Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Poetry Competition: 2015 Frost Farm Prize Metrical Poetry Contest

The 2015 Frost Farm Prize Metrical Poetry Contest Open for Entries

The Trustees of the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, NH, and the Hyla Brook Poets invite submissions for their 5th Annual The Frost Farm Prize for metrical poetry. The winner receives $1,000, publication in Evansville Review and an invitation, with honorarium, to read as part of The Hyla Brook Reading Series at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry in the summer of 2015.  

This year’s judge is award-winning poet Joshua Mehigan. Mehigan’s first book, The Optimist, was a finalist for the 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His poems have appeared in many periodicals, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Poetry, which awarded him its 2013 Levinson Prize. His second book is Accepting the Disaster, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in July 2014.

Last year’s winner was Rob Wright of Philadelphia, PA, for his poem, "Meetings With My Father." 

To see other winners, please visit our website.


Frost Farm Prize Guidelines:

Poems must be original, unpublished and metrical (any metrical form). No translations. There is no limit to the number of poems entered by an individual, but an entry fee of $5 U.S. per poem must accompany the submission (entry fees from outside the United States must be paid in cash or by check drawn on a U.S. bank). You are welcome to submit a poem sequence (a crown of sonnets for example) but each poem will be judged individually -- please send in an entry fee for each poem in the sequence. 


Make checks payable to the "Trustees of the Robert Frost Farm." Please type the author's name, address, phone number and e-mail address on the back of each entry. Each entry will be submitted to the judge anonymously. 

Deadline:

Postmarked by April 1, 2015 


Send entries to:

Robert Crawford
The Frost Farm Prize
280 Candia Rd.
Chester, NH 03036


The results will be posted in May 2015. Winner and honorable mentions (if any) will be notified by email or phone. DO NOT send a SASE for contest results.


To learn more about the Frost Farm Prize or for more information on the Hyla Brook Reading Series, please visit our website or Facebook or Twitter.

About the Frost Farm’s Hyla Brook Poets

The Frost Farm was home to the poet and his family from 1900-1911. Robert W. Crawford and Bill Gleed started The Hyla Brook Poets group in 2008 as a monthly poetry workshop. In March 2009, the monthly Hyla Brook Reading Series launched with readings by emerging poets as well as luminaries such as Maxine Kumin, David Ferry, Linda Pastan, and Sharon Olds.

Writing Competition: The Journal's Non/Fiction Collection Prize

The Journal's Non/Fiction Collection Prize 

The Ohio State University Press, The OSU MFA Program in Creative Writing, and The Journal are happy to announce that we are now accepting submissions for our annual Non/Fiction Collection Prize (formerly The Short Fiction Prize)! Submit unpublished book-length manuscripts of short prose.  

Each year, The Journal selects one manuscript for publication by The Ohio State University Press. In addition to publication under a standard book contract, the winning author receives a cash prize of $1,500.  

We will be accepting submissions for the prize from now until February 14th. Further information about the prize is below. Best of luck!

Entries of original prose must be between 150-350 double-spaced pages in 12-point font. All submissions must include a $20.00 nonrefundable handling fee.


Submit an unpublished manuscript of short stories or essays; two or more novellas or novella-length essays; a combination of one or more novellas/novella-length essays and short stories/essays; a combination of stories and essays. Novellas or novella-length nonfiction are only accepted as part of a larger work.
 

All manuscripts will be judged anonymously. The author's name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. 

Prior publication of your manuscript as a whole in any format (including electronic or self-published) makes it ineligible. Individual stories, novellas or essays that have been previously published may be included in the manuscript, but these must be identified in the acknowledgments page. Translations are not eligible. 


Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as one manuscript or a portion thereof does not duplicate material submitted in another manuscript and a separate entry fee is paid. If a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere, it must be withdrawn from consideration.


The Ohio State University employees, former employees, current OSU MFA students, and those who have been OSU MFA students within the last ten years are not eligible for the award.
 

See the full guidelines and a list of past winners here.  

Submit online through Submittable.

Call for Submissions: Literature for a Cause Anthology

Literature for a Cause anthology

The Literature for a Cause program at the Miami University regional campuses is seeking submissions of provocative literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and art work for a chapbook anthology focusing on perspectives on mental illness. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to local nonprofits in the mental health field.

With this anthology, the editors hope to inspire discussion and education in the classroom and among broader audiences about mental illness and its related issues. Specifically, the editors seek compelling creative work that addresses mental illness from a variety of perspectives, including patients, doctors and other professionals, and friends, family, or other witnesses. They are especially interested in work that moves beyond self-expression or the purely inspirational, and that can foster meaningful dialogue by exploring mental illness and related issues from unique or underrepresented angles. Questions driving the creative might include how mental illness is conceptualized and understood, and its impact on ways of thinking, speaking, and interacting in everyday life.

Please submit a cover letter and work in ONE of the following categories:


--Poetry: 3-5 poems, traditional or untraditional, any length, (though shorter is better).
--Art: 3-5 pieces of two-dimensional art, black and white preferred but not required.
--Fiction: one story, double-spaced, 12 point font, 4,000 words maximum.
--Creative nonfiction: one essay, double-spaced, 12 point font, 4,000 word maximum. 


The editors prefer unpublished work, but will accept previously published work provided the author owns the rights to the work. Please notify the editors where each piece was originally published in your cover letter.

Email written submissions in a single .doc, .docx, or .rtf attachment, and visual submissions as separate .jpg or .png attachments to:


melbyeeATmiamiohDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

To avoid having your work automatically deleted by an email spam filter, write “L4AC” followed by your last name in the subject line. Deadline for submissions is March 6, 2015.

