Saturday, April 30, 2016

Interview About Writing Process with andilit.com

My thanks to Andrea Cumbo-Floyd for this lovely interview about the writing process on her blog, andilit.com! You can read her thoughtful questions and my responses here.




Friday, April 29, 2016

Call for Submissions: Sliver of Stone

Call for Submissions: Sliver of Stone

Sliver of Stone's 12th issue is now available online.

We are a bi-annual, online literary magazine dedicated to the publication of work from both emerging and established poets, writers, and visual artists from all parts of the globe.

Authors featured in this issue include Richard Godwin, Gilbert King, Conor McCreery, Laura McDermott, and Will Viharo. Visual Art by Andrés Pruna and Terry Wright.

Check out our past contributors, such as Lynne Barrett, Kim Barnes, John Dufresne, Denise Duhamel, Barbara Hamby, Allison Joseph, J. Michael Lennon, Dinty W. Moore, Matthew Sharpe, and many talented others. Past interviews with Paul D. Brazill, Janet Burroway, Edwidge Danticat, Beverly Donofrio, Dean Koontz, K.A. Laity, Susan Orlean, Les Standiford, José Ignacio Valenzuela, and Mark Vonnegut.

We're now looking for submissions for our 13th issue!

DEADLINE: July 15, 2016

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Call for Submissions on the Theme of Transportation: the museum of americana

From now until 7/1/2016, the museum of americana, an online literary review, is reading for a special transportation-themed summer issue. Seeking fiction, non-fiction, poetry, art and photography.

Details and guidelines for submitting here.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Call for Submissions: The East Bay Review

Call for Submissions: The East Bay Review

From Jack London to Mac Dre, from Jason Kidd to Gertrude Stein, The East Bay Review showcases real art by real artists from the East Bay and beyond. We strive to put good work into the world, committed to nurturing the artistic and literary community by featuring the best and brightest in literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art.

We're currently reading for our second anniversary issue, due out in July.

Poems: Up to three per submission
Prose: Up to 25 pages


We also accept submissions for comics and other artwork through our Submittable page. Please submit up to three comics in JPG or PDF format.

For further submission guidelines and our submissions portal, go here.

Call for Submissions: The Indianola Review

Deadline: December 15, 2016
 
The Indianola Review is now open for submissions! We’re looking for fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.


The Indianola Review is a quarterly print journal, and we’re proud to pay our contributors for their work. We do not charge for standard submissions, and we have no specific aesthetic demands. Although we tend to publish literary fiction, we’re open to any genre. We just want to read your best work, period.

Check out our website for guidelines and payment rates.

Call for Submissions: Hawaii Pacific Review

Hawaii Pacific Review seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The online literary journal of Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu, HPR often features work from Hawaii and the Pacific region, but is interested in great writing from any region and on any subject.

Submissions are accepted all year long, though responses may take longer during summer months. More details can be found at our website.

Submissions are accepted exclusively through our online submissions manager.

Call for Submissions: Italian Americana

We are now reading poetry, creative non-fiction, memoir and short stories for our summer issue.

Deadline: June 1.

Italian Americana, a twice-yearly print journal founded over 35 years ago to promote Italian American scholarship and literature, has just published its first issue under new editor Carla A. Simonini and new poetry editor Maria Terrone. We are looking for fresh poetry on any topic by writers of Italian heritage (either father’s or mother’s side or both). Excellence of the work is the only criterion.


Please send up to five poems in a single Word file, Times New Roman, 11 point font. One-page poems are preferable, although two-page poems will be considered. Your name, address, email address and phone number should appear on every page of the file. Begin the document with a short cover letter, including a bio of no more than 65 words. Please email the Word doc to the editor at:

casimoniniATysuDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

“Poetry Submission/Your Last Name” should appear in the subject line.

Creative non-fiction, memoir and short stories up to 4,000 words are also welcome and should be emailed to the editor with bio, cover letter, etc.

