|
Welcome to Our October Newsletter
Want to view past newsletters?
See our archives.
Need assistance? Let us help.
Join our 96,000 followers on Twitter at @WinningWriters.
|
Congratulations to Terrance
Manning Jr., Scott Winkler, Deborah
LeFalle (featured poem: "Family
Reunion"), Jim Garrison, Mike
Tuohy, Tricia McCallum, Michael
Topa (featured poem: "Jerusalem
Slim"), Angie Gallion, Ndaba
Sibanda (featured poem: "Write
Me Letters"), William Huhn, Sofia
Kioroglou, John Smistad, Michael
Lee Johnson, Paul T. Jackson, Jesse
James Doty, and Karin Aurino.
Winning Writers Editor Jendi
Reiter won a 2017
Sunshot Finalist Prize for her short story collection An
Incomplete List of My Wishes, which will be published by
New Millennium Writings in 2018. NMW's Sunshots Prize Series gives
awards up to $1,500 and publication for poetry and prose manuscripts;
the most recent deadline was May 30. In other news, Jendi's novel Two Natures
was a 2017
Book Excellence Award finalist. Winners and finalists
receive prize packages with award seals and book marketing guides, plus
promotion on social media. The most recent deadline for this contest
for small press and self-published books was June 30.
|
|
Deadline extended to October 31
2017 Judges
·
Poetry: Cornelius Eady
·
Short Story: Lidia Yuknavitch
·
Nonfiction: Brenda Peterson
Submit up to three unpublished
poems, one unpublished short story, or one creative nonfiction piece,
any subject, any style. Each poem may have up to 100 lines. Each work
of prose may have up to 5,000 words. Fee: $20 per entry. Submit
online at Submittable (preferred) or
mail to:
CUTTHROAT
Literary Award
Attn: [Genre]
P.O. Box 2414
Durango, CO 81302
When entering by mail, please
make your check payable to Raven's Word. Do not staple
your entry. All manuscripts must be in 12-point type. MUST include SASE
for announcement of winners. Author name must not appear on manuscript.
Include cover sheet with name, address, phone, email, genre, and
title(s).
When entering online, do not
include a cover sheet. Author name must not appear on manuscript. Use
12-point type. Fiction must be double-spaced.
Simultaneous submissions OK.
Please notify us if your submission is accepted elsewhere. Submit as
often as you wish. Winners will be notified by December 31, 2017.
|
Please enjoy this selection by
Suzanne Parker, author of Feed (Tupelo Press, 2016),
winner of the 2016 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize:
Small Oranges
on a Platter
by Suzanne Parker
You do not need to say desire–
laid out in daylight
on a sideboard
as if there
they will be harmless
as if peel stripped
won't leave a scent
beneath the nails as if,
later, you will not
raise your fingers,
think of separating
the body, section
by section. Use
the word swallow.
Notice the lips' position–
without restraint,
in the middle,
how they open.
|
|
Red Blood, Yellow Skin is the story of a young girl's survival in war-torn
Vietnam during the First Indochina War between France and Vietnam, the
civil war between North and South Vietnam, and the later American
involvement in the Vietnam War. Linda Baer was born Nguyen Thi Loan, in
the village of Tao Xa, Thai Binh Province, in North Vietnam in 1947.
When she was four years old, the Viet Minh attacked her village and
killed her father, leaving Loan and her mother to fend for themselves.
Seeking escape from impoverishment, her mother married a rich and
dominating widower who was cruel to his free-spirited and mischievous
stepdaughter. Loan found solace in the company of animals and insects
and escaped into the branches of trees.
In 1954, her family chose to
relocate to South Vietnam, rather than live under the yoke of communist
North Vietnam. When Loan was thirteen, she ran away to Saigon to flee
the cruelty of her stepfather and worked at menial jobs to help her
family. At seventeen, she was introduced to bars, nightclubs, and
Saigon Tea. At eighteen, she dated and lived with a young American
airman. Two months after their baby was born, the airman returned to
America, and Loan never heard from him again. She raised their son by
herself. However, time healed her heart, and she eventually found true
love in a young Air Force Officer, whom she married and accompanied to
America.
Red Blood, Yellow Skin is a story of romance, culture, traditions, and
family. It describes the pain, struggle, despair, and violence as Loan
lived it. The story is hers, but it is also an account of Vietnam—of
those who were uprooted, displaced, brutalized, and left homeless. It
is about this struggle to survive and her extraordinary triumph over
adversity that Baer writes.
