooled or alternative) in grades 9-12. Send 2 copies of 1-3 poems, maximum 40 lines each.
3/15: Paterson Prize for Books for Young People ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers $500 in each of three age categories: books for Pre-K - Grade 3, Grades 4-6, or Grades 7-12. Books must have been published in the previous calendar year. Send 3 copies of book plus entry form. Sponsored by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College.
3/25: Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition for High School Students +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers six prizes of $50 for the best haiku by students in grades 7-12 as of the previous September (no homeschooled students). Send 1-3 haiku, typed in triplicate on 3"x5" cards, with author's name and contact information on only one copy. Sponsored by the Haiku Society of America.
3/30: bpNichol Chapbook Poetry Award ++
Recommended free contest offers C$2,000 for the best English-language poetry chapbook published in Canada in the preceding year. Author or publisher should submit 3 copies of book plus author's curriculum vitae.
3/31: CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award ++
Recommended free contest honoring Canadian writers under age 30 offers $500 plus registration and travel expenses to attend an awards banquet at the Canadian Authors Association conference (a C$1,500 value). Authors in any literary genre may be nominated by a CAA chapter, other literary organizations, agents, publishers, or writing teachers. Send a letter of reference, a brief biography of the nominee, and samples of their work (excerpts from books are sufficient).
3/31: Foley Poetry Contest ++
Recommended free contest from the Jesuit magazine 'America' offers $1,000 and publication for a poem of 30 lines or less. (Past winning poems have touched on morally significant issues, but have not been "religious" poetry in the conventional sense.) No simultaneous submissions.
3/31: Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Competition +++
Highly recommended free contest for high school students in the Washington, DC region offers two winners an honorarium plus reading at Rock Creek Park with an established poet. Send 5-6 poems, published or unpublished. Sponsored by The Word Works, which also runs a prestigious manuscript prize for adults.
3/31: Jackson/Phelan/Tanenbaum Literary Awards ++
Recommended free contest offers 3 awards of $2,000 for unpublished manuscripts (up to 40 pages) of poetry, fiction, nonfiction or drama. For Jackson award, must be residents of Nevada or northern California (north of the Monterey-San Luis Obispo county line) for 3 consecutive years prior to deadline; for Phelan award, must have been born in California; for Tanenbaum award, must be residents of northern California as defined above. Entrants must also be aged 20-35 as of the deadline date.
3/31: Lampman-Scott Award ++
Recommended free contest for published poetry books by residents of Canada's National Capital region (Ottawa) offers C$1,500. Send 4 copies of a book published during the preceding calendar year by a recognized publisher.
3/31: Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest from the Haiku Society of America offers $500 for the best book of haiku, or primarily haiku, published in the previous calendar year. Books should be at least 24 pages. Also see website for the Annual Merit Book Awards, open to poets of all experience levels. Both prize and fee for the latter contest were eliminated in 2005; winners now receive only publicity in Haiku Society materials. Early entries encouraged. Email HSA 1st VP Carmen Sterba for details.
3/31: Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest for African-American poets offers $500 and publication for a poetry manuscript, 60-90 pages. Authors who have already had books published by Lotus Press are not eligible.
3/31: Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships +++
Don't enter before March 1
Highly recommended free contest from prestigious Poetry magazine offers five fellowships of $15,000 for US authors aged 21-31 as of the deadline. Send 10 pages of poetry (published work may be included), plus application form and brief explanation of how the fellowship would aid your work.
3/31: Sarah Mook Memorial Poetry Prize for Students +
Neutral contest offers prizes up to $100 in four age categories for unpublished poems by students in grades K-12. Submit 1-3 poems, any length. Optional $5 entry fee will be donated to St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, SD, which serves the Lakota (Sioux) population. This contest is sponsored by David Mook in memory of his daughter, a young writer who died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm when she was in third grade.
3/31: Toronto Book Awards +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly February 29
Neutral free contest for published books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto. C$15,000 will be awarded in all. Each shortlisted author (usually 4-6) receives C$1,000 and the winning author is awarded the remainder. There are no separate categories: novels, short story collections, books of poetry, biographies, histories, social studies, books about sports, children's books, photographic collections, etc. are judged together.
Login to The Best Free Poetry Contests now to view these and all our profiles of free contests. You can browse contests by deadline date, name, recommendation level and more.
Key to Ratings
Highly Recommended: +++
Recommended: ++
Neutral: +
All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise specified.
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SPONSORS' MESSAGES
 FUNDSFORWRITERS - Editor C. Hope Clark
From a long-time reader...
"Your newsletters are "paying it forward". Bless you for that! You are kind, generous, loving and encouraging to up-and-coming writers, like me. When I started reading your newsletters, I was an unknown. Now I have a novel out from a real publisher, and two more in the pipeline. Your encouragement in every newsletter was fuel to my often feeble fire."
FundsforWriters newsletters reach 20,000 readers. Come see why.
www.fundsforwriters.com
 Live Canon: Upcoming Performances in London
Artistic Director: Helen Eastman
Live Canon launched in the autumn of 2008 to present live poetry through energizing performances. Their inaugural season included the shows 'Metaphysicals' and 'Romantics' at the Greenwich Theatre, and brought them great critical acclaim and devout audiences. Live Canon is preparing for another innovative season at the Greenwich Theatre with their upcoming shows 'Shakespeare and Contemporaries', 'The Pre-Raphaelites' and 'The Bloomsbury Set'.
Live Canon also features commissioned new musical settings of canonical poems, which have premiered in each performance. This season kicks off with newly commissioned music by Jerome de Bromhead.
The Live Canon ensemble includes Anthony Shuster, Alice Barclay, Simon Muller, Charlie de Bromhead and Holly Atkins. Shows are directed by Helen Eastman, and associate Robin Norton Hale.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Greenwich Theatre
Crooms Hill
London SE10 8ES
Tickets: 5 pounds (ticket only) and 10 pounds (ticket and café package)
Tickets can be purchased 24 hours a day online at http://www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk, by telephone at 020 8858 7755, by post to the above address or at the Greenwich Theatre box office.
Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
20th February
1pm and 5.30pm
The Pre-Raphaelites
20th March
1pm and 5.30pm
The Bloomsbury Set
24th April
1pm and 5.30pm
For more information please visit www.livecanon.com
View video on Live Canon's YouTube page at www.youtube.com/user/LiveCanonUK
Last Call!
 WOMEN in 2009—A New Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 12
This is a call to all poets who write about WOMEN. Write about someone who inspires you. You can use a character depiction or can use a triumphant situation or surprise us. "ALL" writers welcomed, original and unpublished entries. Winners will be notified in April 2009 by Oneal Walters, and their names published here. Be the first WOMEN in 2009 Poetry Contest winner!
- 1st Place US$110, plus interviewed
- 2nd Place US$60
- 3rd Place US$30
Submission fee US$7 per poem. Make your money order or certified check payable to Oneal Walters. Email entries and questions to women2009@theagebegins.com. Snail mail entries and submission fees to:
Oneal Walters' WOMEN in 2009 Poetry Contest
P.O. Box 21034
Jane Finch Mall Post Office
3975 Jane Street
Downsview, Ontario M3N 3A3
Canada
All poems remain the property of the poet. For complete details, please see www.myspace.com/onealwalters
 Closing Next Month
Prairie Schooner Book Prizes in Poetry and Short Fiction: $3,000 and Publication
Postmark Deadline: March 16
Enter the Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series contest—now in its seventh year! Winners of the annual competition for a book of short fiction and a book of poetry receive $3,000 and publication by the University of Nebraska Press. A runner-up in each category receives $1,000. Competition is open to new and established writers. Mail manuscripts with $25 entry fee to:
Prairie Schooner Prize Series in [specify Poetry or Short Fiction]
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
201 Andrews Hall
P.O. Box 880334
Lincoln, NE 68588-0334
Complete guidelines and information are always available at: prairieschooner.unl.edu. Click on the "Prairie Schooner Book Prizes" link. And be sure to visit our blog for updates: www.prairieschooner.typepad.com.
Please enjoy this poem from The Darkened Temple by Mari L'Esperance, a winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry:
After Reading of the Expatriate Writer's Death by Shipwreck
by Mari L'Esperance
Margaret Fuller, 1850
The ochre roads of Tuscany had blessed her,
without fail, all those years of exile, the sun bright
as a brass plate, day after day. Olives. The sweet
dumb cows lolling on the grassy slopes. From
the little room where she wrote she could hear them,
the soft clunking of their neck bells, dust rising up
fine as powder as they crossed the road for milking.
Buckets of the frothy stuff. Butter and cream,
the casks stained black with fat. Figs and oranges
fragrant in the heat. In the evenings, leaning
against warm stucco in the darkness, goats bleating
in the far pasture. Smell of horses and mown clover.
How could it not have come to an end, the sea merciless,
the exhausted crew desperate on the breaking decks?
I imagine her last hour, kneeling in the narrow cabin
with her husband and son as the ship creaked and lunged.
What prayer could she possibly have offered up then—
the salt swells swirling and foaming around their waists,
then their shoulders and necks—to have that life back,
even a fraction of it, after so much unmitigated pleasure?
Closing Next Month
 Two Competitions Now Open at Fish Publishing
The Fish One-Page Prize (Flash Fiction)
Entries must be received by March 20
Judge: Arthur Mathews, co-writer of the 'Father Ted' series
The best ten stories will be published in the 2009 Fish Anthology in July
First prize is 1,000 euros
50 euros each for the nine runners-up
There is a limit of 300 words
Results announced April 30
Enter online for 12 euros per story. Critique of story (optional) 25 euros
Postal entry costs 15 euros each, and 28 euros for a critique. Send to Fish One-Page Prize, Durrus, Bantry, Co Cork, Ireland.
2009 Fish Poetry Prize
Entries must be received by March 30
Judge: Peter Fallon, poet and poetry publisher with Gallery Press, Ireland's leading publisher of poetry
The best five poems will be published in the 2009 Fish Anthology
First Prize is 500 euros
100 euros each for the four runners-up
There is a limit of 200 words
Results announced April 30
Enter online for 12 euros
Postal entry costs 15 euros. Send to Fish Poetry Prize, Durrus, Bantry, Co Cork, Ireland.
The following details pertain to both competitions:
- No entry form is needed
- You can enter as many times as you wish
- Open to writers of any nationality writing in English
- There is no restriction on theme or style
- All entries must not have been published previously
- Copyright returns to the author one year after publication of the Anthology. Copyright of the Anthology remains with Fish
- Notification of receipt of entry will normally be by email
- The verdict of the judge is final
- Poems or One-Page stories cannot be altered or changed once they have been entered
- Entry is taken as acceptance of these conditions.
Closing Next Month
Snake Nation Press: Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry
Postmark Deadline: March 30
Snake Nation Press sponsors the Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry:
- $1,000 prize and publication
- $25 entry fee must accompany the manuscript
- 50-75 page manuscript; previously published poems eligible
Please mail your entry and fee to:
Snake Nation Press
Attn: Poetry Contest
2920 North Oak Street
Valdosta, GA 31602
Snake Nation Press provides an informative, non-threatening venue for writers to submit their work in the midst of an often chaotically diverse publishing world. Over the sixteen-year history of the Press, the staff and volunteers have found great satisfaction in forging personalized editorial relationships with both emerging and established writers. The Snake is committed to keeping an honest and open dialogue with authors and to furthering the literary arts on a local and global scale. Many hours of volunteer labor and the electronic resources of the Web have allowed a small press to help present many new literary voices to the world-wide community.
The editors of Snake Nation Press look for manuscripts that concretely render the writer's actual and imaginative experiences. We publish writing that both newly interprets life in its everyday reality and that opens the reader's eyes to internal landscapes that have not yet been envisioned. We believe that good writing fortifies a belief in the value of human life and effort, but above all the work must connect intuition and experience to cast a spell of surprised recognition that shocks the reader with what was thought to be familiar.
www.snakenationpress.org
 Closing Next Month
Writecorner Press Poetry Prize
Postmark Deadline: March 31
First Place $500; Editors' Choices, $100.
Seeks the best unpublished poems under 40 lines. Any style, any theme. Send 2 copies of each poem with author's name, address, phone, short bio, and email address on only one copy. Make other copy anonymous. Fee: $5 first poem, $3 each additional poem, payable to Writecorner Press. Read the complete guidelines. Read past winners.
E.M. Koeppel Short Fiction Contest
Postmark Deadline: April 30
First Place $1,100; Editors' Choices, $100. Seeks unpublished stories, 3,000 words maximum. Any style, any theme. $15 fee for one story, $10 each additional story, payable to Writecorner Press. Send one title page with author's name, address, phone, email address, and short bio. Send second title page with title only. Read the complete guidelines. Read past winners.
Writecorner Press judges all submissions anonymously. Winning poems and stories will be published on our literary site, www.writecorner.com. After publication, writers retain all rights. No email entries, please. Fees are used to pay awards and site expenses. Read the contest guidelines, then mail your submissions to Writecorner Press Contests, P.O. Box 140310, Gainesville, FL 32614.
Here is the beginning of "Round Trip", the 2008 winning story by A. Molotkov. Writecorner Press nominated this story for the Pushcart Prize:
To the left of the flower stand, there was a coffee counter. Yes, definitely a coffee counter. He remembers it very well, because from the spot where he was sitting, across the square, he kept noticing the place, wondering if coffee there may be a little better. But even the imperfection of his own coffee did not change his mood for the day. He was utterly, ridiculously happy.
Goombeldt remembers all of this very well. The train ride. The passengers' faces that seemed so empty. And a little girl across the aisle who smiled at him. He smiled back. In an instant, an absurd decision was made, and he grabbed his suitcase and disembarked. He did not know the station's name. He didn't need to know it.
He remembers how he deliberately walked through the station without looking up, so as not to know where he was. This place had to remain incognito. He walked ahead, not noticing anything, until he was outside the building. All he remembers is the pattern of the floor: a strange rhombic invention.
After so many other buildings trying to replicate that unattainable one, the rapid floating of rhombi before his eyes, from yellow to black to yellow to black—after so much searching, he knows what perfection is. It is something that we knew once, for a moment, and then lost. He walked across the square to what looked like a charming little restaurant. He sat outside. Conveniently, the facade of the train station did not display the town's name. His meeting with paradise was well staged.
He has tried so many times to find that town. Yes, he has. But didn't he do his best to hide his traces, to preserve the undefined character of this accidental afternoon? He remembers having his dinner. Not too many people were out, but every now and then a passerby would send a curious glance his way, and he realized that the catalog of this town's inhabitants was known to them by heart...
Click to continue reading "Round Trip"
 Closing Next Month
The Writing It Real No-Contest Contest and Annual Writers' Conference
Postmark Deadline: March 31
Enter the Writing It Real No-Contest Contest for a detailed response to your poems or prose, a subscription to Writing It Real, and a chance to win a half-hour consult with Sheila Bender by phone or email. Three winners, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, will be asked for permission to publish their work in Writing It Real.
Sheila Bender is a poet, essayist, columnist, book author and master teacher. In weekly Writing It Real articles, she shares her know-how with instruction that encourages and helps those who write from personal experience. Whether you want to break your writing out of its current form, revise effectively, generate more writing or facilitate the writing of others, you will benefit from Sheila's weekly articles. See complete details and upload essays at WIR contest or mail your entry and reading fee to Writing It Real, Attn: No-Contest Contest, 394 Colman Drive, Port Townsend, WA 98368. Winners announced by April 30.
Visit Writing It Real for information about Sheila's online writing workshops and classes. Questions? Please email info@writingitreal.com.
 Writing It Real's Annual Writers' Conference takes to the seas this May 8-15. Come conference with us as we cruise up Alaska's Inside Passage. Small group instruction in writing and publishing memoir, non-fiction, fiction and poetry with plenty of time for excursions and fun aboard Rhapsody of the Seas. Bring a partner or family members to enjoy the cruise with you!
Whether you are experienced or new to writing, have a special project in mind, need a jumpstart or are switching genres, our conference provides the professional guidance you are looking for. Since 1999 our faculty's trademark has been enthusiasm, warmth and genuine down-to-earth instruction. Join instructors Sheila Bender, Meg Files and Jack Heffron for encouraging, thorough, small group instruction. For fees, registration and schedule information see our conference page or email conference@writingitreal.com.
What Attendees Say
"Thank you! I'm inspired and dedicated! Can't wait for next year!"
"I'm impressed with the spirit of the workshop participants."
"The conference exceeded my expectations in almost every way. I gained greater understanding of the craft, of various approaches to writing, of good workshop technique, and of the community of writers. I felt very much at home and nurtured as a professional by professionals."
 Enter the Tiferet Writing Awards—Prizes Doubled to $500 Each
Postmark Deadline: April 1
TIFERET: A Journal of Spiritual Literature offers awards of $500 each (doubled from $250) for Poetry and Prose. We publish writing from a variety of spiritual and religious traditions.
Our mission is to help reveal spirit through the written word and to promote peace within the individual and the world.
$15 entry for one story or essay (Prose) up to 25 pages or 6 poems (Poetry).
To enter, please mail your submission and check payable to TIFERET to 211 Dryden Road, Bernardsville, NJ 07924. Or you may submit your entry online. Specify a genre of "Contest-Poetry", "Contest-Nonfiction", or "Contest-Fiction", then pay the entry fee using PayPal.
Winners will be announced Summer 2009.
Poetry Judge
Elisabeth Murawski
Prose Judges
Nonfiction: Peter Selgin
Fiction: Ilan Stavans
Toward The Light Seventh Annual Poetry Contest
Entries must be received by April 1
First Prize: $200 Canadian plus publication in the 2009 summer issue (print and/or digital) and posting on the website. Honourable Mention: $75 Canadian plus publication in the 2009 summer issue (print and/or digital) and posting on the website.
Entry Fee: $28 Canadian for up to 3 poems (includes a subscription to Toward the Light or a subscription extension). Each additional poem $7. You don't have to live in Canada to enter, but entry fees must be paid in Canadian currency. We'll make it easy. See our site for multiple payment methods including PayPal.
Theme: Toward The Light. Write beyond cliches of dark and light. Send us poetry that sees in the dark. Show us how the darkness has made you wise. Don't leave us in a pit of dark despair, that's easy. Show us how you challenged gravity. Note: We are not a religious site. Read our About page before sending us your work. Also see our photography contest and call for submissions of poetry, photography, fiction and essays (must be received by March 1).
Contest sponsored by Toward The Light: Journal of Reflective Word & Image. See the complete guidelines at www.towardthelight.net. The winners will be announced in June.
Please enjoy "Chotki (Prayer Rope)", the winning poem in our sixth contest:
Chotki (Prayer Rope)
by K.K. Todorovich
wounded birds, women and men
too wounded to call
fall at his door
his hands fold and feed them
and he is praying
them all
well
notes slide under his door
invisible wires
carry questions
reveal proper fear
the furniture of his body
clamors and scrapes
his legs bend to earth
bend, kneel
reaching for humility
bent, his life is kneeling
into his little boat of belief
he’s taken on the souls
of catechumen
souls unprayed for
and the faithful
while he bails
in consideration of their weakness
bails
in consideration of his own
bails
as if alive the silk knots move
infused by the power
that suspends them
move from finger to swift finger
precise knots move
 Perigee Seeks Submissions!
Postmark Deadline: April 30
Perigee's 2009 Fiction Contest is underway, and this year's guest judge James Brown is eager for your submissions. $600 in cash prizes is up for grabs, along with a Pushcart nomination and publication in our highly anticipated, commemorative 25th issue.
Mr. Brown is the author of The Los Angeles Diaries: A Memoir (HarperCollins), which was chosen for Best Books of the Year 2004 from the San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly and The Independent in the UK. His work has appeared in GQ, The New York Times Magazine and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Brown has written several novels including Lucky Town and Final Performance.
In addition, Perigee is seeking general submissions in poetry and prose.
Our newest Contributing Editors, multiple award-winning writers Walter Cummins and Thomas E. Kennedy, have written commemorative pieces about the work, life and passing of John Updike. We are interested in receiving more writing related to this historic and influential writer. This landmark iteration of Perigee will include the very best, and we hope your work will be included.
Perigee's nonfiction editor, R. A. Rycraft, is also interested in reading your memoirs and essays (query for book reviews and interviews).
We're interested in your best writing, and hope you will join the ranks of the many notable writers Perigee has published over its six years. You can subscribe for free, submit your work and read our latest issue completely free of charge at www.perigee-art.com today. We invite you to join us in this remarkable conversation that is writing.
Artwork by Derek McCrea
Announcing the Fifth Annual Skysaje Enterprises Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: April 30
This year we're offering a $250 first prize and three $25 honorable mentions. The judges are:
- Award-winning poet Ellaraine Lockie (winner of our 2008 contest)
- M.J. Iuppa, legendary Rochester, NY-based poet and professor at St. John Fisher College
- Rick Petrie, co-host of the long running Pure Kona Poetry series
Guidelines for entry into the 2009 contest:
- All entries must be typed in the 14-point font size
- Submit up to five (5) poems per entry
- Title of poem and author contact info must appear on each page submitted
- A $15.00 non-refundable entry fee must accompany all submissions
Make check or money orders payable to Larry Berger and mail to:
Skysaje Enterprises
50 Amesbury Road
Rochester, NY 14623
Please enjoy Ellaraine Lockie's "She Reads Virginia Woolf", the winning entry in our 2008 contest:
She Reads Virgina Woolf
by Ellaraine Lockie
As she slept he'd finger-walk
all the way up her underarm
Soft, like snow falling over
the shoulder, ear, lips
Sleep melted into a pool
that he found with postage-stamp licks
delivered the slow boat way until she couldn't breathe right
That was before he made appointments
with her after x-rated movies
Laid back on an island of entitlement
and measured her worth by the inches he grew
He bought handcuffs, tongue vibrator, Ben Wah balls
told her to exercise with those metal balls until they
played croquet down there
It's understood she'll use the $100 bill he leaves on the bedstand afterwards for groceries
She'll serve rice and beans twice this week though so she can buy Revlon's Rasin Rage
nail polish turn the numbness into a red purple blur brushing the keyboard late at night
Hard, like Hail hitting the bedrock
Then she waits for the recoil
it comes from fingers on the other end of the airwaves
the concussions of her life absorbed
by the longing in the distance and the science of chemistry
the latent heat that liquefies his words
so they wash over her in a warm river rush
Reason to keep her from filling her pockets with rocks
Artists Embassy International Poetry Contest - Three Grand Prize Winning Poems to be Danced and Filmed
Postmark Deadline: May 15
- 3 Grand Prizes will receive $100 each plus their poems will be danced and filmed. Each Grand Prize winner will be invited onstage for photo ops with the dancers and a bow in the limelight.
- 6 First Prizes will receive $50 each
- 12 Second Prizes will receive $25 each
- 25 Third Prizes will receive $10 each
All prize winners will receive a prize certificate suitable for framing, a ticket to the Dancing Poetry Festival ’09, and be invited to read their prizewinning poem at the 2009 Dancing Poetry Festival. The top three poems chosen as Grand Prizes will be choreographed, costumed and recorded live in an on-stage performance at the Festival to be held on Saturday, September 26, 2009, noon-4pm, at San Francisco's Florence Gould Theater in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor Art Museum. See pictures from our 2008 festival.
Last year's Grand Prize winners included Lucille Lang Day, Janice P. Egry and Allison Joseph. Recent topics of winning poems have touched on the travels of Matisse, a Picasso painting, falling leaves, love, Iraq, China, history, dance, current events, reverie, socially significant situations and even some humor sprinkled here and there. Please don't feel constrained to write a poem about dancing.
The entry fee is $5 per poem or $10 for 3 poems. Each poem may be up to 40 lines long. Send two copies of each poem. One copy should be anonymous (just title and poem), the other should have your name, address, phone, email address and where you heard about this contest (e.g. Winning Writers Newsletter). There is no limit on the number of entries.
When the judges evaluate entries, they look for innovative perspectives on ordinary or unusual subjects as well as excellence of craft. Your entry should be suitable for a general audience since our following is comprised of people of all ages and ethnicities. English translations must be included with non-English poems.
Our judges consist of poets, dancers, musicians and visual artists of various media, all members of Artists Embassy International. Judging is done with the anonymous copies of the poems. Artists Embassy International is a non-profit, volunteer, arts and education organization whose goal is to further intercultural understanding through the arts.
Three poets, the Grand Prize winners, will be rewarded with seeing their poems danced by Natica Angilly's Poetic Dance Theater Company, a well-known dance troupe that has performed around the world and throughout America. This company is dedicated exclusively to creating new avenues by combining poetry, dance and music together for presentation and the expansion of poetry with dance in the life of our culture.
To enter the contest, please visit our website at www.dancingpoetry.com or submit to AEI Contest Chair W, Judy Cheung, 704 Brigham Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. Questions? Please email Ms. Cheung at jhcheung@comcast.net.
 The Idaho Prize for Poetry 2009
Postmark Deadline: May 15
$1,000 cash prize, plus publication by Lost Horse Press. No restriction on content, style or subject. Entry fee: $25 check or money order only, please, payable to Lost Horse Press. Send manuscripts of 48 or more pages of poetry, no more than one poem per page, no smaller than 12-point type in an easily readable font. Poems may have appeared in journals and chapbooks, but not in full-length, single-author collections.
Name, address, phone number, email address, and title of poetry collection must appear on the cover letter only. Use white, lightweight paper. Print on one side only. Please type—no handwriting should appear anywhere on the manuscript. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE, #10 business size) with sufficient postage for notification of finalists and winner. If manuscripts arrive postage due, they will be returned. Send submissions to:
The Idaho Prize
Lost Horse Press
105 Lost Horse Lane
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Winners announced on August 15. See the complete guidelines and past winners at the Lost Horse Press website.
Opening Next Month
13th Annual Robert Frost Foundation Annual Poetry Award
Enter after March 1
Postmark/Email Submission Deadline: September 15
The Robert Frost Foundation welcomes poems in the spirit of Robert Frost for its 13th Annual Award. The winner will receive $1,000 and an invitation to present the winning poem this fall at the Frost Festival located at the Lawrence Public Library in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Please submit two copies of each poem, one copy with contact information (name, address, phone number, email address) and one copy free of all identifying information. Reading fees are $10 per poem (send fees via regular mail, please). Make your check payable to The Robert Frost Foundation. Mail your entry to: The Robert Frost Foundation, Attn: Poetry Award, Lawrence Public Library - 3rd Floor, 51 Lawrence Street, Lawrence, MA 01841. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) or an email address if you'd like to receive the contest results. Email submissions are accepted at frostfoundation@comcast.net if you send your entry fee by regular mail.
You may submit up to three poems of not more than three pages in all. Both published and unpublished works are accepted. See the complete contest guidelines at www.frostfoundation.org.
Please enjoy "The Blind Hunter" (PDF) by Brian Brodeur, a finalist in the 2008 Robert Frost Award. This poem is published in Other Latitudes, itself a winner of the 2007 Akron Poetry Prize.
The Blind Hunter
by Brian Brodeur
News Herald, Woodhaven, NY, December 14, 2003
I've seen him Sundays stalking
the reservoir, out for the day (or night, it doesn't matter)
negotiating castellated ridges, blue mantles
of pine. Last week, the crack of his Winchester
scared a tree of mourning doves half-crazy,
and I went down to see if the old man was all right.
From the folds of brush, he stumbled
into the light, a whitetail fawn draped over his shoulder.
Deep down he must know the whole thing's foolish:
chasing some whim could drive him off a cliff.
But what else is there for him? He has no kids, buried
his wife last year. I think of them together
lumbering through high grasses: her polished rifle
glinting, his dog let loose, waving their hands at me
like a couple drowning. They had a system:
she'd tap his knee once when the deer came close, twice
when he was pointed in the right direction, sliding
her finger in circles across his thigh
to two or three o'clock, then tap three times
when the deer stepped into range, four times to shoot.