For more information, please visit our new website.

Call for Submissions: Gloom Cupboard

Gloom Cupboard seeks new and intriguing work for its upcoming issue. We are interested in art, poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid-genre work; we are willing to work with authors on pieces that intrigue us but may yet be fully polished. 

Submissions are considered on a rolling basis but must be received before May 15th to be considered for the spring/summer issue. 

See guidelines here.

Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions: Typehouse Literary Magazine

Typehouse Literary Magazine, a production of The People’s Ink, is a Portland, Oregon-based web magazine. While based in the Pacific Northwest, we publish authors from all around the country, as well as from overseas.

We are currently accepting submissions for our 9th issue, to be published in September. We love receiving all types of submissions including fiction and poetry, but we never receive enough non-fiction or artwork/photography.

Visit our website or on Twitter as @TypehouseLitMag.

Guidelines:

We are looking for submissions of poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction and visual art. We are looking for writing that conveys a unique perspective and honest insight into our world. Genre fiction submissions welcome. Simultaneous submission are encouraged, but please let us know immediately if it has been accepted elsewhere. Previously published work will not be considered.

Prose Submissions:

There is no minimum number of words but we will most likely publish fiction and non-fiction between 1,000-5,000 words. We accept up to three prose submissions per author as long as the total number of words is less than 7,500. All genres and subjects are welcomed and encouraged.

Save submissions as either .doc or .rtf format, and be sure to attach them to your email. Include your contact information and the work’s title and word count in both the document and the body of the email, as well as a short bio in the email body. In the subject line please put the type and title of the submission as well as your last name.

Poetry Submissions:

Up to six poems are accepted per submission, and all forms and subjects are encouraged. Save submissions as either .doc or .rtf format, and be sure to attach them to your email. Include your contact information and the work’s title(s) in both the document and the body of the email, as well as a short bio in the email body. In the subject line please put the type of submission as well as your last name.

Visual Arts Submissions:

We would like to see artwork and photography of all kinds and subjects. Up to six poetry and visual arts submissions are accepted at once, and can either be thumbnails or full size images. In the subject line please put the type of submission as well as your last name.

ETC:

Right now Typehouse is strictly an online magazine published in PDF format. However, there are hopes to add print issues in the future. Contributors are not compensated, but a modest honorarium will be awarded to the winner of our Editor’s Choice award each issue. We take first publication rights and non-exclusive archival rights. All other rights revert to the author upon publication. Typehouse is published tri-annually in January, May, and September.



Send your submissions to:  

typehouseATpeoples-inkDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Poetry Chapbook Competition: Two of Cups Press

Two of Cups is excited to read for its annual chapbook contest between April 15th and June 15th. One winning manuscript will be chosen by 2015 winner, Raegen Pietrucha. Winner will be announced August 1st, the author receiving 25 copies of his/her book. Two finalists (chosen by our editor) will receive 10 copies of his/her book. A list of honorable mentions will receive recognition on our website.

Style & theme are open. This year we will not be reading blind. We also now have a fee free submission option.

Please adhere to the following guidelines. We look forward to reading your work. Best of luck! 


  • Reading period open from April 15th - June 15th (2016)
  • Simultaneous submissions accepted and encouraged but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere. We will be the first to congratulate you!
  • 15-25 pages of poetry (or thereabouts, just try to keep it close)
  • Table of contents & acknowledgments (if needed)
  • 12 pt Times New Roman (or similar font)
  • We will not be reading blind this year so no need to stress over identifying info
  • If you would like a copy of one of our chaps (please see more info below) be sure to include a US mailing address on your title page/cover sheet

Visit our website for complete info.

Call for Submissions: Pretty Owl Poetry


Pretty Owl Poetry is now open for submissions for Issue 10, Summer 2016. Please submit between 3–5 poems in one file or up to three pieces of fiction in one file. We adore prose-poetry style flash fiction, but we're also open to longer, more traditional short stories. The word count should not exceed 2,000 words, if possible. We're open to publishing multiple works by one author, so short story series are welcome.

