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Welcome to Our September Newsletter
Last Call!
TOM
HOWARD/MARGARET REID POETRY CONTEST
15th year. We will award the Tom Howard Prize of $1,500 for a poem in
any style or genre, and the Margaret Reid Prize of $1,500 for a poem
that rhymes or has a traditional style. Ten Honorable Mentions will
receive $100 each (any style). The top 12 entries will be published
online. Length limit: 250 lines per poem. Entry fee: $12 per poem.
Final judge: S. Mei Sheng Frazier,
assisted by Jim DuBois. Deadline:
September 30. Submit
online or by mail.
Coming in our October 15
newsletter: We'll announce the winners of our 25th annual Tom
Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest.
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Sign
up today and you'll...
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Learn from feedback that will be
written on everything you write. Share your poetry, stories and book
chapters.
·
Be a part of a community
for writers of all skill levels. Make connections and
friends.
Upcoming contest deadlines:
100-Word
Flash Fiction Contest
Write a story that has 100 words (excluding the title). Any subject. $100
cash prize. Deadline: September 17 (two days!)
Haiku
Poetry Contest
Write a three-line poem that paints an image in the reader's mind. A
5-7-5 syllable count is popular but not required. The
winner takes away $100. Deadline: September 22.
Sudden
Flash Fiction Contest
Write a story using 750 words (excluding the title). Any subject. Winner
receives $100. Deadline: September 30.
ABAB
Poetry Contest
Write a poem where each group of four lines rhymes a-b-a-b. $100
cash for the winner. Deadline: October 4.
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Congratulations to Ellen
Girardeau Kempler, Terry Severhill
(featured poem: "V.A."),
Kathleen McCoy (featured poem: "Keening"),
Bruce Golden, Jessica Ellis Laine,
Robert Walton, Laine Cunningham,
Tish Davidson, David R. Altman
(featured poem: "Wake
Up Call"), Charlie Bondhus, Rick
Lupert, Jesse James Doty, Yvonne
Fein, Annie Dawid, R.T.
Castleberry, and Ann Christine Tabaka.
Winning Writers contest judge Ellen
LaFleche won the Moon Prize for the full moon of
June 9 from Beate Sigriddaughter's blog Writing in a Woman's Voice, for
her poem "After".
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Deadline: October 2
$5,000 for the winner of each
category! Send our editorial staff your best fiction, poetry, or
creative nonfiction. Winners and select runners-up will be published in
the Missouri Review. Your entry fee includes a one-year
digital subscription to the Missouri Review and a
paperback copy of Jane Gillett's new story collection Trail
of the Demon. For complete guidelines and to enter,
please visit missourireview.com/contests/jeffrey-e-smith-editors-prize/
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Deadline: October 23
The Writing Pittsburgh Book
Prize will recognize one book focusing on a subject of regional and
national significance, by a writer with a meaningful Pittsburgh
connection. The author of the winning manuscript will receive a $10,000
honorarium; publication of their book by the Creative Nonfiction
Foundation's independent book imprint, In Fact Books (IFB); national
distribution; and a marketing and publicity campaign.
Manuscripts will be judged on
originality; the subject's broad appeal and resonance with a national
readership; interpretation of the "Writing Pittsburgh" theme;
and literary quality and strength of prose. The selected book might be
an in-depth reporting project focusing on one organization, individual,
or event; alternatively, it might be a more personal writing
project—for example, a memoir. All submissions will be judged by CNF's
editorial staff.
The winning author will work
with CNF/IFB's editorial staff to refine and polish the manuscript.
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Give your
book the best possible start in life with The
Frugal Book Promoter, available
as an ebook for $5.99. It's full of nitty-gritty how-tos for getting
nearly free publicity. Carolyn
Howard-Johnson, former publicist, journalist, and instructor
for UCLA's Writers' Program for nearly a decade, shares her
professional experience and practical tips gleaned from the successes
of her own book campaigns. She tells authors how to do what their
publishers can't or won't and why authors can often do their own promotion
better than a PR professional. The first edition was a multi-award
winner. The second edition, updated and expanded by more than 100
pages, is a USA Book News winner.
"The
Frugal Book Promoter is excellent...It has given me ideas
that would never have occurred to me before and has changed the way I
think about book promotion."
