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March 2009
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Welcome to our March 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
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FEATURED SPONSOR'S MESSAGE
Now Open
13th Annual Robert Frost Foundation Annual Poetry Award
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.
This year's judge, Jarita Davis, is a poet and fiction writer who earned a B.A. in classics from Brown University and both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. She was the writer in residence at the Nantucket Historical Association and has received fellowships from the Mellon Mayes program, Cave Canem and Hedgebrook. In addition, she was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Travel Research Grant, a Neiheisel Phi Beta Kappa Award, and a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts. Her work has appeared in the Southwestern Review, Historic Nantucket, Cave Canem Anthologies, Crab Orchard Review and Plainsongs.
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 no more than three pages each. Both published and unpublished works are accepted. See the complete contest guidelines at www.frostfoundation.org.
Please enjoy this YouTube video presentation (1 minute 41 seconds) of "Karakorum" by the author, Wanda S. Praisner, a finalist in the 2008 Robert Frost Award.
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New feature: All five of the contests sponsored or assisted by Winning Writers now permit you to submit your entry as a file from your computer. This better preserves the formatting of your entry.
Last Call!
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. 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.
Last Call!
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
Winning Writers Editor Jendi Reiter won the 2008 Flip Kelly Poetry Prize for her chapbook manuscript Swallow. Read a poem from this book on her blog. The next deadline for this $150 award will be December 31. Guidelines are available here.
Congratulations to Maureen Sherbondy. Her first short story collection, The Slow Vanishing, will be published by Main Street Rag this fall. Read sample stories on their website, and pre-order the book before September 14 to get the discounted price of $9.00 (normally $13.95). Pre-orders are a great way to support this independent press, which has published many Winning Writers subscribers. Visit Maureen's website at www.maureensherbondy.com.
RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to Marcia Popp. Her poetry collection comfort in small rooms was recently released by Black Zinnias Press. She kindly shares a sample from this book below. The title poem won the Robert Greer Cohn Award for Prose Poetry from the California Institute of Arts & Letters, with which Black Zinnias is affiliated. Another poem from this collection, "dreamworlds", made the finals in the Arvon International Poetry Competition, and "singing to the congregation" placed in the Morton H. Clausen Poetry Competition from Writing for Money. Two other poems, "Yard Gig" and "Are We There Yet?" were included in the Fall and Winter editions of Avocet: A Journal of Nature Poems. Marcia writes, "I learned about all of these competitions from Winning Writers, and am most grateful for this helpful and very professional site."
Congratulations to J.T. Milford. His poem "Fishing by Moonlight" won first prize in the December 2008 Heart Poetry Award, and "A Time for Pears" won an honorable mention in the same contest. He kindly shares "Fishing by Moonlight" below; this is his first poem published in a literary magazine. Heart, a literary journal from Nostalgia Press, offers a twice-yearly contest with a $500 top prize for "insightful, immersing" free verse and prose poems. The next deadline is June 30. In addition, Mr. Milford's poem "Our Third Date" was accepted by Lucidity Poetry Journal. We critiqued his poem "Under the Arbor" in September 2005; read it here.
RECENT PUBLICATION CREDITS FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Martin Steele was the featured author for March on the writers' forum OurEcho.
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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.
Our customers say...
"...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
imagine how much time it would take to search contests out and qualify them one at a time."
Lee Whipple, Florida
"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: March 16-April 30
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.
3/20: New England Poetry Club Student Contests +
Formerly May 15
Neutral free contest offers prizes of $100 for unpublished poems by authors in three categories: New England college students and Massachusetts middle school and high school students.
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 +++
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.
4/1: Balticon SF Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest offers top prize of $100 for poems with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes. Send 1-3 poems, maximum 50 lines each. Sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Winners invited to read at Balticon, their annual convention, in May.
4/1: Betsy Colquitt Award for Poetry/Frank O'Connor Award for Fiction +
Neutral free contests offer $500 apiece for the best poetry and fiction published in Descant: Fort Worth's Journal of Poetry & Fiction. General submission guidelines apply. Editors prefer poems 60 lines or less, stories 5,000 words or less.
