Monday, February 27, 2012

Call for Narrated Videos: The Baltimore Review

Call for submissions, contest and new category: The Baltimore Review

In addition to our poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction categories , the BR is calling for short, narrated videos that tell stories in innovative ways. Make us want to hit replay, over and over. We will include these in our spring issue.

The theme for our summer issue contest is HEAT. Scorch us, please.

See guidelines on our website.

Writing Competition: 2012 Gulf Coast Prizes

Announcing the 2012 Gulf Coast Prizes in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction!

Submissions link.

The 2012 Gulf Coast Contests, awarding publication and $1,500 each in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction, are now open. Honorable mentions in each category will receive a $250 prize.

The Postmark/Online Entry deadline is March 15th, 2012. Winners and Honorable Mentions will be announced in May.

Judges:

Fiction: Victor LaValle. Victor's most recent novel, Big Machine, won the Ernest J. Gaines Award and the Shirley Jackson Award, among others. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and been given the Key to Southeast Queens. He teaches at Columbia University's MFA program. His next novel, The Devil in Silver, will be released in August.

Nonfiction: Jenny Boully. Jenny is the author of four books, most recently not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them (Tarpaulin Sky Press). Her other books include The Books of Beginnings and Endings (Sarabande Books),[one love affair]* (Tarpaulin Sky Press), and The Body: An Essay (Essay Press, first published by Slope Editions). Her work has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry, The Next American Essay, Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present, and other places. Born in Thailand, she was reared in Texas by parents who farm and fish. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and daughter and teaches at Columbia College Chicago.

Poetry: Joyelle McSweeney. Joyelle is the author of the poetry books The Red Bird,The Commandrine and Other Poems, and the upcoming Percussion Grenade: Poems and Plays, all from Fence. She is also the author of two lyric novels, Flet (Fence, 2008) and Nylund, the Sarcographer (Tarpaulin Sky, 2007), with a collection of short stories, Salamandrine, 8 Gothics, forthcoming from Tarpaulin Sky in Fall 2012. In 2010, she published an artist's book, The Necropastoral, featuring poems and essays by McSweeney and collages by Andrew Shuta, from Spork Press. McSweeney is a co-founder of Action Books and Action, Yes, a press and web-quarterly dedicated to international writing and hybrid forms. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Notre Dame.

Guidelines:

To enter online (preferred), visit the online submissions manager and be sure to choose "CONTEST: Fiction," "CONTEST: Poetry," or "CONTEST: Nonfiction/Lyric Essay" as your genre.

Upload one previously unpublished story or essay (25 double-spaced pages max) or up to five previously unpublished poems (10 pages max). Do not include a cover letter, your name, or contact info of any kind in your uploaded document; please put this information in the "comments" field.

Once you've clicked "submit," you will be redirected to PayPal to authorize your $23 online reading fee, which also gets you a one-year subscription. You won't need a PayPal account, only a credit card. Multiple submissions are acceptable, but you must pay the fee for each entry. We'll contact you if there are any problems with your payment; please do not email us to confirm whether payment was received.

To enter by mail, send one previously unpublished story or essay (25 double-spaced pages max) or up to five previously unpublished poems (10 pages max) to the address below. Indicate your genre on the outer envelope. Your name and address should appear on the cover letter only. Include a SASE for results. Your $20 postal reading fee, payable to "Gulf Coast," will include a one-year subscription. Manuscripts will not be returned.

Send Postal Entries to:
Gulf Coast Prize in [Genre]
Department of English
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3013

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Fiction Competition: The Ledge

2012 Fiction Awards Competition

PRIZES: First prize: $1,000 and publication in The Ledge Magazine. Second prize: $250 and publication in The Ledge Magazine. Third prize: $100 and publication in The Ledge Magazine.
ENTRY FEE: $12 for the first story; $6 for each additional story. $20 subscription (two issues) to The Ledge gains free entry for the first story.

ALL STORIES must be previously unpublished and not exceed 7,500 words. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable but we must be notified if your story is accepted elsewhere for publication.

PLEASE include your name, mailing address and email address on each story. Please also enclose a SASE for the competition results or manuscript return.

POSTMARK DEADLINE: February 28, 2012
 
SEND ENTRIES TO:
The Ledge 2012 Fiction Awards Competition
40 Maple Avenue
Bellport, NY 11713

Call for Submissions: Jenny Magazine

Jenny Magazine seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction for it's Spring 2012 issue. This is an online magazine, which can be viewed here.

Each issue has its own visual design and is archived within the site itself, so that the issues remain available to be read even after new issues are created. For more about Jenny, read our About page here.

And to submit, please use our online submissions manager here.

All submissions for the Spring 2012 issue of Jenny are due March 16, 2012. Any submissions received after this date will be considered for the Fall 2012 issue.

Please carefully read and follow the submission guidelines for the category you are submitting in. Failure to do so may result in the automatic rejection of your submission.

Please remember to include a brief bio in the section reserved for "cover letter." If your piece is selected, this is the bio that will appear in the issue beneath your piece.

Thank you for submitting!

FICTION GUIDELINES:

1. Please remember that fiction submissions may be no more than 7000 words (preferably under 5000). You may submit up to two fiction pieces, and the total word count of both pieces must be under 7000 words (i.e. two pieces at 3500 words each).

2. Please do not attach cover letters with the files you are submitting. Instead, use the Cover Letter space provided underneath the "Title" blank. You may provide your name, a brief bio, a history of your publications, and other such details here.

3. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE FILES YOU ARE SUBMITTING. All entries are read with authors' names removed for fairness purposes. Unless it is part of the content of your submission, please omit your name from any submitted documents.

4. Submissions are due by March 16, 2012.

POETRY GUIDELINES:

1. Please remember that poetry submissions may be no more than five (5) poems. Please attach all poems as separate documents. Please do not submit cover letters.

2. Please do not attach cover letters with the files you are submitting. Instead, use the Cover Letter space provided underneath the "Title" blank. You may provide your name, a brief bio, a history of your publications, and other such details here.

3. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE FILES YOU ARE SUBMITTING. All entries are read with authors' names removed for fairness purposes. Unless it is part of the content of your submission, please omit your name from any submitted documents.

4. Submissions are due by March 16, 2012.

NONFICTION GUIDELINES:

1. Please remember that nonfiction submissions may be no more than 7000 words (preferably under 5000). You may submit up to two fiction pieces, and the total word count of both pieces must be under 7000 words (i.e. two pieces at 3500 words each). Please do not submit cover letters.

2. Please do not attach cover letters with the files you are submitting. Instead, use the Cover Letter space provided underneath the "Title" blank. You may provide your name, a brief bio, a history of your publications, and other such details here.

3. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE FILES YOU ARE SUBMITTING. All entries are read with authors' names removed for fairness purposes. Unless it is part of the content of your submission, please omit your name from any submitted documents.

4. Submissions are due by March 16, 2012.

Fiction Competition: Norton Girault Literary Prize

Old Dominion University and Barely South Review announce the inaugural Norton Girault Literary Prize. A single winner will receive $1000 and publication in Barely South Review. The contest genre will change each year, and for 2012 is fiction.

Our guest judge is Cristina Garcia. Submissions must be no longer than 25 pages and the entry fee is $25.00.

Deadline for online/postmark submission March 9, 2012. Complete details, including guidelines and the required entry form can be found at here.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Call for Poetry Submissions: The New Poet

The New Poet is accepting submissions for its second issue of 2012.

Send three of your most changed, charged poems by April 1 to be considered for the May issue. TNP considers all forms and styles from all levels of poets. TNP was created to find poems that will inspire other writers to keep writing. Send your most exciting work.

In addition, TNP is now accepting listings for poetry readings and workshops across the country. To submit your poems or calendar event, and to get a feel for the journal, visit our website.

Call for Experimental Fiction: Spittoon

Spittoon is currently looking for experimental and genre-bending fiction for its fourth issue (spring 2012).
Send us your best nonconformist work: up to 5,000 words or three short-shorts.

We accept submissions on a year-round basis and are also looking for poetry and creative nonfiction.

For guidelines, and to see past issues, visit our website.

Spittoon is a quarterly, independent literary zine dedicated to the publication of quality contemporary and experimental poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction. This online journal features work by poets and writers, both well-known and up-and-coming. Our only goal is to publish excellent work, so there are no form or content restrictions; however, we will never accept "cookie cutter" writers (if you have to ask what a "cookie cutter writer" is, you probably are one). We want original work that affects the reader in a physical and emotional way. To us, the form is as important as the content and they should both work together to develop the intended effect.

