Call for Submissions: Composite

Composite is a free quarterly, themed PDF journal of art and literature that exists somewhere between a literary magazine and an art gallery.

We are currently accepting submissions of unpublished flash fiction or micro-essays under 1000 words, and short stories or creative non-fiction essays under 3000 words for our 8th issue, themed (GLITCH).

We want control. We are not being anal, we are not being de­manding, but rather stating the quintessential want of every breathing thing on this earth. We want to have dominion and conquest over the matter at hand. But, when we are not given such a right, all hell breaks loose. Hearts broken, faith questioned, the validity of our existence comes to question. Maybe we have no control, no right to be creators of the decadent? But, perhaps this is needed to wake us up, to reveal the endured spirit that has sprinted after trial and trial, to show that the profane abomination, resulting from the loss of strict control, is glorious. The Glitch has made it perfect.

The submission deadline for (GLITCH) is May 21, 2012.

We only accept electronic submissions through Submishmash.

Literary Magazine Seeks New Editors: Weave Magazine

Weave Magazine is a bicoastal literary organization and print publication committed to showcasing a diverse collection of established and emerging voices. We are looking for positive, self-motivated individuals who ascribe to Weave's ideals of community and diversity. Preference will be given to those who are committed to representing marginalized voices (ie: women, ethnic/racial minorities, LGBT, etc). Collaborative people who enjoy being compensated with food, hugs, and issues of Weave are especially encouraged to apply.

We are currently accepting applications for:

-Managing Editor
-Design Editor
-Event Coordinator

More info about each position can be found here.

Applicants must be located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Interested parties can email a CV/Resume and cover letter to
weavezine(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @)

Poetry Competition: Boston Review

Fifteenth Annual Poetry Contest

Deadline: June 1, 2012


Judge: Matthea Harvey
First Prize: $1,500
Complete guidelines:
The winning poet will receive $1,500 and have his or her work published in the November/December 2012 issue of Boston Review. Submit up to five unpublished poems, no more than 10 pages total. Any poet writing in English is eligible, unless he or she is a current student, former student, relative, or close personal friend of the judge. Mailed manuscripts must be submitted in duplicate, with a cover note listing the author's name, address, email and phone number. No cover note is necessary for online submission. Names should not be on the poems themselves. Simultaneous submissions are not permitted, submissions will not be returned, and submissions may not be modified after entry.

A non-refundable $20 entry fee, payable to Boston Review in the form of a check or money order or by credit card, must accompany all submissions. All submitters receive a complementary half-year subscription (3 issues) to Boston Review. Mailed submissions must be postmarked no later than June 1, 2012.

The winner will be announced no later than November 1, 2012, on the Boston Review Web site. All poems submitted to the contest will be considered for publication in Boston Review.

Please enter online using our contest entry manager here. This requires payment using a credit card.

Or mail submissions to:

Poetry Contest, Boston Review
PO Box 425786
Cambridge, MA 02142

Writing Competition: TIFERET

TIFERET: A Journal of Spiritual Literature offers three awards of $400 in the
categories of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
We publish writing from a variety of spiritual and religious traditions.

We look for high-quality creative work that expresses spiritual experiences
and/or promotes tolerance. Our mission is to help raise individual and global
consciousness, and we publish writing from a variety of religious and spiritual
traditions.

Contest Guidelines and Information:
-All contest entrants will receive a free one-year digital subscription to
Tiferet Journal. Subscription will start in September 2012.
-Deadline: June 1, 2012
-First prize in each genre: $400 and publication in TIFERET.
-Honorable Mention Prizes will receive publication in TIFERET ONLINE.
-Please submit one story, one essay (up to 25 pages), one interview (up to 25
pages), or six poems at a time. Poems should be submitted in one document with
each poem on a separate page and each page/poem titled.
-All submissions must be made in Word or in a Text Document through our online
submissions manager.
-$20 fee per entry. To enter, go here.
Specify genre and pay your appropriate entry fee using PayPal. Submissions without
payment will not be considered.
--You are welcome to enter as many written pieces as you would like ($20 fee per
entry)
--Winners will be announced Fall of 2012.

Call for Submissions: Prime Number Magazine

Prime Number Magazine is now reading submissions for our 3rd year of publication, Issue 23 and beyond.

We're looking for distinctive poetry and prose: short stories and essays under 4,000 words, flash fiction and nonfiction under 1,000 words; poetry of all kinds; short drama, craft essays, book reviews and interviews. We're also looking for cover art that reflects the number of each issue (so we're now looking for a 23). 

Please visit our website to get a sense of what we like, and to visit our online submission manager.

Prime Number Magazine is an online quarterly with updates posted between issues, plus a print annual of Editors' Selections. (Our first Print Annual, with selections from issues 2, 3, 5, and 7, is available for purchase on our website.)

What do we like? We like . . . distinctive poetry and prose. In our first 8 issues we have published work by Kevin Wilson, Peter Orner, Richard Wiley, Kevin McIlvoy, Rachel Hadas, Erica Dawson, Jake Adam York, Sybil Baker, Michael Steinberg, Kathryn Rhett, and many others.

Employment: Executive Director, Hudson Valley Writers' Center

The Hudson Valley Writers' Center, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization with a
mission to advance the art and craft of writing by encouraging writers and
readers at all levels to participate in and enjoy the literary arts. We seek an
Executive Director with vision and proven experience in development of
not-for-profit organizations and a dedication to the arts and literary pursuits.
The ED is responsible for overall management of the Center's programs,
operations, and staff, and for development and fundraising.

Candidates should send a resume with a cover letter and three references as
attachments to an email to John Allendorf, Chair, Search Committee c/o Jean
Reyes at:

 jean.reyes(at)klgates.com (replace (at) with @ in sending email)
Details and a job description are on our website.

Call for Submissions: Women Finding and Leaving Extreme Religion

The anthology, Submitted: Women Finding and Leaving Extreme Religion (to be published by Seal Press in Spring, 2013), will feature "slice of life" stories of women from a variety of restrictive religious backgrounds who chose a religious path only to eventually reject it or alter it in whole or in part.

We are seeking contributions from women of all faiths, as well as all ages and backgrounds. The book explores, through story, the questions of how and why women choose to get involved in rigid religion, what keeps them invested, and then how and why they leave (and what they miss---or don't---once they're gone).
Women of Muslim, Jewish or Eastern Religious backgrounds are especially needed. If you are a writer with this experience or know someone who might be interested, please pass this information along.

Each story included should explore one of the following:
• the getting IN
• the staying IN
• the getting OUT

Stories should focus on aspects of religious life which might include food, modesty, religious meetings, holidays, work, children, clothing, secrets, converting others, prayer, or marriage/sex.

The book will be divided into three parts: Conversion, Life Inside, and Leaving.
Submissions should be around 3000 words in length.
For more information and to submit your work go here.

Call for Submissions: The Chamber Four Lit Mag

C4: The Chamber Four Lit Mag is accepting submissions for our third issue until the end of June, 2012.

We're considering fiction, poetry, nonfiction, drama, visual art---pretty much anything written or two-dimensional. Any genre and subject matter will be considered, as long as the writing is sharp. Simultaneous submissions welcome. For more details about submitting, and to see past issues, go here.

Fiction Chapbook Competition: 2012 RopeWalk Press Editor's Fiction Chapbook Prize

2012 RopeWalk Press Editor’s Fiction Chapbook Prize

RopeWalk Press will award a prize of $1000, publication, and 25 complimentary copies for the best fiction chapbook submitted under the following guidelines.
Complete Guidelines:

· Postmark deadline: June 15, 2012.

· Page limit: 45 manuscript pages (double-spaced) per each individual submission. These pages may be comprised of a single short story, multiple short stories, novellas, or stand-alone novel excerpts.