4/1: Washington State Book Awards ++
Recommended free contest offers prizes of $1,000 each for published books of poetry, fiction, history/biography, general nonfiction for adults, picture books, and young adult books. Authors must have been born in Washington State or have lived in the state for at least three years. An author who lives in Washington part of the year and considers Washington to be her or his home is eligible. Publisher or author should submit 6 copies of book (4 copies for children's books) plus entry form from website.
4/15: Arabic Translation Award +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest for book-length translations of Arabic literature into English offers $5,000 each for translator and original author. (An author who translates his or her own work will only receive one $5,000 award.) Poetry collections, novels, short story collections, and dramatic works are all eligible. The prize has focused on works dating from the 19th century to the present. Translations of works written prior to the 19th century may be considered for the award on a case-by-case basis. Submit manuscript as hard copy and on CD. Winner published by Syracuse University Press.
4/15: S. Portia Steele Award for Excellence in Poetry and Prose +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers prizes of $100 each for unpublished poems and short prose pieces by women writers aged 50+. Poems should be one and a half pages maximum, double-spaced, and stories or essays should be 500 words maximum. Enter online only.
4/30: Odes to the Olympians Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly March 31
Neutral twice-yearly free contest offers $50 apiece in adult and youth categories for unpublished poems up to 30 lines about Greek and Roman mythology. Enter by email only. Themes change with each contest; the April 2009 contest is for poems about Poseidon (Neptune). This contest is sponsored by Victoria Grossack and Alice Underwood, authors of The Tapestry of Bronze, a series of historical novels set in the ancient world.
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...
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 Houston, Texas: April 4 Writing Workshop with Bestselling Author Karleen Koen
Twice A BOMC Novelist!
Saturday, April 4, 2009, 8:30am-3:30pm
Holiday Inn Southwest (map)
11160 Southwest Freeway
Houston, TX 77031
Register online now: $50 through March 28 ($55 after March 28 and at the door)
Buffet lunch included
Karleen Koen is the author of Dark Angels, a Book Sense publication of 2006. She also wrote Now Face to Face (Crown), and the bestseller Through a Glass Darkly (Random House), both of which have been translated into 12 languages and chosen as Book of the Month Club main selections. Each of Karleen's books have placed on the New York Times bestsellers list for weeks. More than a million copies of each book have been sold. She is an award-winning magazine editor and co-founder of Women in the Visual and Literary Arts in Houston. At Rice Continuing School of Education, Karleen teaches an 8-week course similar to what she will present at this workshop.
This workshop is sponsored by the Fort Bend Writers Guild, an active Houston-area writers group. Weekly meetings are held every Monday at Barnes & Noble-Sugar Land from 7-9pm. Visitors are welcome on a one-time basis. After that, membership is required.
Our weekly critique MEETINGS are devoted to helping each other polish manuscripts for publication. Our members are writing what is best described as "mass market" and "genre" novels, including mystery, romance, historical, women's interests, sci-fi, young adult, and children's stories. Almost all genres are welcome.
In addition to weekly meetings, Fort Bend Writers Guild sponsors spring and fall writers' WORKSHOPS and writing CONTESTS. Our fall contest will open on May 1 with a deadline of August 1. We usually have a Christmas season social gathering for members and their significant others. Click to learn more.
 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.
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
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.
Please enjoy "The Blind Flower Girl at Her Sister's Wedding" by Ellen LaFleche, the Editors' Choice in the 2008 Writecorner Press Poetry Contest.
The Blind Flower Girl at Her Sister's Wedding
by Ellen LaFleche
She cannot see the apricot dress she is wearing
but the flower girl hears the starched taffeta
crackling around her ankles.
The organ bursts Here Comes the Bride
and the flower girl follows the incense smoke
straight toward God. She drops rose petals
snow-slow onto the carpet.
The bride trails behind,
silk train hissing its secrets.
At the altar
the flower girl strokes the cold-skinned chalice,
feels the holy blood sloshing against its hips.
When the groom says I do
she twists her birthstone ring
round and around her finger.
She tastes sea water in her eyes. Her petal-scented hands
wipe away the sting.
The flower girl leans toward the nuptial kiss.
