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November 2009
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Welcome to our November 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? Formatting doesn't look right? Not to worry. All our recent newsletters are posted online at http://www.winningwriters.com/news
Coming December 1: Award-Winning Poems
Each quarter we publish a special edition of this newsletter featuring winning poems from contests we admire. The next edition is December 1. Please watch for it in your mailbox!
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FEATURED SPONSOR'S MESSAGE
Submit online to Carpe Articulum
Carpe Verbum Essay/Non-Fiction Postmark Deadline: January 7, 2010
Carpe Verbum Novella Postmark Deadline: January 7, 2010
Welcome to Carpe Articulum Literary Review! You can submit online! We look forward to reviewing your work and wish you luck in the contests. We are an international review with over 35,000 readers. We give away $10,000 every year to outstanding writers and artists and hope you will decide to become a member of our literary circle of friends. Enter our fiction, nonfiction, poetry, novella and photography contests at any time of year. We also accept submissions outside our contests via email.
The magazine is 150-200 pages of full-colour delight, translated into five languages. We feature short fiction, poetry, informative articles, photography, non-fiction and incredible interviews with hot up-and-coming writers as well as iconic ones such as Jodi Picoult (author of Change of Heart, Handle With Care, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister's Keeper which was made into a major motion picture with Cameron Diaz) and Nicholas Sparks (author of Message in a Bottle, also made into a motion picture with Kevin Costner & Robin Wright Penn, as well as The Notebook, The Last Song, etc.) And that is just this October issue!
Our writing staff includes two ex-New York Times writers (both of whom are draped in copious prestigious writing awards) as well as movie and television people for national networks. We are truly fortunate to have a full-time staff of such quality people. Our readers make up the rest of the content via their submissions. You do not have to enter a contest to be published with us. Moreover, we are the original cross-genre, international review in the world. Our readership list reads like a virtual Who's Who list and that is specifically cultivated to make certain that the winners of the award series get the maximum exposure to important agents and writers who have the power to influence writing careers.
Please enjoy this gratis electronic version of our latest issue, a preview of what you can look forward to should you decide to become one of our literary family members. We offer a great deal to our readers, superior to other reviews in scope, resources and content. Should you decide to become one of our cherished subscribers, you will receive one issue free of charge and will also find yourself immersed in short fiction, poetry, incredible interviews with great and famous writers, and articles which are insightful, timely, and informative.
Cheers!
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Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 31, 2010
Now in its 18th year. Prizes of $3,000, $1,000, $400 and $250 will be awarded, plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 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. Winning Writers is assisting with entry handling for this contest. 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, 2010
Winning Writers invites you to enter the ninth annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. We've simplified the entry process and increased the prize pool to $3,600, including a top prize of $1,500. There's still no fee to enter. Final judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.
Now Open
War Poetry Contest
Postmark Deadline: May 31, 2010
We seek 1-3 original, unpublished poems on the theme of war for our ninth 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. Final judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.
Now Open
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
Postmark Deadline: June 30, 2010
Now in its seventh year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms such as sonnets and free verse. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. Prizes of $3,000, $1,000, $400 and $250 will be awarded, plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 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. The winners of the sixth contest will be announced in this newsletter on December 15, 2009.
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WAR POETRY CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Winning Writers is pleased to announce the results from its eighth annual War Poetry Contest. 664 entries were received from around the world. Robert Hill Long of Eugene, Oregon won first prize and $2,000 for his poems "Wolverine and White Crow", "Motivations", and "Insurrection and Resurrection". These quietly tragic character sketches introduce us to veterans who are unable to reintegrate into the society for which they sacrificed their bodies and minds. Read these poems and see videos of Mr. Long performing them.
Second prize of $1,200 went to Timothy Tebeau of Petoskey, Michigan for "Dancing in Baghdad". Perfectly poised between beauty and horror, this poem depicts elite revelers at an embassy where death waits just outside the door. Their heartlessness and self-delusion are privileges of their position but may also be their undoing. Susan McCabe of Santa Monica, California won third prize and $600 for "Or Wend, Skull, With Your Teeth Like Bright Armor". This unique and striking poem begins with the marriage of extravagance and death in British conceptual artist Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God" sculpture, a human skull encrusted with $18 million worth of diamonds. McCabe's poem prompts us to reflect on the wastefulness of a wealthy nation that fêtes dead things while discarding young lives.
Judge Jendi Reiter comments, "This year's group included a strong selection of poems about women's experiences. Other winners astutely drew connections between war and poverty, or war and racial inequality. These poems suggest that the human costs of war are easier to ignore in a culture that already deems certain lives less worthy than others."
Assistant Judge Ellen LaFleche comments, "I would like to thank all the poets who sent their work to the War Poetry Contest. It requires deep faith and trust for a writer to send poems to a contest for judging and ranking. Reading these poems helped me to grow not only as a writer but as a person trying hard to understand the meaning of war and violence in the world.
"I immediately fell in love with Robert Hill Long's suite of first-place poems. 'Wolverine and White Crow' is a dignified masterpiece that indicts war through its gritty exploration of disenfranchised men. 'Dancing in Baghdad' contained a waltz-like rhythm that continues to resonate in my mind. 'Or Wend, Skull, with Your Teeth Like Bright Armor' contains visual images that are rich in symbolism; I especially appreciate the layers of metaphor and meaning in this creative exploration of an imagined soldier. To name just a few others, I was moved by the stunning images in honorable mention winner Natalie Diaz's 'A Wild Life Zoo', a poem that included wry humor as a counterpoint to the foolish aggression of a zoo visitor tormenting a lion. I was amazed at the creative wit in honorable mention winner Frank Gaik's 'Kid Bowdler Sings Phaecia, Played by Homey' and the quiet yet haunting imagery of finalist Wayne Christensen's 'Canal Fishing Just Beyond'."
Twelve Honorable Mentions and 12 finalists were also chosen, bringing the total awards to $5,000. Read the winning poems and the judges' complete comments here. Read the press release.
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RECENT HONORS FOR OUR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Winning Writers Editor Jendi Reiter was a finalist for the 2009 American Fiction Prize from New Rivers Press. Her story "Two Natures", an excerpt from her novel-in-progress, will be published in their Fall 2010 issue. The most recent deadline for this $1,000 prize was May 1.
Congratulations to Judian James. Her first poetry chapbook, Levitate, has been published by FootHills Publishing. (We are reprinting this item since part of Ms. James' poem was inadvertently omitted in the October newsletter. A corrected version is now online.)
Congratulations to Phoebe Hoss. Her memoir All Eyes: A Mother's Struggle to Save Her Schizophrenic Son won the 2007 Doris Bakwin Award from Carolina Wren Press and will be published in January 2010. This biennial contest offers $1,000 for the best novel, short story collection, or memoir by a woman writer. The contest is currently open, with a deadline of December 1.
