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Upcoming Contest Deadlines

These are only a few of our contests. View our full listing here.

"Without FanStory I simply would not be a writer at all. The feedback and friendships I have made here have changed my entire life. Honest feedback helped prepare me for the real world. The contests have also helped me, and continue to help me. Writing to a topic, and writing to a deadline, is key. There isn't a more valuable skill than to sit down and write about a subject by a specific date. That's the real world."
—Jen Horton (Nominated as the best feature writer in the state of Florida) — More Testimonials

All entries that win cash prizes in these contests will be published on WinningWriters.com (over one million page views per year) and announced in the Winning Writers Newsletter, with over 40,000 subscribers.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 31
Now in its 20th 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. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See the complete guidelines and past winners.

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)
Online Submission Deadline: April 1
Winning Writers invites you to enter the 11th annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. We'll award $3,600, including a top prize of $1,500. Submit one humor poem online. No length limit. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. No fee to enter. Final judge: Jendi Reiter. See the complete guidelines and past winners.

Sports Poetry & Prose Contest - New!
Online Submission Deadline: May 31
New from Winning Writers, our Sports Poetry & Prose Contest will award $5,000 in total prizes, including a $1,500 top prize for poetry and a $1,500 top prize for prose (fiction and nonfiction). Submit an unpublished entry of 1-2 poems or one work of prose on a sports-related theme, up to 6,000 words in all. Fee is $15 per entry. Final judge: Jendi Reiter. Click for the complete guidelines.

Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
Postmark Deadline: June 30
Now in its ninth year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms. 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 $8 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 tenth year, this contest seeks poems in any style, theme or genre. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights. Prizes of $3,000, $1,000, $400 and $250 will be awarded, plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. New this year, there will also be a special $250 bonus prize for humorous verse. The entry fee is $8 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's poem "touching story" was shortlisted for Aesthetica Magazine's Annual Creative Works Competition and was published in the Creative Works Annual, their competition anthology. This poem first appeared online in Solstice Literary Magazine. Aesthetica's contest awards 500 pounds apiece for poetry, fiction, and artwork. The most recent deadline was August 31.

Winning Writers Poetry Reviewer Tracy Koretsky's poem "It's About" was nominated by THIS Literary Magazine for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthologies.

Congratulations to Linda LeGarde Grover. Her short story collection The Dance Boots won the 2010 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. This $7,500 award is given by the University of Rochester to the best book of fiction published the previous year by a woman who is a US citizen. The next deadline is February 1.

Congratulations to Rita Janice Traub. She won second prize in the Fall 2011 Lucidity Poetry Journal Clarity Awards for her poem "Oranges, Tea and Morning Prayer". This twice-yearly free contest, with deadlines of April 30 and October 31, awards prizes up to $100 for poems in any form dealing with people and interpersonal relationships. Other Winning Writers subscribers who placed in the Fall 2011 contest included Dion N. Farquhar, who won third prize for "Restkonk", and honorable mention winners Faye Adams, Mel Goldberg, Jessica Goody, Lee Hedstrom, Migel Jayasinghe, Daniel Loffer, Christa Pandey, Mary Elizabeth Parker, Gabriele Ulrike Stauf, Terry Wheeler, and Elaine Zimmerman.

Congratulations to Sandy Longley. Her poem "The Crossing" was a semifinalist in the 2011 Naugatuck River Review Narrative Poetry Contest and will be published in an upcoming issue. This contest awards prizes up to $1,000 for unpublished narrative poems in any style. The most recent submission period was July 1-September 1. We critiqued an earlier version of "The Crossing" in the August 2011 newsletter. Sandy found this opportunity through our contest suggestions in that critique, and the version appearing in Naugatuck is based on the second revision option we suggested in the essay. She says, "I continue to read your monthly comments at Winning Writers and learn a lot."

Congratulations to Dana Curtis. Her chapbook Book of Disease was included in the first issue of The Chapbook, a new literary journal that showcases chapbook-length collections from several authors within one volume. Other contributors to this issue were Theodore Worozbyt, Nicole Cooley, Drea Kato, Monica Mody, C. J. Waterman, Carey Scott Wilkerson, Adam Moorad, and Amy Wright.


RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to Carol Gilbertson. Her poetry chapbook From a Distance, Dancing was recently published as a finalist from the 2011 Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition. She kindly shares a sample poem below. The most recent deadline for this $1,000 prize was June 30.

Congratulations to Ruth Hill. Her poem "Skulls" won first prize in the 2011 Anita McAndrews Award Poetry Contest, judged by Peggy Zuleika Lynch. She kindly shares it with us below. This contest from Poets Beyond Borders (formerly Poets for Human Rights) awards $100 for poems relating to the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The most recent deadline was November 15. Ruth, who has received many runner-up honors in contests she found in this newsletter, writes to us, "I finally broke the glass ceiling and got a first place!"


RECENT PUBLICATION CREDITS FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Lauren Jacobs' essay "Rahab the Innkeeper" was published in the September 2011 issue of Arise, the newsletter of Christians for Biblical Equality. Her essay contends that the profession of Rahab, the woman who sheltered Joshua's spies at Jericho, has been mistranslated "harlot" because of gender bias, when a more accurate translation would be "innkeeper". CBE's motto is "advancing a biblical foundation for gift-based rather than gender-based ministry and service".

Debbie Fox's inspirational memoir, Living in My Skin, Even if it's Purple, is now available from Infinity Publishing. Visit her website at www.debbiefox.com. Debbie won second prize in the 2009 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest, a Winning Writers affiliate. Read her entry here. She says, "Winning Writers is such an exceptional web site, #1 in my opinion."

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poems "Looking Foward", "Asthma", "Realizing Expectations on My Own Damn Postpartum Schedule", and "Agonal" were published in the December 2011 issue of Cyclamens and Swords, an online literary journal from Israel. This issue's theme was "Caring for others".

Linda Principe's poetry collection Tangible Remains is now available from Full Court Press. Author and writing teacher Barry Sheinkopf writes of this collection, "These are more than arresting poems—they overpower the reader with a directness and insight rarely seen in contemporary work; and their straightforward beauty is as irresistible as the flavor of a ripe peach or the luminous gravity of the stars. Linda Principe, it is utterly clear, has lived and felt each line she puts down; she takes the business of writing poems seriously."

Christine Stark was interviewed in the December 2011 issue of Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry about her novel Nickels: A Tale of Dissociation (Modern History Press, 2011), which follows a girl's journey to psychological wholeness after parental sexual abuse. From the interview: "Some of the questions I asked myself were how does one explain a way of being that is antithetical to our culture's world view, that challenges the basic issue of what is identity, what does 'self' mean? What is the nature of the human mind, of human consciousness? If you are conveying someone who becomes many separate (mentally and emotionally) selves, with different ages, genders, and races, yet is all one, this challenges the most basic principles of selfhood. Yet it is a 'normal' 'human' response to trauma. It's not supernatural. It's not out of this world. So that was another challenge, how to show this so-called disorder that is hyped up in the media as being this bizarre, freakish 'mental illness' through a character that people will identify with, will understand, will hopefully care about and emphasize with, all the while staying true to presenting her as a whole and complete human being—one who hates, loves, fears, hopes and so on."

Veronica Golos's poetry collection Vocabulary of Silence (Red Hen Press, 2011) was well-reviewed at TheRumpus.net. Reviewer Julie Brooks Barbour writes, "[Golos] presents us with questions... What does it take for a person to kill a living thing, then a human being? Why are the truths of war silenced?" In conjunction with the review, the website features Golos's new poem "La Femme Rouge: Redux (Red Riding Hood, Aged)".

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TRY POETRY CONTEST INSIDER - NOW PROFILING OVER 1,250 LITERARY CONTESTS
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 1,250+ active poetry and prose contest profiles. Search and sort contests by deadline, prize, fee, recommendation level and more. We don't just list contests, we point you to the ones that will gain the most attention for your work, whether you are just starting out or are well-established. Exclusive interviews with contest judges and editors help you understand how your submissions are evaluated.

We update Poetry Contest Insider nearly every day. Be among the first to learn about new contests and late deadline changes. Access to Poetry Contest Insider is just $9.95 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. Learn more about Poetry Contest Insider.

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THE BEST FREE POETRY CONTESTS
Deadlines: January 16-February 29

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.

1/19: Poetry Society of Virginia (Student Categories) +
Neutral free contest awards prizes of $50, $30, $20 for college students, $25, $15, $10 in the elementary through high school categories, plus small prizes for poems on specific themes. Age categories are Grades 1-2, Grades 3-4, Grades 5-6, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12 and College/University level. One poem per entrant. See website for line lengths and themes for each contest.

1/19: Scarborough Arts "Big Art Book" Writing & Visual Arts Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest awards prizes of C$200 and anthology publication for written and spoken-word pieces and visual art in various genres. Sponsor is an Ontario-based cultural council. Text entries should be limited to 1,000 words. Maximum 3 entries per person, across all genres. See website for formatting suggestions. Enter by mail or online. Previously published work accepted if you own the rights.

1/27: BRIO Awards ++
Formerly January 28
Recommended free contest awards 25 grants of $3,000 to literary, visual and performing artists aged 18+ who reside in the Bronx, NY. Full-time college and graduate students are not eligible. Works submitted must have been created in the past 5 years. See website for rules and length limits for each genre. Enter online or by mail.

1/30: Friends of Acadia Poetry Competition +
Formerly April 30
Neutral free contest awards top prize of $350 for 1-3 poems, maximum 30 lines each. Sponsored by the Friends of Acadia, a group founded to preserve Acadia National Park in Maine, this contest seeks to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. Biennial (even-numbered years only). Simultaneous submissions accepted as of 2012.

1/31: Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest awards 3,000 pounds for a translation of modern Arabic literature into English. Genre can be poetry or literary prose. Books must have been published in the previous calendar year and be available for purchase in the UK via a distributor or online. The original text must have been published in the original Arabic no more than 35 years preceding its submission for the prize. Must be submitted by publisher. Send 5 copies of translation and 3 copies of original to the Society of Authors, which administers the prize for the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature.

1/31: Harold Morton Landon Translation Award +++
Highly recommended free contest from the Academy of American Poets awards $1,000 for the best book of poetry in translation published in the US during the previous calendar year. Translator must be a living US citizen. 3 copies of book should be submitted by publisher.

1/31: Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Chicago honors an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the US during the preceding calendar year. Literary novels, short stories, plays, poetry, biographies, and correspondences are eligible. Prize is $10,000 plus travel expenses for award ceremony in Chicago in June. Publishers should submit 6 copies of the book along with any relevant publicity materials.

1/31: Inspired by Tagore: An International Writing Competition +
Neutral free contest awards top prize of 300 pounds for adults, 200 pounds for youth, for poetry, short stories or reportage inspired by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the famous Bengali poet, philosopher, artist, playwright, composer and novelist. Sponsor is a British cultural center for South Asian arts. Submit 1-6 pieces, maximum 400 words each, by mail or online. May be a one-time event for 2012.

1/31: Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest awards $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions for a manuscript by a poet residing in the Upper Midwest (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin). No simultaneous submissions. Length limit not specified, but standard length is typically 48-100 single-spaced pages.

1/31: Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award +++
Formerly December 31
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 (odd-numbered years), and a $5,000 prize for published books of English translations of modern Italian poetry (even-numbered years). US citizens only.

1/31: Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest awards prizes up to $175 for unpublished poems of any length on the theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence. Poems may reflect any discipline or any faith or none. Maximum 3 entries per person. Enter by mail or email. Contest sponsor Spirit First is an interfaith meditation center in the Washington, DC area.

2/1: Gannon University's High School Poetry Contest +
Neutral free contest for students in grades 9-12 awards prizes of $100, $75, $50. Send 1-2 poems, no more than 2 pages per poem. Gannon University is a Catholic college in Erie, PA.

2/1: Paterson Poetry Prize ++
Recommended free contest awards $1,000 for the best book of poetry published during the previous calendar year. Book must have 48+ pages and a press run of 500+ copies. Publisher should submit 3 copies plus entry form. Recent winners have been well-established poets.

2/1: Wick Poetry High School Competition +++
Highly recommended free contest for Ohio high school seniors awards $3,000 tuition to Kent State University, renewable up to four years pending good academic standing. Second and third prize winners receive $2,000 and $1,000 renewable scholarships. Send portfolio of 3-5 poems and one-page essay describing both your interest in poetry and how you plan to participate in the Kent State University writing community. A letter of recommendation from a teacher or guidance counselor is also suggested.

2/6: Hollins University Literary Festival Contest +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly February 7
Neutral free contest awards $100 apiece for unpublished poems and short stories by college undergraduates, along with a reading at the Lex Allen Literary Festival in March. Submit 1-3 poems or 1-2 stories, no length limit specified. Enter by mail or email.

2/10: Charles Crupi Memorial Poetry Contest +
Formerly February 11
Neutral free contest awards prizes up to $200 for unpublished poems by Michigan high school students. Winners published in The Albion Review, the literary journal of Albion College in Michigan. Send 1-3 poems, maximum 50 lines each. Prior to 2012, contest was known as the Michigan High School Poetry Contest.

2/11: Collision Poetry & Creative Nonfiction Contest +
Entries must be received by this date; formerly February 25
Neutral free contest from Collision, the University of Pittsburgh's creative nonfiction magazine, awards prizes of $250, $175, $100, plus publication, for poetry and creative nonfiction by undergraduate students anywhere in the world. Entries should be 1-5 poems or one nonfiction piece, maximum 3,000 words. Prize winners are selected from pieces published in the magazine. All genres compete together. Enter by email.

2/15: The Binnacle Ultra-Short Competition +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest from The Binnacle, the literary journal of the University of Maine at Machias, seeks poems up to 16 lines and prose up to 150 words. A minimum of $300 in prizes will be awarded, with a minimum prize of at least $50, plus publication. At least one of the prizes will go to a UMM student. Enter by email only.

2/16: Memoir (and) Prizes for Prose or Poetry ++
Recommended free contest awards twice-yearly prizes for the best memoirs submitted to their magazine during each reading period (November 1-February 16, May 1-August 16). Online submissions preferred. Send 1-5 poems or one prose piece, maximum 10,000 words. See website for art formatting requirements. "Memoir (and) Literary Journal publishes memoirs in many forms. We strive with each issue to include a selection of prose, poetry, graphic memoirs, narrative photography, lies and more." Enter by mail or online.

2/17: Emily Dickinson First Book Award +++
Don't enter before January 16; former submission period was April 15-May 15
Highly recommended free contest from the prestigious Poetry Foundation awards $10,000 and book publication for a first poetry collection, 48-80 pages, by a US author aged 40+. Enter by mail or online. This is an occasional contest that is not held annually.

2/21: Innovations in Reading Prize ++
Formerly February 22
Recommended free contest sponsored by the National Book Foundation awards $2,500 prizes to individuals, institutions, and collaborative programs that use innovative approaches to successfully inspire a lifelong love of reading. The foundation is looking for creative, risk-taking programs that promote a love of literature and reading as opposed to those focused on literacy or pedagogy. Open to US citizens only. Submit a completed nomination form and reference letter(s) (two if self-nominating; one if nominated by someone else). Enter by email or by mail.

2/28: California Federation of Chaparral Poets Youth Contest +
Neutral free contest for California students in grades 7-12 awards prizes up to $50 in each of 6 categories for poems 20 lines maximum. Categories are Junior (grades 7-9), Senior (grades 10-12), Light Verse, and three themed contests: "Day and Night", "Youth's View of Humanity", and "I Remember". No simultaneous submissions.

2/29: Sheree Fitch Prize for Writing by Young People +
Formerly November 30
Neutral free contest awards C$100 for unpublished poems by youth aged 18 and under who were born in or are current residents of New Brunswick (Canada), or are members of the Writers' Federation of New Brunswick. Enter by mail or email. Maximum 2 poems, 100 lines 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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Last Call!
Friends of Acadia Nature Poetry Prize (no fee)
Postmark Deadline: January 30

Submissions are invited for the 2012 Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize. Established in 1998, this prize is awarded biennially to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. First, second, and third-place poems will be published in the Friends of Acadia Journal (print and online) and awarded cash prizes ($350, $250, $150).

GUIDELINES:
Submit up to 3 nature-based poems, each of 30 lines or fewer. Entries must be original and unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are permitted; please notify us immediately if a poem is accepted for publication elsewhere. There is no fee to enter.

Format: Submit each poem on a separate page. Include a cover sheet with your name, address, and the titles of the poems you are submitting. Do not include your name on manuscript(s).

For notification of results, include a business-sized self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). Manuscripts will not be returned. The competition results will be announced in the Spring 2012 issue of the Friends of Acadia Journal, to be mailed and published online in April.

If you wish to receive a copy of the Friends of Acadia Journal in which the first-place poem is published, include a self-addressed envelope, at least 9" x 12", with $2.00 postage attached. (This is in addition to a business-sized SASE for notification.)

Please submit your entries to: Editor, Friends of Acadia Journal, P.O. Box 45, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, editor@friendsofacadia.org. If sending via email, please include your submissions and cover sheet as a single attachment.

We're pleased to present this poem by Carl Little, First Prize Winner of the 2002 Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize.

Ten Tourists Visit Baker's Island, Maine circa 1900 by Carl Little Mason: This hurly-burly, these misshapen slabs, I can barely stomach it, yet what walls I could make. Dancer: These pink platforms by the sea! Where is my partner? Where are my slippers? Aquarellist: Hues, here, by the score, the sea calling for blues, the sky washing the horizon. College Professor: I catch my thoughts between sea beats and find Blake in a grain of granite. Geologist: I have died and gone to heaven! Oh, heart swollen by stone! Oh, ledge of eternity! Mortician: Boulders mock the symmetry of chiseled graveyard markers—no monument in this place. Naturist: Skin warmed by rock, I lie in my hidden alcove, chapel for sun worship. Composer: The sounds are chaotic Where surf slams the isle— notations for a sea symphony. Natural Historian: Only I notice rafts of eider in ocean hollows, and tide pools reveal whole worlds. Stowaway: I explore the glorious edge as the boat full of fools sails back to the mainland.

Last Call!
Grayson Books Chapbook Competition
Postmark Deadline: January 31
Prize: $500, publication of chapbook and 50 copies
Reading fee: $18, payable to Grayson Books
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 Patricia Fargnoli. A former New Hampshire Poet Laureate, she is the author of four books and two chapbooks of poetry. Her newest book, Then, Something (Tupelo Press, 2009), won the ForeWord Poetry Book of the Year Award Silver Award, the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Award from the New England Poetry Club, and an Honorable Mention in the Eric Hoffer Awards.

Please mail your entry and fee to:

     Grayson Books
     P.O. Box 270549
     West Hartford, CT 06127-0549

www.graysonbooks.com

Please enjoy this poem from The Quick and the Dead by Elizabeth Harrington, the winning chapbook in our 2010 Grayson Books Chapbook Competition.

I Lost My Favorite Shoes by Elizabeth Harrington My black strappy sandals with the two-inch heels—              The ones I wore in Paris, clicking onto Rue d'Etoile              In a light rain; The ones I wore on 6th Avenue, when I linked arms with him before he disappeared down a dark flight of stairs at the Iridium. When I slipped them on, I was someone else. When I walked in them, I was the snap                                            of white tablecloth at a sidewalk café. They have never seen inside a hospital. Or the ICU                where there are no windows                and the light is always on—                                                as if it were a gambling casino                                                or interrogation room. If my shoes were religious, they'd genuflect. If they could talk, they'd say "save me."

Closing Next Month
WB Yeats Society of NY Poetry Prize
Postmark Deadline: February 1
First prize $500, Second $250, honorable mentions. Unpublished poems in English up to 60 lines on any subject may be submitted. Each poem (judged separately) should be typed on an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet without author's name; attach a 3 x 5 card with name, address, phone, email. Entry fee is $8 for first poem, $7 each additional. Mail to: Dept WW, 2012 Poetry Competition, WB Yeats Society of NY, National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003.

Include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to receive the report. List of winners is posted on YeatsSociety.org around March 31. Winners and honorable mentions receive 2-year memberships in the Society and are honored at an event in New York on April 2. 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 to the following year. For information on our other programs, or on membership, visit YeatsSociety.org or write to us.

Please enjoy "Pilgrim at Glastonbury", the first-prize entry in our 2011 competition.

Pilgrim at Glastonbury by Ned Condini I Another day plodding through rigid winter, heavy snow falling, the solstice of the world. There's not a goldfinch pecking at red berries on the green holly, no ermine scooting by, nor silver fox under a silver moon. Nothing but ice around us, inches thick, a lashing storm that no one can restrain. Demeaned, we beg as poorer people do: how long before the welcome cries of cranes, advancing light, the chiming, floating fields— embers to warm the chill of harder trials. For often in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, & in our own despair, against our will, comes His appalling grace to rescue still. II Father, would you could journey back from death & recognize in my effort a shadow of yourself to be proud of. I go to the garden that saw you tan on the evil anvil of summer suns, your fault by baring husky muscles and back to scorching air. Then the face flayed by lupus, almost black, & through the years, to no purpose, a prayer. Maybe that Dantesque limbo is this bleak blindness befallen on those left behind. III "But you do not want to be blind: so what you love the most no one will take away. Forget yourself—that will be more than wise," a steady voice advised from paradise. "Get down to work; feed the world's famished heart." There is an abbey in England where King Arthur prayed with good Joseph of Arimathaea. Walk patiently through the heather to ruins. Dig there, and drink. In Glastonbury's silence the bush will speak with its cascade of red. IV And then a sword is pulled out of a rock, Perceval swoons, Galahad is struck down, again an island emerges from the sea, a gleaming castle blooms, a table's laid, a monk is dragged and hanged in the abbey tower, a thorn-bush in the darkness spreads its fire.

Closing Next Month
7th Annual ACCENTI Writing Contest – $1,000 Top Prize
Postmark Deadline: February 7

Accenti Magazine is pleased to announce the 7th Annual Accenti Writing Contest. First Prize is $1,000 and publication in Accenti. Second and third place winners receive $250 and $100 respectively. (All prizes stated in Canadian dollars.) Submissions welcome online and by mail. The Accenti Writing Contest is open to all writers, established and emerging, worldwide. We welcome fiction and nonfiction on any topic. For contest rules, please go to https://www.accenti.ca/writing-contest

Winning entries will be presented at the 7th Annual Accenti Awards during the 14th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival, April 18-23. Follow us on Facebook: Annual Accenti Magazine Writing Contest. See past awards presentations on YouTube.

Founded in Montreal in 2003, Accenti Magazine celebrates Italian influences on North America's cultural and literary heritage and acts as a bridge between communities. For more information, please visit www.accenti.ca.

Please enjoy this excerpt from "Moon Hill" by Nuala Ní Chonchúir. This essay won Second Prize in our sixth annual contest.

A cotton ball moon hangs over Knocknarea. I push a wider gap in the curtains and stare up at it, before turning back to Oisín's cot. I lean over the rail and scoop his breath to my nose; it is luxuriously sweet—the lovely, frightening smell of sick baby. I am so glad that Oisín, like my other three sons, was born at night. That way, all of them have the gift of seeing na daoine maithe—the good people—who will keep them safe. Superstition and its imagined cures have always kept me light. I know that charms are probably as useless as a fresh poultice on an ancient wound, but I cling to them anyway. I never cut my fingernails on Sundays; I jump in the path of black cats; I pluck luck-pennies from the ground; I place a blade of hay from each year's crib in my purse; and I don't bring lilac indoors. I lean over Oisín and unfurl the collar of his babygro. He is my last straw child; the marriage fixer. I was hoping for a girl but it was not to be; Cormac didn't care either way. Oisín sleeps. I go back to the window to look at the moon. Its pale coin suspended over the hill is a comfort and I decide that by morning Oisín will be better. For me. For himself. And for Regina, who will arrive tomorrow, expecting order. Regina steps off the train and walks the platform ahead of a gaggle of businessmen. With her red hair and blue coat she is like a kingfisher blazing through fog. "Audrey," she calls, waving her arm over her head, though she is feet away. She skitters up and we hug tightly. Regina dips her head to Oisín in his buggy. "How's my baby dumpling? It's your favourite auntie." "Your only auntie," I say. "He's not well at the moment. He has a tummy upset." "He'll be grand, won't you, pet? Better before you're twice married and once a widower. Remember granny used to say that?" She prises my fingers from the buggy handles and flounces ahead a few steps. "Look at me—I'm Audrey Fitzperfect." I trundle behind, pulling her trolley case. A single magpie swoops into the station and lands on a girder; it beaks the air and twitches while looking around, as if waiting for something. I stop and salute it madly, hoping its twin will arrive and sit beside it. Regina carries on towards the exit and I have to jog to catch up. Click for the rest of the story

Closing Next Month
Christian Poetry Contest Awards $3,000 in Cash Prizes
Postmark Deadline: February 28

The Utmost Christian Poetry Contest will pay cash prizes of US$3,000 to poets of Christian faith. First Prize: $1,000. Entry fee: $20 per poem. Click for the complete contest rules. Utmost Christian Writers Foundation is a registered non-profit society for the encouragement and support of Christian poets.

We are proud to present an excerpt from last year's winning poem.

The World is Reflected in Each Rain-Droplet Covered Leaf by Sandra Savage Easter Day: The Day of the Resurrection Procession and Solemn Eucharist Calgary, Alberta April 7, 2007 ...and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee... Collect — The Tenth Sunday After Trinity (BCP)              Let us pray. My knees fall into hollowed kneelers, sunken a hundred years of prayer, I hear all their invocations, endless litanies, join my voice to their supplications.              The peace of the Lord be with you.                           Lord, you've blessed me ninety years.                           Still I pray: not yet.              I believe in one God How many sunrises before you created man? A sunset follows each, rages crimson at its end. A death, every birth.              Do this in remembrance of me                           Lord, we all wear black. Today,                           we beseech you: no telegrams.              We are not worthy Overnight, the temperature drops twenty degrees. A goose sleeps as the pond freezes, traps it. Tracks, coyotes, will return when the goose has weakened.              he suffered death and was buried                           Lord, how do I live with milk inside                           no mouth to nurse?              grant us thy peace I feel I'm scraping char off a cremated steak, drinking corrupted water from a shattered glass. I know the utter futility of hope. Click for the complete poem

Cardiff International Poetry Competition 2012: Is Your Poetry Worth £5,000?
Entries must be received by March 2

The Cardiff International Poetry Competition awards one of the largest monetary prizes for a poetry competition of its kind. First prize is £5,000. Additional prizes are £500 for second place, £250 for third and five runners-up receive £50 each. All entries to the competition will be judged anonymously, so this is a great opportunity to have your poetry judged on its own merits.