Call for Poetry Submissions to Anthology Dedicated to Nelson Mandela: Cherry Castle Publishing

CHERRY CASTLE PUBLISHING SEEKS POETRY AND ESSAY SUBMISSIONS FOR SONGS FOR A PASSBOOK TORCH: HANDS UP, AN ANTHOLOGY DEDICATED TO NELSON MANDELA AND THE EXPLORATION OF SIMILARITIES BETWEEN POLICE BRUTALITY UNDER APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA AND POLICE BRUTALITY UNDER APARTHEID IN AMERICA. 

SCHEDULED FOR PUBLICATION IN JUNE OF 2015. 

Songs for a Passbook Torch: Hands UP, edited by Truth Thomas and Melanie Henderson, will explore and celebrate the life of the late anti-Apartheid freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela and more... 

Submit up to five previously unpublished poems to:

songsforapassbooktorchATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

All work submitted should have some relationship to Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, the Mandela family, and/or the past and present fight for racial justice in South Africa. In light of the ongoing lynchings of people of color in the United States, we are broadening the scope of this call. We are also calling for poetry and essays (3,000 word limit) that address the similarities between the systematic murder of black people by police in South Africa, and the pathological murder of black people by police in America. 

Payment will be in the form of one contributor's copy. Please direct questions to:

editorATcherrycastlepublishingDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . ) 

The submission period for this anthology is currently open ended. Decisions for inclusion in the anthology will be made on a rolling basis.  

Cherry Castle Publishing
where words grow mighty trees

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Seeking Books, Chapbooks, Anthologies, Novellas and Collections to Review: Blot Lit

Blot Lit Reviews Accepting Review Queries 

Blot Lit reviews, a division of Blotterature Literary Magazine, is accepting review queries to help promote small press publishers and their writers. Please follow the guidelines below to submit for a review. 


What Blot Lit Reviews is Looking For:
--Novels, Chapbooks, Novellas, Anthologies, and Collections
--Must be published by a small press
--Published within the last 12 months
--Poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction 


What Blot Lit Reviews is not looking for:
--Anything that is self-published
--Academic writing


How to get your book reviewed:
--upload a brief query letter
--include synopsis of work


Must provide Blot Lit Reviews with one copy of book upon acceptance
Submitter will be notified of acceptance and further information will be provided.


Go here for more information on how to submit.

Poetry Competition: Spirit First

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 6th annual meditation poetry contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation, Mindfulness, Silence, Stillness, or Solitude (referring to peaceful solitude - not loneliness). Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished.

PRIZES:
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100 

 
Enter up to three submissions. Sending more than three poems will lead to those poems being disqualified.


There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than January 31, 2015.
 
Winners will be announced no later than April 30, 2015, on the Spirit First website. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website and the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

Call for Book Entries: The 2015 San Francisco Book Festival

The 2015 San Francisco Book Festival has issued a call for entries to its annual program celebrating the best books of the spring.

The San Francisco Book Festival will consider non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children's books, compilations/anthologies, young adult, how-to, cookbooks, science fiction, business, history, wild card, gay, photography/art, poetry, unpublished, technology and spiritual/religious works. There is no date of publication restriction.

Grand prize for the 2015 San Francisco Book Festival winner is $1500 cash appearance fee and a flight to San Francisco for our gala awards ceremony on May, 2015. Exact date TBD.

Submitted works will be judged by a panel of industry experts using the following criteria: 1) General excellence and the author's passion for telling a good story. 2) The potential of the work to reach a wider audience.

Deadline submissions in each category must be received by the close of business on April 25, 2015. Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail and on the web site.

Read more at our website.

Call for Submissions: The Los Angeles Review

The Los Angeles Review is a semiannual journal of divergent literature with a West Coast emphasis. Established in 2003, LAR publishes both the stories of Los Angeles, endlessly varied, and those that grow outside our world of smog and glitter. LAR seeks voices with something wild in them, voices that know what it means to be alive, to be fallible, to be human.

Check out the submissions guidelines for more info. The LA Review accepts online submissions via Submittable here.

Call for Submissions: Prairie Schooner

Writers, use some of your free time this holiday season to give us the gift of reading and considering your work! Prairie Schooner is always on the lookout for poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews. Click here to visit our Submittable page. 

The Prairie Schooner blog is currently looking for special submissions on the theme of Women and the Global Imagination to be featured online in January and February. Deadline for submissions is January 15. Click here for more info. 

Finally, if you've been working on a fiction or poetry manuscript, get it ready, because the Prairie Schooner Book Prize begins accepting submissions on January 15, 2015. Winners receive $3,000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press. Click here for all the details.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Best wishes for the New Year!


Saturday, December 20, 2014

Interview with Red Savina Review

I have a new interview up at the Red Savina Review blog! Wendy Gist, the managing editor of Red Savina Review, asked me some challenging and thought-provoking questions, but it was a pleasure to answer them. You can read the interview here.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Fiction Competition: The Albert Camus Award for Short Fiction

The Albert Camus Award for Short Fiction created by Red Savina Review to champion writers whose short fiction explores and challenges the notion of human being in the twenty-first century. 
 
First prize $300; Second $100; Third $50; One Honorable mention plus publication in RSR’s in Spring Issue Online. 
 
The award will be given to writers whose fiction strips away the conceits of being human in an attempt to clear the way for human being. Entries judged by Guest Editor Khanh Ha recipient of Greensboro Review’s Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction. 
 
Fee: $15.00 entry 
 
Deadline: February 1, 2015
 
Guidelines here.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Fiction and Poetry Competition: Mississippi Review Prize

Our annual contest awards prizes of $1,000 in fiction and in poetry. Winners and finalists will make up next summer's print issue of the national literary magazine Mississippi Review. Contest is open to all writers in English except current or former students or employees of The University of Southern Mississippi. 