 —Mark Logie, poet and short-story writer, winner of
the "most promising author" prize from CanYouWrite.com
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FundsforWriters
is internationally known for its level-headed yet tough-love advice to
writers, both emerging and seasoned. Recognized by Writer's Digest for
its 101 Best Websites for Writers for over 15 years, the site serves up
plates full of motivation also delivered in the weekly newsletter to
35,000 readers. The Best of
FundsforWriters, Vol. 1 offers 32 essays and how-to
strategies that struck positive chords with readers around the globe.
"FundsforWriters
helps writers achieve more success with their writing by finding and sharing the
information that writers need to fund their writing."
—Robert Lee Brewer, Editor, Writer's Market
"FFW is
quite simply the best online resource for writers. I get dozens of writers' newsletters in my inbox
every week, but FFW is the only one I read right away, from top to
bottom, and save for future reference. Hope Clark rocks."
—Glenn Walker, Editor-in-chief of the pop culture website, www.BiffBamPop.com
"No matter
what kind of writer you want to be, FundsforWriters gives you the
resources, guidance and inspiration we all need to hone our craft. All writers need hope, and C. Hope Clark's
FundsforWriters brings you the tools, resources and real world
knowledge that will make you a better writer."
—Mark Lund, award-winning magazine publisher, screenwriter and
filmmaker
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Well known throughout the writing industry, C. Hope
Clark founded FundsforWriters two decades ago when she could
not find what she wanted for her own writing career. Today, she is
editor of FundsforWriters, an award-winning author of two mystery
series, and an active freelance entrepreneur. She and her motivational
voice and writer support message appear often at conferences, nonprofit
galas, book clubs, libraries, and writers' groups across the country.
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Deadline: November 6
Every decision we make, whether
as individuals or as a society, involves some risk—whether physical or
emotional, economic or legal, social or spiritual. Our comfort level
with uncertainty defines not only our choices in any given situation,
but how we live.
For a special
issue of Creative
Nonfiction
magazine, we're seeking true stories illustrating the ways we balance
the threat of loss against the promise of gain.
Possible subjects could be big
or small, personal or public. We're interested in intersections between
deeply personal decisions and those that affect larger communities.
·
How is risk intertwined with
life decisions like entering relationships, starting or ending a
pregnancy, or revealing a sexual or gender preference?
·
How do the risks associated with
social interactions, whether online or in person, affect people's
behavior or speech?
·
How does risk relate to deeply
held religious and/or political beliefs, especially within a
pluralistic society?
·
Why do some people actively
seek risk, and how does this affect their quality of life?
·
How are emerging technologies
such as gene editing and artificial intelligence changing the nature of
the risks we face?
·
How do we think about and
approach potentially catastrophic risks such as a large asteroid
colliding with the earth, nuclear war, or the possibility of artificial
intelligence superseding human intelligence?
Above all, we are looking for
vivid narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character, detail, and
a distinctive voice—with unique insights into these questions.
Creative Nonfiction editors will award $1,000 for best essay and $500
for runner-up, and all essays submitted will be considered for
publication.
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Deadline: December 31
Prize of $1,000 for best
Creative Nonfiction published in the past three years: 2015/2016/2017.
The Kansas Book Award is open to those living in Kansas and those with
ties to Kansas. There's no fee to enter. This year's judge will be
essayist, commentator, poet, playwright and memoirist Mary Swander,
recently the Poet Laureate of Iowa.
This competition is sponsored
by Washburn University of Topeka, Mabee Library, and its Thomas Fox
Averill Kansas Studies Collection. For complete guidelines, visit:
The winner and the judge will
be invited to Washburn University's Mabee Library in the Spring of 2018
for a reading and presentation ceremony.
Please join us in
congratulating our 2016 award winner for poetry, Amy Fleury,
and our 2017 award winner for fiction, Andrew Malan Milward!
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Set in New York City in the
early 1990s, Two Natures is
the coming-of-age story of Julian Selkirk, a fashion photographer who
struggles to reconcile his Southern Baptist upbringing with his love
for other men.