He must've memorized the sound
of boots crackling in the brush. (I'm sure he knows
the smaller, sharper crackling of the deer.) Some days
I follow his trail to see what he does out there, how he'll fare
in the endless mesh of ferns, the early ice,
trudging up the hillock through the leaves.
And as we breathe the same cold wind
blown off the reservoir, it's as if I'm waiting for him
to disappear into the sunken goldenrod.
Waiting for him to duck down in some blind
only he knows exists, to turn and wave
or pull the trigger when he feels—who knows?—
his wife's hand tap four times against his thigh.
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These free prose contests with deadlines between February 16 and March 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.
2/28: Charles Johnson Student Fiction Award +++
Formerly March 31
Highly recommended free contest for US college and graduate students offers $1,000 and publication in Crab Orchard Review for a short story, maximum 20 double-spaced pages. The award competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents currently enrolled full- or part-time in a US college or university.
2/28: Kenyon Review Short Fiction Contest +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly February 15
Highly recommended free contest for authors aged 30 and under. Prize is tuition to The Kenyon Review's one-week summer seminar and publication in the highly prestigious journal. Submit one story, 1,200 words maximum, via their online form. No simultaneous submissions.
3/1: Harold U. Ribalow Prize ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers $3,000 for a published book of fiction on Jewish themes. Publishers should submit 3 copies of an English-language book published in the previous calendar year. Three copies should be sent to Hadassah Magazine's NYC office. Early entries strongly encouraged. Email Andrew Basedow with questions.
3/1: John Gardner Fiction Book Award ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest from Binghamton University offers $1,000 for the best book of fiction published in the previous calendar year, minimum press run 500. Publishers should send 3 copies of published book (no galleys) plus application form.
3/1: Sylvia K. Burack Award ++
Recommended free contest for personal essays by full-time undergraduates in the US or Canada. Prize is $500 and publication in The Writer, a monthly magazine with advice and markets for creative writers. Submit a 600- to 800-word personal essay in English on the experience that most changed your life. Entrants must be 18 or older.
3/2: Stony Brook Short Fiction Prize ++
Formerly March 1
Recommended free contest for college students in the US and Canada offers $1,000, online publication and a scholarship to the Stony Brook Southampton Writing Conference. Send one story, maximum 7,500 words, and proof of current enrollment for the academic year in which the deadline falls. Asian students especially encouraged to enter. Sponsored by SUNY-Stony Brook.
3/9: William Saroyan Story Writing Contest for Students +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest sponsored by the William Saroyan Society offers prizes of $100, $75 and $50 for the top three stories by students in each of the following age divisions: grades 1-2, grades 3-4, grades 5-6, grades 7-9, grades 10-12 and college. Maximum 2 double-spaced pages per story. Theme for 2009 is "Stories from Your Home Place". Special needs students encouraged to submit.
3/15: Student Travel Writing Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers prizes up to $500 and publication on TransitionsAbroad.com for travel essays, 1,000-3,000 words, on an annual theme. Currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, students who have graduated within the past year, and students currently on leave from school are eligible. Enter online only. Photo illustrations are encouraged.
3/16: Arts Club of Washington Scholarship Competition for Student Authors ++
Formerly March 20
Recommended free contest offers scholarships up to $1,000 for college students (including first two years of graduate school) aged 18-26 in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC. Submit 3 copies of a short story, maximum 25 double-spaced pages, along with entry form and recommendation letter from faculty member at applicant's school.
3/20: Anthem Essay Contest for High School Students +++
Highly recommended free contest for 8th, 9th and 10th graders offers top prize of $2,000, other large prizes, for essays on Ayn Rand's novella Anthem. See website for essay topics and background on Rand's rationalist, libertarian worldview. Length limit is 600-1,200 words. Enter by mail or online.
3/20: Ray Bradbury Creative Writing Contest +
Formerly March 15
Neutral free contest for high school students and adults offers top prize of $200 for Waukegan, IL residents and $100 for non-residents. Alternates annually between poetry (even-numbered years) and prose/multimedia (odd-numbered years). For the 2009 contest, submit text of no longer than two pages, visual arts or multimedia. 2009 theme seeks responses to the social sedation/apathy brought on by the evolution of television, particularly "reality television", as anticipated by the novel Fahrenheit 451.
3/21: Glass Woman Prize +
Entries must be received by this date; late submissions held for the next contest
Neutral twice-yearly free contest offers prizes up to $700 and online publication for the best short fiction or creative nonfiction by women. Both published and unpublished work welcome. Entries should be 50-5,000 words. Contest sponsor Beate Sigriddaughter says, "Subject is open, but must be of significance to women. My criterion is passion, excellence, and authenticity in the woman’s writing voice." Enter by mail or email (no attachments).
3/31: Eric Hoffer Award for Short Prose +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest from Hopewell Publications offers $500 and anthology publication for unpublished short fiction or essays (both genres compete together) up to 10,000 words. Enter online only. No simultaneous submissions.
3/31: 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.
3/31: National Legal Fiction Writing Competition for Lawyers ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest for attorneys licensed in the US offers top prize of $1,000 for an unpublished short story or novel excerpt on a legal theme. One entry per person, 2,500 words maximum. Contest sponsor SEAK, Inc. provides training, seminars and publications for attorneys, physicians and other professionals.
3/31: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Award +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers $10,000 for a novel first published in Spanish after 2006 by a female author. Winner also receives publication in English by Curbstone Press, and travel expenses to the award ceremony at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico. Send 6 copies of the published Spanish-language book, a curriculum vitae, and copies of any reviews that the book received. Contact David Unger for details.