Fiction entries should be 1000-8000 words, poetry entries should be three to five poems totaling 10 pages or less. Please attach as one document. There is no limit on the number of entries you may submit.

Online entry fee is $16 per entry. Each entrant will receive a copy of the prize issue. 

Submit online here.

No manuscripts will be returned. Previously published work is ineligible. Simultaneous submissions are welcomed and encouraged as long as you notify us immediately of acceptance elsewhere. Contest opens August 1. Deadline is January 1st, 2015. Winners will be announced in early March and publication is scheduled for June next year. Entries should have "MR Prize," author name, address, phone, e-mail and title of work on page one.

Key dates:

Contest opens: August 1, 2014
Postmark deadline: January 1st, 2015

Winners and finalists announced: March 2015
Issue publication: June 2015

Paper entries will still be accepted.
Send entries and a check for $15 to:

Mississippi Review Prize
118 College Drive #5144
Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406-0001

Writing Competition: Meridian Editors' Prizes

The 2015 Meridian Editors' Prizes are accepting entries through our Submittable account

The contest deadline is January 7, 2015.

The winning story and the winning poem will both appear in our May 2015 issue, and all submissions will be considered for publication.


Please make sure you are submitting your work to our Editors's Prize Contest reading pools ($8.50 fee) and not our regular year-round submission pools.


Contest Details: 


--We will be selecting a winner in poetry and in fiction, each of which will receive $1000.
--Our entry fee is $8.50

--Entrants receive an electronic version of the journal (.pdf and ePub) rather than a print subscription
--We are only allowing two submissions per entrant
--We believe this lower cost contest model is better for you, and better for us. Rather than having you pay substantial entry fees to cover the cost of a print subscription (and mailing fees), we’re have a lower entry fee and will e-mail you an electronic version of the upcoming January and May issues. Fewer trees, less cost ... and we’ll still have print versions of Meridian available at modest cost for those who like to keep things tangible.
--We expect to announce winners toward the end of March, and all submissions will be considered for publication in Meridian.
--Fiction writers may submit one story of 10,000 words or fewer. Poets may submit up to 4 poems totaling 10 pages or fewer.
--You may only submit two entries per genre–-no more than two fiction submissions and/or two poetry submissions.
--Please submit your work through our Submittable account only. Please leave your name off the manuscript. The Submittable system keeps your contact info linked to your submission (but hides it from our readers, which allows for blind judging). 


Contest Eligibility Rules: 


We try our very best to run as fair and impartial a contest as we can. To that end,
UVA undergraduate alumni who graduated after June 2010 are NOT eligible.
UVA MFA students and alumni are NOT eligible.
Current UVA students, staff, and faculty are NOT eligible.
Former Meridian staff are not eligible. (If you’ve ever been on our masthead, please don’t enter.)
Friends, relatives, and former teachers and students of current Meridian staff or its advisor are not eligible.
Our former Meridian Editors’ Prize winners are not eligible to enter, even if their win was in another genre.
These prizes are not intended for well-established authors. Authors with two or more published books in a genre are not eligible to enter the contest for that genre. This rule does not include chapbook publications. This rule does include self-published books (If it’s been for sale and it was not a chapbook, it counts). You may enter our fiction contest if your published books were in poetry, and vice versa.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Flash Fiction Competition: The American Short(er) Story Contest

The American Short(er) Story Contest recognizes extraordinary short fiction under 1,000 words. This year we are honored to have Stuart Dybek as our guest judge.

Submittable link.
 

General Guidelines

Submit your entry online between October 25, 2014 – February 1, 2015.  


Stories must be 1,000 words or fewer. You are allowed to include up to three stories per entry. Please submit all stories in one document. Each story must begin on a new page and be clearly titled. For the title of your submission list the story titles, separated by a comma.

The 1st place winner will receive a $500 prize and publication. One runner-up will receive $250 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication. 


Please submit your $15 entry fee and your work through Submittable. We no longer accept submissions by post. International submissions in English are eligible. The entry fee covers three 1,000 word fiction submissions.

All entries must be single, self-contained works of fiction, under 1,000 words. Please DO NOT include any identifying information (name, address, email) on the manuscript itself.

You may submit multiple entries. We accept only previously unpublished work. We do allow simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you notify us promptly of publication elsewhere. Winners will be announced in April. 


Conflicts of Interest

Staff and volunteers currently affiliated with American Short Fiction are ineligible for consideration or publication. Additionally, students, former students, and colleagues of the judge are not eligible to enter. We ask that previous winners wait three years after their winning entry is published before entering again.


American Short Fiction adheres to the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics. 
Email any questions to:

editorsATamericanshortfictionDOTorg (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Writing Competition: Essays about the Weather: Creative Nonfiction

Deadline: April 13, 2015

For an upcoming issue, Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays about THE WEATHER. We're not just making idle chit-chat; the weather affects us all, and talking about the weather is a fundamental human experience. Now, as we confront our changing climate, talking about the weather may be more important than ever.

Send us your true stories—personal, historical, reported—about fog, drought, flooding, tornado-chasing, blizzards, hurricanes, hail the size of golfballs, or whatever's happening where you are. We're looking for well-crafted essays that will change the way we see the world around us.

Essays must be vivid and dramatic; they should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element and reach beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. We're looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; all essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate.

A note about fact-checking: Essays accepted for publication in Creative Nonfiction undergo a rigorous fact-checking process. To the extent your essay draws on research and/or reportage (and it should, at least to some degree), CNF editors will ask you to send documentation of your sources and to help with the fact-checking process. We do not require that citations be submitted with essays, but you may find it helpful to keep a file of your essay that includes footnotes and/or a bibliography.