Watch for the sequel coming
next month...
|
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.
|
|
|
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.
|
Deadline extended to November 20
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.
|
|
|
|
Looking to publish Full-Length
Poetry Manuscripts by Women Over 50
Deadline:
November 30
Prize: $1,000 and publication
by Two Sylvias Press (print book and eBook publication, and a vintage
art nouveau pendant)
The Wilder
Series Book Prize is open to women over 50 years of age
(established or emerging poets) and includes a $1,000 prize,
publication by Two Sylvias Press, 20 copies of the winning book, and a
vintage, art nouveau pendant. Women submitting manuscripts may be poets
with one or more previously published chapbooks/books or poets without
any prior chapbook/book publications. (We use an inclusive definition
of "woman" and "female" and we welcome trans women,
genderqueer women, and non-binary people who are significantly
female-identified.) All manuscripts will be considered for publication.
|
|
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
·
2017 National Indie Excellence
Award Finalist
·
2017 Book Excellence Awards
Finalist
One-Year Anniversary 99-Cent Sale
Buy Two Natures at Amazon
Kindle & iBooks
for $0.99. Sale ends October 15!
"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
|
Deadline: February 26, 2018
Seeking altered states might be
one of the oldest human hobbies—for better and for worse—and we're
looking for stories that capture the widest possible range of
experiences and voices. Whether you (or someone else) were tipsy or
wasted, soooooooo drunk or just a little high—on life, or love, or
power, or something else—we want to hear your story about being under
the influence.
As always, we're interested in
stories that are more than mere anecdotes, and we love work that incorporates
an element of research and/or makes a connection to a larger story or
theme. We welcome personal stories as well as profiles, and above all,
we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character,
detail, and a distinctive voice—that offer a fresh interpretation or
unique insight into the theme.
If we're being honest, we're
also especially hoping for some happy (or at least lighthearted, if not
downright funny) stories—a mix of uppers and downers, as it were.
CNF editors will award $1,000 for best essay and $500
for runner-up. All essays submitted will be considered for publication.
|
|
|
|
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:
Intermediate Writers
UNT
Rilke Prize. University of North Texas will award $10,000
for a published book by a mid-career poet. Prize includes travel
expenses for readings at UNT in April of the following year. Entrants
must have published at least two previous books of poetry (excluding
chapbooks) and be US citizens or legal residents. Eligible books must
have been published between November 1 of the preceding year and
October 31 of the deadline year. Publisher or author should submit
three copies of book and entry form. Due November 30.
Advanced Writers
Frank
O'Connor International Short Story Fellowship. The Munster
Literature Centre awards a stipend totaling 7,500 euros; a 12-week
residency in Cork, Ireland; and various writing, mentoring, and
teaching opportunities for an English-speaking writer from outside
Ireland who has published at least two full-length works of fiction, of
which at least one must be a short story collection. Due November 30.
|
|
|
|
We send this newsletter to over
50,000 subscribers. Ads are just $150 each. On a tight budget? Pressed
for time? Advertise to our 96,000 Twitter followers for just $40 per
tweet or less.
|
Mr. Peters has kindly allowed
us to reprint his illustration of "Elegy", the opening poem
in Leonard Cohen's very first poetry collection, Let Us
Compare Mythologies, from 1956. Visit
Mr. Peters' website.
Elegy
Do not look for him
In brittle mountain streams:
They are too cold for any god;
And do not examine the angry rivers
For shreds of his soft body
Or turn the shore stones for his blood;
But in the warm salt ocean
He is descending through cliffs
Of slow green water
And the hovering coloured fish
Kiss his snow-bruised body
And build their secret nests
In his fluttering winding-sheet.
|
The
Cthulhu Prayer Breakfast and the Death of White Jesus
The Cthulhu Prayer Breakfast was finely balanced on the line between
farce and sincere religious-philosophical questioning. The refusal to
collapse one mode into the other seemed like a healthy
shadow-integration, the Zen paradox that we approach the deepest wisdom
through discovering our foolishness.
I wasn't expecting a genuine
religious experience at this conference, but I got one. At a couple of
points during the weekend, I had this brief and unprecedented feeling
of freedom from my constant strivings to cheat death and achieve
significance. The Mythos looks mortality and infinity directly in the
face and accepts them, even semi-ironically celebrates them, which I
found such a relief from the relentless
religious-cultural-psychological project of propping up the ego and
distracting ourselves from the abyss. [read
more]
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment