Friday, October 28, 2011

Writing Residency: 2012 Baltic Writing Residency

Accepting applications for the 2012 Baltic Writing Residency through December 15th, 2011. Applications can be sent via submishmash or through the post.

The BWR is a funded month-long, annual summer residency in Riga, Latvia for poets, playwrights, and writers of fiction working in English. Though, neither the writer nor their project need be connected with Latvia.

Both emerging and established writers are encouraged to apply. Recent finalists and winners range from those who have yet to conceive of their first manuscripts, to writers who have been finalists for the National Book Award and numbered in the New Yorker's "20 Under 40".

Joshua Cohen, last year's resident, is author of the trio of novellas, Emission, which will be published by Graywolf in 2012. He is the author of the 800-page story of the Last Jew, Witz, named one of the 10 best books of 2010 by the Village Voice. Previous winners include Salvatore Scibona, Emma Jones, and Amity Gaige.

Spouses and partners are welcome to accompany the winning writer on the residency. Details about the residency, about Riga, and about the application process can be found on the website.

Poetry Competition: Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award

Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award
$1000 Prize

Judge: A.M. Juster
Deadline: November 15, 2011
Sponsored by The Formalist

Competition Rules for the 18th annual Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award:

1.Sonnets must be original and unpublished. No translations. Writers may enter as many sonnets as they wish. Sonnet sequences are acceptable, but each sonnet will be considered individually. Entry fee: $3 per sonnet, checks payable to The Formalist. Entry fees from outside the U.S. must be paid in cash U.S. dollars or by a check drawn on a U.S. bank. Author's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available) should be typed on the back of each entry.

2.Final Judge for the 2011 competition will be A. M. Juster. The winning poem and the poems of eleven finalists will be published in a 2012 issue of Measure.

3.Entries must be sent to the address below and postmarked no later than November 15, 2011. Enclose an SASE if you would like to be notified of the contest results. Entries cannot be returned.

Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award
The Formalist
320 Hunter Drive
Evansville, IN 47711

Make all checks payable to The Formalist. Entry fees from outside the U.S. must be paid in cash (U.S. dollars) or by a check drawn on a U.S. bank.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Call for Submissions: The Cincinnati Review

The editors of The Cincinnati Review are pleased to announce that we are now accepting submissions through our online submissions manager. We accept submissions of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. To submit your work online, please visit our website.

Guidelines
The Cincinnati Review welcomes submissions from writers at any point in their writing careers. We read between September 1 and May 31. Submissions arriving during June, July, and August will be returned unread. Please note simultaneous submissions in cover letter. Our usual response time is one month.

Format
Poetry: Please submit up to ten manuscript pages at a time. Poet's name and contact information should appear at the top of every poem.

Fiction: Submissions should be under forty double-spaced pages. Include name and contact information at the beginning of the work. We do not consider genre fiction.

Nonfiction: We consider essays of all type, creative nonfiction, and reviews of new books of poetry. Submissions should be under forty double-spaced pages.
We look forward to reading your work.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Call for Submissions: New Purlieu Review

New Purlieu Review, an online publication devoted to modern life, seeks poems,
stories, essays and images for its next issue, "Desire."

Deadline extended to Oct. 31st.
Submit through our submisison manager.

Questions? Contact the editor at:

newpurlieureview(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail)

Book Contest: Sol Books

Sol Books grants one annual award for a novel and/or collection of short stories or essays. The winning entry will receive a standard royalty contract, with a $500 advance.

Finalists may also be offered a publishing contract.

GUIDELINES

* Submit at least 30,000 words of prose (fiction or nonfiction) without any identifying information appearing on the manuscript.
* Entry should be typed and double-spaced
* Entry can be of any style, form, or theme
* Portions of the entry may be previously published as long as entrant retains copyrights to the work and provides proper acknowledgements
* Entry may be simultaneously submitted; however, Sol Books must be notified if the submitted collection is accepted for publication elsewhere
* Postmark date: October 31st

WHAT TO INCLUDE

* $15 Reading Fee, payable to Skywater Publishing Company
* Completed entry form
* Complete manuscript, without any contact information

MAIL PAYMENT AND ENTRY FORM TO

Skywater Publishing\Sol Books
Prose Contest
398 Goodrich Ave
St. Paul MN 55102

Friday, October 14, 2011

Call for Submissions: Fiction International

Fiction International is the only literary journal in the United States emphasizing formal innovation and progressive politics. It features a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, indeterminate prose, and visuals by leading writers and artists from around the world.