Creative Nonfiction editors will award $1,000 for Best Essay and $500 for runner-up. All essays will be considered for publication in a special "Weather" issue of the magazine.

Guidelines: Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,000 words. There is a $20 reading fee, or $25 to include a 4-issue subscription to Creative Nonfiction (US addresses only). If you're already a subscriber, you may use this option to extend your current subscription or give your new subscription as a gift. Multiple entries are welcome ($20/essay) as are entries from outside the United States (though due to shipping costs we cannot offer the subscription deal). All proceeds will go to prize pools and printing costs.

You may submit essays online or by regular mail:

By regular mail
Postmark deadline April 13, 2015.
Please send manuscript, accompanied by cover letter with complete contact information including the title of the essay and word count; SASE or email for response; and payment to:

Creative Nonfiction
Attn: WEATHER
5501 Walnut Street, Suite 202
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

Online
Deadline to upload files: 11:59 pm EST April 13, 2015
To submit, please go here.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Call for Submissions: Off the Coast

Off the Coast is accepting submissions for the Winter 2015 issue.

Deadline: December 15, 2014
Send us your poetry, artwork & photos and poetry books for review via Submittable.

Editorial decisions are not made until after the December 15 deadline. Notifications will go out early to mid-January. Contributors receive one free copy. Additional copies of the issue their work appears in available for half the cover price.

Poetry:

Send 1-3 previously unpublished poems, any subject or style, using our submission manager.
Postal submissions with SASE with sufficient postage for return.
Please include contact information and brief bio with submission.
We accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Photos & Artwork:
We accept B&W graphics and photos to grace the pages of Off the Coast, and color or B&W for the cover.

Send 3-6 images in tiff, png or jpg format with 300 ppi minimum resolution. Images in portrait orientation work best for the journal.
Please use submission manager to send artwork.

Reviews: For reviews, send a single copy of a newly published poetry book. Please send bound books only, we do not review chapbooks.

Mail to:

Off the Coast
PO Box 14
Robbinston, ME 04671

Interviewed on Grab the Lapels

The lovely Melanie Page interviewed me today on her blog, Grab the Lapels. You can read the post here.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Writing Fellowships: Dickinson House Residencies

Dickinson House Residencies
Submittable link.

Fellowships for Writers: 

For the inaugural year, Dickinson House will award 3 Fellowships to writers, which covers the full room & board rates for a 2 to 4 week residency. 2015 applications open December 1st, 2014 until January 31st, 2015. Decisions will be made by jury and announced in February 2015. (Please note: Travel stipends are not included at this time, though we hope to offer funding for this in the future. Fellowships are open to Writers only in 2015. We hope to open this up to Artists in the future.)

Application basics for Writers:
Writing sample: 5-10 pages of recent creative work
Cover letter/Statement of purpose: essay stating your reasons for wanting to come to Dickinson House & your plans for the residency (700 words max)


Residency dates: 2-4 weeks between May & Nov. 2015
Application fee: $18

 
Submit by Jan. 31st.

 
In 2015, fellowship applications will be read anonymously by Dickinson House staff and by a jury including writer and organizer Jacob Sam-La Rose; writer and professor of creative writing Jonterri Gadson; poet, editor and professor of creative writing James Cihlar; Booker-nominated novelist, professor of creative writing, and editor-in-chief of The Letters Page Jon McGregor; and Josh Wallaert, filmmaker, writer and associate editor of Places journal.

Call for Submissions on the Theme of Fluids: Fiction International

Fiction International will accept submissions for an issue on Fluids from October 1, 2014 to February 15, 2015.

Fiction, non-fiction, and indeterminate prose texts of up to 5,500 words as well as visuals which address Fluids are welcome.

Please submit online through Submittable or by mail from 10/1/2014 to 2/15/2015 to the address listed on this page. We will consider submissions of narrative, anti-narrative and indeterminate texts but only accept submissions reflecting the theme. Please read sample texts from our catalog to become familiar with our thematic focus and our unique global perspective. Recent themes have been: Real Time/Virtual, About Seeing, DV8, Walls, The Artist in Wartime, Freak, Animals, and Abject/Outcast.

We accept all submissions (text and images), including those from agents, online or through mail.

Online submissions must be submitted through Submittable.

Hard copy submissions must be printed out, accompanied by an 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

Please ensure that all submissions are submitted as close to print-ready as possible. This is especially crucial for images. We exercise all due care in handling manuscripts, but we cannot be responsible for loss. Please allow one to three months for reply.

If submitting through Submittable or by mail isn't possible, we may accept emailed submissions providing you receive approval in advance. Do not email without receiving prior approval. Should you have any questions, please email the editor at:

hjaffeATmailDOTsdsuDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Fiction Competition: Nelson Algren Literary Awards

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. 

Submit entries at this link.

The Nelson Algren Literary Awards starts at 10:01 p.m. (CT) on Dec. 1, 2014, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. By June 1st, 2015, a panel of judges will select 10 winners (one grand prize winner, four finalists and five runners up).

Your name and contact information MUST NOT appear on any page of your story.

If you are submitting two entries, please submit each entry separately. NOTE: Only 2 entries are allowed per person.

If you need to withdraw a story, you can do this directly by logging in.

This contest is open to residents of the United States. All entries must be:

- Fiction
- Less than 8,000 words
- Double spaced
- Written in English

One grand prize winner will receive $3,500. Four finalists will each receive $1,000. Five runners-up will each receive $500. Total value of all prizes: $10,000.

View the official rules here.