· Entry fee: $20 ($5 for each additional manuscript submitted at the same time). This fee is non-refundable. Make check or money order payable to RopeWalk Press or pay with credit card with online submission.

· Manuscript specifics: Author’s name, address, email, and phone should appear on the first page of the manuscript; title and page number on all subsequent pages. If the manuscript includes more than one short story, include a table of contents. Include an acknowledgments page listing previous publication of included works, if applicable. Your manuscript must be available for exclusive book-length publication by RopeWalk Press. Stories, novellas, or stand-alone excerpts published individually in journals or magazines may be submitted, but the writer must hold copyright. Previously self-published chapbooks and translations are not eligible.

· All submissions will be considered for publication. All themes and/or subject matters are eligible. All rights revert to the writer upon publication.

· Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but if the manuscript is published/accepted by another press while under consideration, the author must promptly notify RWP in writing to withdraw the entry.

· All manuscripts will be recycled.

· Include a #10 SASE for announcement of contest results.

· Results will also be posted on the RWP website by September 15, 2012.

Send all entries to:
Nicole Louise Reid, Editor
RopeWalk Press
University of Southern Indiana
8600 University Boulevard
Evansville, IN 47712

If you have questions regarding the RopeWalk Press Editor’s Fiction Chapbook Prize, email:
nreid(at)usi.edu (replace (at) with @)

Writing Competitions: Crab Orchard Review

CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW's Annual Literary Contests:
The 2013 Richard Peterson Poetry Prize, Jack Dyer Fiction Prize, & John Guyon Literary Nonfiction Prize

$ 2000 prize for Poetry $ 2000 prize for Fiction $ 2000 prize for Literary Nonfiction

One winner and two finalists will be chosen in each category. The three category winners will be published and the finalists offered publication (with a minimum payment of $200) in the Winter/Spring issue of CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW. The winners and finalists will also be announced in the March/April POETS & WRITERS and on the CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW Website.

 Contest Guidelines

The postmark deadlines for this year's prize competitions are March 1, 2012 through May 2, 2012. Please do not send entries via FedEx, UPS, DHL, Express Mail--we don't want you to spend the extra amount when this is a POSTMARK deadline.

Online entries should be sent through Submittable (there is an additional $2.50 processing fee for online entries, making the entry fee for each online entry $22.50).

Entries must be previously unpublished*, original work written in English by a United States citizen or permanent resident (current students and employees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are not eligible). Name, address, telephone number, email address, and work title (or titles for poetry entries) should appear only on a cover sheet for the entry. The author's name should not appear on any subsequent page. All entries must be postmarked or submitted online between March 1, 2012 and May 2, 2012 (online entries will be accepted until 12:00 AM (CDT) on May 2, 2012). Late entries will be returned unread. Postal submissions should enclose a #10, self-addressed, stamped envelope for notification of winners; online submissions will receive notification of the results by email. Do not include an envelope or postage for return of manuscript for postal submissions since entries will be recycled upon the decision of the final judges and notification of the winners.

*We have had people ask about what is eligible as unpublished work and at CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW we define "unpublished" as work that has not been published by an online or print publication and is not currently accepted for such publication; we do allow work that has been posted online by the writer (though we will ask that the work be taken down until after the time it is published in CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW) or is available online as part of a thesis or dissertation required for the completion of a degree. Simultaneous submissions are considered for the Annual Literary Contests, but the winning entries must meet the criteria as unpublished work described here.

Entry Guidelines (there is no theme for the Literary Prize entries; just send your best work):

Poetry entries should consist of 3 poems; 100 line limit per poem.
Prose entry length: up to 6000 words for fiction and up to 6500 words for literary nonfiction.

One poetry entry (3 poems; 100 line limit per poem), one story entry in fiction, or one essay entry in literary nonfiction per $20 postal entry fee/$22.50 online entry fee; a writer may send up to three entries in one genre or a total of three entries if entering all competitions.

Entry fee: $20 for each postal entry/$22.50 for each online entry (remember that a Poetry entry is 3 poems; 100 line limit per poem).