Congratulations to Deborah Rey. Her novel Rachel Sarai's Vineyard, about a child growing up in occupied Holland during WWII, was published by Merilang Press, a British small press. It is available from the publisher or Amazon.co.uk.
Congratulations to Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Her poetry chapbook She Wore Emerald Then: Reflections on Motherhood, co-authored with Magdalena Ball, was named a finalist in the 2009 poetry category by USA Book News. Howard-Johnson and Ball conceived of their holiday-themed poetry chapbook series as an alternative to the clichéd greeting cards usually available for mothers' birthdays, Mother's Day and other holidays; sold for about the same price as a card, a poetry chapbook could be a gift with a higher perceived sentimental and monetary value. For a sample poem and ordering information, click here.
Congratulations to Darrell Lindsey. He won third prize in the 2009 Pinewood Haiku Contest. The most recent deadline for this award, which offered a top prize of $100, was February 14. (The contest is suspended for 2010.) He also received an honorable mention in the Saigyo Awards for Tanka 2009. Other recent publication credits include Falling Star Magazine, Third Wednesday Magazine, Emerald Tales, and Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka. Mr. Lindsey kindly shares his Pinewood winning poem below:
between blankets
in the cedar chest
father's younger face
RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to M. Lee Alexander. Her poem "The Gift of Flight" won first prize for poetry in the 2009 Yeovil Literary Prizes. Contest judge UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy said, "A poem of memory and bereavement, 'The Gift of Flight' transcends the ordinary with the gorgeousness of its language and its true-poet's love of listing—sparrows, finches, buntings, wrens. The balancing of the decorative and living birds in the first and final verses manages to be both skilful and moving, and the poem has a lovely, human, humour." This contest sponsored by the Octagon Theatre offers prizes up to 1,000 pounds for novel excerpts and 500 pounds each for poetry and short stories. The most recent deadline was May 31.
Congratulations to Roberta Beary. A book that she co-edited with Ellen Compton, dandelion clocks: Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology 2008, won the 2009 Special Award for Anthology in the Haiku Society of America's 2009 Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards. See ordering information here. She kindly shares a selection from this book below. In addition, one of Beary's haiku won the "distinguished prize" in the Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest. She received an iron statue of the great haiku poet Basho and a framed certificate. Read the winning entries here. Beary's poem is below:
train station
a soldier paces
summer dusk
RECENT PUBLICATION CREDITS FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé has recently been published in Kartika Review ("a memorial, living area"), Pressed Journal ("sunday folklore of the letter writer"), and DIAGRAM ("sensus divinitatis sensus plenior"). Other poetry and prose will appear in Blackbird ("before the armenian church"; "hart crane after a heart-to-heart") and Copper Nickel ("Hand Me a Lifeline, Bahauddin, and the Bourbon").
Louise Giguere's poems were published in the September 29 issue of the Kent County Daily Times, a Rhode Island newspaper, with the possibility of a regular feature in the future.
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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...
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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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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: November 16-December 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.
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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.
11/29: Graybeal-Gowan Prize for Virginia Writers +++
Highly recommended free contest offers $500 and publication in Shenandoah, the literary journal of Washington & Lee University, for unpublished poems by authors born or currently living in Virginia. Submit 1-3 poems.
11/30: Daily News Prize +
Neutral free contest offers $300 for the best poem accepted by The Caribbean Writer during this year. All eligible submissions to the magazine are also considered for the David Hough Literary Prize for an author residing in the Caribbean ($500), the Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize for a Virgin Islands author ($200), the Charlotte & Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for first-time publication ($200), and the Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for best short fiction ($400). Send 1-5 unpublished poems, double-spaced. The Caribbean should be central to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage, experience or perspective. Email entries accepted.
11/30: Franklin-Christoph Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers top prize of $1,000 for unpublished poems, 100 lines maximum. Sponsor Franklin-Christoph is a manufacturer of fine pens and luxury items. Ten runners-up receive fountain pens worth $150. Maximum 2 poems per entrant. Enter by email.
11/30: Odes to the Olympians Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly November 15
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 Fall 2009 contest is for poems about Demeter (Ceres). 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.
11/30: Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest is open to high school sophomores and juniors throughout the world. Prize is tuition to The Kenyon Review's two-week summer seminar for writers aged 16-18; winner and runners-up also published in the highly prestigious journal. Submit one poem via their online form.
11/30: Somerset Maugham Awards +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly December 20
Highly recommended free contest for published books of poetry and prose offers portion of a 12,000-pound stipend for foreign travel. Entrants must be UK residents and British subjects by birth, and under age 35 as of December 31. The work submitted may be poetry, fiction, criticism, biography, history, philosophy, belles-lettres or a travel book. Dramatic works are not eligible. Entries in all genres compete for one prize.
12/1: Anna Davidson Rosenberg Awards for Poems on the Jewish Experience ++
Recommended free contest offers $3,000 in prizes, divided among 1st, 2nd, and Honorable Mentions, for poems about the Jewish experience. You may enter 1-3 poems, maximum 10 pages total. Submit 4 copies of your entry. Sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
12/1: Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Contest +++
Highly recommended free contest for full-time college or graduate students at a US institution of higher education offers prizes up to $1,000 each for poetry, fiction, and essays (personal or journalistic). Sponsored by The Atlantic Monthly, a venerable journal of politics and culture. Entries should be 1-3 poems or one prose piece up to 7,500 words. One entry per person per genre.
12/1: IRA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers $500 for a published book of poetry for children or young adults, by an author with no more than two prior books in that field. Contest is offered every three years. Books copyrighted between 2007 and 2009 are eligible for the December 1, 2009 contest. Send 9 copies of your book to the judges, whose addresses are on the entry form. You may submit an English translation of a book that you published in another language.
12/1: Northern California Book Awards +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers a certificate, publicity, award ceremony and reading for the best books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature published in the current year by Northern California authors. Send 3 copies of book. Contest sponsor was formerly known as the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association (BABRA), changed in 2005 to the Northern California Book Reviewers (NCBR).
12/1: Poetry Center at Smith College High School Prize ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers $500 for the best poem by a high school sophomore or junior girl in New England. One poem per person, 25 lines maximum. Winner and three finalists will read their poems at Smith College in Northampton, MA with the contest judge, a well-known poet. Enter by email only. See website for rules and required entry form.
12/1: The Lyric College Poetry Contest ++
Recommended free contest offers prizes up to $500 for poems in traditional forms by US or Canadian undergraduates. Poems should be 39 lines maximum. Founded in 1921, The Lyric is the oldest magazine in North America in continuous publication devoted to traditional poetry. Note that contest address differs from magazine's regular address.