Call for Submissions from Writers with Whidbey Connections: Whidbey Writes

Whidbey Writes is a collaboration between the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts and Whidbey Life Magazine. Its purpose is to encourage writers with a Whidbey connection to submit short fiction and poetry for publication in the online and print versions of Whidbey Life Magazine. The program is an outgrowth of the Whidbey Island Writers Association's annual "Spirit of Writing Contest," which was founded by Dorothy (Dot) Read in 2000.

Writers can submit their work for consideration anytime. An editorial board will review submissions quarterly and pass the best work on to Whidbey Life for publication online.

Whidbey Life will monitor how many views and comments each submission that it publishes online receives. The poem or short story with the most views and comments will be published in the annual print edition of Whidbey Life Magazine. The author of this piece will receive a free one-year membership to the Whidbey Island Writers Association (a $50 value) as well as five free copies of the printed magazine (a $25 value).

Once a year, a reading that celebrates all the writers whose short fiction or poetry was published in Whidbey Life will take place at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.

For submission guidelines, or to submit your work for review, click here.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Call for Essays on Becoming a Teacher: In Fact Books

Becoming a Teacher 

Deadline: March 9, 2015 


For a new anthology, In Fact Books is seeking true stories exploring and reflecting on the process of becoming a teacher. 

Education is a hotly-contested subject, but too often the voices of teachers themselves are left out of the discussion. This fall, approximately 3.5 million full-time teachers headed into classrooms in the United States. What motivates them to enter, and to stay in, this demanding profession, and how are their daily lives affected by ongoing changes in the education system? "Becoming a Teacher" will present readers with the world of education from the perspective of elementary and secondary school teachers, recalling and reflecting on the most salient moments of their careers.


We're looking for stories that, collectively, represent a wide variety of teachers and teaching experiences--in public or private or religious or charter schools, in cities or suburbs or rural areas, with typically-developing students or those with special needs, at home or internationally. Stories should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element, reaching beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. 


We're looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; writing should be evocative, vivid, and dramatic. All essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. Everything we publish goes through a rigorous fact-checking process; editors may ask for sources and citations.


Guidelines: Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,500 words. Multiple submissions are welcome, as are entries from outside the United States.


You may submit essays online or by regular mail:


By regular mail


Postmark deadline March 9, 2015
Please send your manuscript; a cover letter with complete contact information, including the title of the essay and word count; and an SASE or email address for response to: 


In Fact Books
c/o Creative Nonfiction Foundation
Attn: Becoming a Teacher
5501 Walnut Street, Suite 202
Pittsburgh, PA 15232


Online
Deadline to upload files: 11:59 pm EST March 9, 2015
To submit online, go here.

Call for Submissions: Switchback

Submissions link.

Switchback is now accepting submissions for our upcoming issue, current from now until January 31. Send us your best previously unpublished fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. We're looking for daring work, literature that electrifies with language strong enough to sweep us away. There's no submission fee, so what are you waiting for? Send us your work now! 

FICTION
Please send us only one piece of fiction at a time and 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. (Word Limit 7500) 


NONFICTION
Please send us only one piece of nonfiction at a time and 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. (Word Limit 7500) 


POETRY
Please send us no more than three poems per submission period. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately of acceptance elsewhere. Make sure your name DOES NOT appear on the submission itself. 


Switchback is a publication of the Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program of the University of San Francisco. 

For more information visit our website.

Call for Poets: Woman Made Gallery Literary Series

Call for Poetry: Woman Made Gallery Literary Series
Theme: DOCUMENTATION: For The Record
Date: Sunday, February 1, 2015, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Place: 685 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL

We are seeking work that addresses all aspects of the theme:

A document provides evidence, or serves as an official record that something happened or simply exists. We are looking for Poems as Documentation or Documentary. Poems in the form of documents: How-to manuals, FAQs. transcripts of imagined interviews, policy documents, inventories, legal or constitutional documents, etc. Poems about the transciber or documentarist are also of interest. Let’s see what you can come up with.


Please send 4 – 6 poems on the theme ALONG WITH a 50 to 75 word bio, IN THE BODY OF AN E-MAIL to: 

galleryATwomanmadeDOTorg (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

by December 22, 12:01 a.m.. We will make every effort to inform those chosen of our decision by January 20. Although we can't afford to pay readers, this is a great opportunity to sell books and read with other talented people in a very special environment.

Selections will be made with an eye to assembling a program that represents a diversity of poets, styles, and approaches to the theme.


Selected poets MUST be available to read in person. 

Read more about poetry events at Woman Made Gallery here.

Call for Flash Fiction: "Baby Shoes" Anthology

Thank you for wanting to be a part of the “Baby Shoes” anthology. We’re excited about this and hope you will be too.

Top – Level Concept

There aren’t enough flash fiction anthologies in the world, and those that are tend to focus on a specific genre. We want a little bit of everything, from a little bit of everybody.

For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used. Will feature 100 pieces of flash fiction from 100 different authors. All genres are open. No holds barred in terms of content or language (within reason – you’ll get rejected for child porn or needless hate speech, for example).

We’re funding the project via Kickstarter to make sure we can hire top editors, get awesome cover art and pay all of our contributors.

What we want from you

#1: A piece of awesome fiction less than 1,000 words long. We want it by the 5th of December sent as a .doc file you’ve already spellchecked and gone over for typos.

#2: Your help making the Kickstarter campaign go viral. You don’t have to contribute, but if each contributor gets two friends to back the book we’ll be well over our goals.

#3: Your help promoting the anthology once it’s released. You’ll probably do this anyway since you’ll be jazzed about being in print, but we’ll help you do it well.

What you get from us:

#1: You get paid up front, assuming the Kickstarter succeeds.
Authors already professionally published get to choose between (a) $10 and an electronic contributor’s copy and (b) $5 and a print contributor’s copy.
Authors for whom this will be the first professional publication choose between (a) $5 and an electronic contributor’s copy and (b) a print contributor’s copy.