Please make checks for postal entries payable to CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW.

Each fee entitles entrant to one copy of the 2013 Winter/Spring issue of CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW, which will include the winners of these competitions, and one copy of the 2013 Summer/Fall issue of CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW, our special issue "Prairies, Plains, Mountains, & Deserts." If you send two entries with $40, we will extend your subscription an additional year; if you send three entries with $60, we will extend your subscription two additional years (online entries $22.50 each).

Address:
Mail entries to:
CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW Literary Contests
Dept. of English, Mail Code 4503
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1000 Faner Drive
Carbondale, IL 62901.

Please indicate on the outside of the envelope if an entry is "POETRY," "FICTION," or "LITERARY NONFICTION."

Online entries should be sent through Submittable (there is an additional $2.50 processing fee for online entries, making the entry fee for each online entry $22.50).

Please submit your file in .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, .odt, or .wpf. Single space for poetry and double space for prose. 12-point font, Times New Roman or Times preferred.

Fiction Competition: Fiction500

We cordially invite your members and associates to enter our Fiction500 contest for May.  Here's the contest in a nutshell:

• Writers submit an original work of fiction no longer than 500 words, based on our prompt. 
• We accept only 500 entries.
• Faculty from the country's top MFA Creative Writing Programs judge the contest
• The winning author receives $500 cash.
• Second-place author receives $200, and third-place author receives $100. 
• We publish winning stories (and honorable mentions) on our website.
• At the end of the year, we e-publish an anthology of the year's winners for the Kindle, Nook and iPad.

Entry fee: $12.00

Deadline: May 14, 2012. Limited to the first 500 entries.

For more information, please visit our website.

Mark Drozda

Executive Director

Fiction500

 

Call for Submissions: Intimate Landscape (Milkweed Press)

Open Call for Submissions: Intimate Landscape

Entries Due (Extended Deadline) May 1, 2012

Submission Fees $10 per entry 

Theme Intimate Landscape. Landscapes conjure images of vast, sweeping scenes, but the details captured by a photograph can turn a seemingly impersonal setting into an intimate story. It's up to the artist to define what constitutes an intimate landscape, be it representational, non-representational, urban, suburban or rural.

Judge Patrick Thomas is the editor and program manager at Milkweed Editions. As an editor, his work focuses on acquisitions that consider our relationship to the more-than-human world. As program manger, he works to find the best way to bring literary art to the widest possible audience. He lives in Minneapolis, MN.

Awards $300 Judge's Choice Award  

 

Maximum of 300 words of poetry or prose.

Poetry Competition: 2013 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize

The 2013 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize is open for submission!

We are pleased to announce that the 2013 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize is open for submissions April 1 through June 30, 2012. There is NO fee to enter this contest.

Mary Ballard Wright wrote poetry, but almost no one knew it. She raised three children through two marriages, kept a home, and scribbled verses in those moments when she dared to think of something other than daily life.

In 1979, a tornado swept through her town of Wichita Falls, taking her home and everything she owned. Among the things she lost were her life's work, handwritten poems kept in a closet.

Mary died in 2010, and here at Casey Shay Press, we have decided, in her memory, to publish one poet each year. It is our hope to keep others' work from sudden loss, be it a natural disaster, a technical failure that destroys a hard drive, or a personal loss in the theft of the laptop where we kept our work.

The winner of the Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize will receive $500, 25 printed copies of the chapbook, and a book contract for the sale of physical and electronic versions of the chapbook.

There is NO fee to enter this contest, but each entrant may submit only one manuscript.