12/1: Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing +
Neutral contest offers $1,000 for a published book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction (all genres compete together) by an Appalachian author. Author or publisher may nominate a book by sending 5 copies plus supporting materials. Contest sponsor Morehead State University is a college based in Eastern Kentucky.
12/18: California Book Awards +
Formerly December 19
Neutral free contest for published books whose authors lived in California when the work was written. Winners receive recognition in various genres. Poetry winners have been established writers. Entries must have been published during the current calendar year. Author or publisher should send 6 copies of book plus a completed entry form. Prior to 2009, this contest offered monetary awards for recipients (top prize in 2008 was $2,000 in each genre). We have reduced the ranking from Recommended to Neutral, but still consider it worth entering for the prestige.
12/18: Rider University's High School Writing Contest +
Formerly December 12
Neutral free contest offers prizes up to $100 in each genre for poetry, fiction and essays by high school students. Prose entries should be 5 double-spaced pages maximum, poems 50 lines maximum. One entry per person per genre. Sponsor is a liberal arts college in New Jersey.
12/21: Charlotte Newberger Prize for Poetry +
Formerly November 30
Neutral free contest offers $150 for unpublished poems touching on the experience of Jewish women. Send 1-3 poems, maximum 100 lines each. Sponsored by LILITH, a Jewish feminist magazine.
12/22: Poetry Society of America Awards +++
These highly recommended contests on various themes, with prizes up to $1,000, are free to Poetry Society of America members. We highly recommend joining ($45 per year, $25 for students). For nonmembers, a $15 fee covers all contests for which you are eligible. One entry per person per contest.
12/30: Puffin Foundation Artist Grants ++
Recommended contest offers grants of $1,000-$2,500 to emerging artists in the fields of art, music, theater, dance, photography, and literature whose works due to their genre and/or social philosophy might have difficulty being aired. US citizens and permanent residents only. Send SASE for application packet. Application will include an entry form, project description and goals, budget, biographical information, and either a small work sample or references.
12/31: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest for published books offers two awards of $10,000 each: one for a book of fiction or poetry, the other for a book of nonfiction. The nonfiction category covers both creative nonfiction and scholarly works (biography, history, etc.) This award honors books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism or our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. Books must have been published in the current calendar year. Plays, screenplays, e-books, unpublished, print-on-demand, and self-published works not eligible. Author or publisher should submit 5 copies plus entry form from website.
12/31: Ann Arlys Bowler Student Poetry Contest ++
Recommended free contest for students in grades 6-12 offers 6 prizes of $100 plus publication in an electronic issue of Read Magazine. Send 1-2 poems (published or unpublished), one-page maximum per poem.
12/31: Euphoria Annual Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers $100 and online publication for the best set of 1-5 poems, 50 lines maximum per poem. Submit by email only. Previously published poems accepted. Best for emerging writers.
12/31: Griffin Prize For Excellence In Poetry +++
Highly recommended free contest offers two prizes of C$50,000 for poetry books published in the current calendar year. One prize will go to a living Canadian poet or translator, the other to a living poet or translator from any country (including Canada). See website for detailed eligibility rules. Publisher should send 4 copies of book plus a press packet. This is one of the most lucrative poetry prizes around, as well as one of the most prestigious.
12/31: Harold Morton Landon Translation Award +++
Highly recommended free contest from the Academy of American Poets offers $1,000 for the best book of poetry in translation published in the US during the current calendar year. Translator must be a living US citizen. 3 copies of book should be submitted by publisher.
12/31: Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers top prize of $500 and publication for an unpublished poem of 100 lines maximum that "expresses, directly or indirectly, a sense of the holy or that, by its mode of expression, evokes the sacred. The tone may be religious, prophetic, or contemplative." Send by mail or email.
12/31: Ohioana Poetry Award: Helen & Laura Krout Memorial ++
Recommended contest offers $1,000 to an Ohio poet for a body of published work that has made, and continues to make, a significant contribution to poetry, and through whose work as a writer, teacher, administrator, or in community service, interest in poetry has been developed. Award is by nomination only. Nominees must have been born in Ohio or lived there for at least 5 years.
12/31: ORBIS Readers Award +
Neutral free rolling-deadline contest offers 50 pounds per issue for the best poem published in each issue of Britain's ORBIS Quarterly Literary International Journal, as determined by reader vote. Online submissions accepted from non-UK entrants only. Translations eligible.
12/31: Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award +++
Highly recommended free contest from the Academy of American Poets alternates between a $25,000 fellowship for translators of modern Italian poetry to complete a work-in-progress (even-numbered years), and a $5,000 prize for published books of English translations of modern Italian poetry (odd-numbered years). US citizens only.
12/31: William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition +
Free neutral contest for students of medicine or osteopathy in the US and Canada offers prizes of $300, $200, $100 for a poem on any subject. Winners invited to read at Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine in April, possibly published in scholarly journal. Submit 1-3 poems, maximum 750 words each.
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
 Swallow by Jendi Reiter Available from Amsterdam Press
Winner of the 2008 Flip Kelly Poetry Prize, Jendi Reiter's poetry chapbook Swallow is now available from Amsterdam Press. Award-winning author and educator Ellaraine Lockie says of this collection, "Jendi Reiter's poems are arrows that plunge dead center into the hearts of feminism, religion, death, the interior of mental health and psychotherapy. Her humor and satire here are as sharply honed as her indignation... This is an intelligent and powerful read that will leave issues bleeding in the minds of readers for a while before they heal."
To order, visit the Amsterdam Press online store or send a check for $8.00 to Amsterdam Press, 6199 Steubenville Road SE, Amsterdam, Ohio 43903.
Enjoy this sample poem from Swallow (first published in The Adirondack Review):
And Sarai Said
by Jendi Reiter
The Lord judge between me and thee dynamite
for a good time call it quits
even a baby can be believed
or bleed wriggle worm snicked by the knife
becomes two blind as one
baby can I call you baby
The Lord judge between me and thee by drowning
cries like a catbird that is to say
no pained mind behind the call believe baby
scientists pulling feathers
from the fallen star apple eater worm
The Lord judge between me and thee severed
severe verily reverberate
helmet lie open on ocean
floor for fish to understand prison
like bright dreams on the locked ward
describe that baby belief painted with food
ripped with crayons the first word
to die like an egg in the hand
The Lord judge between me and thee boiling
for a good time lick thrust murmur crack
dispense as written
under the skin only the lonely cutter's
face reflected in the blade The Lord
judge between thee
 FundsforWriters
"Your website is comprehensive, professional and friendly without being preachy or unrealistic. I'm one of your many fans who enjoy and appreciate your fine site." Come see why FundsforWriters readers are loyal, satisfied and enthusiastic. Four newsletters, website resources, ebooks and motivational material to send you running to your computer. Chosen by Writer's Digest for 101 Best Websites for Writers for the past nine years. www.fundsforwriters.com
Last Call!