We will consider submissions of narrative, anti-narrative and indeterminate texts but only accept submissions reflecting the current issue’s theme. For the Fall 2011 issue we will accept submissions on the theme About Seeing: Addressing the Visual Arts (cinema, video, painting, photography, etc). Our 2011 reading/submission period began September 1, 2011 and ends December 15, 2011.

All submissions, including those from agents, must be made in writing, accompanied by SASE, and mailed to:

Harold Jaffe, Editor
Fiction International
San Diego State University
Dept. of English and Comp. Lit.
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-6020 USA

Recent themes have been: DV8, Walls, The Artist in Wartime, Freaks, Animals, Abject/Outcast, and Sacred/Shamanic. You can review sample texts from these past issues to become familiar with Fiction International’s thematic focus. Visit our website for more information.

Poetry Competition: 2012 Colorado Review Prize for Poetry

2012 Colorado Prize for Poetry : $2,000 Honorarium & Book Publication

Manuscripts accepted now through the postmark deadline of January 14, 2012.

The final judge is Elizabeth Willis. Friends & students (current & former) of the judge are not eligible to compete, nor are Colorado State University employees, students, or alumni.

The winning book-length collection of poems will be published by the Center for Literary Publishing in the fall of 2012.

The $25 entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Colorado Review (to US addresses only).

Manuscripts may consist of poems that have been previously published, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.

Manuscripts must be at least 48 pages but no longer than 100 pages.
The winner will be announced by May 2012.

The Colorado Prize for Poetry adheres to the Contest Code of Ethics, as adopted by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.

To submit by mail:
1. Include two title pages: first with manuscript title, your name, address, phone number, & e-mail address; second with manuscript title only. Your name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript.
2. Do not send originals: manuscripts will not be returned.
3. Please enclose an SASE for contest results & a self-addressed stamped postcard for notification of the manuscript’s safe arrival.
4. Please make checks payable to Colorado Review.

To submit online:
1. Please note that there is an additional $3 charge to submit online. Of this, $1.11 is a credit card fee, and $1.89 goes to the tireless, good people at Submishmash who designed the program, gave it to us for free, and provide support for it seemingly 24/7.
2. The manuscript title, your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address should be in your cover letter, separate from your manuscript. Be sure your name is not anywhere in the manuscript itself.
3. Submit online here.

Questions? Please call 970.491.5449, visit our website, or send an e-mail to:

creview(at)colostate.edu (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail)

Call for Submissions of Flash Fiction: Switchback

FLASH CONTEST GUIDELINES:

Each month SWITCHBACK will provide a prompt and we want you to send us your best work inspired by that prompt. The winning entry as decided by our editors will be featured on SWITCHBACK. 

The October prompt is: "I do, always, what I must do because I cannot undo it."

Deadline: Oct. 31, 2011

• Contest submissions can be poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or even art.
• Submissions must be 500 words or under.
• Please send us only one submission per prompt.
• Please submit only previously unpublished works.
• We accept simultaneous submissions but please notify us immediately of acceptance elsewhere.
• Make sure your name DOES NOT appear on the submission itself.
• The deadline for submissions is the last day of the month.

Visit our website for more information.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Scholarships: 19th Annual Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway

Several scholarships are being offered for first-time participants of the 19th Annual WINTER POETRY & PROSE GETAWAY, January 13-16, 2012, at the Jersey Shore.

+ The Toni Brown Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by the Getaway faculty and staff, is for a poet or writer age 31 or over. Deadline: Nov. 7, 2011.

+ The Jan-ai Scholarship will sponsor two poets, writers or song writers between the ages of 18 - 30 who are residents of NJ, NY or PA. Deadline: December 1, 2011.

Winners may choose from workshops in poetry, including a special advanced section with Stephen Dunn, Beginning Your Novel, Children's Market, Writing and Publishing Your Fiction, Memoir, Creative Nonfiction and more.

The conference also includes talks, receptions, open mics, optional tutorials, a bookstore café, sunrise yoga and dancing at the Getaway Disco.

Learn more about the Getaway here.
Questions? Email Peter Murphy at:

peter(at)murphywriting.com (replace (at) with @)

ABOUT THE WINTER POETRY & PROSE GETAWAY
Not your typical writers’ conference. Join us at the 19th Annual Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, January 13-16, 2012 at the Jersey Shore. Energize your writing with challenging and supportive workshops that focus on starting new material. Advance your craft with feedback from our award-winning faculty.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Call for Submissions: 40th Annual Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture

The 40th annual Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture since 1900 will be held at the University of Louisville, February 23-25, 2012. The conference committee invites submissions by creative writers of fiction, nonfiction, and/or poetry. Submissions should be suitable for a 20-minute reading. For full consideration, submissions must be received by 11:59 PM EST on October 17, 2011.
GUIDELINES

Send an email to:

submissions(at)thelouisvilleconference(dot)com

with two attachments in pdf, rtf, or word format. The first attachment is to contain poetry or short fiction/nonfiction selections suitable for 20-minute reading. The second attachment should contain a cover page. Submitter's name to appear on the cover page only. Creative submissions may be published or unpublished works. Manuscripts cannot be returned. Full guidelines.

Call for Submissions: Rock and Sling

Rock & Sling, a journal of witness, is considering submissions in poetry, fiction, art, and creative nonfiction for its upcoming issue.

The word “Witness” means to testify: to tell the truth. The demands of the word are bracing in its charge to the writer to understand that his and her work matters not just as expressions of experiences and responses but as an active language engaged morally as well as aesthetically. To tell the truth is an act of responsibility as well as an expression of hope. To testify is an act of responsibility as well as an expression of faith.

Recent contributors include Ray Amorosi, Barbara Crooker, Christopher Howell, Kent Leathem, Nancy Mairs, Shann Ray, Jonathan Weinert, and Kelley White.

Visit our website for more details.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Call for Submissions: Ontologica

Ontologica, a Bi-annual literary magazine of art and thought is open for submissions starting 10/1/2011 to 10/31/2011. We will be accepting submissions in Non-Fiction, Fiction, Poetry and Art.


Ontologica aims to present an eclectic mix of prose and art. Ours is a journal of differing perspectives. Readers will be just as likely to encounter the Christian as the Marxist, the relative as the absolute, the liberal as the conservative in the essays we present. We want to offer material that is illuminating, challenging, and, if need be, antagonizing. Above all it must accessible. Accessibility here doesn't just mean a lack of specialized language, but a writing style that invites the reader in. Work with a philosophical slant is preferred, but not required. What is required is contemporary relevance and, more or less, general appeal. (An essay on the difference between Transcendentalist and Romantic poetry, no matter how well written, will most likely not find a home in Ontologica). Unless you lived a sublimely amazing life, no so-called creative non-fiction or memoirs.

We will include a small amount of poetry, fiction, and visual art in every issue. There is no clear-cut definition of what we're looking for in fiction and poetry, though, like non-fiction, accessibility is a good keyword. We want fiction and poetry that moves beyond simple entertainment. In the words of Robert Bly, we want work that punches a hole in the pervading culture of denial: The health of any nation's soul depends on the capacity of adults to face the harsh facts of the time. Pieces that point to the injustices of the world and reminds us of our own mortality, rather than giving us reason to ignore them, will be greeted here. Genre pieces are okay as long as, like the work of Cormac McCarthy or Robert Heinlein, the story transcends the limitations of the genre. Pieces that treat intense subjects without linguistic finesse or subtlety will not likely appear in the magazine--bring us to the battle lines without blatant preaching, childish whining, or melodrama.

All this applies equally to visual art submissions. Above all the work must have a distinct sense of subject. No ultra-modern, Jackson Pollock slapdashery. This doesn't mean we want black-and-white photos of your lawn furniture. The art we present must engage our readers, whether through shock or awe. Ontologica wants art that fantastically suggests the possible, or horrifically portrays the actual.

Non-fiction and fiction submissions should be no more than 20 pages in length. Flash fiction is generally discouraged. Please send no more than five poems. Send all submissions as attachments. For more submission information, please see our Submissions page.

Send all submissions to:
ontologicaljournal(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail)

Call for Submissions: Tawdry Bawdry

Tawdry Bawdry, a bi-monthly journal of all things sexual, is seeking submissions for our October 15th issue. Since this is our first Halloween, we are happy to go for the obvious: sexually adventurous ghosts, masquerade mishaps, zombies with an undead appetite for love... you get the picture.

As usual, our tastes run toward the unexpected. Send us poems and stories that wouldn't fly elsewhere because there is just a little too much honesty in them (and we don't mean the kind of honesty that would get you arrested in real life). Visit our website to read what we've published in the past to get a sense of what it is we are looking for.

Please send all submissions to:
submissions(at)tawdrybawdry.com (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail).

We want essays, short stories, poems, flash fiction... we'll look at it all so long as it is included in the body of the e-mail (no attachments, please) and is accompanied by a brief author bio. If you would prefer to use a pseudonym, please let us know.

Thank you for submitting!

The Editors

Call for Submissions: The Common

The Common publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and images that embody particular times and places both real and imagined: art powerful enough to reach from there to here.

Previously published authors include Rafael Campo, Ted Conover, Lauren Groff, Honor Moore, Sabina Murray, Mary Jo Salter, Jim Shepard, and Marina Tsvetaeva. Poetry submissions are closed due to a specially curated portfolio of work from South Africa in Issue 03, but will reopen in the spring. However, subscribers may continue to submit their work, in any genre, year-round.

Reading period for submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and images for Issue 03 is from September 15th through December 15st. Visit our website for more information.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Writing Workshop: Beginning Fiction Writing

I will be teaching a four-hour workshop, Beginning Fiction Writing, on October 8, 2011 at the Rio Vista Recreation Center in Peoria, AZ. We will discuss developing plot and conflict, creating interesting characters, writing believable dialogue, using  your setting as a character, overcoming writer's block, and more. Details below:


Beginning Fiction Writing
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011
            12:30--4:30 p.m. (with short break)
Rio Vista Recreation Center, 8866 W. Thunderbird Rd. (north of Thunderbird and west of the 101 Loop), Peoria, AZ
            Tel. Reg. 623-773-7725
            Register Online.

Fee: $35.00
Supply fee paid to instructor for resource materials: $2.00
Deadline to register: Oct. 8, 2011 (before 11:00 a.m.)

Call for Poetry Submissions: Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace seeks submissions
Call for Submissions: Volume 1, Issue 4 - Autumn
FOR PUBLICATION CONSIDERATION IN OUR FOURTH ISSUE (Volume 1, Issue 4) SLATED FOR DECEMBER 2011 RELEASE:

Please submit no more than three (3) of your BEST poems via SUBMISHMASH, the online submission manager,

or, if you prefer to create an audio recording of yourself reciting your poetry, send ONLY ONE (1) .mp3/.wav file attachment of NOT MORE THAN 2 MINUTES/120 seconds in total duration to:

rclever(at)blastfurnacepress.com (replace (at) with @ in sending email)


The theme for Issue 4 is poetry inspired by a song, film, or work of art. However, as always, we are happy to consider poetry outside of this theme.

DEADLINE: November 15, 2011

Fiction Competition: Ruminate Magazine 2012 William Van Dyke Short Story Prize

RUMINATE Magazine is currently accepting entries for the 2012 William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. $1000 will be awarded to the winner and publication in the Spring 2012 Issue will be awarded to both the winning and runner-up stories. The winning story from the 2011 contest, selected by author Leif Enger, appears in Issue 19 of Ruminate. 2009's winning story, selected by author Bret Lott, was awarded a notable mention in the Best American Short Stories anthology.

The entry fee is $15 and includes a free copy of the Spring 2012 Issue. You may submit one short story per contest entry and it must be 7000 words or less. There is no limit on the number of entries per person. To read the complete submission guidelines and to submit, please visit our website.

The deadline for submissions is midnight on October 15th, 2011.