You’ll see some mention of other arrangements for our “anchor” authors – rock stars like Joe R. Lansdale, Larry Brooks and Linda Needham who have graciously agreed to be involved. Don’t let that hurt your feelings. You and I aren’t at that level…yet.

#2: You receive some royalties.
Half of the profits from the anthology go to the publisher. Half of the remainder goes to the anchor authors. The remaining quarter gets split between the other contributors.
Fair warning: There are 100 authors involved and we don’t expect to sell millions of copies. Your cut of the profits will not amount to a whole lot more than bragging rights and a few bucks in your PayPal account. Don’t buy a new car on credit just because you got into the anthology, okay?

That’s the basics. We plan to launch the Kickstarter in early November and receive the submissions in late November/early December. If all goes well, we’ll print in time for Christmas.

If you’re as excited as we are about this, just shoot me a line at:

brickcommajasonATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

and we’ll get you started.
 

Jason Brick, editor

Friday, November 21, 2014

Call for Submissions: Tiferet

Tiferet is currently accepting new submissions. You are invited to submit a short story, an essay or interview, poems, or an original piece of art. 

Click here to read the guidelines and use our online submission process. 

Deadline is December 31st!

Fellowship for Boston-area Writers: The Writer's Room of Boston

The Writers' Room of Boston (WROB) is a nonprofit organization that has been dedicated to supporting the creation of new literature for over 25 years by providing a secure, affordable work space and an engaged community to established and emerging writers in Boston. 

Every year, The Writers’ Room of Boston supports four emerging local writers who need financial support to secure a quiet place to develop their work. Fellowship recipients receive full membership to The Writers’ Room for 12 months (February through January) at no cost. Members enjoy 24-hour access to a beautiful light-filled work space in downtown Boston and the opportunity to be part of an engaged community of serious writers.  

Awards for the Emerging Writer Fellowship Program are based upon the quality of a submitted writing sample, a project description, a CV or resume, and a statement of need. The Fellowships are open to writers working in any genre or form. Fellows must be committed to using the Room on a regular basis throughout the 12-month period.  

For more information about the WROB Emerging Writer Fellowship Program, or to learn how you can become a member, please visit our website

Applications for Fellowships are due on December 31, 2014. Applications for regular membership are open all year.

--
The Writers' Room of Boston
111 State Street, Fifth Floor
Boston, MA 02109
617.523.0566

www.writersroomofboston.org
@writersofboston
info@writersroomofboston.org
www.facebook.com/thewritersroomboston

Fiction Competition: Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest

$1,500 and publication in Boulevard awarded to the winning story by a writer who has not yet published a book of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction with a nationally distributed press  

RULES

All entries must be postmarked by December 31, 2014. Simultaneous submissions are allowed but previously accepted or published work is ineligible. Entries will be judged by the editors of Boulevard magazine.

Entry fee is $15 for each individual story, with no limit per author, and includes a one-year subscription. Make checks payable to Boulevard. 

We accept works up to 8,000 words. Author's name, address, and telephone number, in addition to the story's title and "Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest," should appear on page one. Cover sheets are not necessary. Manuscripts should be typed and double spaced. 

Contest entries can be submitted electronically or by mail. 

Electronic submissions 


Postal Submissions:
 
Send manuscript(s) and SAS post card for acknowledgement of receipt to: 

Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest
PMB 325
6614 Clayton Road
Richmond Heights, MO 63117

No manuscripts will be returned. 

Due to the number of submissions, we cannot respond to each writer individually. Each author will receive an acknowledgement of receipt but will need to check the website for notification of the winner. 

The winning story will be first announced on the website, traditionally during June, though occasionally earlier, and then published in the Spring or Fall 2015 issue of Boulevard

Call for Submissions: pacificReview: Vivarium

pacificREVIEW 2015: Vivarium

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
FICTION * NONFICTION * POETRY *
GRAPHIC NARRATIVE * PHOTOGRAPHY * ARTWORK


Submission Period: October 1st 2014 – February 28th 2015

A vivarium (Latin for "place of life") is an area for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Often, a portion of the ecosystem for a particular species is simulated on a smaller scale, a microcosm with controls for environmental conditions.

We, as human beings, create vivariums for both ourselves and other species. In these environments of our own design (zoos, shopping malls, universities, cathedrals, etc.), we breathe simulation, observe phenomena both natural and unnatural, speak in symbols, and cypher our dreams. We are inhabitants of our creations, thriving in the flux between the abstract and the absolute. The newest issue of the pacificREVIEW seeks dynamic work that speaks to this theme and interrogates the ever-blurring line between "real" and "unreal" settings.

Call for Submissions of Historical Crime and Mystery Fiction for Anthology: Darkhouse Books


Submissions remain open for an anthology of historical crime and mystery fiction

Darkhouse Books seeks stories for an anthology of historical crime and mystery fiction. For the purpose of this anthology we are defining historical fiction as, those works set more than a few decades prior to the present and written by someone without direct experience in the setting and events of the story. But should a truly superb story happen to stray from the above strictures and cross our threshold, we would happily consider it.

The submission period is now open and will remain open through 11:59pm (PST), December 31st, 2014.

We are seeking stories in the 2500 to 7500 word range, though if it’s knockout material, we’ll consider any length.

The anthology will contain between twelve and twenty stories, depending on the overall length. Authors will share equally fifty percent of royalties received.

We accept MS Word .doc and .docx files. Submissions must be in standard manuscript format. Links to formatting guides are available here.

Previously published work will be considered, provided the author has the power to grant us the right to publish in ebook, audio, and print versions, and that it has not been available elsewhere more recently than January 1st, 2014.