The Writer's Digest 10th Annual Short Short Story Competition
Postmark Deadline: December 1
We're looking for fiction that's bold, brilliant...but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.
But don't be too long about it—the deadline is Tuesday, December 1, 2009.
PRIZES
First Place: $3,000
Second Place: $1,500
Third Place: $500
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books
• The names and story titles of the First- through Tenth-Place winners will be printed in the May/June 2010 Writer's Digest, and winners will receive the 2010 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market and Agents, Editors, and You: The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Plus, all First through 25th place winners will receive a free copy of the 10th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection.
Visit http://writersdigest.com/short for complete guidelines and to enter online.
Closing Next Month
The Vernice Quebodeaux "Pathways" Poetry Prize
Postmark Deadline: December 15
The Vernice Quebodeaux Prize, sponsored by Little Red Tree Publishing, includes a $1,000 cash award, publication of a full-length collection of poetry, and a generous royalty contract. All forms and styles are welcome.
The late Vernice Quebodeaux, born in Egan, LA (on the banks of the Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé), was a poet who spent a lifetime struggling with the demands of raising children, family feuds, bigotry, apathy, and indifference to her writing aspirations. On her death the beginnings of a book of poetry called Pathways was found by her daughter, Tamara Martin, and incorporated into a book, Sunday's in the South. We are honoring her life and cherished goals by creating this competition to recognize the specific unique voices of women poets.
All finalists will be considered for publication, with one selected as the prizewinner with a book published in early spring of 2010. Download our complete guidelines (PDF), then send your 60-100 page manuscript with a $20 reading fee to: Little Red Tree Publishing, LLC, Attn: The Vernice Quebodeaux Prize, 635 Ocean Avenue, New London, CT 06320.
Closing Next Month
The Little Red Tree International Poetry Prize
Postmark Deadline: December 31
The International Poetry Prize, sponsored by Little Red Tree Publishing, includes a first prize of $1,000. The runner-up will receive $250 and five finalists will receive $50 each.
This prize is offered in response to demand for an opportunity to be associated with Little Red Tree by poets who have yet to develop a full collection. It is also an opportunity for Little Red Tree to extend its search and engage with quality poets from around the world who wish to be published.
The prizewinner, runner-up and other honorees will feature prominently, with full biographies, in a special collection called Little Red Tree International Poetry Book 2010. The book will also include a wide selection of poetry from those submitted that did not make the final selection but were considered worthy of publication. We anticipate the book will contain as many as 80 poems, with a free copy to each poet published, and be published in early spring of 2010.
A book launch will be scheduled for a date in April 2010 in New London, CT. All winners and published poets will be invited to read their poems. Download our complete guidelines (PDF), then send your poem(s) with a reading fee of $5 each to: Little Red Tree Publishing, LLC, Attn: The International Poetry Prize, 635 Ocean Avenue, New London, CT 06320.
Little Red Tree Publishing
Little Red Tree Publishing was established in 2006 and is based in New London, CT. Our mantra is simply to produce books that: Delight, entertain and educate.
We have doubled the number of books produced each year and plan to publish 12 full books of poetry in 2010. Part of that plan is the incorporation of a full book of poetry from the Vernice Quebodeaux "Pathways" Poetry Prize and an anthology from the Little Red Tree International Poetry Prize.
From humble beginnings, Little Red Tree has always seen its role, consistent with the finest traditions of small independent publishing, as preserving and expanding the dwindling opportunities for previously unpublished poets and established poets to publish a full collection of poetry. It is our aim that each book attains the highest standards both aesthetically and artistically. Our aesthetic stance is one of quality in all aspects of the content and the physical appearance of our books. We feel passionately that well-crafted and accessible poetry should be celebrated and presented as such with conviction and confidence. Therefore, all our books are coffee-table size, 7" by 10"—an emphatic statement of intent and a celebration of the poetry.
Our commitment to the individual poet and their work is undivided, and they are involved in every decision until their collection is complete, the book is finished and ready for printing.
We look forward to reading your wonderful poetry.
Closing Next Month
5th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards Competition
Postmark Deadline: December 15
We're pleased to announce the only Writer's Digest competition exclusively for poets! Regardless of style—rhyming, free verse, haiku and more—if your poems are 32 lines or fewer, we want them all.
Entry Deadline: Tuesday, December 15, 2009
PRIZES
First Place: $500
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $100
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $25
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books.
The names and poem titles of the First- through Tenth-Place winners will be printed in the August 2010 Writer's Digest, and afterwards their names will appear on www.writersdigest.com. All winners will receive the 2010 Poet's Market.
Visit http://www.writersdigest.com/poetryawards for guidelines or to enter online.
Closing Next Month
Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest
Postmark Deadline: December 31
This writing contest is open to anyone who loves to express their innermost thoughts and feelings in poetry or to write a short story that's worth telling everyone! We're accepting poems, 30 lines or fewer on any subject, and short stories, 5 pages maximum on any theme (single- or double-line spacing). Multiple entries welcome.
Prizes
Short Story First Prize: $500, 2nd: $250, 3rd: $100
Poetry First Prize: $250, 2nd: $125, 3rd: $50
Entry fees
$10 per story
$5 per poem
How to Enter
Send your work with a cover page that lists the title(s) of your poem(s)/story(ies), name, address, phone number, and email address, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for entry confirmation. Make your entry fee payable to "DREAMQUESTONE.COM" and mail to Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest, P.O. Box 3141, Chicago, IL 60654. Electronic entries accepted via PayPal. Visit www.dreamquestone.com for details and to enter.
Please enjoy this excerpt from "Marsha Blue" by Deanna K. Klingel of Sapphire, North Carolina, the winning story entry in our Summer 2009 contest:
...Marsha even influenced the way I raised my seven children, with boxes and boxes of Crayons in some stunning new colors. I taught my children to use all their senses as if they couldn’t see, and to use their visual sense as if it were the only one they had. "How many shades of green are there in the lawn?" I would ask them. As toddlers they all learned to look inside the tulip before deciding what color to name it. We'd collect fall leaves and search the labels on our Crayons to decide what each fascinating color was really called. Sometimes we created our own color names.
When my children were grown I needed a new hobby, so I learned to transcribe textbooks into Braille.
And even now, years later, when I'm writing a story, I often find myself sifting through the old fruit cake tin to find the right color to describe something elusive. "What color would you call that?" I can hear Marsha asking me. "What color is the sky today? Are you sure? Look again..."