She hears the thrill in her sister's throat—
a low love-thrum that displaces the air like radio waves.
The crown of plastic daisies stabs the flower girl's scalp.
At the reception she rubs the cake's sweetness
between her thumb and forefinger. The groom
whirls her round and round the ballroom.
Her feet leave the ground. The crown flies off her head
and the flower girl whoops, she whoops.
Last Call!
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
Closing Next Month
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 your check or money order 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 and a ticket to the Dancing Poetry Festival 2009, and be invited to read their prizewinning poem at the 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.
Deadline Extended
Snake Nation Press: Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry
Postmark Deadline: May 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.
Please enjoy "No More Taps" by Starkey Flythe, Jr. This poem is from The Futile Lesson of Glue, winner of the 2009 Violet Reed Haas Award. See the judge's comments. (Mr. Flythe was also a finalist in the 2007 Winning Writers War Poetry Contest.)
No More Taps
by Starkey Flythe, Jr.
no flag folding, no boots
turned backwards in stirrups,
no full, partial, fractional
military honors, no twenty-one,
two, three, four or more gun salutes,
no medals, epaulettes, stripes, bars, stars, oak leafs, eagles,
no brass, leather, feathers, ribbons, buzz cuts,
no songs, sabers, no old men in hats, no more
remembering, no more lest we forgets,
no marches, goosesteps, bagpipes,
no black dresses, no children too young,
men too old, no shoulder broadening, hip narrowing
uniforms, no soldiers known but to God,
no Gods known but to soldiers,
no bullet stopping Bibles,
no wreathes, speeches, purple hearts,
bronze, silver, gold stars,
no When you walk through a storm,
no Climb every mountain, no muffled drums,
no chaplain, no officer knowing
the front walk, no telegram,
no president's letter from
multigraph name-signing machines,
no huit hommes et quarante chevaux—
I'm a veteran, I can say—no monuments,
obelisks, statues, paintings, cycloramas, no
looking for names on walls, no finding. No more,
He wanted to go, no re-up bonuses,
no more army traveling on its stomach,
its hind legs, hands, high-heel jack boots,
no more cap pistols, fire crackers, bombs,
pump, pellet, BeeBee guns, no more,
You have not died in vain.
 2009 R.A.I.L. Awards - Call for Submissions
Postmark Deadline: May 31
The R.A.I.L. Awards are an annual literary competition dedicated to
Recognizing Advancement & Innovation in Literature. Each year we honor the best new voices in Poetry, Fiction, and Playwriting with cash prizes totaling $750:
R.A.I.L. Excellence in Poetry Award ($200 prize)
Best Poem (single) ($25 prize)
Best Poetry Collection ($25 prize)
R.A.I.L. Excellence in Fiction Award ($200 prize)
Best Novel Award ($25 prize)
Best Short Fiction Award ($25 prize)
R.A.I.L. Excellence in Playwriting Award ($200 prize)
Best One-Act Play ($25 prize)
Best Full Length Play ($25 prize)
The 2009 R.A.I.L. Lifetime Achievement Award is going to: William Kennedy
The 2009 R.A.I.L. In Honorarium Award is going to: Clarence Cooper Jr. (1934-1978)
The Awards are open to all English-language poets, fiction writers, and playwrights. We accept works of all lengths, styles and genres.
We started the Awards back in 2005 as a rather informal affair—a group of friends in San Francisco who liked to get together and discuss their favorite new writers and poets. Although we've grown in scope and ambition, we are still a close-knit group of literature lovers who strive to run a fair and transparent competition for all writers—new, emerging, established or otherwise.
Our credo is simple: you will ALWAYS keep all rights to your work, we will ALWAYS give every entry complete, thorough readings, and we will NEVER try to sell you anything.
Submit your work online today with our paperless entry system. We look forward to reading your work!
 Now Open
2009 Omnidawn Poetry Contest Judged by Ann Lauterbach
Postmark Deadline: June 30
The 2009 Omnidawn Poetry Contest, judged by Ann Lauterbach, is Omnidawn Publishing's second annual contest for a first or second full-length collection of poems by a poet writing in English. (If you have two or more books published or accepted for publication, you are not eligible, although chapbooks do not count for this purpose.)