Poems must be no longer than 50 lines long, unpublished, in English and not a translation of another author's work. Writers of all nations may enter. The competition is administered by Literature Wales with the financial support of Cardiff Council.

To download an entry form visit: www.literaturewales.org/cipc/

Judges: Sinéad Morrissey, Patrick McGuinness and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch (filter judge)

Entry fee: £6.00 per poem (we accept checks, postal orders and credit cards)

Address: Cardiff International Poetry Competition 2012, P.O. Box 438, Cardiff, CF10 5YA, Wales, UK

Email: post@literaturewales.org

Tel: +44 29 2047 2266

Literature Wales is the national company for the development of literature in Wales. Literature Wales includes the Welsh Academy, the national Society of Writers in Wales, and Ty Newydd Writers' Centre.

Please enjoy the winning poem from our 2011 competition:

The Naked Quaker and the Burning Boy by Malcolm Watson Who has heard these days of Mr Poole RA, the coming man of 1843, whose painting of a loony prophet with a pan of burning charcoal on his head denouncing sin and calling for repentance in the plague of 1665 led to comparisons with Reynolds' Ugolino, Poussin's Plague at Ashdod, even Monsieur Géricault's floating coffin of the dying and the dead? Not many, now. And who remembers the gawky boy, new to the platform of Blast Furnace Number Two, the second tapping of the shift, sweating and tired in his heavy coat amid the deafening roar and arcs of sparks and streams of golden light too hot to look upon, shooting faster than a waterfall, filling to overflowing the forty-ton ladle, spilling lava down its sides? A foreman yells at him to break the dam of sand to turn the flow along another trough towards an empty pot. He does it with a common bar he hadn't got warmed-up and doesn't understand what happens when the stream explodes and showers molten metal like a solar flare into the air and down upon his head, igniting both his woolly cap and hair. The whole shift laughs and points and holds their sides and people leap out of the way as he runs by, flailing at his flaming head and shoulders, trailing the acrid whiff of burning hair. Somebody shouts "I am the God of Hell Fire!" and labourers and gaffers cry laughing as he weeps, yanking hanks of smoking locks and feeling blisters rising on his scalp. And who remembers the ironworks, founded as folk viewed the painting, now that there's only wind and landscaped hills where once were furnaces and pattern shops and rolling mills, ore terminals and power plants and cooling towers and soaking pits, and cranes and engine sheds and bays for pig iron stocks? "Who can forget the intense force of the impression he received on seeing Solomon Eagle, the naked Quaker, prophesying evil tidings every day, the greatest history painting in English art to date?" Who can remember Mr Poole RA? Who remembers the burning boy?

Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival Poetry & Short Story Contest
Postmark Deadline: March 16

The Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival is currently accepting previously unpublished poetry and short story manuscripts for its 2012 Poetry & Short Story Contest. The contest is open to any living writer writing in English anywhere in the world. Entries will be juried by accomplished writers and poets. Two jurors will be selected. One juror is chosen to evaluate the poetry entries and a second juror is selected to jury the short story entries.

The 38th Annual Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival takes place July 5-8, 2012 at Twin Lakes Park, near Greensburg, PA. Winning entries will be on display at the Festival where up to 150,000 patrons will have the opportunity to read the works.

All work must be original, not having been entered in any previous Poetry & Short Story Contest sponsored by the Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival. There is no limit to the length of poems. Each author may enter one story; each poet may enter two poems. All genres are accepted. Awards for both contests total $1,000.

Entry fees are as follows:

• $10 for up to two (2) poems
• $10 for one (1) short story
• Writers may enter both contests for a $20 entry fee

Please direct any questions to Adam J. Shaffer via email at info@ArtsAndHeritage.com or by calling 724-834-7474. For more information, visit the Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival website, www.ArtsAndHeritage.com. For an official application form, please see http://www.artsandheritage.com/Downloads/PSS%20Application%202012.pdf

Please enjoy this First Place poem from our 2011 competition.

Any Other Street by Francine Witt would be made of asphalt, black pitch pillowing in the August heat. But this street is woven with bones and ash and anything else leftover when a dream dies. It's the kind of street you try to avoid when mapping out directions. Once, for a party, I entered a destination, and no matter how many alternate routes I tried, this street kept coming up. So all right, I thought, I have a dream or two I don't mind killing. I'll just dress in them that day. But how was I to know that life dreams are like night dreams, and you don't get to choose. So, even though I was willing to give up winning the lottery or having my own reality show, this street wouldn't be interested. It would want that secret dream I had tucked away down in my shoes. That dream of having one simple day after another. It's not much of a dream, but it's the one I really want. A quiet sleep followed by not much of a morning. Coffee going down to reliable cold. And I wanted to keep that dream so much, I thought about turning back. Who needs another party after all? But, before I could turn around, that hidden dream, maybe curious, maybe up for a challenge, started to itch my feet, made me keep on walking, maybe just to see how far this street would really go.

Writecorner Press Poetry Prize
Postmark Deadline: March 31
First Place $500; Editors' Choices, $100.
Seeks the best unpublished poems of 40 lines and under. 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 last punctuation mark" by Catherine Moran, winner of our 2011 Writecorner Press Poetry Prize. Writecorner Press is pleased to nominate Catherine's winning poem for a Pushcart Prize.

The last punctuation mark by Catherine Moran My insignificance overwhelms me. One day I will slice through the air feet first, and blue molecules will conveniently close up, and no trace of me will be left. How easily people will go on to the drug store, and beauty shop, and Farmers' Market without giving me a second thought. Sometimes I remember for a fleeting second, my great aunt, Eulalia, just for another tribute to her staunch personality. Such a powerful old moniker. Memories have the staying power of spring pollen. A new generation, a blast of rain and they are erased. None of these thoughts will prevent me from carving out my own niche, even polishing up the furniture a bit. I've collected a bushel of layered words to stuff the cracks of my walls and keep out all those boring ideas. I've pasted pictures of my wandering children on the ceiling without return addresses. I've sung songs weaving a blanket strong enough to keep mediocre critics at bay. All will be burned with little thought when I leave. And that torch may be the brightest evidence of a gate-crasher who stayed after the party to pick up the confetti. I will be jettisoned into a mute universe in a combination of sparks and carbon. If a charred piece escapes, I hope it is not a stanza, or a phrase, or even a word. I hope it is just a comma.

Alabama Writers' Conclave (AWC) Contest at www.alabamawritersconclave.com
Postmark Deadline: April 20

Prizes awarded in July: $100, $75, $50 and $25 plus online publication (optional) of first through fourth place winners in the Alalitcom at www.Alalit.com. Categories and maximum word limit: Fiction (2,500), Short Fiction (1,000), Juvenile Fiction (2,500), Nonfiction (2,500), Traditional Poem (any form, maximum 40 lines), Free Verse Poem (60 lines), Humor (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—2,000 words or 50 lines for poem), First Chapter Novel (up to 10 double-spaced pages).

Entry fee for each submission in all categories (EXCEPT Poem and First Chapter Novel): $5.00 if AWC member, $8.00 non-member. For First Chapter Novel: $10.00 if member, $12.00 non-member. For all poems: $3.00 per poem if member, $5.00 non-member. Multiple entries accepted, but you may win only one prize per category. Entries must be original, unpublished, and may not have won a money prize in any AWC contest.

Organized in 1923, the Conclave is reputedly the oldest continuing writers' organization in the United States. Members include writers, aspiring writers and supporters of the writing arts. Sharing information, developing ideas, honing skills, and receiving practical advice are hallmarks of the annual meeting (July 20-22 at the Huntsville Marriott, located on the grounds of the US Space and Rocket Center, off I-565 in Huntsville, AL.)

The Conclave nominates, for the governor's appointment, Alabama's Poet Laureate, a post currently filled by Sue Brannan Walker. Further information: www.alabamawritersconclave.org.

Please enjoy this excerpt from "Harold's Halloween" by E. Gail Chandler, the 2011 winning entry in our Humor category.

Harold mowed his lawn every day. We knew this because he lived across the street. A private property sign guarded his lakeside lot, brick house and the two car garage where he smoked, drank beer and escaped from Marilyn, his wife of forty years. He listened to Little Richard, Ricky Nelson and spent most of his days alone. But this was before the arrival of Lulu. We lived in one of those subdivisions where years ago somebody wrote rules but by mutual consent, nobody paid any attention to them. This did not please Harold and Marilyn but it worked out fine for the rest of us. When my husband, Ralph, piled up brush and tree limbs in the back yard and left them until they turned to sawdust, nobody said a word. It did prove slightly annoying when the guy down the street parked his worn out Oldsmobile in a ditch beside his house and it stayed there for twenty years but who were we to complain. After the wheels fell off, the guy had it towed away so it all worked out. But back to Lulu. Ralph met her first. On this June day, he was in the back yard working on his lawnmower. He was sitting cross-legged in the grass with a tire and rim in his lap when a white Plymouth Rock pullet wandered up and pecked at his shoe laces. He reached over and patted her and she jumped up next to the tire. Now, Ralph never was much for pets but he fell in love on the spot. Click for the complete story and other selected winning entries from 2011.

The Writer's Digest 81st Annual Writing Competition
Postmark Deadline: May 1

Year after year, the Annual Writer's Digest Competition has rewarded writers just like you for their finest work. We continue the tradition by giving away more than $30,000 in cash and prizes!

Compete and Win in 10 Categories!

• Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
• Memoirs/Personal Essay
• Magazine Feature Article
• Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
• Mainstream/Literary Short Story
• Rhyming Poetry
• Non-rhyming Poetry
• Stage Play
• Television/Movie Script
• Children's/Young Adult Fiction

Win a trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City!

Grand Prize: $3,000 cash and a trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City to meet with editors and agents. While you are there a Writer's Digest editor will arrange for you to meet with four editors or agents!

First Place: The First-Place Winner in each category receives $1,000 cash and $100 off WD Shop purchase
Second Place: The Second-Place Winner in each category receives $500 and $100 off WD Shop purchase
Third Place: The Third-Place Winner in each category receives $250 cash and $100 off WD Shop purchase
Fourth Place: The Fourth-Place Winner in each category receives $100 cash and $50 off WD Shop purchase
Fifth Place: The Fifth-Place Winner in each category receives $50 cash and $50 off WD Shop purchase
Sixth through Tenth Place: The Sixth- through Tenth-Place Winners in each category receive $25 cash

All winners also receive a 1-year Writer's Digest VIP membership

Visit http://writersdigest.com/annual for complete guidelines and to enter online.





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 30 Third Prizes will receive $10 each All winners will be invited to read at our 19th Festival at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, September 8, 2012

All prize winners will receive a prize certificate suitable for framing and a ticket to the Dancing Poetry Festival 2012. The top three poems chosen as Grand Prizes will be choreographed, costumed and recorded live in an on-stage performance at the Festival. See pictures from our 2011 Festival.

Last year's Grand Prize winners included Claire J. Baker, Elaine Christensen and Carol Frith. 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. Entries should be typed.

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.

Please enjoy "Amazing Masks" by 2011 Grand Prize Winner Claire Baker.

Amazing Masks! by Claire J. Baker There are all these masks— colorful, glistening, riveting, full of possibilities. In passing, we exchange. Your mask is now my mask, my mask now your mask. We can be each other. We can be no one who has ever lived before. A mask is a portal for escape, to hide for awhile, to dream— to dream of what? That repeating dusty dream? A dear fresh dream? A dream as yet undreamed? Wearing a new mask, you change inside & out, inside & out of yourself into another you once were and can never be again. Who were you then? Who are you now? Eagerly you slip off a mask for there is a persona you may prefer, will try it on for size, see inside & out with your all-seeing eyes. The stage of life excites you, invites you to assume an illusion, a fantasy, a mystery, a someone else, an elsewhere, a return to there, a leaving behind for here, a looking ahead & ahead. There are       all these masks.

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NOTABLE FREE PROSE CONTESTS

These free prose contests with deadlines between January 16 and February 29 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.

1/18: Orwell Prize +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly January 19
Highly recommended free contest awards prizes of 3,000 pounds in each of three categories (Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize) for the best political writing published during the preceding calendar year. Additionally, a Special Prize may be awarded at the judges' discretion. Entries may be published books of fiction or nonfiction, journalistic articles or broadcasts, or blogs. All entrants must have a clear relationship with the UK or Ireland as described in the contest rules. Submit 4 copies of one book, 4 copies each of 4-6 articles or broadcast transcripts (or a combination of the two), or 10 blog posts by a single author. The Special Prize is not a separate submission category.

1/20: RTE Radio 1 Francis MacManus Short Story Competition ++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly December 31
Recommended free contest for authors born or normally resident in Ireland awards top prize of 3,000 euros for unpublished short fiction of 1,800-2,000 words that is suitable for radio performance. One entry per person.