[click for the complete story]
Closing Next Month
The Ellen LaForge Poetry Prize Seeks Submissions
Postmark Deadline: December 31
Established in 1983 as the Grolier Prize, the Ellen LaForge Poetry Prize is open to all poets who have not yet published a book of poetry, including small press, chapbook or trade book. The winner receives $1,000 and two copies of the poetry prize Annual. Up to six poems by the winner and four by each of three runners-up are chosen for publication in the Annual.
Submit, in duplicate, a manuscript of up to six previously unpublished poems and no more than twelve double-spaced pages. Your name must not appear on the manuscript. Include a separate cover sheet with your name and contact information, including email address and poem titles. Entry fee: $10, payable to The Ellen LaForge Memorial Poetry Foundation.
Winner and runners-up will be notified by March 31. Please mail your entry to:
William Joiner Center
Healey Library, 10th Floor
University of Massachusetts, Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393
For more information please email joinercenter@umb.edu or visit www.joinercenter.umb.edu.
 Grayson Books Chapbook Competition
Postmark Deadline: January 16, 2010
Prize: $500, publication of chapbook and 50 copies
Reading fee: $15
Submit: 16-24 pages of poetry, two cover sheets (one with contact information and one anonymous)
SASE for results only
Simultaneous submissions are permissible if we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.
This year's judge is Kate Rushin, author of The Black Back-Ups (Firebrand Books). Her "The Bridge Poem" appears in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, an anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. Recipient of the Rose Low Rome Memorial Poetry Prize and the Grolier Poetry Prize, her work is widely anthologized. Rushin teaches creative writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Previously, she taught at Wesleyan University, where she served as Director of the Center of African-American Studies, Associate Professor and Visiting Writer.
Please mail your entry and fee to:
Grayson Books
P.O. Box 270549
West Hartford, CT 06127-0549
www.graysonbooks.com
 Please enjoy these poems from Exotics & Accidentals by James Scruton, the winning entry in the 2009 Grayson Books Chapbook Competition.
Exotics and Accidentals
These are your favorites,
the ones here on the off-chance,
each a bird of a different feather.
Even nested they never quite belong,
some note they can't pick up
in local songs, their habitat re-mapped
beneath them. What strange migration
brings them here, what turn
of wing or weather?
Vagrants, stragglers, escaped
or astray, their names go on your list
as if the one place left to land.
The Accidental Garden
Late April turning cold,
we saw blankets over flower beds,
front-yard shrubs and bushes shrouded
like furniture in unused rooms,
like church statues during Holy Week—
a solicitude for leaf and stem
that always takes us by surprise,
since anything that grows for us
is wild or thrives by luck, our prized
but accidental garden full
of unruly roses, unlooked-for lilies.
Our blow-ins have become perennials
re-christened every spring: Windbloom,
Randomflower, Golden Come-What-May,
Weather's Will, Common Chance-Blossom.
Accenti Magazine Writing Contest
Postmark Deadline: January 22, 2010
Accenti Magazine's Fifth Annual Writing Contest accepts fiction, creative nonfiction and nonfiction. The topic is open but must in some way reflect or make reference to Canada and Italy, or the Italian Canadian experience. The contest is open to all writers, established and emerging, worldwide (non-Italians welcome—isn't there some Italian in all of us!) Entry fee: CAN$20 or US$20 (your choice) per entry. Top prize: CAN$1,000 and publication in Accenti Magazine. Entries are judged anonymously. Complete guidelines at http://www.accenti.ca
Please enjoy this excerpt from Issue 16...
At Capo di Sorrento
by Sheila Wright
At Capo di Sorrento, I leap from the orange Circumvesuviana bus and dash through olive groves down the cobbled path to the sea. Old Adamo is waiting. I can see him waving from the sea-spattered rocks below. I carefully negotiate the wooden staircase that leads to our cove and greet him with the obligatory three kisses: left cheek, right cheek, then left again.
"Porca miseria!" he cries. "Where have you been? I was so worried!"
In fact, I am only a few minutes late, but this is Adamo. Although I am twenty-eight, he treats me like a young granddaughter, and I love it.
"Have some freshly roasted chestnuts, bella." Adamo speaks in thick dialect. I understand, mainly because he is holding out a large paper bag full of warm nuts, but also because Adamo and I communicate on a deeper level. My grandfathers died long before my birth; I have chosen Adamo and he has chosen me. Sometimes I hardly finish a thought in my faltering Italian and he has already understood. We are from different worlds, different generations, yet our spirits are connected and have come together in this place of my dream.
Right now we are perched on a bench-shaped rock a few feet above the Mediterranean's gently lapping waves, our backdrop the ruins of Villa Pollio Felice. The shining columns from my dream have long since been washed into the sea. All that remains are a few arches built into the rocky outcrop behind us. The arches, once part of a palace, now support a grassy plateau that commands a view of Sorrento in one direction and the island of Ischia in the other.
The remains of Bagni della Regina Giovanna, Queen Giovanna's baths, are found behind this outcrop, where an archway, part natural, part man-made, allows the sea to flow into a deep hollow the size of a large swimming pool. A tiny pebble beach awaits those willing to climb down the ancient stairs to reach it. Pieces of the ruined palace lie just below the surface of the water. Sometimes I float here and imagine its original splendour.
Every weekday, dodging motor scooters and dog merda, I make my way to the Royal School, which, despite the pretentious name, is really a converted apartment where I teach English illegally. With no work permit, I live in fear that the labour inspector will show up and report me to the police; but when I arrive at Capo di Sorrento, all worries lift from my shoulders...
Excerpt from the forthcoming Amare: A True Italian Love Story. Sheila Wright won the 2006 Accenti Magazine award for "The Nature of Italy", an adapted excerpt from Amare. Her story also appeared in Travelers' Tales: 30 Days in Italy. Sheila lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and two sons, where she teaches French and English and facilitates a writers' group.
11th Annual Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest (no fee)
Postmark Deadline: January 31, 2010
Oregon Quarterly invites entries to the 11th Annual 2010 Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest in both student and open categories. Entries should address ideas that affect the Northwest. The Oregon Quarterly staff will select finalists and the contest judge, Tom Hager, will choose the top three winners in each category. Past judges have been Kim Stafford, Barry Lopez, John Daniel, Karen Karbo, Brian Doyle, Lauren Kessler and Craig Lesley.
