Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Richard J. Margolis Award

The Richard J. Margolis Award of Blue Mountain Center combines a one-month residency at Blue Mountain Center with a $5000 prize. It is awarded annually to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom, and concern with social justice. The award was established in honor of Richard J. Margolis, a journalist, essayist and poet who gave eloquent voice to the hardships of the rural poor, migrant farm workers, the elderly, Native Americans and others whose voices are seldom heard. He was also the author of a number of books for children.

Blue Mountain Center is a writer and artists colony in the Adirondacks in Blue Mountain Lake, New York.

No Entry Fee

To Apply

Applications should include at least two examples of the writer's work (published or unpublished, 30 pages maximum) and a short biographical note including a description of his or her current and anticipated work. Please send three copies of these writing samples. Samples will not be returned.

Send applications to:

Richard J. Margolis Award of Blue Mountain Center
c/o Margolis & Bloom
535 Boylston St., 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02116

Deadline: July 1, 2009

The award winner will be announced in November.

To learn more about the Richard J. Margolis Award and the Blue Mountain Center, go here.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Scholarship: DePaul Summer Writing Conference

DePaul Conference Writing Contest

DePaul Summer Writing Conference
July 17-19
Loop Campus

Submit up to three poems, one piece of creative nonfiction (10 pgs. or less), or one short story (10 pgs. or less) for the chance to win a scholarship to DePaul’s Summer Writing Conference and the opportunity to read at the Chicago Public Library’s Pritzker Auditorium

No entry fee; one winner chosen in each genre; full scholarship ($250 value)

Conference will include poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction craft classes, panels, and readings by professors from DePaul University, Columbia College, and Northwestern University. To read the full conference schedule, go here.

Please send submissions to Chris Green, cgreen1(at)depaul.edu (replace (at) with @)
by June 22, 2009 (E-mailed notification of the winners to all who submitted during the last week of June)

Friday, May 22, 2009

Chapbook Competition: Black Lawrence Press

Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or short stories. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and twenty-five copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.


CONTEST GUIDELINES

Please make sure that your submission package includes the following:

-A cover letter with brief bio and contact information including your e-mail address(es)

-An acknowledgments page for publications in which the poems/stories first appeared (if applicable)

-A contest entry fee of $15.00 IMPORTANT: please make out check to Dzanc Books (not Black Lawrence Press)

-A table of contents page

-Your manuscript (16-36 pages long) with numbered pages.

Deadline:

There are two deadlines for this award: May 31 and October 31.

Send manuscript materials and contest entry fee to:

BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS
The Black River Chapbook Competition
8405 Bay Parkway, C8
Brooklyn, NY 11214

About the judges:

Black Lawrence Press does not use interns to screen entries. All entries are judged by the editors.

Notification:

Because of the high volume of entries received, all finalists and semi-finalists will be announced on the Black Lawrence Press website. All finalists for the spring competition will be announced by July 31st. All finalists for the winter competition will be announced by December 31st. Winners will be announced shortly thereafter.

Other Notes:

We do not currently accept electronic submissions for this prize.

Please do not include a manuscript-sized SASE; all manuscripts will be recycled. Include a valid e-mail address so that we may contact you when finalists are announced.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but you must notify Black Lawrence Press immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere for publication.

All finalists will be considered for standard publication.

The $500 award amount will begin effective Spring 2009 competition. Award winners from previous competitions will be awarded $300, as per the guidelines during those submission periods.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Call for Submissions: The Rat's Ass Review

Call for submissions: New online journal seeks poems

The Rat's Ass Review.

Read the guidelines here.

Send your submissions to rats.ass.review(at)comcast.net.
(replace (at) with @)

Editor plans to publish poetry that he likes.

No theory, no themes, just his personal taste.

Also no pay. Online only.

Poetry Contest: Alehouse Press 2009 Happy Hour Poetry Awards

Alehouse Press presents the 2009 Happy Hour Poetry Awards. $1000 Best
Poem. Four $100 Honorable Mentions. Any topic. Any form.


Deadline: July 1st, 2009.

For contest rules and writer guidelines,
go here.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Southwest Arts Conference

Safety
Sustainability
The Future is No Accident
Southwest Arts Conference 2009

The 32nd annual Southwest Arts Conference will take place August 13 and 14, 2009 at the Carefree Resort and Villas.

Do not miss the annual convening of the Arizona arts community! Perhaps now more than ever, we must make use of opportunities to learn from and network with each other, as arts colleagues from across the state.

SWAC 2009 will focus on the theme, "Safety/Sustanability/The Future is No Accident," and will address the economic crisis and its effects on the arts and education sectors, and the fact that within the tumult there are terrific opportunities. The conference will address preparedness and sustainability but move beyond, into discovering opportunity within the current economic realities and costructing a prosperous future.

Take advantage of the early-bird registration fee of $85.00 and register before June 12, 2009. After June 12, registration fees will increase o $120.00. Registration fee for full-time students is $50.00.

Registration forms and payment must be submitted by mail. Participants will not be considered registered until their completed form and payment have been received. A confirmation will be sent to registered participants.

For more information and a registration form, go here.