The recommended length of manuscript entries is 40 to 70 pages. Simultaneous submissions and multiple submissions are acceptable. The prize includes $2,000, Fall 2010 Publication by Omnidawn, and 100 complimentary copies of the book. The entry fee of $25 entitles you to one free Omnidawn title of your choice, if you send a Priority Mail self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE).
The prize-winning book will be produced, distributed, and advertised to full Omnidawn standards. As with other Omnidawn books, we will encourage the winning poet to participate in the design of the book, including choice of typefaces, cover artwork and design, with all stages subject to the approval of the winning poet. All costs, including production, distribution and advertising will be fully paid for by Omnidawn. Omnidawn abides by the CLMP Code of Ethics.
The winner of last year's contest, judged by Marjorie Welish, is Michelle Taransky for her manuscript, Barn Burned, Then, to be published this September.
For the complete guidelines to this year's contest, visit
www.omnidawn.com/contest/contest_guidelines.htm
For information on last year's contest and winner visit
www.omnidawn.com/contest/contest_2008.htm
For other information about Omnidawn, including a list of Omnidawn titles, subscription to our mailing list, and more, visit www.omnidawn.com
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These free prose contests with deadlines between March 16 and April 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.
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.
4/1: Paterson Fiction Prize ++
Recommended free contest from the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College offers $1,000 for the best book of fiction published during the previous calendar year. Publisher should submit 3 copies plus entry form.
4/15: PARSEC Short Story Contest +
Neutral free contest offers top prize of $200 for unpublished short stories, 3,500 words maximum, in the science fiction, fantasy or horror genres. See website for annual theme. Entrants must be non-professional writers as defined by SFWA rules.
4/15: Pump Up the Purse Writing Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers prize between $100 and $200 (depending on number of entries) and web publication for the best short story of 5,000-15,000 words. Winners are determined by the combined voting of the judges and the readers of the website. Sponsor Rusty Axe is a maker of computer game software. Enter online only.
4/24, 6/26, 8/7: Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize ++
Entries must be received by these dates; former deadlines were April 25, June 27, and August 8
Recommended free contest offers C$25,000 for novels or short story collections published in Canada during the calendar year by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Deadline varies depending on when your book was published: books published between January 1 and April 23 must be received by April 24; those published between April 24 and June 25 must be received by June 26; and those published between June 26 and September 30 must be received by August 7. Publishers should submit 5 copies of the book (or 3 bound galleys, to be followed by at least 2 copies of the book), press kit, entry form, and list of titles published by that publisher, to establish eligibility. See website for detailed requirements.
4/24, 6/26, 8/7: Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize ++
Entries must be received by these dates; former deadlines were April 25, June 27, and August 8
Recommended free contest offers C$25,000 for nonfiction books published in Canada during the calendar year by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Deadline varies depending on when your book was published: books published between January 1 and April 23 must be received by April 24; those published between April 24 and June 25 must be received by June 26; and those published between June 26 and September 30 must be received by August 7. Publishers should submit 5 copies of the book (or 3 bound galleys, to be followed by at least 2 copies of the book), press kit, entry form, and list of titles published by that publisher, to establish eligibility. See website for detailed requirements. Formerly known as the Nereus Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize, changed name in 2009.
4/25: Fountainhead Essay Contest for High School Students +++
Highly recommended free contest for high school students (11th and 12th grade) offers $10,000 top prize, other large prizes, for essays on Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead. Essays should be based on one of the three questions on the website, and be 800-1,600 words long. Enter by mail or online. Contest is looking for entries that are sympathetic to Rand's rationalist, libertarian philosophy. See website for other student contests.
4/30: Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence +++
Highly recommended free contest for published books of fiction by African-Americans offers $10,000 and all-expenses-paid trip to Baton Rouge, LA to read from winning book at ceremony in January. Send entry form and 10 copies of a book published in the previous calendar year. Certain self-published books may also be eligible. Contact sponsor 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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Orbis
Rolling Deadline
Venerable British literary quarterly, edited by Carole Baldock, seeks poetry and prose submissions. Send 1-4 poems or two prose pieces, 500-1,000 words. Overseas entrants may submit by email (maximum 2 poems or one story/essay); no attachments. A "Readers' Award" of 50 pounds is offered for the best poem in each issue, with another 50 pounds divided among four runners-up.