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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Barrelhouse
Entries must be received by March 1
Barrelhouse, a literary magazine with a pop-culture twist, seeks unpublished poetry, fiction and essays on the theme of "Office Life". Editors say, "The Office is a TV show that has earned commercial and critical success. It is also the setting of your miserable life for at least 40 hours a week, and no one can take that away from you. Unfortunately. But doesn't art flourish through misery? Barrelhouse has decided to test that theory by inviting you cubicle drones to submit your fiction, essays, and poems about the highest highs and lowest lows of the disproportionate amount of time you spend in an Office Of Some Sort. So take some time off—from shopping online, sawing off your ears because you overheard your cubicle mate talk to her gynecologist, making sure that your TPS report has the new cover sheet, or digging into 'second lunch'—and slap something together that expresses your darkest fears and deepest yearnings about the condescending, fraught with peril, passive-aggressive, probably broke Sugar Daddy and/or Mother that is your job."
Naugatuck River Review
Entries must be received by March 1
New twice-yearly journal of narrative poetry seeks submissions for their Summer 2009 issue. Send 1-3 poems pasted into an email to naugatuckriver@aol.com, with a 20-30 word bio. Editor Lori Desrosiers says, "Naugatuck River Review is dedicated to publishing narrative poetry in the tradition of great narrative poets such as Gerald Stern, Philip Levine or James Wright. We are open to many styles of poetry, looking for narrative that sings, which means the poem has a strong emotional core and the narrative is compressed." Their first issue, in Winter 2009, included such authors as Louis E. Bourgeois, Tim Mayo, Karen G. Johnston and Ellen LaFleche.
New Millennium Writings "Obama" Contest
Entries must be received by March 1
New Millennium Writings, a prestigious literary journal, is offering a special prize of $1,000 for the best poem, story or essay about US President Barack Obama. All genres compete together. $17 fee for each poem or prose piece. Enter online only. Entries should be 2,500 words maximum; poetry should be one poem, no more than 5 single-spaced pages. Editor Don Williams says, "Wax lyrical, critical, inspirational, analytical, cynical, spritual or in any other way you please to shine a light on the significance of this moment in history. We're looking for the link between the personal and the public. What does Obama's election mean to you and to our world?"
Creative Nonfiction "Doctors and Lawyers" Anthology
Postmark Deadline: March 15
Pittsburgh-based literary journal Creative Nonfiction seeks submissions of essays on the relationship between doctors and lawyers, 5,000 words maximum, for an anthology to be published by Southern Methodist University Press. There will be a $2,500 prize for the best essay. $20 fee per submission. Editors say: "Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays written by or about doctors and lawyers, exploring the two professions—their similarities as well as their divisions and points of conflict. What intrigues, interests, or annoys doctors and lawyers—and, potentially, others--about each other? The objective of this project is to capture the complex relationship between these two professions. Essays must be vivid and dramatic; they should combine a strong and compelling narrative with a significant element of research or information."
Damselfly Press
Entries must be received by March 15
Damselfly Press, an online journal of creative writing by women, seeks submissions of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction for Issue Seven. Send 1-3 poems or 1-2 prose pieces, maximum 2,500 words each, by email only.
Arch Literary Journal
Postmark Deadline: December 1
Arch, the new annual online literary magazine of Washington University in St. Louis, seeks submissions of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. They are especially seeking essays and book reviews. "We are very interested in nonfiction and essays broaching any topic, polite or not, and we will consider reviews of books on any subject, in any genre, published within the last three years." Send 3-5 poems, one story or essay of 10,000 words maximum, or a review of 2,000 words maximum, plus a short bio, to archword@artsci.wustl.edu.
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Creative Writing Contests Blog
Frequently updated blog maintained by Oliver Abrahim Khan posts listings of literary contests, fellowships, residencies, and calls for submissions. Site is searchable by category.
Grammar Classroom
Writer and editor Laura J. MacKay posts monthly tutorials that, in plain language, shed light on common misunderstandings of grammar, punctuation, and usage. Even experienced writers can learn a lot here.
Modernist Press
This independent publisher of quality modern fiction, with a special interest in gay and lesbian literature, was founded in 2008 by Stephen Soucy. Their first title was Nine Hundred & Sixty-Nine: West Hollywood Stories. Visit their website for submission guidelines for other upcoming anthologies.
Opium Poetry Blogzine
Online journal edited by Ross Vassilev publishes edgy free verse on contemporary themes.
The Poetry Market Ezine
Free monthly ezine publishes contest listings, reviews of poetry books and chapbooks, and other news of interest to writers. Reviewers' guidelines: Reviews may not be a review of the reviewer's own poetry book or chapbook. Reviews may be up to 800 words or 1 to 1 1/2 pages. Shorter reviews are preferred. Reviews must include the name of the item reviewed, where to purchase, ISBN if applicable, and author contact info (of both the author of the item if applicable and the author of the review). Submit reviews in body of email to thepoetrymarket@yahoo.com. No attachments. Put "Poetry Review Submission" in the subject line. Include brief bio of 2-4 lines and cover letter. Submit 1-3 reviews at a time. Will consider reprints, but there is no payment for reprints. Pays $5 via paypal.com per review. No simultaneous submissions. Responds in 1-2 months.
Poets & Writers: A Frequent Winner's Advice
In this interview with Poets & Writers Magazine from January 2009, award-winning poet Cynthia Lowen offers tips for maximizing your success with writing contests.
Ricky Rapoport Friesem
Poetry by Ricky Rapoport Friesem, a writer and documentary filmmaker whose honors include the 2007 Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Award. She says of her work, "Because poetry distills experience and offers it to us in an incisive, condensed form, it can often convey what many long articles have failed to express. I believe my poetry has a lot to say about what it's like to be a woman, a mother, an idealist in our battered Middle East. What it doesn't convey is hatred. And it is for that reason that I hope it will be read now."
