Call for Essays on "Bad" books: American Book Review

American Book Review Call for Submissions - Bad Books

Richard Ford once said that it takes as much effort to produce a bad book as a good book.

And as disheartening as that sounds, what Ford’s assertion might raise, and what most everyone who has attempted the task of a book-length work already knows, is the notion that effort alone does not ensure a book’s success, and that there are probably more ways for a good book to be overlooked than a bad book to never make it into print.

That said, what constitutes a bad book? Is it an overrated “good” book? Can an otherwise good author produce a “bad” book? Is the badness in style, in execution? Or is it in theme or outlook?

In the spirit of such focuses as "100 Best Last Lines of Novels," "Why Teach Creative Writing?" and the most recent "Fiction’s Future," American Book Review seeks entries for consideration in an upcoming “Bad Books” focus. Whether it’s a novel, memoir, collection of poems, how-to or self-help book, select a book that you think belongs on the “Bad Books” list and accompany it with a 250-word essay illustrating just what’s bad about it.

Submissions are due by Nov. 1, 2009

Word count: 250 words

American Book Review
School of Arts & Sciences
University of Houston-Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, TX 77901

361.570.4101

Poetry Contest: Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College

THE POETRY CENTER AT PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE is pleased to announce a contest to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding The American Voice in Poetry: the Legacy of Whitman, Williams, and Ginsberg.

We are looking for poems rooted in the literary tradition that honors place, voice, and specificity. The winners will be invited to read their poems at a book launch for the anthology of winning poems to be held on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Poetry Center.

Contest Rules:

Two poems per person will be accepted for consideration.

Two copies of each poem should be submitted with name, address, phone number, and email on one copy of each poem. Poems should be no more than two manuscript pages.

PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT POEMS THAT IMITATE POEMS BY WALT WHITMAN, ALLEN GINSBERG AND WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS.

Only unpublished poems may be submitted to this contest.

Deadline: November 15, 2009

Please include SASE for list of winners. Winners will be contacted by email or by phone, if email is not available.

Please do not call our office in reference to the contest.

Send poems to:

Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Executive Director
Poetry Center
Passaic County Community College
On College Boulevard
Paterson, New Jersey 07506.

Our website

Arthur Edelstein Prize for Short Fiction

SHORT STORY CONTEST: Arthur Edelstein Prize for Short Fiction 2009

THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS AWARD:
Arthur Edelstein passed away late in the summer of 2003. He spent most of his life teaching, and, particularly during his last two decades, encouraging fiction writers to perfect and value their craft. Those of us who knew him and studied under him, benefited not only from his knowledge, but from his patience and his humanity.

WE FELT IT MIGHT HELP SUBMITTERS IF WE ARTICULATED THE ELEMENTS WE CONSIDER DURING THE PROCESS OF JUDGING THE STORIES:

A successful story requires technical fluency (good writing), a well-rendered and engaging concept, and satisfying structure (beginning, middle, end) all of which work together to produce an artistic result greater than the sum of its parts.

Sponsored by writingsite.com.

Eligibility:
Previously unpublished short stories, 6000 words maximum
All writers, published or unpublished, writing in English

Prize:
One prize of $1000.00 will be awarded to the winner
Deserving stories will receive Honorable Mention

Deadline: October 31, 2009

The winner will be announced on-site on March 31, 2010

The winning story will appear on-site as our short story feature for May 2010

Submissions:

Manuscripts will be accepted only during the month of October 2009 by USPS

Entries remain the property of the author and may be submitted elsewhere

Guidelines

Manuscripts must be printed on white paper, one side only, double-spaced, 12 point font minimum, with pages numbered consecutively

Manuscripts must include Title Page with author name, mailing address, and e-mail address (if applicable). Author name should not appear on ms. pages

All manuscripts must have an October 2009 postmark

Send to:

writingsite.com

ATTN: Short Story Contest

P.O. Box 93

Pomfret Center, CT 06259

Include a 10.00 reading fee, check made out to The Arthur Edelstein Literary Fund, Inc.

Manuscripts will not be returned

Final judging will be done by an independent reader

In the event that an insufficient number of submissions is received to make the contest viable, entrants will be notified and entry fees will be returned

Call for Submissions: The Ambassador Poetry Project

Call for Submissions: The Ambassador Poetry Project

The Ambassador Poetry Project, a new online journal featuring poetry from and about Michigan and Ontario, is seeking submissions for the December and March issue.

To submit, please see the guidelines

Fiction or Nonfiction Contest: Flyway

Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment “Notes from the Field” Contest

Do questions of environment play a role in your writing? Have you discovered hidden or submerged evidence of the natural world in cityscapes and urban landscapes? Do you find yourself writing short stories and personal essays that have a focus on place, landscape, and the environmental imagination? If so, please submit your prose to Flyway’s “Notes from the Field” Contest: Making sense of the environment through short stories and creative nonfiction.

SUBMIT: Prose (Short Fiction or Creative Nonfiction) that demonstrates an environmental approach and interest.

WORD LIMIT: 5,000 words or less.

AWARD: $500 prize, plus an “America the Beautiful” National Parks pass (valued at $80). Winning piece will be published in Flyway: A Journal of Writing and Environment.

READING FEE: $10 per entry, or $24 for entry and two-year subscription. (Make check payable to Flyway.)

DEADLINE: October 15, 2009, postmark deadline

SUBMIT TO:

“Notes from the Field” Contest (Please specify “fiction” or “nonfiction” on your entry.)

Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment
MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment
Iowa State University
206 Ross Hall
Ames, IA 50011

Poetry Contest: The Rondeau Roundup

Autumn Rondeau Contest

No Entry Fee!

The Rondeau Roundup is looking forward to fall colors, warm sweaters, and mellow sips of cider by the fireplace. To welcome in Fall 2009, the Rondeau Roundup blog is having a contest for the best rondeau on the topic of AUTUMN submitted by October 2, 2009.

Contest Rules:

Only one rondeau may be submitted per person. No entry fee. Top five rondeaus will be published on the blog. The first place rondeau will also receive a $35 gift certificate from Amazon.com

For this contest, I'm looking for rondeaus that follow the standard definition, as given on poets.org

"The rondeau’s form is not difficult to recognize: as it is known and practiced today, it is composed of fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each, divided stanzaically into a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The rentrement consists of the first few words or the entire first line of the first stanza, and it recurs as the last line of both the second and third stanzas. Two rhymes guide the music of the rondeau, whose rhyme scheme is as follows (R representing the refrain): aabba aabR aabbaR."

Examples of the form: "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

No other poetic form will be accepted for this contest. Non-rhyming rondeaus can be entered, but the blog moderator's preference is for rhymed and metered rondeaus.

To enter, send a single rondeau on the topic of AUTUMN to:

rondeauroundup(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @) by October 2, 2009.

Call for Poetry Film and Video: Split This Rock

Call for Poetry Film and Video

Deadline January 15, 2010

Split This Rock invites poets, writers, artists, activists, dreamers, and all concerned world citizens to submit original poetry films or videos for the 2nd Split This Rock Poetry Festival, to be held March 2010.

We are looking for artistic, experimental, and challenging film/video interpretations of poetry that explore critical social issues. Selected work will be screened during the Split This Rock Poetry Festival film program.

Entries can be up to 15 minutes long.

The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2010. See the guidelines and entry form for full details and submission requirements.

Guidelines

Entry Form

Fiction and Poetry Book Contest: Prairie Schooner

The Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series welcomes manuscripts in poetry and fiction from all living writers, including non-US citizens, writing in English. Both unpublished and published writers are welcome to submit manuscripts. Writers may enter both contests. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but we ask that you notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted for publication somewhere else.

Winners will receive $3000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press. One runner up in each category will receive a $1000 prize.

For information and a complete set of guidelines, please see our website

Manuscripts should be mailed with a postmark between January 15th and March 15th, 2010 to:

Prairie Schooner Prize Series
Attn: Fiction or Poetry
201 Andrews Hall
PO Box 880334
Lincoln NE 68588-0334

Any questions, please send an email to:

Managing Editor James Engelhardt at jengelhardt2(at)unl.edu or

Prize Book Series Coordinator Cody Lumpkin at psbookprize(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @).

Magnetic Poetry Site

Want to have some fun creating your own magnetic poems online? Check out this site. You can create poems, display your poems, and read the work of other contributors.

To play, go here.

Fiction and Poetry Contest: The Mississippi Review Prize

The Mississippi Review Prize

Awarding $1,000 each in fiction and poetry and publication in the print issue of Mississippi Review


Contest deadline October 1, 2009

Our annual contest awards prizes of $1,000 in fiction and in poetry. Winners and finalists will make up next winter's print issue of the national literary magazine Mississippi Review. Contest is open to all writers in English except current or former students or employees of The University of Southern Mississippi. Fiction entries should be 1000-5000 words, poetry entries should be three poems totaling 10 pages or less. There is no limit on the number of entries you may submit.

Entry fee is $15 per entry, payable to the Mississippi Review.

Each entrant will receive a copy of the prize issue.

No manuscripts will be returned. Previously published work is ineligible. Contest opens April 2. Deadline is October 1. Winners will be announced in late January and publication is scheduled for May next year. Entries should have "MR Prize," author name, address, phone, e-mail and title of work on page one.