Call for Submissions: Inch

Inch is a quarterly magazine, put out by Bull City Press, devoted to tiny poems and tiny fiction. We believe that good things come in small packages, so we focus our eight pages on poems of one to nine lines, or fiction of 750 words or less. Don't send us a few good lines or paragraphs-- send us complete poems and stories that bite, resonate, or sleep with giants.

We've published work by acclaimed authors, such as Betty Adcock, Michael McFee, Michael Chitwood, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil, but we are equally committed to publishing the work of emerging authors.
You can find us here.

Submissions Guidelines:

Fiction: Flash fiction. Microfiction. Sudden fiction. Call it what you will; Inch publishes the finest stories of 750 words or less. Submit one to three stories for consideration. Include a cover letter. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please note in your cover letter if your story is submitted elsewhere. We do not accept previously published work. All rights revert to the author upon publication, though we will occasionally ask if we may reprint fiction in our microfiction bonanza issues. Pays three copies.

Poetry: We are looking for smart, complete poems one to nine lines in length. Submit one to five poems with a cover letter. You may include more than one poem per page provided that you insert ample space in between. We do not accept previously published work or simultaneous submissions. All rights revert to the author upon publication, though we will occasionally ask if we may reprint poems in our double-sized spectacular issues. Pays three copies. Submissions that include poems longer than nine lines in length will be read and ignored.

The best way to know what we are looking for is to read our past issues. You can find them for sale at our website.

We prefer electronic submissions. Submit your work to Inch.

Monday, February 13, 2012

First Novel Competition: Whidbey Writers MFA Alumni Association

The Whidbey Writers MFA Alumni Association is holding a first novel contest, with a grand prize of a seven-day retreat at a fully furnished, rustic-luxury Smoky Mountain cabin in North Carolina, with daily continental breakfast ($2,000 value), plus a cash award of $300. Second and third place winners receive cash and other prizes. 

Submissions are welcome from February 15 through May 15, 2012.

Entry fee: $25.00

Pulitzer Prize winner William Dietrich is the final judge. Top three finalists' entries will be reviewed by Andrea Hurst Literary Management, for possible representation. The top twenty-five entries will each receive two critiques from members of the association. Winners will be announced on August 5, 2012. All profits from the contest will go towards creative writing student scholarships. For official contest details, cabin photos and submissions, please go to our website.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Call for YA short stories for anthology: Timeless

We are looking for YA short stories to include in our first ebook anthology, titled Timeless!

If your short story is between 3000 and 7500 words and fits into the genre of YA historical romance with some twists, we want to read it. The story can include steampunk, fantasy, or adventure, as long as it includes some historical elements then we are interested in reading it.

Submit the whole manuscript as a Word .doc file (no .docx) by March 30, 2012, with the subject heading: submission–YA anthology.
Please include a bio, publishing credits if any, and a synopsis.
Email:

pugaliciouspress(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ in sending email)

Call for Creative Nonfiction: South Loop Review + Art Magazine

Submission Guidelines for South Loop Review: Creative Nonfiction + Art Print Magazine
We accept submissions year round. Simultaneous submissions accepted. The response time varies according to the number of submissions received. We also accept email submissions through Tell It Slant, our new submissions management firm.

We do not accept:

· work that is more than 20 text pages
· work that has been previously published
· more than two (2) text works per submission year
· more than five (5) photographic/artistic works

We are looking for diverse voices. We welcome essays and memoir, lyric and experimental forms, non-linear narratives and blended genre. Photographers and artists are encouraged to submit their work. We are looking for narrative or documentary art and photography—pieces that tell a story either through image or image+text. We ask that photographers and artists submit an 8x10 photo copy of your work with title and name on back. If accepted, we will request a high resolution jpg.

We recommend that you look at an issue before submitting.

You may submit by email through Tell It Slant here.

or by hard copy with cover letter and SASE to:

South Loop Review: Creative Nonfiction + Art
Columbia College Chicago
English Department
600 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605

Questions can be addressed to:

southloopreview(at)colum.edu (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail)

Call for Poetry and Prose: VONA and Thread Makes Blanket Press

This is a call for submissions of poetry and prose by alumni of the Voices of Our Nations Art Foundation (VONA), an annual writing workshop for writers of color in the Bay Area. Thread Makes Blanket Press, in conjunction with VONA, seeks to publish a perfect-bound anthology of writing from past workshop participants.