- Prizes in the Open Category: $750, $300, $100
- Prizes in the Student Category: $500, $200, $75
- No entry fee required
- First-place essays will appear in Oregon Quarterly
- A selection of top essays will be featured in a springtime public reading on the UO campus
- Fifteen finalists (ten in the open category and five students) will be announced in the Summer 2010 issue of Oregon Quarterly
- All finalists will be invited to participate in a writing workshop with the contest judge on the day of the reading
Entries should be nonfiction, should not have been previously published, and should be no more than 1,500 words in the student category and 2,000 words in the open category. The student contest is open to any student currently enrolled and pursuing a graduate or undergraduate degree at a college or university. One entry per person. Find the submission address and complete guidelines at www.oregonquarterly.com (click on Essay Contest).
Please enjoy this excerpt from "Numbered Days" by Harold Toliver. This essay won first place in the open category of our tenth contest.
...The gray squirrel that was standing alongside milepost 80 had no idea how far back it goes. Researchers at Duke calculate that the first squirrel claims to North American nuts and acorns came 36 million years before their pesky progeny started raiding campus garbage cans. During that interim, their brethren have responded to climate changes more radical than any that current or ancient civilizations have seen. An unreliable atmosphere contributed to an accelerated multiplication of squirrel kinds, which zoologists put at about 11 million years ago. Impatient to cross the highway, that particular fellow didn't look as if he'd gained much intellect—rodent brain still unprepared for turning wheels that plant full weight on a spot no matter what's there....
Click to view "Numbered Days" in full and all the winning essays from our tenth contest.
The WB Yeats Society of New York Poetry Competition
Postmark Deadline: February 1, 2010
This year's competition will be judged by Alice Quinn, executive director of the Poetry Society of America and former poetry editor of The New Yorker. Competition is open to members and nonmembers of any age, from any locality. First prize $250, second prize $100. Winners and honorable mentions receive 2-year memberships in the Society and are honored at an event at Barnes & Noble Union Square, New York City, May 1, 2010.
Submit poems in English up to 60 lines, not previously published, on any subject. Type each poem (judged separately) on an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet without author's name; attach 3x5 card with name, address, phone, email.
Entry fee $8 for first poem, $7 each additional. Mail to:
Poetry Competition WW
WB Yeats Society of NY
National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park S
New York, NY 10003
Include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to receive the report of the contest results. List of winners is posted on YeatsSociety.org around March 31, 2010, along with information on the Yeats Summer School in Ireland, July 24-August 6, 2010. Authors retain rights, but grant us the right to publish winning entries. These are the complete guidelines; no entry form necessary. We reserve the right to hold late submissions for the following year. For reports of previous competitions, and information on our other programs and membership, visit YeatsSociety.org or write to us.
Please enjoy this excerpt from "Study (with Ocean)", the first-prize entry in our 2001 contest:
Study (with Ocean)
by Cameron K. Gearen, New Haven, Connecticut
London Underground, car lit and tunneling, I look for us
in the window, find luminous you and, next to you
where I stand, also you. Dead blue butterfly you picked up
once and either that's my hand stroking or I'm the butterfly, stroked.
Feats of empathy? What I'm not is inhabiting these sandals.
Days, we haunt Whitby's ruined abbey, you a raincoated raven
atop her pillar. Trace churchyard dates etched in stone, dry out
in a tea shop, then duck, arms linked, into night tempest.
*
French prisoners of war, time on their hands, fashioned ships
from bone, wrought masts now cased in Whitby Museum
where our weight makes floors whine; you study ammonite's swirl,
I study your back like some treasure an uncle carried,
crated, from the Orient where, Marco says, bats
large as vultures and vultures black as crows, much larger
than where I've come from, will return to, but now, love, come see
this circa 1909 dowsing rod someone followed...
[continue reading]
 2010 Summer Literary Seminars Unified Literary Contest
Postmark Deadline: February 28, 2010
Summer Literary Seminars is pleased to announce its 2010 unified (SLS-Montreal, SLS-Lithuania, and SLS-Kenya) literary contest, held this year again in affiliation with Fence.
We are excited this year to have Mary Gaitskill judging the contest fiction, and Mary Jo Bang judging the poetry.
Contest winners in the categories of fiction and poetry will have their work published in Fence, as well as in the participating literary journals in Canada, Lithuania and Kenya. Additionally, they will have the choice of attending (airfare, tuition, and housing included) any of the SLS-2010 programs—in Montreal, Quebec (June 13-27); Vilnius, Lithuania (August 1-14); or Nairobi-Lamu, Kenya (December 13-28).
Second-place winners will receive a full tuition waiver for the program of their choice, and third-place winners will receive a 50% tuition discount.
A number of select contest participants, based on the overall strength of their work, will be offered tuition scholarships applicable to the SLS-2010 programs.
Please visit the SLS website at sumlitsem.org/slscontest.html for detailed information on how to enter.
Good luck, much success with your work—and we hope to see some of you at one (or more) of our programs in the future!
 upstreet: Call for Submissions
Submissions must be received by March 1, 2010
upstreet, the award-winning independent literary annual, seeks quality submissions—with edge—of short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, for its sixth issue. Author interviews in the first five issues were with Jim Shepard, Lydia Davis, Wally Lamb, Michael Martone, and Robin Hemley. Payment in author copies. Distributed nationally by Ingram Periodicals, Source Interlink, Disticor (Canada). For sample content and to submit, visit http://www.upstreet-mag.org
For news about upstreet and its authors, visit http://www.upstreetfanclub.blogspot.com/
Please enjoy this selection from upstreet number five:
The Sadness of Dads
by Paul Hostovsky
It was there in the eyes of the silverback
in the nature documentary on gorillas,
sitting apart from the rest of the group,
chewing, looking past the females
and the young he had sired, up toward
the mountaintop, which was partly obscured
by mist. And it was there underneath
the bellying way he swaggered up
to one of the smaller males, did a chest-beat,
gave a threatening growl and bared
his teeth. And there it was again inside
the waiting, when the whole group looked
to him, to make the first move, to lead them
up the mountainside in search of another
bamboo patch. And finally, unmistakably,
it was everywhere, smeared all over the grass
and in the air all around, in the sickening silence
and the unrestrained weeping of one of the four
research biologists walking beneath the poles
which bore the mutilated body, the prized hands
and head cut off by poachers with machetes
and wives and children of their own.
Now Open
Snake Nation Press: Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry
Postmark Deadline: March 1, 2010
Now in its twentieth year, Snake Nation Press announces the 2010 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 twenty-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 this poem from our first issue, Fall 1989:
Teleology
by Allan Peterson
At no matter what age
the snake is unwrinkled.
It does not go grey
or death drop out of its head.
It renews its diamonds.
Queen-of-Worlds.
It can be beautiful script
and write sleek in the grass
til the last minute.
Two choices are irreversibile:
suicide and the full body tattoo.
Everything else is forgiving.
Everything else is prepared for you.
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These free prose contests with deadlines between November 16 and December 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.