Key dates:
Contest starts: April 1, 2009
Postmark deadline: October 1, 2009
Winners announced: Jan 2010
Issue publication: April 2010

Send entries to:
Mississippi Review Prize 2010
118 College Drive #5144,
Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406-0001

Beginning Fiction Writing Class

Beginning Fiction Writing

I will be teaching a four-hour class on the basics of fiction writing on Sat., Sep. 19, 2009. We will cover plot and conflict, creating interesting characters, writing believable dialogue, the use of setting, and more. We will also discuss submission procedures and overcoming the terror of the blank page. There is a $2.00 supply fee for resource materials payable to the instructor at the start of class.

The details:

Fee: $35.00 Peoria residents; $40.00 non-residents
Time: 12:30--4:30 p.m. with short 15-minute break mid-afternoon
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009
Location: Rio Vista Recreation Center, 8866 W. Thunderbird Rd., Peoria, AZ
Class Code: 54456
Tel Register: 623-773-7137
Online

Fiction Contest: Marguerite McGlinn Prize

Philadelphia Stories is pleased to announce
the Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction

Award $1,000
Judge: Elise Juska, author of One for Sorrow, Two for Joy; The Hazards of Sleeping Alone; and Getting Over Jack Wagner.

Special Contest Submission Guidelines:
Previously unpublished works of fiction up to 8,000 words.

There is a $10 reading fee for each story submitted (all entrants will receive a one-year subscription to Philadelphia Stories).

Multiple submissions will be accepted for the contest only. Simultaneous submissions are also accepted; however, we respectfully request that we be notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Authors currently residing in or originally from the United States are eligible.

Submission period: June 15, 2009 to October 15, 2009.

Submit your story online here

The winning story will be published in the Winter 2009/2010 issue of Philadelphia Stories. Submissions will only be accepted via the website.

Philadelphia Stories complies with the ethical guidelines for contests set forth by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. All entrants will receive a complimentary one-year membership to Philadelphia Stories.

Call for Submissions--Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies

Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary journal of scholarship, creative work, and personal essays.

Frontiers seeks creative writing that critically engages issues of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and place. We are interested in all kinds of creative work from poetry to short fiction to personal essays.

All correspondence, including submissions, should be addressed to:

Editors
Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies
Department of History
Arizona State University
P. O. Box 874302
Tempe, AZ 85287-4302

Email:

frontiers (at) asu.edu (Replace at with @)

480-965-4787/3876
Fax: 480-965-0310

Deadline: Ongoing

Poetry Contest: Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred

Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred

What is poetry of the sacred?

Poetry 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.

Contest Guidelines

Deadline for submissions: Received by December 31, 2009.

First Prize, $500; Three Honorable Mention Prizes, $100 each.

Winning Poems will be published in The Merton Seasonal, a publication of scholarly articles about noted spiritual leader Thomas Merton and will be posted on the Merton Institute web site

Only ONE unpublished poem type written in English may be submitted.

Please limit the poem to no more than 100 lines.

Type your name, address, phone number, FAX number, email address, and the title of your poem on a cover page. Attach (1) one copy of your titled poem to the cover page.

Submit your poem on a page with no identifying information. All identifying information should be on your cover page.

If you are submitting your poem via email, the poem must be sent as an attachment saved in Word 2003. Any other format will not be accepted.

Submit poem to:

Merton Institute

2117 Payne Street

Louisville, KY 40206

Or email to:
vhurst(at)mertoninstitute.org (replace (at) with @) as a Word 2003 document attachment.

No Faxed entries will be accepted.

No poems will be returned.

Poems will be judged on literary excellence, spirit
ual tenor, and human authenticity.

Winners will be announced by April 1, 2010. Please visit the Institute website for contest results.

All contestants will be notified via email of the contest results.

Fiction or Poetry Contest: Black Warrior Review

The Fifth-Ever Fiction and Poetry Contests

Black Warrior Review is proud to announce the Fifth-Ever Poetry and Fiction Contests. This year's contests will be judged by Larissa Szporluk and Brian Evenson, respectively.

All entries must be postmarked or submitted online by October 1, 2009. Winners in each genre will receive $1,000 and publication in the spring/summer issue.

Send your entry to:

Fiction Contest or Poetry Contest
Black Warrior Review
Box 862936
Tuscaloosa, AL 35486

Each entry must include name, phone number, and email on cover sheet only, as well as SASE and reading fee.

Reading Fee: $15 per short story (up to 7500 words) and $15 per group of up to 3 poems.

Make checks payable to The University of Alabama. All contestants will also receive a complimentary one-year subscription. That's $1 less than ordering by conventional means.

Black Warrior Review only considers previously unpublished work. Finalists in each category will receive notation in the Spring 2009 issue and are also considered for publication.