·
2016 Rainbow Awards: First
Prize, Best Gay Contemporary Fiction; First Runner-Up, Debut Gay Book
·
Named one of QSpirit's Top
LGBTQ Christian Books of 2016
·
2016 Lascaux Prize in Fiction
Finalist
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2017 National Indie Excellence
Award Finalist
One-Year Anniversary 99-Cent Sale
Now through October 15,
buy Two Natures at Amazon
Kindle & iBooks
for $0.99
"Two
Natures is a very honest bildungsroman, a coming of age
novel, with all the key factors, finding your path, breaking with your
parents' traditions, learning to stand independent, with a healthy side
of Southern Baptist guilt and a childhood fractured by abuse... Reiter
does exactly what I like in a book, she lets me walk as the character.
I am Julian as he struggles against the traditions of his family and
the calling of his own soul. I feel his turmoil as he moves through
this time in his life and I feel his heartbreak, along with his
joy."
—Gallion Picks Reviews, AngieGallion.com
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Some contests are best suited
to writers at the early stages of their careers. Others are better for
writers with numerous prizes and publications to their credit. Here is
this month's selection of Spotlight Contests for your consideration:
Emerging Writers
Past
Loves Day Story Contest. Win $100, plus online and anthology
publication, for true stories of past loves and their impact on the
author's life. Submit one personal essay, 700 words maximum, by mail or
email. Sponsored by Spruce Mountain Press, a small press in Vermont.
Due September 17.
Intermediate Writers
Glenna
Luschei Prize for African Poetry. Awards $1,000 for the best
full-length collection of poetry published in the previous calendar
year by an African national, African resident, or poet of African birth
or African parentage. Translations are eligible; self-published books
are not. Publisher should send an entry form and 4 copies of each
nominated title to the African Poetry Book Fund at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. Due October 1.
Advanced Writers
Sunday
Times EFG Short Story Award. Top prize of 30,000 pounds for
a short story, 6,000 words maximum, by an author aged 18+ who has a
prior record of publication in the UK or Ireland. Due September 28.
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 You're invited to read the Fall 2017 edition of
Voices, ProLiteracy's flagship publication for members, supporters, and
friends. Download
the current issue, which features our new
advocacy campaign, a number of ProLiteracy milestones, and
inspirational student and member stories. Here is one such story...
A Love, and a
Leap, for English
WHILE ATTENDING high school in
Iran, Shanin Talai fell in love with English—it was her favorite
subject to study. After high school, she continued learning English as
a hobby, got married, and became a mother.
Four years ago, Talai and her
husband came to the United States. Although she had spent many years
practicing reading and writing in English, she struggled to understand
Americans and everything going on in her community. Friends referred
her to ReadWest, Inc. in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. ReadWest, Inc. is a
nonprofit adult literacy agency that provides one-to-one tutoring
sessions that help adults learn to read, write, and speak English.
Talai enrolled in ReadWest's
U.S. Citizenship Preparation Course. With the help of her volunteer
course tutor, Lynn Simpson, and the materials supplied by ProLiteracy's
National Book Fund, Talai achieved her goals. On June 26, 2017, Talai
passed the course at ReadWest. She gained the vocabulary, civics,
culture, and literacy skills she needed to prepare her papers for
citizenship and pass the interview for the citizenship exam. She was
sworn in as an American citizen in August 2017.
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tweet or less.
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Mr. Peters writes, "This
is my comics adaptation of William Wordsworth's sonnet 'The
World Is Too Much With Us' (composed circa 1802), in which
the Romantic poet decries the societal changes brought about by the
Industrial Revolution. This comic originally appeared in the January
2017 issue of the Italian poetry magazine Atelier,
accompanied by an Italian translation by Francesca Benocci. This
collaborative project was part of the exploratory 'Partners in Rhyme'
series, in which I adapted some short English-language poems into
comics which Francesca would then translate into Italian in such a way
as to take into account my accompanying illustrations."
These illustrations are
reprinted here by kind permission of Mr. Peters. Visit
his website.
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Give Me
That Old One Religion: Notes from NecronomiCon 2017
Three years ago, coinciding with my survivor-conscious farewell to
Christianity as I'd understood it, I heard Cthulhu calling...and found
something deeply healing in the Mythos. Cthulhu resembles the
evangelicals' God in many ways, except without the bull***t that he loves
you. Cthulhu doesn't gaslight anyone. Echoing Calvinism's absolute
divine sovereignty, Cthulhu is honestly indifferent, inscrutable, able
to destroy the world, and beyond all human ideas of Good and Evil.
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