1/22: New York Times "Win a Trip with Nick Kristof" Contest +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly January 18
Highly recommended free contest awards college and graduate students the opportunity to go on a reporting trip in the developing world with New York Times columnist Nick Kristof. Prize includes stipend for meals, lodging and airfare. Send essay of 700 words maximum, and/or an original video of 3 minutes maximum, explaining why you should win the prize. Enter online.

1/30: RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers ++
Recommended free contest awards C$5,000 for poetry or fiction by Canadian authors under 35 with no published books. Genre alternates by year. 2012 contest is for 5-10 pages (up to 2,500 words) of previously unpublished fiction.

1/31: American Kennel Club Fiction Writing Contest ++
Recommended free contest awards top prize of $500 for short stories up to 2,000 words that feature either a purebred or mixed breed dog. No simultaneous submissions. The AKC is a well-known organization that sets the criteria for purebred show dogs, as well as advocating for animal welfare and providing information for dog owners and breeders.

1/31: Amy Writing Awards ++
Recommended free contest awards $34,000 in prizes, top prize of $10,000, for articles with a Biblical perspective that were published in secular newspapers or magazines, or on mainstream, non-religious news or e-magazine websites (no blog entries), in the previous calendar year. "Examples of issues for consideration, but not limited to these, are family life, divorce, value trends, media and entertainment character, pornography, political morality, US national interests, abortion, religion and addiction to drugs and alcohol. The biblical impact on individual character and outlook are also appropriate issues. The need for obedience through biblical truth should be evident."

1/31: Caine Prize for African Writing +++
Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest awards 10,000 pounds for published short stories by African writers, defined as someone who was born in Africa, or who is a national of an African country, or whose parents are African, and whose work has reflected African sensibilities. Up to 5 shortlisted authors receive a travel stipend. For the 2012 contest, entries must have been published between February 1, 2007 and the deadline date. Must be submitted by publisher. Send 6 copies of published story. (They prefer 6 originals but will accept 1 original and 5 photocopies.)

1/31: Danuta Gleed Literary Award +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly February 1
Highly recommended free contest awards C$10,000 for the best first collection of short fiction published by a Canadian author in the preceding calendar year. Publisher must send 4 copies to the Writers' Union of Canada.

1/31: Jack London Writing Contest ++
Recommended free contest for students in grades 9-12 awards prizes of $2,000, $1,000 and $500 for stories and essays of 2,000 words maximum (entries in both genres compete together). Entries should be submitted by the student's English teacher.

1/31: Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Thrice-yearly free neutral contest awards $100 and web publication for short fiction. The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theatre, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-20th century America. Entries should appeal to a reader with these characteristics. Submit stories of 1,000-5,000 words by email to jm@jerryjazz.com as an MS Word or Adobe Acrobat attachment. Please be sure to include your name, address and phone number with your submission. Please include "Short Fiction Contest Submission" in the subject heading of the email.

1/31: Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant +
Recommended free contest awards a $1,000 grant to an Ohio writer aged 30 and under with no published books. Submit 1-6 prose pieces (fiction or creative nonfiction), each of which should be 10-60 double-spaced pages in 12-point font. Applicants must have been born in Ohio or lived there for at least 5 years. See website for details and entry form.

2/1: Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest awards prize of $7,500 for a book of fiction by a US woman, published in the preceding calendar year. Entries may be a novel, a collection of short stories, or experimental writing. Four copies must be submitted by publisher. Sponsored by the University of Rochester's Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies.

2/1: Nelson Algren Awards +++
Formerly February 15
Highly recommended free contest awards top prize of $5,000, three prizes of $1,500, plus publication in the Chicago Tribune newspaper, for 1-2 short stories, maximum 10,000 words. Enter by mail or email. Open to US residents aged 18+.

2/1: PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship +++
Entries must be received by this date; formerly February 3
Highly recommended free contest awards a fellowship of $5,000 to an author of children's or young adult fiction. An eligible candidate is a writer of children's or young adult fiction in financial need; candidates have published at least two novels for children or young adults which have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated sufficient income to support the author. The writer's books must be published by a US publisher. Candidates must be nominated by an editor or fellow writer. Send 3 copies of outline and excerpt of 50-75 pages from current project, plus letter of nomination, list of prior publications (with reviews if available), and a financial statement.

2/5: Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award +++
Entries must be received by this date; don't enter before January 23; former deadline February 3
Highly recommended free contest awards prizes of $15,000 and publication by Penguin Group USA for unpublished or self-published novels in two categories: General Fiction and Young Adult. Enter via online form only. Contest is co-sponsored by online bookseller Amazon.com, Penguin Group USA, and the self-publishing company CreateSpace.com. Winners must be free to travel to the award presentation in June for a 3-5 night trip. See website for detailed eligibility guidelines. No simultaneous submissions.

2/14: Arvon Writing Competition ++
Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest awards 500 pounds, plus tuition to an Arvon Foundation residential writing course worth 575 pounds, for unpublished short fiction up to 2,000 words. 2012 theme is "Identity". Enter by email. The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, which sponsors the prize, is an annual directory of markets and advice for writers, similar to Writer's Digest in the US. It is published by A&C Black.

2/15: Expatriate Travel Writing Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest awards prizes up to $500 and publication on TransitionsAbroad.com for travel essays, 1,000-3,000 words, relating to one's experience living, moving, or working abroad. Enter online only. Photo illustrations are encouraged.

2/15: Moment Magazine's Publish-a-Kid Contest +
Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest from Moment, a well-known arts and culture magazine with a Jewish focus, awards publication and unspecified prizes for book reviews by children ages 9-13, maximum 500 words. Enter by email. See website for writing suggestions and the list of books which can be chosen for review.

2/29: Kenyon Review Short Fiction Contest +++
Entries must be received by this date; don't enter before February 1; former deadline February 28
Highly recommended free contest awards tuition to The Kenyon Review's one-week summer seminar and publication in the highly prestigious journal. Submit one story, 1,200 words maximum, via their online form. No simultaneous submissions. Formerly for writers aged 30 and under, as of 2012 the contest is open to all writers who have not published a book of fiction.


Login to The Best Free Poetry Contests now to view these and all our profiles of free contests.

Key to Ratings
Highly Recommended: +++
Recommended: ++
Neutral: +

All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise specified.


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CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Transformative Language Arts Conference
Entries must be received by January 31
TLA seeks proposals for their annual conference, "The Power of Words", to be held in October in the Philadelphia area. This conference brings together writers, storytellers, performers, musicians, educators, activists, healers, health professionals, and community leaders to explore how the written, spoken and sung word can bring liberation, celebration, and transformation to individuals and communities. Note that presenters must pay their own travel and registration fees.