11/20: Creative Loafing Fiction Contest +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly November 11
Neutral contest offers prizes up to $1,000 for short fiction by Georgia residents, 3,000 words maximum. Enter online or by mail. Entries must be received by 5pm local time on the deadline date. No simultaneous submissions. For the 2009 deadline contest, stories must reference the theme, "slip", in some fashion, even tangentially. Originality counts.
11/30: Betty Trask Prize +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly January 31
Highly recommended free contest offers awards totaling 25,000 pounds for a published first novel of "a romantic or traditional nature", i.e. not experimental. Author must be a Commonwealth citizen. If published, the work must have been published in the UK in 2009 or be due for publication in 2010. Entrants must be under 35 as of December 31, 2009. Winner must agree to use the prize money for foreign travel.
11/30: Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for Short Fiction +
Neutral free contest offers $400 for the best story accepted by The Caribbean Writer during this year. All eligible submissions to the magazine are also considered for the David Hough Literary Prize for an author residing in the Caribbean ($500), the Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize for a Virgin Islands author ($200), and the Charlotte & Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for first-time publication ($200). Send 1-2 stories, maximum 15 double-spaced pages each. The Caribbean should be central to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage, experience or perspective. Email entries accepted.
12/1: Independent Women's Forum College Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest for female undergraduates offers prizes up to $5,000 for essays of 750 words maximum. Topic changes annually. The IWF is a conservative/libertarian feminist organization, and seeks essays that are sympathetic to their views. 2009 topic: "Many campus coffee shops boast that they 'proudly serve fair trade coffee', but does the fair trade movement actually make a difference in the lives of the poor and disadvantaged? Is free trade also fair trade?"
12/1: Langum Project for Historical Literature Fiction Prize +
Neutral free contest offers $1,000 for the best historical novel published by a commercial trade publisher, small press, or university press during the current calendar year. Publishers or authors should submit 3 copies of book. See website or email David Langum for details.
12/1: Schneider Family Book Award +++
Highly recommended free contest for published books of children's literature offers $5,000 in each of three categories: books for ages 0-10, 11-13, and 13-18. These awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Book must have been published during the past three years. Sponsored by the American Library Association.
12/1: W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction +++
Highly recommended free contest offers $5,000 for the best published book of fiction set in a period when the United States was at war. Book must have been published in the calendar year prior to the award. For example, books published in 2009 are eligible for the 2010 award, which has a December 1, 2009 deadline. Sponsored by the American Library Association.
12/7: S.E.VEN Fund Essay Competition ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest for high school, college and graduate students offers $10,000 scholarship or student loan repayment aid for the best essay, 2,000 words maximum, on entrepreneurial solutions to world poverty. Enter online only. See website for annual topic. S.E.VEN is a virtual non-profit entity run by entrepreneurs whose strategy is to markedly increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty.
12/18: Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Awards ++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly December 19
Recommended free contest offers three prizes of $500 for books of fiction and nonfiction (creative or scholarly) written by an African-American and published in the US during the current year. There is one award for adult fiction, one for nonfiction and one for a first novel. The awards honor books that depict the "cultural, historical, or sociopolitical aspects of the African Diaspora". Must be nominated by publisher.
12/31: Culture of Enterprise Student Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest for undergraduates offers prizes up to $10,000 and web publication for essays, 2,500-3,000 words, on the topic: "Can Character and Communities Survive in an Age of Globalization?" Sponsor is a libertarian think tank funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
12/31: Desert Writers Award +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers annual fellowship of $2,000 for writers of literary or creative nonfiction to spend time writing in and about the desert landscape. Send 10-page writing sample, project description and biographical statement. Enter by email only. Finalists may be interviewed.
12/31: French-American Foundation Translation Prizes +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly November 15
Highly recommended free contest offers prizes of $10,000 apiece for the best published book-length translations of French fiction and creative nonfiction into English. Entries must have been published in the US during the current calendar year. (Bound galleys are accepted for books scheduled for publication by December 31.) Publishers should submit the translated book along with the French original and a cover letter with information about the book and its author.
12/31: Girls Gone Great Scholarship Essay Contest ++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly October 31
Recommended free contest offers $1,000 college scholarship for Maryland high school junior and senior girls for essays, 800 words maximum, on how they are making a difference in their community. Entries should include a reference from an adult who is not a family member. Sponsor is a women's radio show in Baltimore. Enter by email.
12/31: Japan Center-Canon Essay Competition +
Neutral free contest for high school and college students in NYC and Long Island offers scholarships up to $2,000 for essays on the spirit of Japan. Enter by mail or online.
12/31: 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.
12/31: Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction +++
Highly recommended free contest offers $5,000 for the best novel about the Civil War published during the current calendar year. Publishers, critics or authors should send 4 copies of the book to the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College.
12/31: Seventeen Magazine Fiction Contest ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest for short fiction by US teenage girls (ages 13-21) offers top prize of $2,500 and publication in Seventeen Magazine. 2010 judges are Seventeen editors and Meg Cabot, best-selling author of The Princess Diaries. As of 2009, enter online only. Entries must be received before midnight EST on the deadline date.
12/31: Thoroughbred Times Fiction Contest ++
Recommended free contest offers prizes of $600, $300, $200, plus publication, for fiction up to 5,000 words about some facet of the Thoroughbred horse industry. Mail or email entries accepted. Offered biennially (odd-numbered years only).
Login to The Best Free Poetry Contests now to view these and all our profiles of free contests.
Key to Ratings
Highly Recommended: +++
Recommended: ++
Neutral: +
All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise specified.
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Fractured West
Rolling Deadline
Fractured West, a new journal of flash fiction, prose poetry, microfiction, sudden fiction, vignettes, and short short stories, seeks submissions up to 500 words for its premiere issue. Enter by email. Send only one entry and wait for a decision before sending another. Submissions accepted year-round. Editors say, "We like: Honesty, fury, humiliation, and unusual beauty; stories that hurt to write, that are uncomfortable to read; literary, genre, and experimental/non-narrative works."
Porter Gulch Review
Entries must be received by December 1
Porter Gulch Review, the literary journal of Cabrillo College in California, seeks submissions of short stories, novel excerpts, plays, screenplays, poetry, photography, and artwork. Writers may submit up to 4 poems or 2 prose pieces, 5,000 words maximum per piece. Entries should be typed, single-spaced, single-sided, with no staples or paper clips. No name of author on entries; include cover letter with name, address, phone, email, titles and genres of submissions, and brief bio. Also include a copy on disc which does include your name, and email another copy to pgr@cabrillo.edu. Send in a 9x12 folder to: Porter Gulch Review, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003. $5 donation with your submissions is optional.
