Friday, January 29, 2010

Travel Writing Contest: Transitions Abroad

Guidelines for the 2010 Expatriate Writing Contest

TransitionsAbroad.com invites you to enter its 2010 Expatriate Travel Writing Contest.

Professionals, freelancers and aspiring writers are invited to write articles which describe their experience living abroad. Often your experience abroad may be extended by working or studying in the host country, so living, working, and studying abroad are often inextricable, and we are interested in these aspects as well.

Making the move to live abroad is for many the ultimate transition — often the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, in other cases the result of chance and circumstance. We are seeking inspiring articles which also provide in-depth practical descriptions of your experience moving and living abroad, including discussions of immigration, personal and family life abroad, housing, work, social interactions with the natives, food, culture, study, language learning, and potential prejudices encountered.

Apart from practical considerations what were the most important physical, psychological, and social adjustments necessary to integrate into the local communities? Feel free to include anecdotes about locals who may have aided in your adjustment to the physical conditions and social mores of the host community, as well as the role of expats in providing information and support.

While we welcome a good narrative, a listing, sidebar, and/or reference to the most important websites, publications, and other practical resources which have aided you in the cultural adjustment process or enhanced your life abroad is strongly encouraged to help others who may find themselves in similar situations or even similar locations. The inclusion of useful sidebars will likely help determine the winners of the contest.

In sum, we do not seek diaries, travelogues, or personal blogs, but your own perspective in which the host country remains the primary focus, such that the color and taste of the people and land remain in the foreground.

Please see the Living Abroad section of our site for some examples of the types of articles we are seeking and see our writers' guidelines for a sense of our editorial preferences.

TransitionsAbroad.com will publish the winners' entries and will provide links to the authors' website or blog if so desired.

Contest Prizes
The first-place winner's entry will receive $500, the second-place winning entry $150, and the third-place winner $100.

Any other articles selected as runners-up for publication on TransitionsAbroad.com will receive a $50 payment.

Who is Eligible
The Contest is open to professional, freelance and aspiring writers from any location around the globe.

How to Enter
Submit an original and unpublished essay of up to 1,500 words relating to your experience living, moving, or working abroad. Focus should be placed on a description of the experience abroad and not primarily on personal feelings, as the descriptions and perceptions of the author should imply the personal impact. Supporting photos in .jpg or .gif format are welcome to illustrate the experience and are considered part of the essay submission. Please read the writers' guidelines for Transitions Abroad Magazine, previous winners entries, as well as sample articles on this site for a sense of our editorial focus.

To enter the Contest, attach your essay in Word format or copy and paste it into an e-mail. Please include your full name, complete postal address, phone number, and the bio you wish to display in the body of the email and on the document. Please type "Expatriate Writing Essay Entry" in the subject description of the e-mail and send the e-mail to expatriatewritingcontest(at)transitionsabroad.com (replace (at) with @)

The Contest begins April 10, 2009, and all entries must be received by February 15, 2010. Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. will require first-time North American rights for all submissions which are accepted as contest winners and for publication. In addition, Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. will reserve the right to reprint the story in a future publication.

Editors of TransitionsAbroad.com will judge entries based upon the following criteria:
Sensitivity to the people and culture being described
Ability to engage and inspire the reader
Practical information which others can use

Winners will be chosen on or about February 22, 2010 and notified by phone, mail, or e-mail by February 28, 2010 for publication by April 1, 2010 to allow time for contact, acceptance, and international payment to writers living in remote regions of the world.

Contest Terms
There is no entry fee required for submissions.

Decisions of the judges are final. Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. is not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, incomplete, or illegible e-mail or for any computer-related, online, or technical malfunctions that may occur in the submission process. Submissions are considered void if illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error, or obtained through fraud or theft.

Submissions will be considered made by an authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners— along with any other runners-up accepted for publication— will be paid by Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. either by check or Paypal as preferred by the author. All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the Contest winners.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Call for Creative Submissions on Haiti: The Other Journal

The Other Journal seeks submissions of poetry, short fiction, and short creative nonfiction for our upcoming feature on Haiti. We are especially interested in work featuring writers of Haitian descent. We will also take an interest in creative work that represents either Haiti or scenes of natural disaster in a thoughtful way; we are not interested in pieces that simply consists of an emotional response to news coverage.

Deadline: February 1, 2010

All submissions should be sent via email to submissions(at)theotherjournal.com (replace (at) with @) with "TOJ Submission" written in the subject line. Please indicate the genre of your submission in the subject line of your email and submit your work as Microsoft Word or rich text format documents. Submissions that are pasted directly into the text of an email rather than an attached document may not be considered.