Rule for Entries:

Deadline: June 30, 2012

--The Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize is open to all poets, published or unpublished.
--Poems should adhere to a theme, however loosely.
--We consider themes for adults as well as collections for children.
--Individual poems may be previously published, but poems should not have been published as a group in any form, including self-published collections.
--No more than 10% of the poetry should have been posted to blogs or web sites previously, and print and digital rights to any published poems should have reverted to the author to be eligible.
--Manuscripts may be either a collection of poems or one long poem and should be a minimum of 20 pages and a maximum of 40 pages (not including the title page).
--All poems should be single spaced and typed in size 12 Times New Roman or similar font.
--Each manuscript should include a title page. This page should include the title, a one-sentence explanation of the chapbook's theme, and contact information on the poet. Please use your real name for your
submission. If you prefer to use a pseudonym on your chapbook, that will be arranged later.
--If any poems have been previously published, please indicate their titles and where they were published.
--If the poet already participates in readings, poetry groups, or writers' organizations, we would love to hear about that, but it is optional.
--The reading period for the 2013 competition begins on April 1, 2012. Entries must be submitted by June 30, 2012. Submissions will only be considered if received between those dates.
--The quarter-finalists will be announced July 31, 2012.
--We are all-electronic, so submissions should be emailed with a doc, docx, rtf, or txt file attachment to:

poetryprize(at)caseyshaypress.com (replace (at) with @)

Please do not copy your poems into the body of the email.

Take a look at our 2012 winner: Uncommon Clay by Darlene Franklin-Campbell! You can read free samples of her work at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Call for Submissions: The Whistling Fire

We are happy to announce our May Guest Editor is Massiel Ladrón De Guevara
Submission Deadline April 21st

Dear Writers,

Truth is defined by people’s perception, which means that what is true for one person is not necessarily true for the other. The beauty of writing is that truth is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if you really spent the summer in Thailand fishing with locals or the spring kayaking in Alaska. What matters is your ability to capture the human experience and to connect with others through it.

I am interested in reading about your truths, real or imagined. Don’t limit yourself to actual events and don’t be afraid to move from one experience/feeling to the other. Make me feel connected to you through the human experience. I want to be completely submerged in your world and to be able to feel, hear and see everything you write.

Best of Luck,

Massiel Ladrón De Guevara
Guest Editor

Rules: Accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Please send your submissions to:
whistlingfire(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @)


Please include the words “May Editor” in your subject line. No more than two submissions per author, work must be under 3000 words. Must be sent as an attachment (MS WORD preferred). Simultaneous submissions accepted. Previously published work is also allowed as long as the author retains the rights. Please include a short third person bio for our contributor’s page. Submissions Close: April 21st.

Seeking Online Book Reviewers: Los Angeles Review

The Los Angeles Review literary journal is looking for three to five book reviewers. These reviewers will primarily be responsible for our new online review section, which includes reviews of self-published books. Some reviews may also be published in the print journal. Fiction, poetry and nonfiction reviewers are all welcome to apply.

Online reviews are 200 to 500 words in length. Print reviews are 200 to 300 words.

Applicants should have some experience reviewing books, preferably for a literary journal. This is a volunteer position at this time; a stipend may be added in the future.

To apply, please send an email to the Book Review Editor, at:

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

A resume/CV and links to published reviews are appreciated. To find out more about us, please visit our web site.

Fiction and Poetry Contest for Teen Writers: The Younkin-Rivera Prizes for Young Writers at Southern Illinois Univ. Carbondale

THE YOUNKIN-RIVERA PRIZES FOR YOUNG WRITERS AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CARBONDALE

2011 Winners: Cam Best of Elmhurst, IL (Prose) Jacob Oet of Solon, OH (Poetry)
A nationwide competition for creative writers aged 15-18.

Entries accepted during the month of April in the genres of poetry and prose.

Prize in each category: $250 and a full tuition scholarship to the 2012 Young Writers Workshop at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
To enter in poetry: send no more than 2 poems (limit of 25 lines each) per entrant, along with an entry fee of $5.

To enter in prose (fiction or essay): send one story or essay (no more 1000 words) per entrant, along with an entry fee of $5.

To enter in both poetry and prose: send no more than 2 poems (limit of 25 lines each) and one essay or story (of no more than 1000 words) per entrant, along with an entry fee of $10. Entries longer than the limits listed above will be returned, along with their entry fees.