Platte Valley Review "Language & Migration" Issue
Postmark Deadline: April 1
Platte Valley Review, the literary journal of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, seeks submissions of poetry, prose, photography, artwork, environmental and eco-critical essays for their Spring 2009 special issue on "Language & Migration". Mail submissions labeled by genre to Platte Valley Review, English Department, 202A TMHL, University of Nebraska at Kearney, 905 West 25th Street, Kearney, NE 68849-1322. Website may not yet have guidelines; email Allison Hedge Coke for details.
Assisi
Entries must be received by April 18
Assisi, the new online literary journal of St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY, seeks submissions of poetry, stories, essays (academic or personal), photos and artwork for its inaugural issue. Send 1-3 poems or one prose piece, maximum 20 double-spaced pages. One submission per person per genre. Entries should be sent as MS Word or RTF attachments to assisi@stfranciscollege.edu. Author's name and contact information should not appear anywhere in the attached manuscript. Instead, include your name, address, phone, email, entry titles and genres in the body of the email message. Journal's website is not yet available; email Dr. Wendy Galgan, editor, with questions.
Mark Budman One-Sentence Biography Contest
Entries must be received by May 1
Mark Budman, author of My Life at First Try, a semi-autobiographical novel, is offering $50 and a signed copy of his book to the person who can write the best one-sentence semi-biography (a biography based on a true story, but fictionalized). Open to US or Canadian residents aged 18+. Enter by email. See website for complete instructions.
Peace & Freedom Press
Entries must be received by May 1 ("animals & wildlife" theme), June 1 ("love & relationships"), or July 1 ("science fiction")
Peace & Freedom Press, a small British poetry publisher, seeks submissions of poetry and haiku for three upcoming themed anthologies. The top three submissions for each volume will receive a free copy of an anthology and a free issue of the magazine their work is featured in. The best of the rest will be offered a chance to have their work published in the magazine Peace & Freedom, and receive a complimentary copy of the issue with their work upon request. All work selected for publication will be published on the booksmusicfilmstv.com website as well. Send 1-3 poems, maximum 24 lines each, or 1-3 haiku.
Collective Fallout
Entries must be received by June 1
Literary magazine dedicated to queer-themed sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and mystery fiction and poetry seeks submissions for their second issue. Fiction submissions must be queer-related, and fall into one or more of the science fiction, fantasy, horror, or mystery genres. Stories may not be longer than 10,000 words. Poetry submissions must be queer-related, both formal and free verse, and of a surreal, metaphysical, or similar nature. Up to 5 poems per submission, no more than 450 total lines. No "blatant erotica", fan-fiction or "slash". Send entries as MS Word, RTF or PDF attachments to collectivefallout@gmail.com.
Fairy Tale Review
Entries must be received by June 15
This annual literary journal publishes "elegant and innovative" contemporary fairy tales in poetry and prose. For their first-ever themed issue, The Red Issue, they are seeking unpublished poems, stories and essays relating to Little Red Riding Hood, as well as English translations of previously published permission-granted or public domain works in other languages. There are no length or form guidelines or restrictions. Enter by email. Distinguished contributors to this journal have included Marina Warner, Jeanne Marie Beaumont, Cate Marvin, Joyelle McSweeney and Donna Tartt.
Poemeleon "Gender" Issue
Entries must be received by June 30
Online literary journal Poemeleon seeks submissions of poetry, literary essays and interviews for their upcoming issue on the theme of gender. Editors say: "What we are looking for: work that explores gender as it pertains to the lived-in body, to our perception of ourselves, to others' perceptions of us. Please interpret this broadly." Submit 1-5 poems or one prose piece as an MS Word or RTF file, uploaded to their online form. See website for instructions. Recent contributors to Poemeleon have included Sherman Alexie, Chella Courington, Luisa Igloria, Marilyn L. Taylor, and Charles Harper Webb.