Please visit past issues to get a feel for the kind of art we like to feature on our cover and the inside of each issue.

Pretty Owl Poetry is an online quarterly journal that publishes new, emerging, and established writers in poetry, fiction, and the visual arts. We support all approaches to writing, be it collaborative or individual. We’re interested in experimental and traditional forms and fiction masquerading as poetry, all with a lyrical quality. Pretty Owl Poetry breaks down the barriers between voice and the written word by continuing to share the work of its authors’ through online readings and interviews, written Q&As, and its spotlight reading series.
 
For more, please visit our website.

Call for Submissions: Opossum: Literature Animated by Music

Opossum: Literature Animated by Music - Open for Submissions

OPOSSUM is a Literary Marsupial seeking writing animated by music. We publish fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and flash and will debut this summer with a square format print edition including a 7-inch record of author readings. Subsequent issues will appear online, culminating in annual print editions, which will always include an audio component.

Read our manifesto here.

And submit!

Call for Submissions: Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing

Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing is seeking literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, features, and artwork for our Fall 2016 issue. We publish work by established and emerging writers, and past contributors have included William Logan, Ada Limón, Robert Vivian, Marion Roach Smith and Ian Duhig.

Deadline: August 15, 2016.

Submission guidelines.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Call for Panel Presenters: 2016 Steel Pen Creative Writers' Conference

2016 Steel Pen Creative Writers' Conference
Call for Presenters


Indiana Writers’ Consortium (IWC) is pleased to announce that we are accepting proposals for our third annual Steel Pen Creative Writers' Conference, which is an intimate, high quality, and affordable, full-day writers’ conference slated for Saturday, November 12th. The conference, which will take place at the Radisson Inn at Star Plaza, in Merrillville, Indiana, will include multiple breakout sessions and lunch with a keynote address by Indiana fiction writer and professor Cathy Day.

IWC seeks proposals from individuals and groups who are at different stages in their writing careers that will represent a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Presentations may include but are not limited to such topics as:
· Writing and craft
· Business of writing
· Creative writing pedagogy
· Academic and community program development
· Genre trends


Interactive individual presentations, panels, and creative writing workshops are welcome. Please click on this link for the proposal template.

Deadline: April 30, 2016

Questions may be directed to Michelle McGill at:  

steelpenconferenceATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Call for Submissions: The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts

The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts is looking for, as you might guess, "compressed creative arts." We accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, triptychs, mixed media, visual arts, and even kitchen sinks, if they are compressed in some way. Work is published weekly, without labels, and the labels here only exist to help us determine its best readers.

Our response time is generally 1-3 days. Also, our acceptance rate is currently about 3% of submissions. We pay writers $50 per accepted piece and signed contract.

We are now open for compressed poetry, compressed prose fiction (including prose poetry), compressed creative nonfiction, triptychs, and visual art work. Submissions will close again on June 15, 2016. For this reading period, we will be looking to publish authors who have not previously been published in the journal.

The reader for your submission is, during this round of spring submissions, the managing editor.

For all submitters, we aren't as concerned with labels—hint fiction, prose poetry, micro fiction, flash fiction, and so on—as we are with what compression means to you. In other words, what form "compression" takes in each artist's work will be up to each individual. However, we don't publish erotica or work with strong, graphic sexual content.

In short, we want to fall in love with your work. That might happen in the way we've fallen in love with work we've previously published, or it might happen in a way we have yet to experience. Maybe reading that other work will help in knowing whether you should send your work to us, but in truth, such a thing might not be discoverable.

Submit here.

Call for Creative Nonfiction Submissions: Fifth Wednesday Journal

Fifth Wednesday Journal would love to read your creative nonfiction pieces. Successful creative nonfiction goes beyond the personal experience or anecdote to translate the experience and engage a larger world.