Call for Submissions: Packingtown Review

The editors of Packingtown Review, a journal of the University of Illinois
at Chicago, published by the University of Illinois Press, invite
submissions for its second issue to be released in 2010.
The journal publishes creative work including:
drama
poetry
fiction
creative nonfiction
literary translation

We seek submission of scholarly papers including:
interdisciplinary scholarship
literary criticism
comparative literature
critical theory
rhetorical studies
cultural studies
political theory

We also accept for consideration:
interviews
critical reviews of books, films and the arts in general
genre-bending work that explores or challenges form
graphic art and photographs

Whether scholarly or literary, we welcome edgy, fresh writing that may be
experimental or that explores boundary crossings of/between genre(s) and
form(s). What does it mean when poetry and prose are indistinguishable?
What is lost – or found – in translation? When literary form is fluid,
what happens to the relationship between art and criticism? Between the
creative and the scholarly?

Please send up to 8,000 words (excerpts of longer works are acceptable) of
prose (or genre-bending pieces), 40 pages of drama, or 3 to 5 poems (no
more than 10 pages) to:

Packingtown Review
UH 2027 M/C 162
University of Illinois at Chicago
601 S. Morgan
Chicago, IL 60607

Deadline: Review of submissions for the second issue continues through
September 1.
Response time is approximately three months. You will find more information and guidelines here.

Email us at: editors (at) packingtownreview.com
(Replace (at) with @)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Grants for Arts Writers

GRANTS FOR ARTS WRITERS

Online application form opens — Monday, April 27, 2009
Application Deadline — Monday, June 8, 2009

The Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program supports individual writers whose work addresses contemporary visual art through grants ranging from 3,000 to 50,000 USD.

Writers who meet the program’s eligibility requirements are invited to apply in the following categories:

* articles
* blogs
* books
* new and alternative media
* short-form writing

We regret that due to legal constraints we can only fund U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and holders of O-1 visas. For guidelines and additional eligibility requirements, please visit www.artswriters.org.

Call for Submissions: Squid Quarterly

Online Journal Seeks Submissions: Squid Quarterly

Squid Quarterly, a brand new online journal of the Short (short-shorts, microfiction, prose poetry, flash fiction) seeks submissions for its first issue, slated for publication at the end of June/beginning of July, 2009.

Please send us previously unpublished work of no more than 1,000 words by June 1st, 2009 to submissions(at)squidquarterly.com (replace (at) with @). Electronic submissions only, please!

We welcome multiple submissions of up to 4 shorts (poetry or fiction), and simultaneous submissions, but please let us know immediately if a piece you’ve submitted is accepted for publication elsewhere.

Please send your material as attachments in .doc format, and include a brief cover letter/bio in the body of your email.

Our tastes are eclectic, so there are no specific guidelines about theme, subject matter, or narrative style. We’re simply looking for the best short work out there.

If you have questions, please direct them to couture(at)squidquarterly.com (replace (at) with @)

We nominate for the Pushcart Prize, and publish a year-end print anthology of the best work from each of our online issues.

Call for Submissions: The New Verse News

Online Journal Seeks Current Events Poetry

THE NEW VERSE NEWS covers the news and public affairs with poems on issues, large and small, international and local. It relies on the submission of poems (especially those of a politically progressive bent) by writers from all over the world.

The editors update the website every day or two with the best work received.

See the website at http://www.newversenews.com for guidelines and for examples of the kinds of poems THE NEW VERSE NEWS publishes. Then paste your submission and a brief bio in the text of an email (no attachments, please) to nvneditor(at)yahoo.com (replace (at) with @).

Write "Verse News Submission" in the subject line of your email.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Call for Submissions: Skulls and Crossbones

Call for Submissions

Skulls and Crossbones

A collection of short stories that features women pirates in any setting, any time period.

Editors: Andi Marquette and R. G. Emanuelle.
Publisher: Mindancer Press (Bedazzled Ink), print and ebook editions

Stipulations:

No longer than 7000 words; no shorter than 4000 words
Will consider original and previously published stories.
$35 per story, paid after contract is signed. Story rights revert back to authors 18 months after date of publication. Each contributor will receive one print copy as well as one ebook copy of the anthology.

GLBTQ/heterosexual characters are welcome BUT EACH STORY MUST FEATURE A WOMAN PIRATE, either as the main character or the focus of the story (e.g. another sailor on the ship who hates the woman pirate and through his/her eyes, we observe the woman pirate). Again, the main character or the focus of the story MUST BE A WOMAN PIRATE. We will consider main characters that identify as transgendered (male to female), but that identity must figure prominently in the story as a driving force and/or something that speaks to the character’s experience as a woman pirate.

Extra caveat: The focus of the story cannot be a romantic hook-up/sex/erotica. Sex, eroticism, and romance may be part of the story (as long as they fit within the story’s overall plot), but they cannot be the reason for the story or the driving force of the story. We want stories that feature adventure, intrigue, antiheroines/heroines, battles (epic, personal, or small-scale), something to be accomplished/overcome, vengeance, trickery, thievery, and/or assorted banditry and outlaw behavior.

Absolutely NO stories that feature acts of pedophilia, incest, bestiality, or rape.

Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2009

Final selections will be made by October 1, 2009, with publication tentatively slated for January 2010

To submit your story, send as an email attachment in RTF format, double-spaced to pirateanthology(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @)

Please include your name, pen name (if applicable), mailing address, email address, story title, and word count on the first page of your submission.

If you have questions, drop us a line at pirateanthology(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @)