Writing Competition: Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose

Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose has published an award-winning print journal since 2000 through Fairfield University. We welcome entries in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for its annual contest with a $1000 grand prize for one winning entry.

The grand prize winner will be chosen from winners in nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Winners in the other two genres will receive prizes of $250. Entry fee is $15; all submissions considered for publication in the 12th annual edition of this print and e-pub journal. Submissions accepted online between August 1 and October 15, 2012. Please use our online submission manager for your submissions.

Results of the contest will be announced in Spring 2013 and published in the 2013 issue of Dogwood.

JUDGES

FICTION: Roxane Gay`s work has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2012, NOON, American Short Fiction, West Branch, Oxford American, The Rumpus, and many others. She is a columnist for Salon, edits various publications, teaches, and lives in the Midwest.

POETRY: Adrian Matejka is the author of The Devil's Garden (Alice James Books, 2003), Mixology (Penguin, 2009) which was a winner of the 2008 National Poetry Series, and The Big Smoke (Penguin, forthcoming in 2013). He is the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards and fellowships from Cave Canem and the Lannan Foundation. His work has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, and Poetry among other journals and anthologies. He teaches creative writing at Indiana University.

NONFICTION: Adriana Páramo is a cultural anthropologist and author of My Mother's Funeral and Looking for Esperanza, winner of the 2011 Social Justice and Equality Award. Her work has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Consequence Magazine, So to Speak, Carolina Quarterly Review, The Los Angeles Review, and others. She has worked for Voice of Witness, a book series focusing on contemporary social injustice.

Fiction and Nonfiction Submission Guidelines

Submit fiction or nonfiction up to 25 pages using this online submission manager.
Please title your submission with the title of your piece.
Please double space and use 12-point font.
Include a brief bio with contact information in the cover letter field on the submission manager, but no name should appear on the mss.
Simultaneous submissions allowed if Dogwood is notified of acceptance elsewhere.
Previously published work is not eligible.
Poetry Submission Guidelines

Submit one, two, or three poems (max ten pages)
Please include all poems in one document.
Please double space and use 12-point font.
In the submission manager, please include the titles of all poems in your submission title (rather than "Three Poems").
Include a brief bio with contact information in the cover letter field on the submission manager, but no name should appear on the mss.
Simultaneous submissions allowed if Dogwood is notified of acceptance elsewhere.
Previously published work is not eligible.
Deadline: October 15, 2012
Work not meeting the above guidelines will not be considered for publication. All contest entries meeting these requirements will be considered for publication in Spring 2013 Issue of Dogwood along with selected non-contest submissions.

Updated: If you choose not to send to the contest, please also use the submission manager but select "Non-Contest" and follow the guidelines above. We are asking for a $3 fee to support the work of the journal for non-contest submissions. For more information, please email:

 shuber(at)fairfield.edu (replace (at) with @). Current and former employees and students of Fairfield University are ineligible for publication. All work considered anonymously.