FWJ is open to submissions from March 15 to June 1.

Full guidelines can be found at our website.

Writing Competition: The Baltimore Review

Theme: "Games." Why? We all play them, from childhood through adulthood. One on one. Team games. Physical. Psychological. We love our rules. Making and breaking them. Games can provide great structures for your stories and poems, too. Make games play a role in your poem, story, or CNF. All entries considered for publication.

Prizes: $500, $200, and $100. 3,000-word limit for prose, one to three poems in an entry.

Entry fee: $10. Final judge: James Arthur.

Deadline: May 31, 2016. Plenty of time to consider your strategy. For details and to submit online, visit our website.

Call for Submissions: Drowning Gull

Drowning Gull is a literary platform dedicated to publishing what other popular literary magazines often won’t… including screenplays, book reviews, novel excerpts, comic strips, and pretty much anything else out of the ordinary that you can think of. Maybe you have some fiction or narrative nonfiction that in some way strays from the norm, and you are struggling to place it.

For info on how to submit, please check out The Drowning Gull’s Submission Guidelines page.

There is no deadline for submissions. We consider work on a rolling basis.

Some things we do differently to most other magazines:

1) Where possible, we try to respond with some feedback on your piece. However, this is because The Drowning Gull hasn't received many submissions-- and may therefore be subject to change. DO NOT SUBMIT if you aren't open to suggestions.
2) Our aim is to respond within a month, but often do so in less than a week. Again, this depends on the workload.
3) We pay special attention to eccentric, avant-garde pieces... but that is no judgement on quality. We just have a different aesthetic.
4) The Drowning Gull considers submissions of short films.

If there are any questions that we don't answer on our guidelines, feel free to e-mail us at:


thedrowninggullAToutlookDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Post-Publication Book Awards: Housatonic Book Awards

We invite you to nominate your recent titles for the third annual Housatonic Book Awards, operated by the MFA in Creative in Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University in cooperation with the MFA Alumni Writer’s Cooperative (AWC).

Books published in 2014 and 2015 are eligible in Fiction, and books published in 2015 are eligible in all other categories. The mission of the awards is to promote excellent writing, to identify authors who serve as professional role models for writing students, and to develop the WCSU MFA in Creative and Professional Writing scholarship fund.

Four recipients will be honored in the areas of Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, and Writing for Middle Grades and Young Adults. Any publisher, author, agent, or legal representative may enter a title in the appropriate award genre.

The Housatonic Book Awards are open for nominations until June 15.

This is a postmark/datestamp deadline.

Recipients receive $1500 and will appear at a WCSU MFA Residency.

Guidelines, the entry form, and the electronic submission portal may be found at our website. The awards subscribe to the CLMP Code of Ethics.

Call for Poets: Woman Made Gallery Literary Series

Theme: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Reading: Sunday, June 12, 2016, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Place: 685 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL


Submission deadline: April 30, 11:59 pm

Empirical evidence, hypotheses and formulas. Proof, measurement, explanation. What could be less poetic, more antithetical to the nature of poetry? And yet it is in just such juxtaposition that poetry can discover new possibilities. If these fields have captured your imagination, we'd like to see it.

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


 poetryATwomanmadeDOTorg (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

by April 30, 11:59 p.m. We will make every effort to inform those chosen of our decision by May 8. 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.

OR to keep up with our goings on, "like" us on Facebook at Woman Made Gallery Literary Events

Call for Submissions: Blinders Journal

Have you ever, as a new writer, felt intimidated by the contributor bios you read in the back of your favorite magazines? Have you ever, as a well-established writer, wondered how well your manuscripts would fare if they were separated from your name and list of previous publications?
 
We here at Blinders Literary Journal hope that we have found a solution for writers and poets, new and advanced. We never want to see your cover letter, only your fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and artwork.
 
Blinders Journal is taking submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and art for its fifth issue until May 15, 2016.
 
Please visit our website to view our latest issue or our submission guidelines.

Call for Submissions on the Theme of Motherhood: Stirring


Stirring is excited to announce our themed issue this year will focus on motherhood. We are looking for poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction that examines all facets of the realm of motherhood from birth, to bottle, and everything in between. Motherhood is a title obtained through birth and through loss, and we want to hear from all spectrums of those who identify as such. We want to read works that explore the realm of motherhood and how this life-altering event has affected you and your experiences with the world around you.
 
This themed issue will be guest edited by Leigh Anne Hornfeldt, editor of Two of Cups Press, and author of 3 chapbooks, the most recent Fleshed from Winged City. She is a recipient of a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, as well as the winner of the Juliet Miller scholarship from SAFTA. Her poem "Laika" placed second in the Argos Prize competition, and in 2012 she received the Kudzu Prize for poetry. She lives and writes in North Carolina.
 
Please send up to five poems in the body of an email to:
 
stirring.poetryATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
 
with the subject line including the term MOTHERHOOD. You may refer to our general submission guidelines for more specific, technical details at our website.
 
The deadline for submissions is June 1st, 2016.
 
Stirring : A Literary Collection is a monthly, online publication that publishes around five poems per issue. We seek to glean the best voices of the web and specialize in publishing new and emerging poets, though we must say, we love the older, more established ones as well. Started in 1999 by Erin Elizabeth Smith, Stirring is now one of the oldest continually publishing journals on the internet.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Call for Creative Nonfiction: Fifth Wednesday Journal

Fifth Wednesday Journal would love to read your creative nonfiction pieces. Successful creative nonfiction goes beyond the personal experience or anecdote to translate the experience and engage a larger world. FWJ is open to submissions from March 15 to June 1.

Full guidelines can be found at our website.

Writing Competition: The William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition

The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society’s annual literary talent search, open to all writers anywhere in the world writing in English is in progress now. Don’t lose your chance to enter. The William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition opened January 1, 2016, and the deadline for entries is May 15, 2016.

Significant prizes cash prizes, gold medals, and trips to New Orleans to accept the awards are offered to winners in eight categories of previously unpublished fiction, narrative non-fiction, and poetry.

For guidelines and entry form, visit our website.

Or E-mail us at:


faulkhouseATaolDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

This year's judges include National Book Award winners Adam Johnson and Julia Glass, Pulizer Prize winner Daniel de Visé, and other multiple prize-winning authors. Attached is our competition brochure announcing 2015 winners and runners-up.

We look forward to seeing your work this year.

Rosemary James, Co-Founder, Faulkner Society

Call for Novel Manuscripts by African-American Women: Shade Mountain Press

Call for novel manuscripts by African-American women

Shade Mountain Press is a new, small feminist publishing house founded in 2014 by Rosalie Morales Kearns. Our titles have earned accolades like inclusion in NPR's Best Books of 2015 and a starred review in Kirkus.

SMP is seeking novel manuscripts by African American women.

Reading period: April 1–July 1, 2016.

What to send:
--—an email that includes a short description of the novel as well as a brief bio, including publishing credits, if any
--—the full manuscript as a Word or PDF attachment
--—a synopsis (of whatever length) as a Word or PDF attachment

Where to send:


submissionsATshademountainpressDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . ).

In the subject line, include the word “query” along with your name and/or novel title.

For more information, please see our website.

Call for Speculative Fiction Submissions: The Ottawa Object

The Ottawa Object is a print journal that publishes high-quality and intriguing short fiction. It specializes in strongly focused speculative fiction and compelling, eccentric literary fiction. If your name is George Saunders, you may want to submit something. If you’re a replicant who writes about his birth from the neurons of a pale and driven scientist, you may want to submit something. If you exist only in the imagination of a boy laying in the grass and looking at the stars, you may want to submit something. Heck, even if you’re just a really gifted writer, you may want to submit something.