Send up to six poems or one piece of prose at a time. Fiction submissions may include short stories or self-contained novel excerpts, and creative nonfiction submissions may include personal essays or memoirs. Because we are an online journal, we take a special interest in short prose submissions, especially pieces that are less than 2,500 words. We will consider simultaneous submissions, but please indicate they have been simultaneously submitted elsewhere and let us know right away if you are withdrawing them from consideration.

Editorial statement:
The Other Journal welcomes the submission of critical essays, reviews, creative writing, and visual or performance art that encounter life through the lens of theology and culture; we seek pieces that consider the interaction of faith with contemporary life, art, politics, sexuality, technology, economics, and social justice. We are particularly interested in works which present creative, alternative views that may otherwise fall outside the margins of mainstream narratives. And although we primarily focus on perspectives within the Christian tradition, we invite dialogue with all who are interested in exploring the ongoing role of faith and spirituality in the world.

Submissions may also be considered for a print anthology from Wipf and Stock 

Friday, January 22, 2010

2010 Iowa Review Awards

THE 2010 IOWA REVIEW AWARDS
Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Brenda Hillman, Michael Cunningham, and Jo Ann Beard, judges

$1,000 to each winner
$500 to runners-up
Plus publication in our December 2010 issue

Submit during January 2010

Submit up to 20 pages of prose (double-spaced) or 10 pages of poetry (double or single; one poem or several). Work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine assuming you inform us of acceptance elsewhere.

Manuscripts must include a cover page listing your name, address, e-mail address and/or telephone number, and the title of each work, but your name should not appear on the manuscript itself.

Enclose a $20 entry fee (checks payable to The Iowa Review). All entrants receive a yearlong subscription to the magazine.

Label your envelope as a contest entry, for example: "Contest: Fiction." One entry per envelope.
Postmark submissions between January 1 and January 31, 2010.

Enclose a #10 SASE for final word on your work. Enclose a SAS postcard if you wish confirmation of our receipt of your entry.
No electronic submissions.
The Iowa Review
308 EPB
Iowa City, IA 52242

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Call for Poetry Submissions: Crab Creek Review

Crab Creek Review Call for Submissions

Special Editor's Portfolio edited by Guest Editor, Susan Rich
Theme: Ekphrastic Poetry

We begin with the visual. Ekphrastic poetry is a response in words to a painting, photograph, dance, building, sculpture, Ikea catalogue, child’s drawing, or bumper sticker. An ekphrastic poem begins with inspiration from another piece of art and with the intuitive understanding that art begets art. In a sense, the art object becomes the rough draft of the poem.

We are looking for the best ekphrastic poems, 30-lines (or less) to showcase in an upcoming issue of Crab Creek Review.

For this project, we are accepting email submissions to the email address below. To submit to this special portfolio of ekphrastic poetry, write your name and title of the submission in the subject line and then send your previously unpublished poems in the body of an email to Editor, Susan Rich at:

duende3417(at)yahoo.com (replace (at) with @)

Please send 3-5 poems at the most.
Also, include a short bio and contact info as well.

Deadline is May 31, 2010

Monday, January 18, 2010

International Writers Fellowship: Brown University

The Brown International Writers Project is currently seeking nominations and applications for its one-year fellowship with residency. The Fellowship, supported by a grant from the William H. Donner Foundation, is designed to provide sanctuary and support for established creative writers - fiction writers, playwrights, and poets - who are persecuted in their home countries or are actively prevented from pursuing free expression in their literary art.

The Fellow will be a member of a supportive community that includes faculty members and graduate students in Brown's Program in Literary Arts and the Watson Institute for International Studies, co-sponsors of the Project. The fellowship will be accompanied by a series of lectures, readings and other events that highlight the national artistic and political culture of the writer and address the global issues of human rights and free expression. It will include a stipend, relocation funds, and health benefits. Brown will aid the writer in the visa and relocation process and provide administrative support, office space on the Brown campus in Providence, Rhode Island, and equipment.

To apply, send a letter, providing publishing history and explaining need, together with a resume, to:

Literary Arts, Box 1923
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912

Or by email to:
iwp(at)brown.edu (replace (at) with @).

Supporting letters from others would be helpful. The application/nomination deadline for the next Fellowship is February 15, 2010.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Call for Submissions: Flashlight Memories

Flashlight Memories

Silver Boomer Books seeks submissions for an anthology tentatively identified as Flashlight Memories. Submissions of prose and poetry should be submitted pursuant to these guidelines by March 15, 2010.

The focus of the anthology is childhood reading. What events in your childhood led you to become a reader for life? Did you crawl between the sheets with a book and a flashlight? Did a friend or family member influence you? What books drew you into the world of literature? Send poetry or prose, and consider our earlier anthologies, Silver Boomers, Freckles to Wrinkles, and This Path for examples of style. Follow the guidelines set out later on this page.

How We Want It:
Electronic submission is preferred, with the manuscript or poem pasted into the body of the email. We are giving first preference to poetry of less than 50 lines, and prose not exceeding 1500 words. Poetry shorter than 12 lines tickles the editor in charge of formatting and stands a good chance of being used if the quality's there. We ask for one-time rights. If the submission has been previously published, cite each prior publication. If prior publication history is not included (including "This piece has not been published") the piece will not be considered. We require that a 50-100 word biographical sketch, written in third person, be included with the submission. See the SilverBoomers.com authors page for sample bios. Entries not meeting this requirement will not be considered.

Silver Boomer Books reserves the right to edit text for grammar, spelling, punctuation and minor syntax errors -- that's what editors do. We consult with the author before making major changes.

Please don't submit material you sent previously for a Silver Boomer Book as we have that and will be contacting authors if we feel the work would fit in future anthologies.
Electronic submissions:

Email us at SilverBoomerBooks(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @)

Identify the anthology, either as "A Pinch" or "Flashlight" in the subject line.
Still on the subject line type "Submission -- Prose: Name of Entry" Substitute your title for "name of entry" and for poetry substitute "poetry" for "prose."
Do not put more than one poem or piece in one email.
In the body of the email type this information:

Your name
Your pen name if you desire to use a different name
Your mailing address
Your email address
Your telephone number
Previous publication history of your submission
Word count for prose, line count for poetry. In counting lines for poetry, start with the first line and count each line to the last including blank lines.
A 50 to 100 word biographical sketch of yourself written in 3rd person. See the Silver Boomers authors' page for style.
Cut and paste your entry into the body of the email.

Multiple submissions are welcome but must be in separate emails with all information listed above in the email with each entry.
In submitting your entry, you represent:

The work you are submitting is your work.
You have the rights to the work and have not previously conveyed exclusive rights to any other publisher.
You agree to the terms and conditions set out on this page.

Postal Mail Submissions:
Postal Mail Submissions require prior permission from

Silver Boomer Books
3301 S 14th Suite 16 - PMB 134
Abilene, Texas 79605

Payment is $5 for poetry and $10 for prose plus a contributor's copy. If you label it prose but we think it's poetry, we'll pay the poetry rate. In addition, contributors will be allowed to purchase copies of the work at an author's price for two years following the initial release. All payments are upon publication. Your name and story/poem title will be listed on the website for two years. You will be allowed to post to the authors' blog on the Silver Boomers website so you can publicize signings and speaking engagements as well as comment on the experience.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Call for Submissions: Cezanne's Carrot

Cezanne’s Carrot has reopened for submission: Current needs: fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction. No poetry or visual art, please.

Complete updated (and simplified) submission guidelines, including the email addresses for submitting work, are available at the website

Please note that Cezanne’s Carrot is now a paying market!

Cezanne’s Carrot publishes high-quality literary work that explores spiritual, metaphysical, transformational, visionary, or mind-expanding themes. We are most interested in stories that push us into a transcendent realm, that give us a higher understanding of our expanding, multidimensional selves.
We look forward to reading your work!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

2010 Devil's Kitchen Reading Awards in Poetry and Prose

The 2010 Devil's Kitchen Reading Awards in Poetry and Prose

The Department of English at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and GRASSROOTS, SIUC's undergraduate literary magazine, are pleased to announce the 2010 Devil's Kitchen Reading Awards. One book of poetry and one book of prose (novel, short fiction, or literary nonfiction) will be selected from submissions of titles published in 2009, and the winning authors will receive an honorarium of $1000 and will present a public reading and participate in panels at the Devil's Kitchen Fall Literary Festival at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. The dates for the 2010 festival are yet to be determined, but usually takes place in late October/early November. Travel and accommodations will be provided for the two winners.

Entries may be submitted by either author or publisher, and must include a copy of the book, a cover letter, a brief biography of the author including previous publications, and a $15.00 entry fee made out to "SIUC - Dept. of English."

Entries must be postmarked December 1, 2009 - February 1, 2010. Materials postmarked after February 1 will be returned unopened. Because we cannot guarantee their return, all entries will become the property of the SIUC Department of English. Entrants wishing acknowledgment of receipt of materials must include a self-addressed stamped postcard.

Judges will come from the faculty of SIUC's MFA Program in Creative Writing and the award winners will be selected by the staff of GRASSROOTS. The winners will be notified in May 2010. All entrants will be notified of the results in June 2010.

The awards are open to single-author titles published in 2009 by independent, university, or commercial publishers. The winners must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must agree to attend and participate in the 2010 Devil's Kitchen Fall Literary Festival to receive the award. Entries from vanity presses and self-published books are not eligible. Current students and employees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and authors published by Southern Illinois University Press are not eligible.

Send all materials to:

Devil's Kitchen Reading Awards/GRASSROOTS
Dept. of English, Mail Code 4503
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
1000 Faner Drive
Carbondale, IL 62901

(please indicate "Poetry" or "Prose" on envelope)

For further information, e-mail grassrootsmag(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @) or call 618-453-6833.

Nonfiction Competition: The Journal

The Journal
Annual William Allen Creative Nonfiction Prize
(A competition that honors William Allen, the founding editor of The Journal)

$500 and publication of the winning essay in The Journal.

All styles, subject matter, forms welcome. New deadline for postmark of mss is January 31.

All mss will be considered for publication.
An entry fee of $10 should accompany each manuscript (make checks payable to The Journal).
Max word count is 6500 words. Include an SASE.

Send submission & entry fee to:
Nonfiction Prize
The Journal
Department of English
The Ohio State University
164 West 17th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Call for Submissions: Tidal Basin Review

Tidal Basin Review Inaugural Spring E-Issue

Reading Period & Submission Guidelines
Tidal Basin Review seeks to publish high-quality, well-crafted literature for our electronic debut! Our vision is to amplify the voice of the human experience through art that is intimate, engaging, and audacious. We do not seek shock value art, but rather work that broadens the artistic landscape.

Reading Period Inaugural Spring E-Issue:
January 1, 2010 – February 28, 2010

Submission Guidelines (for Inaugural Spring E-Issue Only)

Please send submissions of 3-5 poems totaling no more than 5 pages, one (1) short story, one (1) stand alone novel chapter or creative non-fiction piece of no more than 2,500 words, in an email attachment in doc., rtf, or .pdf format to:

tidalbasinpoems(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @) for poetry submissions and
tidalbasinprose(at)gmail.com (replace (at) @) for fiction and non-fiction submissions.

Please send work, in English, which has not been previously published. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication. We accept simultaneous submissions; however, please inform us immediately upon acceptance of your work elsewhere. Be sure to include a brief cover letter which includes your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number, as well as a brief bio with a maximum of 60 words.

Best of luck from the Basin

Poetry Competition: Bellday Poetry Prize

BELLDAY POETRY PRIZE

$2,000 PRIZE TO WINNING POET

Submission Deadline: March 15, 2010

CONTEST FINAL JUDGE: LUCIA PERILLO
Lucia Perillo has published five books of poetry, including Dangerous Life (1989), The Body Mutinies (1996), The Oldest Map with the Name America (1999), Luck is Luck (2005) and Inseminating the Elephant (2009). She has also published one book of essays, I’ve Heard the Vultures Singing (2005). She has taught at four universities and was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

Bellday Books will publish the winning book and award $2,000 and 25 copies of the book to the winning author.

Contest Rules
· Submit a manuscript of 60-90 pages of original poetry in any style in English. The manuscript must not have been published in book or chapbook, but may contain poems that have appeared in print or on the Internet. Entries may consist of individual poems, a book-length poem or any combination of long or short poems.

· Submitted manuscript must contain 2 title pages: Name and contact information should appear on first title page only. Name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript. Include a table of contents page, but do not send an acknowledgements page.

· Manuscript must be typed single-spaced, paginated and bound with a spring clip.

· Enclose an SASE for announcement of the winner. Manuscript cannot be returned.

· Postmark deadline: March 15, 2010.

· Include a check or money order for $25 reading fee, payable to BELLDAY BOOKS.

· Bellday Books reserves the right not to select an award winner, in which case all reading fees will be refunded.


CONTEST MAILING ADDRESS
Bellday Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 3687
Pittsburgh, PA 15230

Questions may be directed to:
Office(at)belldaybooks.com
*replace (at) with @)

Call for Submissions: Nebraska women poets

The Backwaters Press is now accepting submissions for The Untidy Season: An Anthology of Nebraska Women Poets through December 31st of 2010, for expected publication in Spring of 2012.

Contributors must be Nebraskan women, which includes all women born or currently residing in Nebraska. Poets who have previously lived in Nebraska for a period of not less than 10 years, will also be considered. We ask that all submissions include a brief statement describing the author’s connection to the state of Nebraska. Poetry submissions need not specifically address Nebraska issues or geography, though both are certainly welcome.

The Backwaters Press, an independent press based in Nebraska, has published numerous award-winning titles, including the anthology Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace (2003) which received two Nebraska book awards. Several poets published by the press have had poems from their books read on The Writer’s Almanac by Garrison Keillor.

Please send 3-5 previously unpublished poems (10 pages maximum) to: theuntidyseason(at)yahoo.com (replace (at) with @) .

Include a cover letter with brief bio and statement describing your connection to Nebraska. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Poems should be submitted both as an attachment (rtf, doc, or docx) and pasted in the body of the e-mail. Electronic submissions are strongly preferred; however, snail mail submissions may be sent to:

P.O. Box 8067
Omaha, NE 68108.