The Backwaters Press: "Letters From Grass Country"
Postmark Deadline: June 30, 2010
Nebraska-based literary publisher The Backwaters Press seeks submissions of scholarly or familiar essays about the contemporary poets and poetry of the Great Plains for their upcoming anthology Letters From Grass Country, to be edited by Mary K. Stillwell and Greg Kosmicki. In addition to studies of individual poets, they are interested in broader essays about the region's influence on poetry and poets—culture, ethos, geography, history, etc. Cultural diversity strongly encouraged. Email lettersfromgrasscountry@yahoo.com for complete guidelines, which may not yet be online.
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BlueToad
Digital publishing service converts your printed book or magazine into an online edition for $3.50 per page.
Broadsided
Each month, Broadsided selects a poem or flash prose piece from their submissions and invites an artist to create an original "broadside", or poster, featuring that poem. A letter-sized PDF file of the collaboration is posted on their site to be freely downloaded and distributed. You can sign up as a "Vector" and agree to post at least two copies of each month's poems in your local coffee shop, library, bus station, public notice board, grocery store, or other public gathering place. Entries should be submitted by email; send 3-5 poems, maximum 30 lines each, or one prose piece, maximum 300 words, in the body of your message to broadsided@gmail.com. Include a short bio. Previously published work accepted. Past contributors have included Mary Jo Bang, Ilya Kaminsky, G.C. Waldrep, Brian Teare and Robert Wrigley.
BULL Men's Fiction
New journal, currently online-only, seeks "fiction for thinking men". BULL is at once a journal of Men's Fiction and an inquiry into what Men's Fiction is. They seek bold stories that address men's issues and appeal to a male audience. Submit by email; see guidelines and sample work on website.
Christine Rhein
Personal experience is a gateway to political and spiritual insight in the lyrical writing of Christine Rhein, who became an award-winning poet after a career in mechanical engineering. Her poetry collection Wild Flight won the Walt McDonald First-Book Competition from Texas Tech University Press. Visit her site for sample poems and ordering information.
Gently Read Literature
Daniel Casey's blog publishes essays and criticism of contemporary poetry and literary fiction. Recent articles include Harrison Solow on Anita Brookner; Karen Schubert on Mark Levine; and Leonard J. Cirino on US Poet Laureate Kay Ryan.
Glitterpony
Online literary journal edited by writers in Philadelphia, PA and Fukushima City, Japan publishes a mix of emerging and established writers, with a preference for experimental work. Past contributors include Mathias Svalina, Julia Cohen, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, James Tate and Joshua Beckman.
Literary Magazine Database at Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers Magazine offers this free online database featuring submission guidelines for hundreds of literary journals. The database is searchable by name, keyword, genre, openness to simultaneous and electronic submissions, geographic region and more. A very useful service.
One Page Stories
Online journal publishes fiction, essays and memoirs, up to 1,000 words. Periodic contests offer modest cash prizes (amount unspecified) for a $5 fee. Writers of short-shorts should visit this enjoyable site to see how much can be accomplished in a small space.
A Poet Remembers Korea
In this essay from the journal War, Literature & the Arts, Pulitzer-nominated journalist and poet William Childress reminisces about his experiences as an army demolitions specialist during the Korean War, and shares the anecdotes that inspired some of his poems.
Quiddity
Quiddity is a literary journal published by Springfield College-Benedictine University in Illinois. Contributors to the journal may also be invited to read their work and be interviewed about the writing process on Illinois Public Radio, an NPR affiliate. Links to samples of these broadcasts are available on their website. Contributors have included Douglas A. Blackmon, Dan Guillory, and Martin Willitts, Jr.
R.R. Bowker, the US ISBN Agency
R.R. Bowker is the authorized ISBN Agency in the United States, responsible for assigning ISBNs as well as providing information and advice on the uses of the ISBN system to publishers and the publishing industry in general. (An ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally.) Their website includes instructions for publishers or self-published authors to obtain an ISBN for their titles.
Slant
Slant is a poetry webzine featuring three poems per author on the subject of dysfunction. Editors say, "We're interested in poetry that explores various dysfunctional environments be it mental, familial, natural, political, societal and others. If you have a poem addressing your dysfunctional sunglasses, send them in, too. We're interested in the humorous, the serious, and the rebellious. Because we are theme-based, we like reading and publishing poetry in batches and therefore require that the poetry showcased by each author stands as a cohesive whole." Send 1-3 poems by email to slantpoetry@gmail.com, pasted into the message, along with a brief bio and contact information. Put "poetry submission - [your name]" in the subject line.
StoryQuarterly
This well-regarded journal of literary fiction and creative nonfiction, founded in 1975, was acquired in 2008 by Rutgers University-Camden. SQ pays $150-$200 for accepted submissions, 8,000 words maximum. Enter online only. They seek to publish both prominent and first-time authors in every issue.
TheNovelette.com
This site offers serialized women's fiction for the web: ongoing novelettes delivered in daily installments of about 500 words. They also offer periodic free contests for short-short prose and poetry on specified themes. The site's readers and editors vote on the winners, who receive $25 gift certificates to Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.
Zona Rosa
Zona Rosa began in Savannah, GA as a female empowerment writing workshop founded by award-winning Southern memoirist Rosemary Daniell. Chapters now exist across the country, with famous graduates including John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and Cassandra King (Those Same Sweet Girls). Visit the website for a schedule of workshops and retreats, information on starting your own group, links to Daniell's books, and an excerpt from her new guide Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women's Lives.
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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Bad Bad
By Chelsey Minnis. In this unique offering from Fence Books, the author indulges her passion for the textures of language (and clothing), while poking fun at the pretensions of the academic poetry scene. Adopting the persona of a naughty little girl, the speaker of this book deflects criticism by flaunting her frivolity, yet at the same time secretly hopes to impress everyone with her cleverness. The pleasures of this book (particularly its 68 "prefaces") compensate for some repetitive passages.
Nobody's Mother
By Lesléa Newman. This award-winning author's autobiography in verse is narrated in a likeable voice that will resonate with a wide audience. Themes include feminism, aging, the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, and nostalgia for Jewish culture along with a critique of its patriarchal and warlike aspects. Along the way, Newman offers such delights as an ode to the now-shuttered Second Avenue Deli, and a playfully erotic exploration of middle-aged love.
Roots
By Alex Haley. Masterful saga of seven generations of an African-American family, beginning with Haley's Gambian ancestor who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the 18th century. Haley's fictionalized re-creation of their lives is rich with drama, humor, tragedy, political outrage and love that defies the odds.
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MORE SPONSORS' MESSAGES
2009 Poet's Market
The 2009 edition of Poet's
Market is on sale for $18.47 at Amazon. Published each August by Writer's Digest, this is the best annual guide to 1,600 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 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.
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uncle – summer 1945
by Marcia Popp
my little sister and i crossed the gravel road in our bare feet our cotton sundresses glued to our backs by the hot southern illinois sun puffing out our cheeks to blow strands of long hair from our faces to cool off we were on our way to call on mr. caruthers whom everybody in town called uncle he was one hundred and two years old had fought in the civil war and lived with his great-niece he rocked slowly all day long on his small front porch with a black and white kitten in his lap through the years a different kitten but always black and white like the black suit white shirt he wore all seasons it would seem too hot when we felt like boiled eggs inside our skins but his hands with the blue veins were cool when he greeted us after he sat back down i leaned in to give him a kiss felt the scratchy black wool coat rub my face his bristly white whiskers tickled my chin he smelled of mothballs and old spice he always closed his eyes and smiled like it was a gift to get that kiss.
Copyright 2009 by Marcia Popp
This poem is reprinted from her collection comfort in small rooms, which was recently released by Black Zinnias Press.
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Fishing by Moonlight
by J.T. Milford
A light breeze picks up as the moon
Rises over the lake
We stop the boat and get ready to fish
Bait the hooks and talk in whispers
Then a long silence
Shadowy trees like dark ghosts
Line the distant shore
And the waves reflect the sparkling
Moonlight all the way to the boat
Bait the hooks and talk quietly
Then a long silence
The stars seem mysterious with
Their distant chromatic light
And the soft moonlight fills us with a
Thrill of being in this time and place
Fishing by moonlight
Pull up the fish and drop it in the ice chest
Bait the hook and talk awhile
Then a long silence
The moon is now late in the night sky
A moon of many thoughts
A dreaming moon
This transfigured night
I wonder maybe, just maybe, this night
Is something like the kingdom of heaven?