Submissions should:
* be between 300-4,000 words
* be double-spaced
* be eccentric but convincing


Payment is one contributor copy.

More details can be found here.

Call for Poetry and Essay Submissions to Anthology: Songs for a Passbook Torch (Cherry Castle Publishing)

Cherry Castle Publishing seeks poetry and essay submissions for SONGS FOR A PASSBOOK TORCH, an anthology dedicated to honoring the legacy of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, the Mandela family, the past and present fight for racial justice in South Africa, and the exploration of similarities between police brutality under apartheid in South Africa and race-based police brutality in America.

Songs for a Passbook Torch, edited by award-winning poets, Truth Thomas and Melanie Henderson, is scheduled for publication when all the type is right. Payment will be in the form of one contributor's copy.

Send your work as a SINGLE attachment (.doc; .docx; .rtf; PDF). Submit up to five previously unpublished poems and essays (honoring a 3,000 word limit) to:

SONGSFORAPASSBOOKTORCH(AT)GMAIL(DOT)COM (Change (AT) to @ and (DOT) to . )

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

Call for Submissions and Nonfiction Prize: Profane

Profane is an annual print and audio journal featuring poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. We record every poem and piece of prose we publish in the author's own voice. Our reading period runs from April 1st until August 1st. We publish in the winter.

There are no strict guidelines with respect to form or content. As our name suggests, we're open to those pieces that transgress the boundaries of what some may consider "decent." At the same time, we encourage you to interpret "profane" as broadly as you like, and we do consider work of all kinds, profane or not.

Essentially, we're open to the "profane" (however you want to define it), but we don't require it.

In addition to general submissions, we're thrilled to announce The Profane Nonfiction Prize, judged by Brevity editor and author Dinty W. Moore. The winner will receive $1,000 and a blurb from the contest judge, and finalists will be announced and considered for publication.

Profane is also accepting submissions for reviews, interviews, and cover and interior art.

For more about us, check out our website. Past issues of Profane are archived on our site and freely available for reading and listening.

We look forward to seeing your work.

Sincerely,

Patrick Chambers
Editor-in-Chief, Profane

Poetry Chapbook Competition: 2016 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest

The 2016 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest

Contest Judge: Amit Majmudar, Ohio’s first poet laureate

Deadline for entering the 2016 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest: May 25, 2016 11:59 p.m. ET

Entry Fee: $20

Page count: 24-48 pages in length

Deadline: May 25, 2016

Entry Link.

The winner of the WaterSedge Poetry Contest will receive: $500 cash prize; publication of the poetry chapbook in both print AND e-book formats; Amazon distribution for Kindle and print; and 25 free print copies. 

Amit Majmudar, Ohio’s first poet laureate, is a novelist, poet, essayist, and diagnostic nuclear radiologist (M.D.). Majmudar is the author of two novels and several poetry collections. He was a finalist for a Poetry Society of America’s Norma Faber First Book Award, and his poetry was selected for a Donald Justice prize. His most recent collection of poems, Dothead, was published on March 29. Majmudar’s poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry Magazine, and The Antioch Review. His work has been featured in several anthologies, including Best of the Best American Poetry, 1988-2012.

Dr. Majmudar writes and practices in Dublin, Ohio, where he lives with his wife, twin sons, and baby daughter.

Writing Competition: Black Warrior Review

Black Warrior Review is accepting submissions to our twelfth-annual contest from April 1st through September 1st.

We are honored to have Hoa Nguyen (poetry), Sofia Samatar (fiction/prose), and T Clutch Fleischmann (nonfiction) as guest judges this year.

Winners in each genre receive a $1,000 prize and publication in BWR 43.2, Spring/Summer 2017. Three runners-up will be awarded $100. Finalists receive notation in that issue and are considered for publication.