VONA nurtures both writers and community; VONA encourages perspectives too seldom found in dominant literary venues. In this spirit, the editorial committee, composed of a few, brave VONA aluma, aims to consider each submission carefully, respecting the diversity of stories and poetics. It is our hope that our selections may inspire and entertain others. As VONA does for so many.

DUE: MARCH 30th

For publication in July/August 2012

Guidelines:

Poetry submissions: 10 pages

Fiction and Creative Nonfiction: 5000 words


Submission website.

While the submissions will be anonymously selected by other VONA alum, the publication of this anthology is approved by VONA founders and will be created with the spirit of VONA. There may be input and final editing and selection from VONA teachers and founders.

Both unpublished and previously published pieces are welcome. If a piece was published elsewhere, you will need to obtain relevant permissions for it to be reprinted. For all selected pieces, copyright will revert to the authors.

Excerpts of books may be submitted, however they will be judged on how well they stand alone.

If your selection is chosen, you will receive one free copy of the book. All profits from the sale of these books go to VONA. Additionally, copies of the book will be made available for free, or low cost to schools and books to prisoners programs.

Any other questions? Please email us at:

info(at)threadmakesblanket.com (replace (at) with @ in sending email)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Call for Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Non-fiction: The Ilanot Review

The Ilanot Review, an Israeli journal for creative writing in English, is open to poetry, fiction and non-fiction submissions. We welcome original work and works in translation.

Theme: Translation & Transformation

Submission deadline: March 31, 2012

Translation: Original translations into English of work (in any language) by Middle Eastern writers and poets. Previously unpublished translations preferred. Please include the original poem/story in PDF format.

Transformation: Movement from one state to another, whether, physical, metaphysical, spiritual, or abstract. We encourage submissions from writers who live or have sojourned in Israel.

See the website for guidelines.

And read our current issue here.

Call for Creative Nonfiction Submissions: Marco Polo Arts Mag

Marco Polo Arts Mag has another call. The new call is for creative nonfiction.

100 x 500 Marco Polo seeks creative nonfiction and will publish the best 100 entries. Your nonfiction must be no longer or shorter than 500 words, title excluded.

Break out of the mold and surprise us and yourself. Top prize winner will receive a hardcover edition of Under The Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981: a journal; and a DVD, probably an awesome French film.

Deadline: December 31st with selected entries published before and after the deadline. Winning work and all published and remaining selected work to be announced January 2013. Send submissions and/or questions to:

marcopoloartsmag(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ in sending email)

Call for poets: The Joaquin Miller Poetry Series

The Joaquin Miller Poetry Series is now accepting applications for poets to read in the 2012, 8-week evening series, June through July. 

The readings will take place at Washington DC’s Rock Creek Park Nature Center and Planetarium in partnership with the NPS, near the cabin of nineteenth-century poet Joaquin Miller. Eligible poets should not have read in the series in the last 5 years.

To apply, please mail five poems, a brief bio, e-mail, phone no., and an SASE for reply only (poems will not be returned) to:

Prof. Rosemary Winslow
Co-Director, Joaquin Miller Poetry Series
Department of English, Catholic University
Washington, D.C. 20064

Applications must be postmarked by March 30, 2012.

Call for Audio Submissions: The Missouri Review

The Missouri Review invites you to submit to our 2012 Audio Competition for a chance to win $1,000 and to have your entry published on The Missouri Review’s website. Send us your recordings of original poetry or prose or your audio documentaries on any subject. All you need is a computer, microphone, software such as GarageBand or Audacity, and a great script.

This year, in an effort to expand the contest, we have opened submissions (previously $20) to a pay-by-donation entry fee. Your contribution of any amount includes a one-year, digital subscription to The Missouri Review, and all of your donation goes to support the production of The Missouri Review and its related programs.

Winners and select runners up will have their work featured on The Missouri Review’s website and as part of our iTunes podcast series. Entries will be judged by TMR’s editors in collaboration with guest judge Julie Shapiro of the Third Coast International Audio Festival.

Deadline: March 15th, 2012

Entries and payments are accepted by mail or online. For details, or to submit, please visit our website.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Short Fiction Competition: 2012 Nelligan Prize, Colorado Review

Colorado Review is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction; the postmark deadline is Saturday March 10, 2012. This year's final judge is Jane Hamilton. The prize is given annually for the best short story.