Getting Along With Grief "Signs and Wonders" Issue
Entries must be received by February 29
The blog Getting Along With Grief is a place to share creative writing about lost loved ones and the grief process. For their next themed selection, they are looking for poetry, prose, and artwork on the topic "Signs and Wonders". Editor Ysabel de la Rosa says, "Many are the stories that tell of signs and wonders appearing after a loved one's death: a rose blooming in a blizzard, unexplainable 'coincidences', messages discovered in unlikely places, and wonders brought to us by the natural world...in short, things we cannot make up, yet present themselves both clearly and mysteriously."


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FEATURED POEMS FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS

October Maples on Broadway
by Carol Gilbertson

Despite the asphalt
stained dark by hours of rain,
trees stand on either side
like generous hosts to offer
armfuls of yellow, yellow, yellow,
as if to say Here, you will need this,
you will need this in coming days—
store up gold against that
which you cannot know.

And I look down the tunnel
of my darkening. We know
the aging body's track, consider
how to hold erosion back. But how
does a faltering mind assess itself,
how calculate what to calibrate
as words depart, as tasks escape,
and though you cup your hands
as always, you now look down
to see that reason, what you thought
you held, is slowly leaking out.

Case in point: as I write this,
I mistype: store up god, store up god.
You will need this yellow,
yellow, yellow.

Copyright 2012 by Carol Gilbertson

This poem is reprinted from her chapbook From a Distance, Dancing, which was recently published as a finalist from the 2011 Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition.


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Skulls
by Ruth Hill

To you, youth, with your skull-'n-crossbones T's,
          not all your eyes are dotted,
          nor T's crossed

having never seen your own atrocities:
          the skulls pyramid high,
          their Yoric eyes penetrating the viewer
          innocent, unpenitent,

skulls separated from their bodies,
          arms flailing like beheaded chickens,
          legs akimbo, bayonet raped.

No, you have never seen
          what you so zealously symbolize:
          the surprise of machine guns on a peaceful day.
          your mother planting flowers...


Copyright 2012 by Ruth Hill

This poem won first prize in the 2011 Anita McAndrews Award Poetry Contest from Poets Beyond Borders (formerly Poets for Human Rights).


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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

More Adults Over 55 Seek Literacy Instruction, Study Shows

The percentage of older adults enrolled in adult literacy and basic education programs has doubled since the economic downturn began in 2008, according to a study by the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing adult literacy and basic education in the nation.

ProLiteracy surveyed 950 member programs serving some 286,000 students on the participation of students aged 55 and older. Results showed that in the 2009-10 program year, individuals in this age group made up 12 percent of the student body of responding programs, a significant increase. Older adults made up just 6 percent of the students enrolled in adult literacy programs in program years 2006-07 and 2007-08, and 6.5 percent in program year 2008-09.

Senior Service America (SSAI), a nonprofit organization that provides community service and employment training opportunities for low-income older workers, contracted with ProLiteracy to conduct the research after SSAI noticed an increase in the number of older Americans needing to return to the workforce due to the downturn in the economy. SSAI also noted that many of these adults required education programs to gain skills needed to find employment in the resulting "new" economy.

"Additional research is required, but the initial findings support SSAI's position—the economic downturn is pushing older adults back into the workforce and many of them are looking to improve their literacy and English skills to help them be more employable," said David C. Harvey, ProLiteracy president and CEO. "We know from prior research that an alarming number of adults in this age demographic have severely limited reading skills and that literacy skills deteriorate as we age."

The survey showed that more than one-quarter of the adults age 55 and older currently receiving instruction are unemployed and seeking work, one-third are enrolled in a basic literacy program, and 40 percent are receiving English language instruction. Of the adults in the age cohort who left programs at the end of the 2009-10 program year, close to 1,400 had either found employment, found a better job or received a promotion, or reported that they had increased their employability skills.

Click for more information about this study.

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 here to learn more. Click to contribute.

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JENDI'S CRITIQUE CORNER

This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "Words" by Shirani Rajapakse. (Tracy Koretsky will return as the author of Critique Corner in March.)

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!

Words
by Shirani Rajapakse

Words are like raindrops.
They fall. Single and
Sublime upon the earth,
The shores and the
Stream that
Gurgles and splutters and
Tries to
Make sense.
Words join together in
Sentences of streams,
Rivers, overflowing, flowing
And flowing in roads connected,
Disconnected, passing each
Other,
Only to be joined, connected
And go on
And on.
Words flow calm and tepid,
Smooth and serene
Or hot and roaring, thundering
And screeching.
Gnashing themselves on
The rocks and dead
Foliage.
Words are holy—
The scriptures of religion.
They are the canon that tell the
Pope what to do.
Almighty, all powerful they are
More powerful than
God himself.
Words are the creator—
They made God.
They made everything possible.
They have the power to kill or
Maim, to love or hate, to admire or
Insult. Words. Soft, romantic and
Lustful. Harsh, bitter,
Revengeful.
Words hurt. Words cure.
They are the surgeon's
Tools. They cut and chop,
Disengage and defuse.
They bisect, dissect and
Resurrect.
Words explode more potent
Than bombs.
They can take away or
Legitimize a life. Prop you up or
Bring you down and
Turn you round and round.
Words—I salute you.


Copyright 2012 by Shirani Rajapakse


Critique by Jendi Reiter

A new year, a fresh start. Time to re-assess the familiar materials with which we've labored for the past twelve months, to rediscover the heart of our projects and re-commit ourselves to bringing forth what's essential. In December's Critique Corner, my colleague Tracy Koretsky presented a close reading and appreciation of some prizewinning work by our subscribers. In this month's column, Sri Lankan poet Shirani Rajapakse invites us to a similar appreciation of the writer's most basic tool—words.

In this data-overloaded culture, where words (or misspelled fragments of words) are largely disposable vehicles to convey information quickly, the poet's careful attention can be a subversive luxury. How often do we take the time required to ponder the subtle differences between words and reflect on why one is a better fit for this line of this poem?

Certainly, careless word choices can produce some howlers for contest judges. A misplaced word is like a nail sticking up from the road, causing a flat tire that stops the reader's journey. To continue the automotive metaphor, bad poems can result from tunnel vision: the author concentrated so hard on one dimension of the word, such as rhyme, that he didn't bother asking whether the word was also a fresh image or consistent with the poem's mood.

The many dimensions to consider include meaning, sound, syllable count and accents, degree of formality, historical period, and even the word's history of usage in other well-known poems...

Click to continue reading this critique

This poem and our critique appear in full at:
http://www.winningwriters.com/resources/critiques/2011/urc_1201rajapakse.php

See all of our poetry critiques.


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COMING IN OUR FEBRUARY 15 NEWSLETTER
Winners of the Ninth Annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest Announced
The Best Free Poetry Contests for February 16-March 31