Unsaid Magazine
Literary journal founded in 2003 by David McLendon publishes innovative work by a mix of emerging and established authors. Past contributors include Brian Evenson, Deb Olin Unferth, Jenny Boully and Rick Rofihe. Read their first three issues online.
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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by George
By Wesley Stace. In this enchanting, multifaceted novel, a shy boy begins to uncover the secrets of his family of vaudeville performers when he finds a ventriloquist's dummy belonging to his late grandfather. (In keeping with his family's off-kilter understanding of reality, the boy was named after the dummy.) A shift from magical realism to psychological realism halfway through the book may at first disappoint fans of the former genre, but ultimately fits perfectly with the human George's choice to break the family pattern of sacrificing truth to illusion.
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Alzheimers
by Andrew B. Totten
She remembers her childhood like it was today
she remembers her friends and the games that they'd play
she remembers both when and where they used to roam
but she cannot remember how she can get home
She remembers the places of long, long ago
when she was a girl and could run fast or slow
she remembers the colors and smells of the hay
but she cannot remember where she is today
She remembers her parents and things they would do
the best one of all was that trip to the zoo
she remembers some things telling lies in her head
but she cannot remember where she keeps her bed
Her memories are wonders for her to behold
of outings, vacations, and things she was told
it all seems brand new and so fresh in her mind
but she cannot recall who was just left behind
She remembers a world which is gone far away
she remembers a world which does not fit today
she remembers some things, and she knows they were good
but she cannot remember who feeds her the food
Her husband, and children have faded away
the home that she lived in is gone in the gray
her dusted up memories are now her today
but she cannot remember why things are this way
Copyright 2009 by Andrew B. Totten
This poem was published in issue #8 of Birds on the Line, a British online literary journal.
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"I refused to walk across the (graduation) stage," he said. "I didn't know anything."
In grade school, McCoy suffered from seizures and was diagnosed with dyslexia. But his father refused to let teachers place Donell in remedial classes. Teachers continued to promote him, however, until he reached the eleventh grade. There, having had enough, McCoy quit school, and got an excellent job making $1,000 a week—right out of high school!
Still, McCoy was helpless: "When you can't read, it's like being blind ... you got to depend on someone to help you cross the street ... you can't do that (depend on someone) because everybody is not good." He found that out the hard way. McCoy paid his best friend $200 a week to handle all his business—read his mail, pay his bills, even write letters for him. McCoy became so dependent on his friend, he took the man everywhere, even on vacations. When the friend was killed several years later, McCoy knew he had to address his reading problem.
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This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "Reseau" by Ellyn Scott.
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!
Reseau
by Ellyn Scott
it seems pointless to speak of individuals
when there are so many of us
countless likenesses
with lines blurred between one and the other
a chain of unremarkable events
in China from the train every town was the same
with one main street and its colored flags
identical to all the others
and if the town was big enough
a mob of Citroens and rainbow colored lights
every village was a repetition of fields
(no wonder the Chinese call the world "thirty fields")
any mule in the field the same as one
in the streets of Beijing
every red brick identical and
green and blue glass strewn in great reefs
from high rise to hovel
every Russian tourist
was the same
Russian tourists
being a molecule from which it
is possible to extract many units of sameness
consisting of a man with a gold watch
a bleached blonde and a red-tinted brunette
each in mink coats
a friend asks me what was the most surprising thing about China
because he wants me to say it is so much like America
but he doesn't realize I already knew this
and couldn't see the novelty in
the disappearance of Beijing's nameless neighborhoods
once hidden in the labyrinthine groves of sycamores
their ghosts behind miles of grey cement
"They're just like us in so many ways," he says.
Copyright 2009 by Ellyn Scott
Critique by Jendi Reiter
Ellyn Scott's "Reseau" intrigued me on a first reading and revealed new dimensions when I returned to it. It's a cleverly self-undermining poem whose believable depiction of foreign landscapes and their inhabitants is at odds with its theme of human uniformity. This embedded contradiction should prompt us to second-guess our own impressions of the people we see through this opinionated narrator's eyes.
The online dictionary at Answers.com defines a "reseau" as "a reference grid of fine lines forming uniform squares on a photographic plate or print, used to aid in measurement", or "a mosaic screen of fine lines of three colors, used in color photography". In the context of the poem, the reseau may be a metaphor for the interpretive framework that the narrator seeks, in which she can organize her impressions of people who seem quite distinct from her, yet monotonously identical to one another. The idea with which she opens her travelogue—that the collective is more real than the individual—is her "reseau", the grid whose regularity perhaps makes it a foregone conclusion that she will see uniformity wherever she looks.
It seems more than coincidental that the two nationalities she mentions, the Chinese and the Russians, were both under Communist rule for most of the 20th century (as China still is, at least in name), and both are currently governed by regimes that would be described as authoritarian by Western standards. A common cultural stereotype during the Cold War represented Communist countries as peopled by faceless masses, unlike the free and diverse individuals of the United States.
Thus, when the apparently solitary narrator asserts that "it seems pointless to speak of individuals/when there are so many of us/countless likenesses," to what extent are her observations of China already conditioned by subconscious expectations of this political difference between their country and hers?...
Click to continue reading this critique
This poem, our critique and contest suggestions for poems in this style appear in full at:
http://www.winningwriters.com/resources/critiques/2009/urc_0902scott.php
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all of our poetry critiques.
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COMING MARCH 1: AWARD-WINNING POEMS
Our Spring 2009 selection of winning poems from contests we admire
COMING IN OUR MARCH 15 NEWSLETTER
The Best Free Poetry Contests for March 16-April 30
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