General guidelines:

1. $2,000 will be awarded for the best short story, which will be published in the fall/winter 2012 issue of Colorado Review.
2. This year's final judge is Jane Hamilton; friends and students (current & former) of the judge are not eligible to compete, nor are Colorado State University employees, students, or alumni.
3. Entry fee is $15 per story ($17 to submit online); there is no limit on the number of entries you may submit.
4. Stories must be previously unpublished.
5. There are no theme restrictions, but stories must be under 50 pages.
6. Deadline is the postmark of March 10, 2012.
7. Winner will be announced by July 2012.
8. All submissions will be considered for publication.

For an additional $2, you may submit online. The $2 goes entirely to Submishmash: 79 cents is a credit card fee, and the remaining $1.11 goes to the good people at Submishmash who created and maintain the software. Submit online here.

To submit via regular mail:

1. Include two title sheets: on the first, print your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and the story title; on the second, print only the story title. Your name should not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
2. Enclose a check for $15 for each story. Checks should be made out to Colorado Review.
3. You may submit multiple stories in the same envelope, and a single check can be made out for the total.
4. Provide SASE for contest results.
5. Manuscripts will not be returned. Please do not enclose extra postage for return of manuscript.
6. Entries must be clearly addressed to:

Nelligan Prize, Colorado Review
9105 Campus Delivery
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-9105

Questions? creview(at)colostate.edu 

Book Competition for Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry: 2012 AWP Award Series

2012 AWP Award Series Now Open for Submissions

Manuscript submissions for the 2012 AWP Award Series are now being accepted through February 29, 2012. The competition is open to all authors writing in English, and offers four awards leading to publication: the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, the AWP Award Series in Creative Nonfiction, and the AWP Award Series in the Novel. For information about judges,manuscript guidelines, and entry requirements, visit our website.

The Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction are made possible
by the generous support of Amazon.com.

Call for Contributors: Mythology and Modern Women Poets: Analysis, Reflection & Teaching

Chapters sought for:
Mythology and Modern Women Poets: Analysis, Reflection & Teaching

Book Publisher: Pending [Proposal under consideration]

Contributors needed for book chapters on modern women poets and mythology, including the following topics:
The use of myth by modern women poets
Women poets and world creation
Myths most commonly appropriated by women poets and critical commentary as to why
Critical analyses of modern women poets utilizing myth in their work, including (but certainly not limited to) the following women poets:
C. J. Burns
Audre Lorde
Anne Sexton
Louise Glück
Carol Ann Duffy
Margaret Atwood
Diane Wakoski
Hilda Doolittle (H. D.)
Joy Harjo
Judy Grahn
Lili Bita
Catherynne M. Valente
Olga Broumas
Other women poets working with aspects of mythology
Comparison/contrast of women poets whose work utilizes the same myths
The challenge of feminizing traditionally male mythological perspectives
Critical reflections on, and recommendations for, developing courses for/teaching mythology and poetry in the K-12/undergraduate/graduate/workshop levels
Critical reflection by women poets on their own creative work related to mythology
The challenge women poets face in re-visioning commonly understood myths
Other topics relevant to modern women poets and mythology

The above list is not exhaustive; prospective contributors are encouraged to be creative. The intent of this collection is to fuse, in the same volume, critical analysis with best practices for teaching topics related to modern women poets and mythology and critical reflection by women poets currently working with mythological structures.

No previously published, or simultaneously submitted material, please!

Editor Colleen S. Harris is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, author of three books of poetry, including The Kentucky Vein (Punkin House, 2011), These Terrible Sacraments (Bellowing Ark, 2010), and God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems (Bellowing Ark, 2009), and co-editor of Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland, 2012). Her fourth book of poetry, Gonesongs, is forthcoming in 2013 from Bellowing Ark Press. Colleen holds an MFA degree in Writing and an MS in Library and Information Science. Her poetry has appeared in The Louisville Review, Free Verse, Wisconsin Review, River Styx, and others. Her work has been included in Library Journal, Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook (American Library Association, 2010), and Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages (All Things That Matter Press, 2009). Colleen works on the library faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Please send titles and abstracts for up to 3 topics for chapter topics you would like to contribute, as well as a 75-90 word author's bio. Please send in a .doc or .docx Word file attachment by April 30, 2012 using MYTH/your last name in the subject line to:

poetryandmyth(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail). You will receive a confirmation response with guidelines if your topics haven't already been taken.

Contributors should plan for each chapter to be approximately 3000 words. The due date for completed chapters will be December 7, 2012. Those included in the anthology will receive a complimentary copy as compensation.
(call also available here)