Silence and exhilaration with showers of light
Copyright 2009 by J.T. Milford
This poem won first prize in the December 2008 Heart Poetry Award.
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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Basic Facts about Literacy
- Literacy is the ability to read, write, compute, and use technology at a level that enables an individual to reach his or her full potential as a parent, employee, and community member.
- There are 774 million adults around the world who are illiterate in their native languages.
- Two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women.
- In the U.S., 30 million people over age 16—14 percent of the country's adult population—don't read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level or fill out a job application.
- The United States ranks fifth on adult literacy skills when compared to other industrialized nations.
- Adult low literacy can be connected to almost every socio-economic issue in the United States:
- More than 60 percent of all state and federal corrections inmates can barely read and write.
- Low health literacy costs between $106 billion and $238 billion each year in the U.S.—7 to 17 percent of all annual personal health care spending.
- Low literacy's effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
- Globally, illiteracy can be linked to:
- Gender abuse, including female infanticide and female circumcision
- Extreme poverty (earning less than $1/day)
- High infant mortality and the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other preventable infectious diseases
 ProLiteracy supports adults and young people in the U.S. and internationally who are learning to read, write, and do basic math by training instructors, publishing instructional materials, and advocating for resources and public policies that support them.
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This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "What Is There?" by Robert J. Frankland.
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!
What Is There?
by Robert J. Frankland
What is there?
What is there, when looking out
From the narrow sill of your eye,
Window to what is?
What will you see
When you finally see?
Light and dark limit the possibilities.
Does light pool like a fluid around the little shards of matter
Disguised as dogs and cars and trees?
Can you drown in the all?
I think the ocean of what is
Is there only for me.
I hear its incessant surf beat upon the strands of my mind.
I am so alone in here,
I welcome the sound.
What is there?
How do you define it?
Everyday, I bang a drum;
The vibrations propagate
Across the lawn
Over Jim's house,
They ring all around Kobb Boulevard
And then they bounce off the shells of air and ripple
Upon the placid sea of stars that swells with the night.
And the sound that returns to me,
Is the echo of nothing.
The emptiness is beautiful.
What is there?
I can answer the question now,
But why would I spoil the surprise
For you?
Copyright 2009 by Robert J. Frankland
Critique by Jendi Reiter
Those who have practiced meditation know that the question "What is there?" is the first step on an infinite journey of discovery. We think we know what surrounds us, or at least our perceptions of it. Perhaps we're even bored with the world as we imagine it to be, not sure why we should bother asking the "obvious" question that Robert J. Frankland's poem poses. Yet once we try, with a truly open mind, to quiet our ideas and observe what exists, what vast spaces open before us—and inside us!
"What is there, when looking out/From the narrow sill of your eye,/Window to what is?" Frankland asks. We first become aware of the situated nature of our own viewpoint, and then of its limitations. Most of the time, we live in the closed room of our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, experiencing them as if they were the whole world. The question "What is there" invites us to understand the self as a window opening onto something larger.
"What will you see/when you finally see?" Fresh awareness contains the promise of exciting, unsettling new visions. The narrator of the poem glimpses a unity underlying the phenomena we normally perceive as separate, as expressed in these elegant lines: "Does light pool like a fluid around the little shards of matter/Disguised as dogs and cars and trees?" When he says, "Light and dark limit the possibilities," I interpret this to mean that it takes effort to see past our surface reality, full of oppositions and differentiation, to the unity that he believes is more real.
However, this boundary-dissolving vision can also be frightening....
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_0903frankland.php
See
all of our poetry critiques.
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VISIT JENDI REITER'S BLOG
Visit Reiter's Block for poetry, cutting-edge Christianity, book notes and cultural insights. Subscribe free to get Jendi's latest posts as they happen. Go to the home page, see the Subscription box on the left.
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COMING IN OUR APRIL 15 NEWSLETTER
The Best Free Poetry Contests for April 16-May 31
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