The $20 entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Black Warrior Review.  For complete guidelines, go here.

Call for Submissions: Pithead Chapel

Pithead Chapel is a monthly online journal of fiction and nonfiction.

We’re currently seeking gutsy narratives up to 4,000 words and are particularly interested in essays (personal, memoir, lyric, travel, experimental, etc.) that move.

Please visit our website to learn more about us and our submission guidelines.

Poetry Chapbook Competition: Damfino Press

The 2nd Annual Afternoonified Chapbook Contest is open at Damfino Press through April 30th, 2016. 
 
Entry fee: $15.00
 
Award: 25 copies of published chapbook plus free admission to the Ilya Kaminsky workshop and $65.00 towards one-night's motel stay.
 
For submission guidelines, and to read about last year's contest winner, go here.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Fiction Writing Fellowship for New Parents: Pen Parentis

Pen Parentis is offering a Writing Fellowship for New Parents.

Deadline: April 18, 2016

Entry Fee: $20

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Brain, Child is given annually to a fiction writer who is the parent of a child under the age of 10. The winner also receives an invitation to give a reading in New York City.


Submit a story of up to 1,345 words with a $20 entry fee between March 1 and April 18. 

Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Call for Poetry Submissions for Anthology On the Meaning of Pain and Suffering

Topic: Jason Dias, PsyD, and Louis Hoffman, PhD, are compiling a book of original poems relevant to the meaning of pain and suffering.

Type of Poems Being Sought: We seek original poems that speak to the meaning of pain and suffering. We invite poems from a wide variety of genres to be submitted. We primarily want poems that are accessible and meaningful. In particular, we are interested in poems that demonstrate respect for the role pain and suffering can play in creating meaning and promoting growth.

Originality & Copyright: Only submit original poems that you have authored. If the poem has been published elsewhere, note this with the submission after your name. You will be responsible to obtain permission for the poem to be republished in a timely manner and any fees associated with republication. If accepted, authors must sign a release giving permission for their poem to be included in the book and verifying that it is their original poem that they have permission to publish; however, authors will retain the copyright for their poetry. If one or more of your poems are accepted, you will receive one complimentary copy of the book.

How to Submit: Please be sure to follow these guidelines closely for your poem to be considered:
 

· Submit poems as an attachment in Microsoft Word to:

 hoffmanpoetryATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

with the subject line “Pain & Suffering Poetry Book Submission.” 

· Please use Cambria Font 11
· Do not include identifying information on any pages including your poem.
· Please include your name and Email address on a separate page of the same Word document at the end of the document.
· Please use the title of the poem or collection as the title of the document. If submitting multiple poems, please use a separate document for each poem.
· Please do not exceed 8 submissions.


Deadline: Submissions received by May 15, 2016 will receive preferential review. We may continue to consider submissions after this deadline depending upon how many accepted submissions are received.

Call for Panel Proposals: 2016 Western Maryland Indie Lit Festival

Western Maryland Indie Lit Festival Call for Panels 

The Frostburg State University Center for Literary Arts is now accepting proposals for panel sessions to be presented at the 2016 Independent Literature Festival. The Indie Lit Festival is scheduled for October 14 & 15th, 2016, and will take place in scenic Frostburg, Maryland. The Festival brings together Writers, Readers, Editors, publishers, and all other lovers of words. Panels are a great way to introduce a topic of your interest and present it to peers and visitors of the 10th Annual Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival.

Last year was the most successful Indie Lit Festival ever with over 35 presses and approximately 200 visitors. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to make your ideas heard as well as give yourself and others the opportunity to discuss topics of interest to the writing community.

Along with the day-long book fair and readings, panel sessions will be scheduled throughout the day. Panel sessions are 45-minute discussions that focus on a specific topic of interest; past panels have included topics such as Edible Words: On Food & Writing, Music as Muse, and Writing Dialogue.