Entrants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

All entries must be typed on white 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. Do not put your name on your entries. Include a separate cover sheet with the following information on it: your name, home address, phone number, e-mail address, date of birth, titles of your entries, and the name and address of your high school. Checks or money orders to cover the entry fee should be made out to SIUC, with "Young Writers Workshop" written in the check's memo line. Please do not send cash. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for contest results. No entries will be returned, so please keep copies of the work you send. No e-mail or faxed submissions will be accepted. Winners will be contacted via e-mail, so please make sure your current, working e-mail address is clearly typed on your cover sheet.

Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony during the annual Young Writers Workshop at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a five-day, coed, residential creative writing workshop for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors interested in developing their skills in the writing of poetry and prose.

If a prizewinner cannot attend the Workshop, the prize will not be awarded to that entrant. Travel costs to and from the Workshop are the responsibility of the winner. Previous award winners cannot enter again.

The Young Writers Workshop will be held in 2012 from June 19 to June 23, 2012.

To enter, send your submissions, postmarked from April 1 to April 30, 2012, to:

The Younkin-Rivera Prizes for Young Writers

Allison Joseph, Director

The Young Writers Workshop

Department of English

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Faner Hall 2380--Mail Code 4503

1000 Faner Drive

Carbondale, IL 62901

Questions only: aljoseph(at)siu.edu (replace (at) with @)

Winners will be announced at the end of May 2012.

Novel Competition: Tony Hillerman Prize

Co-sponsored by St. Martin's Press, the Tony Hillerman Prize is awarded annually for the best first mystery set in the Southwest. The contest, named after New Mexico's best known mystery author, honors a first novel set in the Southwest. Hunt received a contract for publication with St. Martin's Press and a $10,000 advance.

The Tony Hillerman Prize competition is open to any professional or non-professional writer who has never been the author of a published mystery. Murder or another serious crime or crimes must be at the heart of the story, with the emphasis on the solution rather than the details of the crime. All entries must be received or postmarked no later than June 1. The deadline for entries in the Tony Hillerman Short Story Contest is August 15. The 2,500-word mystery story must be set at least in part in New Mexico. Both contests are co-sponsored by WORDHARVEST, a Santa Fe-based business devoted to good writing. Here are the novel contest rules:

Hillerman Prize Mystery Contest Rules and Guidelines

(Sponsored by the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference (THWC) and St. Martin's Press, LLC)
The contest is open to any professional or non-professional writer, regardless of nationality, who has never been the author of a published mystery, as defined by the guidelines below, and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a mystery. Only one manuscript entry is permitted per writer.
All manuscripts submitted: a) must be original works of book length (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words) written in the English language by the contestants; b) must not violate the rights of any third party, and c) must generally follow the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES
1. Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story, and emphasis is on the solution rather than the details of the crime.
2. The story's primary setting is the Southwestern United States, including at least one of the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
(The decision of the Competition's judges as to whether or not a manuscript qualifies will be final.)
Nominees will be selected by judges chosen by the organizers of the THWC, with the assistance of editorial staff of St. Martin's Press, and the winner will be chosen by St. Martin's editors. The decision of the editors as to the winner of the contest will be final. St. Martin's reserves the right not to select any winner if, in the sole opinion of the editors, none of the manuscripts submitted are of publishable quality.
An attempt will be made to notify the contest winner, if any, no later than October 1.

If a winner is selected, St. Martin's Press will publish the winning manuscript by offering to enter into its standard form author's agreement with the contestant. The winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000. Those terms of the offer not specified in the printed text of the St. Martin's Press standard form author's agreement will be determined by St. Martin's Press at its sole discretion. The contestant may request reasonable changes in the offered terms, but St. Martin's shall not be obligated to agree to any such changes. St. Martin's may, but will not be required to, consider for publication manuscripts submitted by other contestants.