The Pedestal Magazine: Speculative Flash Fiction Issue
Entries must be received by December 14
Well-regarded online journal The Pedestal Magazine seeks submissions of speculative flash fiction, up to 1,000 words, for their December issue. Speculative includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, and experimental. This section will be guest-edited by Bruce Boston and Marge Simon. The Pedestal Magazine is a paying market.
Twitter Christmas Poetry Contests
Entries must be received by December 24
Utmost Christian Writers is offering prizes for Christmas poems written in 140 characters or less. Entry is free for the $5 prize and $2 per poem for the $50 prize. There will be four prizes of $5 and two prizes of $50. See website for rules and online entry form.
RATTLE Humor Issue
Postmark Deadline: February 1, 2010
The literary journal RATTLE: Poetry for the 21st Century seeks submissions of humorous poetry and essays on humor in poetry for their Summer 2010 issue. Submit 1-5 poems or one prose piece by mail or email. Editors say, "We'd like to publish either a series of short essays on different aspects of humor in poetry, or a longer introduction to the history of humor in verse. Please query with any questions. Short essays should be about 1,000-1,500 words; longer essays can be up to 5,000, though 3,000 is preferred."
Per Contra
Entries must be received by March 1, 2010
Online literary journal edited by Miriam Kotzin and Bill Turner seeks submissions of unpublished literary fiction up to 3,000 words. Enter by email. Recent contributors to Per Contra include Nathan Leslie, R.T. Smith, and David R. Slavitt.
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Barbara Lefcowitz Poetry
Poems and lyrical essays on themes from nature, spirituality, and the body.
Short Story Wonders
Australian writer Sean O'Leary's fiction blog features fast-moving vignettes of the seamy side of life (think Bukowski in Melbourne). Also includes book and film reviews and links to contemporary poetry.
Stickman Review
Biannual online literary journal publishes memorable literary prose, poetry, and artwork. Enter by email only.
Weirdyear Daily Flash Fiction
Online journal edited by E.S. Wynn publishes flash fiction, poetry, and hybrid experimental fiction on a daily basis. Humor, fantasy, sci-fi, and other genres are welcome.
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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Mythogyny: The Lives and Times of Women Elders in B.C.
Edited by the WE*ACT Editorial Collective (Elsie Dean, Alegria Imperial, Jan Westlund, and Sandi Wingrove). This anthology of oral histories by senior citizens in British Columbia, Canada, paints a collective portrait of resourceful working-class women who survived poverty, sexism, and the failure of their illusions about marriage and family security.
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MORE SPONSORS' MESSAGES
2010 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market
Annual directory for fiction writers from Writer's Digest includes over 1,100 listings of magazines, book publishers and literary agents. Other helpful resources include advice from well-known authors and information on conferences and contests for fiction writers.
2010 Poet's Market
Published each August by Writer's Digest, this is the best annual directory of over 1,600 presses, magazines, journals, contests and more. Helps you find publishers who are looking for your kind of work.
2010 Writer's Market
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haiku from dandelion clocks
edited by Roberta Beary and Ellen Compton
water falling into
water—why can't I remember
Mother's lullaby
(Penny Harter)
apple blossoms
with only me to witness
the path of the wind
(Lenard D. Moore)
the full moon:
I love a night
that simple
(Michael McClintock)
hair of the dog—
in the mirror a trace
of autumn
(Roberta Beary)
Copyright 2009
These poems are reprinted from dandelion clocks: Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology 2008, which won the 2009 Special Award for Anthology in the Haiku Society of America's 2009 Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards. See ordering information here.
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Roger Paulding, President, Houston Writers Guild
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care you took in adding links and generally improving the copy I sent you."
Mark Schorr, Executive Director, The Robert Frost Foundation
See more testimonials.
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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Show Your Legislators that Adult Literacy Is Important
A message from David C. Harvey, CEO/President, ProLiteracy:
I usually send action alerts to ask you to contact your members of Congress about an issue important to the adult literacy community. This time, I'm asking you to contact members of your family, your friends, your co-workers, and your neighbors and encourage them to sign up for ProLiteracy's action alerts.
It's important that those of us directly involved in providing adult literacy services let our senators and representatives know what we're thinking when it comes to funding issues and legislation that impact adult learners. We can provide policymakers with the statistics and stories that can educate them about the need for Congress's support in their home districts. But it is a fact of political life that our legislators give the most attention to the issues that are important to large numbers of their constituents; therefore, it is vital that we recruit as many members of the general public as possible to help us promote our cause.
It will take your friends and family just a few seconds to sign up to receive the alerts—just have them go to ProLiteracy's Legislative Action Center and click on Join Our Action Network. They'll receive suggestions for what to say in their emails to their representatives and directions for how to send them. It won't take them much time, and we'll only contact them when the issue is truly important.
The more people we have speaking together, the louder our voice will be. So contact as many people as you can and urge them to become advocates for adult literacy now!
Thank you for all that you do for adult learners.
Sincerely,
David C. Harvey
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.
Support ProLiteracy's vital mission. Click
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This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "Design" by Janet Butler.
If you would like a chance to be critiqued, please email your poem to 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!
Design
by Janet Butler
Perhaps paradise, too, blooms in due season.
A fragmentary gift that sprouts in piecemeal design
under a chaotic spring, its lesions
perhaps a paradise in due season.
A distant view from a cool hilltop gives reason
to speculations, and frenzies of color align
to show a paradise blooming in due season,
a fragmentary gift, sprouting in piecemeal design.
Copyright 2009 by Janet Butler
Critique by Tracy Koretsky
In August I asked why one might write a text-message poem. This month, same question, but for a much older form—the "triolet".
Well, for one thing, if you can accomplish a triolet, you will have a piece that requires a second reading to fully appreciate. Inviting a second reading is always a goal of good poetry.
But be cautioned: formal poetry demands more from the reader, who not only has to parse language not delivered in standard speech, but is also expected to understand the rules that the poet was following. (Sites such as Ariadne's Web can help you become a more knowledgeable reader and writer of poetic forms.)
For contest entrants, the use of traditional forms can distinguish your work, demonstrating that you are capable of working on two levels at once. However, you should be aware that while some judges may be impressed, an equal number loathe formal poetry of any kind.
Most importantly for those of us who love to write poetry, a closed form like a triolet gives us something to work against. Until a poet experiments with putting some formal constraints on a poem, it is impossible to appreciate what they can elicit. They can force fresh language, or expand a poet to a more public voice. They can excite rhythms...
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_0911butler.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 DECEMBER 1: AWARD-WINNING POEMS
Our Winter 2009 selection of winning poems from contests we admire
COMING IN OUR DECEMBER 15 NEWSLETTER
Winners Announced for the Sixth Annual Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
Eighth Annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest Opens
The Best Free Poetry Contests for December 16-January 31
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