The deadline for panel proposals is May 15, 2016. Panel proposal submissions should include: 

* A Panel Session Leader with a commitment to arrange the specific topic of interest
* 3-4 Panel Session Speakers with a commitment to join in under the specific topic.
* Title for the proposed panel session
* Name, affiliation and email address of the Panel Session Leader
* Short biography of the Panel Leader
* 200-500 word abstract indicating a desired program component and submission track(s)
* Names, affiliations, brief description/short biography of the Panel Speakers Intended to invite


Before submitting a panel proposal, the organizer of a panel is expected to contact all the proposed panel members and get their agreement to serve as a panel member. Each panel typically allows a certain amount of time for each panel member to present their response before an open discussion is opened to the floor.

For more information on the Indie Lit Festival, please visit our website.

Interested participants should submit proposals to:

claATfrostburgDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to .)

Call for Novellas: Nouvella Books

Nouvella Books is seeking literary fiction manuscripts between 10,000-40,000 words by emerging and established authors. 

Submissions are accepted year-round via Submittable.

Nouvella titles are distributed through Small Press Distribution. For more information, visit our website or email us at:

editorsATnouvellabooksDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Call for Submissions: Matter Press: The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts

The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts is looking for, as you might guess, "compressed creative arts." We accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media, visual arts, and even kitchen sinks, if they are compressed in some way.

Work is published weekly. Our response time is generally 1-3 days. Also, our acceptance rate is currently about 3% of all submissions.

We pay writers $50 per accepted piece with a signed contract. 

Submissions close June 15, 2016.

See our website for guidelines and to submit.

Writing Competition: 2016 Curt Johnson Prose Awards

December Magazine is sponsoring the 2016 Curt Johnson Prose Awards in Fiction and Nonfiction. First prize: $1500. Honorable Mention: $500. All finalists will be listed in the Awards issue of december magazine.

Send 1 story or essay per entry, max. 8000 words. between April 1-June 15, 2016. Your name, address, and email should be on the cover letter ONLY. Please read our full guidelines at our website.

Entry fee: $20.00 (includes copy of Awards issue)

Flash Fiction Fellowship: SmokeLong Quarterly

Want to get paid for your flash fiction and workshop with SmokeLong Quarterly staff?

The Kathy Fish Fellowship for new and emerging writers offers a yearlong writer-in-residence (a virtual position), publication, and a $500 award. The program honors Kathy Fish, a former editor at SmokeLong, a fantastic writer, and a continuing champion of new and emerging writers.

Applications open in summer 2016 for the 2017 Kathy Fish Fellowship. For more information and to apply, go here.

Call for Submissions: Southern Indiana Review

Southern Indiana Review is accepting submissions in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and drama from Sep. 1 to April 30 for their annual fall and spring issues.

Submit up to one piece of fiction or nonfiction or up to five poems. Please wait to hear back before sending more work. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if the piece is accepted elsewhere.

Contributors receive $50, two complimentary copies of the issue their work appears in, a contributor's discount for additional copies, and a one-year subscription to SIR.

We use Submittable for regular submissions. Check our website for information regarding contests.

AWP16

I've just returned from AWP16, the Association of Writing and Writing Programs Conference and Book Fair, in Los Angeles. If you've never been, this is one of the largest writing conferences in the country, with over 11,000 attendees, 500+ panels and readings, and 800 vendors.

The annual AWP Conference is the place to connect with other writers, writing teachers, creative writing programs, editors, publishers, agents, and literary magazines. The uber-famous authors rub elbows with the undergrad creative writing students, and everyone is immersed in the culture of literature and reading.

To learn more about the happenings at AWP16, check out this great article from Publisher's Weekly.

Next year's AWP Conference will be Feb. 8-11, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Don't miss it!



This picture was taken at the AWP15 Book Fair in Minneapolis, MN. Alas, I was so busy this time I forgot to take a photo at the Book Fair in Los Angeles!