All entries must be received or postmarked no later than June 1 and must include: a) A double-spaced and neatly typed copy of the manuscript (photocopies are acceptable), with pages numbered consecutively from beginning to end. The author's name should appear only on the title page, and otherwise not appear anywhere on the manuscript pages. b) A letter or cover sheet containing the name, address, email address and telephone number of the contestant and the contestant's previous writing credits, if any. c) The application form, duly completed and an SASE.
All entries must be mailed to St. Martin's Press.

For additional copies of the rules and to request an entry form, please send a stamped, self addressed envelope to:
St. Martin's Minotaur/THWC Competition St. Martin's Minotaur 175 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10010
*Each contestant must keep a copy of the manuscript for his or her own protection. St. Martin's Press will not be responsible for lost, stolen, or mislaid manuscripts. Because of the great volume of submissions we receive, the fact that judges are volunteers with full-time responsibilities elsewhere, and the fact that most writers now have the work in their computers, manuscripts will not be returned. Please do not send return postage or envelopes.
No critical evaluation or commentary will be offered by the judges or the editorial staff of St. Martin's Press unless, in the sole opinion of the editorial staff evaluation or commentary is appropriate in the case of a manuscript being considered for publication.
This Competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law.
*It is important that you submit your manuscript as early as possible. Our judges are volunteers who are extremely busy with their primary concerns, and it is inevitable that your submission will get a more careful reading if the judge does not have to contend with a flood of last-minute entries. However, it is not necessary to send it the most expensive way. We judge on-time delivery by the post-mark or equivalent, not by the date the judge receives the manuscript.
Good luck!

Writer's Residency: Writers in the Heartland

WRITERS' RESIDENCY

Writers in the Heartland is a writing colony for creative writers in all genres. The colony is located in Gilman, Illinois, approximately 90 miles south of Chicago. It is located on a beautiful 32-acre wooded site with lakes and walking paths.

A limited number of one-week residencies are available for August 31 - September 7 and October 7 - 12. All lodging and food is included. Writers must reside in the Midwest region or have some Midwest connection.

Applications must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2012, to be considered. Decisions will be announced on or around July 1st. All submissions are peer reviewed by three person panel.

For further information about applying to Writers in the Heartland, see our website or contact us at:

 writersintheheartland(at)gmail.com

Application Instructions.

Fiction and Poetry Competition: 2012 New Guard Contests

THE NEW GUARD 2012 CONTESTS

Our 2012 contests are open! Entry period is March 1-June 18, 2012 (postmark). Entries are $15.

KNIGHTVILLE POETRY CONTEST: $1,000 for an exceptional work of narrative and/or experimental poetry. Three poems per entry. Up to 300 lines per poem. Judged by National Poetry Series winner JEANNE MARIE BEAUMONT.

MACHIGONNE FICTION CONTEST: $1,000 for an exceptional work of literary and/or experimental fiction. Submit up to 7,500 words: anything from flash to the long story. Novel excerpts are welcome if the manuscript functions as a stand-alone story. We do not publish illustrations. Judged by Novelist and Essayist RICK BASS.

KNIGHTVILLE POETRY CONTEST JUDGE

Jeanne Marie Beaumont is the author of three books of poetry, most recently, Burning of the Three Fires, which was a finalist for the 2011 Writers' League of Texas Book Award, and Curious Conduct. Her first book, Placebo Effects, was selected as a winner in the National Poetry Series. She also won the Dana Award for Poetry and The Greensboro Review literary award for poetry. Her poems have been included in two dozen anthologies and textbooks, including Good Poems for Hard Times, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, The Norton Introduction to Literature, 9th ed., and Poetry Daily: 366 Poems from the World's Most Popular Poetry Website. She was co-editor of the literary magazine, American Letters & Commentary, from 1992-2000. With Claudia Carlson, she co-edited the anthology, The Poets' Grimm: Twentieth Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales.

"Afraid So," a poem from Curious Conduct, was made into a short film by the same name (narrated by Garrison Keillor) by award-winning filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt. The movie has been screened at numerous international film festivals, on the IFC, and at the Museum of Modern Art. She served as director of the annual Advanced Poetry Seminar from 2006-2010, and she currently teaches at both The Unterberg Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, and at the Stonecoast MFA Program in Maine.

MACHIGONNE FICTION CONTEST JUDGE

Rick Bass grew up in Houston, and started writing short stories on his lunch breaks while working as a petroleum geologist in Jackson, Mississippi.

Bass has published more than 20 books of essays and novels, and has worked passionately for environmental causes all over the world. His honors and awards include a PEN/Nelson Algren Award Special Citation for fiction, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and the James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship for Where the Sea Used to Be. He was a finalist for the Story Prize in 2006 for his short story collection The Lives of Rocks. He was a finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Award for his autobiography, Why I Came West. He was also awarded the General Electric Younger Writers Award.

Bass lives in the remote Yaak Valley of Montana, where he works to protect his adopted home from roads and logging. He serves on the board of both the Yaak Valley Forest Council and Round River Conservation Studies. His papers are held at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University and Texas State University–San Marcos.

THE NEW GUARD 2012 contest readers are looking forward to reading your work! You can submit online via our submissions manager or by postal mail with a check for the entry fee, which is $15 for either contest. Contest winners and all finalists get two free copies of TNG, and each submission will be carefully considered for publication. Final judging is blind.

We accept .doc or similar files--no PDFs, please. We do pay strict attention to word and line count. TNG accepts previously unpublished work only. Any size print run or online publication (including blogs and/or social networking) disqualify your entry. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, provided we're notified upon publication elsewhere.

TNG retains standard first publication rights; all rights immediately revert to the writer upon publication. Please note that TNG cannot return manuscripts. We are not presently accepting submissions aside from our contests.

***Please note we will not consider any unpaid entries. We currently do not accept submissions other than contest submissions. Please follow the steps past this screen and pay for your entry to be considered.

Please continue on to PayPal (you can use a credit card or PayPal) and pay the entry fee; alternatively, please mail your submission to the address below, with a $15 check payable to TNG. Enter as many times as you like, and best of luck. We're excited to read your work!

THE NEW GUARD
P.O. Box 10612
Portland, ME 04104

Fiction Competition: 12th Annual Spokane Prize for Short Fiction

Willow Springs Editions invites submissions for the 12th annual Spokane Prize for Short Fiction: $2,000 plus publication by Willow Springs Editions.

Submission deadline: April 16, 2012

Willow Springs Editions is pleased to announce the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Winner will receive publication plus a $2000 cash prize. To be considered for the prize, send a book-length manuscript (no less than 98 pages) of stories (no fewer than 3), an SASE for notification, and a $25 reading fee made out to "Willow Springs Editions."

All United States authors, regardless of publication history, are eligible. Manuscripts must contain page numbers and a table of contents. There is no maximum page count and stories may have been previously published in journals, anthologies, or limited edition volumes. Selected stories collections (stories previously published in books) will not be considered. Manuscripts will not be returned. Do not send novels.

Past judges have included Rick Bass, William Kittredge, Jess Walter, and John Keeble.

Recent winners:

2011 You are Not Alone by Sherril Jaffe

2010 Love Songs for the Quarantined by K.L. Cook

2009 Strange Weather by Becky Hagenston

2008 This Is Not Your City by Caitlin Horrocks

2007 Forgetting English by Midge Raymond

2006 The High Heart by Joseph Bathanti

2005 Woman in the Woods by Ann Joslin Williams

Here's a checklist for prize submission:

a book-length manuscript (no less than 98 pages) of at least three short stories
an SASE for notification
a cover letter including your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, as well as a short bio
a $25 dollar reading fee made out to "Willow Springs Editions" (check or money order only) for each manuscript entry
Entries must be postmarked by April 16, 2012.
Please send entries to:

Spokane Prize, Inland Northwest Center for Writers
501 N Riverpoint Blvd, Suite 425
Spokane WA 99202

E-mail questions to Willow Springs Editions at: willowspringsbooks(at)gmail.com(replace (at) with @).