Submissions may be sent to:

submissionsATdarkhousebooksDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Please leave “Submission-“ in the subject line and add the name of your story.

Andrew MacRae
Darkhouse Books
www.darkhousebooks.com
Now available "The Anthology of Cozy-Noir"!

Fellowship for Emerging Female Writer: The Mary Wood Fellowship

Announcing the Mary Wood Fellowship at the Rose O'Neill Literary House!

The Mary Wood Fellowship at Washington College is awarded in even-numbered to an emerging female writer—in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction—who has published one book.

The Fellowship enables female creative writing students at Washington College to work with and learn from successful female writers like Laura van den Berg, Hannah Tinti, and Irina Reyn, who spend several days on campus.

The Mary Wood Fellow spends approximately three days at Washington College, during which she holds individual conferences with select female undergraduate creative writers. The Fellow also gives a public reading and a craft talk. The Fellowship includes a $1500 stipend, overnight accommodations, and travel. 

Eastern Shore author Mary Wood, whose support makes the fellowship possible, is a ’68 graduate of the College and a former member of its Board of Visitors and Governors.

Applicants should send a cover letter (outlining qualifications and reasons for interest in position) as well as a copy of their book to Assistant Director Lindsay Lusby:

The Rose O’Neill Literary House

Washington College
300 Washington Avenue
Chestertown, Maryland 21620

For the Spring 2016 Mary Wood Fellowship, applications will be accepted if postmarked by March 1, 2015.

To learn more about the Rose O'Neill Literary House and Washington College, please visit our website.

 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Interview with Webucator: Staying Motivated



In honor of National Novel Writing Month, the folks at Webucator have asked me to respond to a few questions about writing. Although I don't participate in NaNoWriMo (November is a terrible month for me to try squeeze in extra writing time!), I thought it would be fun to answer their questions. You can read the interview below:

What were your goals when you started writing? I can't remember not writing. From the time I was old enough to read, I wrote vignettes, observations about life, snippets of overheard dialogue that intrigued me, and short stories. I wrote plays with parts for all of my stuffed animals. In the beginning, I think my primary desire was to give voice to the ideas that captured my imagination. As I grew older, my goals shifted to writing something important that people would read and remember. In high school, I became aware that words matter, that a good writer could sway opinions and touch people's emotions.

What are your goals now? My goals really changed when I became a young adult. As an undergraduate, I was an English major, and the work I read inspired me to think about writing short stories. I began submitting my work for publication in my early twenties, where I encountered a lot of rejection. But I did publish two pieces early on, an op-ed piece and a short story, and that motivated me to keep going. Later, I started work on a novel, which generated some interest from a publisher, but I never finished the book, and the project was dropped. After that, I concentrated on writing shorter pieces and have since published over 50 short stories, essays, and poems. My goals now are more evolved and complex. My debut novel, Blood of a Stone, is forthcoming from Tuscany Press in January 2015. Downloads of an Advanced Reading Copy of my novel are currently available to registered members of NetGalley for review. For years, my primary goal was to publish a novel. Now I'm working on a new novel, as well as a collection of short stories. I'm also actively pursuing awards and fellowships. 

What pays the bills now? My writing has never paid the bills, but my income from writing has continued to grow and is a nice supplement to our household income. Alas, art is not highly valued in today's society, so few authors actually earn a living income from their writing. I'm fortunate to have a supportive partner who has paid the bulk of our bills while I pursued my passion. In addition to my writing, I also work part-time as a creative writing instructor and as a freelance editor. 

Assuming writing doesn't pay the bills, what motivates you to keep writing? It's really about the writing, isn't it? Fame and fortune can be fleeting, but the joy of creating something imaginative and wonderful can carry you forever. I write because I love what I do. I love making the words dance on the page. I love creating interesting characters with complicated lives. My readers motivate me, too. Just last week, I received a lovely email from someone who had read my flash memoir, "My Mother's Hands," in Run to the Roundhouse, Nellie. I walked on a cloud for days. It's truly humbling to discover that your stories have touched someone and made a difference.

And optionally, what advice would you give young authors hoping to make a career out of writing? Read. Read everything in the genre you like to write and read outside of your genre. Read the classics. Read National Book Award winners, the stories in Best American Short Stories, or the essays in Best American Essays. Immerse yourself in good writing and good literature. You will learn much via osmosis. And write, write, write. Keep a journal. Write short stories, essays, poems, novels. Experiment with form and craft. Study the writers you admire and take notes: How does this one write dialogue that sounds so natural? How does that writer use metaphor and description to bring the setting to life? If you have a passion for writing, nothing will stop you from continuing to write. If you want to make a career out of writing, you need to apply the theory of P's: Practice. Persistence. Patience. Professionalism. The career will follow.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Book News for Blood of a Stone!

I rarely post anything about myself here, but I wanted to share this news with you. My debut novel, Blood of a Stone, is slated for release from Tuscany Press Jan. 15, 2015! To celebrate the release, my publisher has made ARCs available on NetGalley for reviews. You must be a registered member of NetGalley to download a copy. The link.
 
And here is a photo of the book cover! Isn't it pretty??
 
 

Call for Submissions: Thin Air Magazine

Thin Air Magazine is reading submissions from now until Dec 15 for our Spring 2015 issue and our Web Features.

Founded in 1994, Thin Air is a nonprofit operating at an altitude of 6,910 ft, on the mountain of Flagstaff, Arizona, a popular stop along Route 66. The magazine is managed and edited entirely by Northern Arizona University graduate students on a volunteer basis, with faculty support from Nicole Walker. 

Thin Air is published in print once a year and on the web on an ongoing basis. We seek work that represent the forefront of contemporary American prose and poetry, work that tear up our hearts, and work that matter. We care about sharp aesthetics, cultural relevance, artistic cohesion, and are especially excited about writings that bend rules and surprise readers while sneakily winking at tradition. 
 
We are supportive of emerging writers and diverse voices, and aim to represent a wide range of talent in every issue we publish. We encourage submissions from writers of non-dominant, traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.
 

Call for Poetry and Art about Animals: The National Museum of Animals & Society

The National Museum of Animals & Society seeks submissions of poetry and visual art for an upcoming exhibition on animals in poetry. This first of a kind exhibit will focus on poems, and the visual presentation of poems, that represent animal subjects and animals’ subjectivities, and that explore human-animal relations and the human-animal bond. Poets and visual artists are encouraged to participate.

Submissions link.

The deadline for submissions is January 10, 2015.

Call for Submissions: The Great American Lit Mag

Deadline: December 31, 2014

The Great American Lit Mag is seeking bold work for its second issue! We publish quarterly. Our current reading period runs through the end of December.  


For more information about our magazine, please visit our website.

Call for Submissions: The Cumberland River Review

Deadline: April 30, 2015

The Cumberland River Review reads during the traditional academic year, September through April, and aims to maintain a regular response time of three months. We read and encourage simultaneous submissions and acquire First North American Serial Rights and the right to maintain an archive copy of accepted work online. (All other rights revert to our authors upon publication.) 


We nominate work for the Pushcart Prize, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and other anthologies and prizes. As always, our hope is to feature work of moral consequence.

 To submit and for more information, please visit our website.

Call for Submissions: Tiferet

Tiferet is currently accepting new writing submissions! 

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. 

We seek and publish the following types of work:  

Fiction: We interpret the word "spiritual" broadly. First, we seek well-written stories, pure and simple, that engage us in some small pocket of humanity.  

Nonfiction: We like to publish essays and interviews that shed light on personal experiences of grappling with the invisible...or different aspects of spiritual traditions.  

Poetry: We look for the highest quality poems that display mastery of content and craft. Technical proficiency is extremely important, along with clear expression of various aspects of the human spirit.  

Art and Photography: We seek original art and photography which in some way captures the spiritual or contemplative in a visual representation. 

For complete submission guidelines or to submit your work, please visit our website.

The deadline for all submissions is December 31st, 2014.  

Thank you for being a part of the global Tiferet community. We look forward to reading all submissions!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Call for Poetry Submissions: Heron Tree


Heron Tree's current reading period closes December 1. Any submissions received outside this period will not be read. 

More information, including archives of previously published poems, can be found on our website.
 
Submit 2 – 5 poems with a cover letter via email to:
 
submit.herontreeATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
 
Include your cover letter in the body of the email and attach poems in a single doc, docx, or rtf file. All submissions will be read blind; please do not include your name on the poems themselves, but provide a list of titles in your cover letter. Please do not use headers or footers in your file.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome with timely notification of acceptance elsewhere. Work previously published online, electronically, or in print should not be submitted. Heron Tree does not publish translations, fiction, essays, or artwork at this time.

Accepted work will be published on the Heron Tree website and will be included in a yearly bound edition available as a print-on-demand volume. We are not currently able to provide contributing authors with a gratis copy of the volume, but we plan to make it available to them at minimal cost. Purchase of the print volume is not required for publication.

Call for Submissions: Printer's Devil Review

Call for Submissions: Printer's Devil Review

“Gorgeous…Beautifully put together…the kind of journal where good writers who go on to be great get their start.” These are just a few of the compliments paid Printer’s Devil Review in a review recently published on the journal review site The Review Review.

PDR is currently seeking submissions of fiction (2,000 to 9,000 words), poetry, and nonfiction. Our reading period for Spring 2015 opened October 1, 2014 and closes January 1, 2015.

Printer's Devil Review (ISSN 2160-2948) is an independent, open access journal of literary and visual art. We publish new writers alongside Pushcart- and Pulitzer Prize-winning ones.

We pay a lot of attention to graphic design and have a killer website that ensures your work will not only look good, but reach readers wherever they are and on any device, from desktops to phones. (Yeah, we're kind of from the future.) We nominate for Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and Best Indie Lit New England.

You can find full guidelines for each section and access our online submission system.

You can keep up with us by subscribing to our newsletter.

Writing Competition for Fiction, Poetry, and Cross-Genre Manuscripts: Tarpaulin Sky Book Prizes

Contest for Fiction, Poetry, and Cross-Genre Manuscripts

The deadline for the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prizes is 30 November 2014. 


This year two manuscripts will be chosen, rather than one. In addition to publication, each author will receive $1000 ($500 cash, $500 book-tour expenses) plus 25 copies.

Books will be published in Spring 2016, in time for AWP Los Angeles. Submission fees are sliding scale, $20-30, and each entrant is eligible to receive a free TS book from our catalogue in return for an SASE. 

Individual works in manuscript submissions are also automatically considered for publication in Tarpaulin Sky Literary Journal.

Founded in 2002 as an online magazine, Tarpaulin Sky Press began publishing books in 2006, focusing on cross-genre / trans-genre / hybrid forms as well as innovative poetry and prose. Although known for their staunch refusal to fit neatly into genre conventions, Tarpaulin Sky Press titles are nonetheless reviewed positively in a wide variety of popular venues, including After Ellen, Huffington Post, The Nation, NPR Books, Publishers Weekly, Time Out New York, and VICE, as well as in small-press venues such as American Book Review, Bloomsbury Review, Bookslut, HTML Giant, Hyperallergic, Iowa Review, Review of Contemporary Fiction, The Rumpus, and TriQuarterly. 

Please see the 2015 Book Prizes guidelines page for full details.