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Welcome to Our November Newsletter
In this issue: Please enjoy "Vigil" by Giuseppe
Ungaretti, illustrated by Julian Peters.
 Like what we do?
Please nominate us for the Writer's Digest list of the "101 Best
Websites for Writers". Send an email to writers.digest@fwmedia.com
with "101 Websites" in the subject line by December 1.
Include some brief comments on how Winning Writers helps you, and copy
us at adam@winningwriters.com
if you feel like it. Your efforts earned us a place on this list in
2015, 2016, and 2017!
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Sign
up today and you'll...
·
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:
Loop Poetry
Contest
Loop Poetry requires that the last word of each line becomes the first
word of the next line. There is also a rhyme scheme: ABCB. $100
cash prize. Deadline: November 15 (tonight!)
ABC Poetry
Contest
Write a one-stanza, five-line poem. The first letter of each of the
first four lines follow the order of the alphabet while the last line
can be any letter whatsoever. For example, a poet might choose to use
the following letter combination: D-E-F-G-A. The
winner takes away $100. Deadline: November 20.
Cinquain Poetry
Contest
Each line in a cinquain has a specific number of syllables: 2
syllables, then 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables again. Win
$100. Deadline: November 24.
One Line Poem
Contest
Write a monostich poem, a poem with a single line. Since the poem is so
short, the title often plays an important role. Winner
receives $100. Deadline: November 30.
2-4-2 Poetry
Contest
Write a poem with two syllables in the first line, four in the second,
and two in the third line. $100 cash for the winner.
Deadline: December 3.
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Congratulations to Berwyn
Moore (featured poem, "Ambisinistrous"),
Carolyn Howard-Johnson (featured poem, "Out
of Malibu: An American Exodus"), Sandra
Hunter, Adrianne Aron, Valerie
Collins, Linda Sonna, Irvin
Schonfeld, Mary M. Sesso (featured
poem, "When
the Day Lillies Open"), William Ellis,
Shirani Rajapakse, L.B.
Gschwandtner, Thelma T. Reyna (featured
poem, "2020"),
Alberta Nassi, and Ndaba
Sibanda.
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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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The Two
Sylvias Press Advent Calendar is filled with surprise prompts to help
you write 31 new poems in December!
Our online virtual Advent
Calendar is easy to use—simply click on the calendar date and a prompt
appears. Each prompt is no more than three sentences in length, guiding
you with ideas and suggestions for a new poem.
Once you open a prompt, it
remains accessible, so no problem if you skip a day or two—the prompts
will be waiting for you. The calendar and all of the prompts will be
available through the month of January.
You will receive an access code
for the Advent Calendar's web page at the end of November. Your daily
surprise prompts are ready for you to click on December 1st.
And, you can give our Online
Poetry Prompt Advent Calendar as a gift (see our website for more
details).
To see a
sample prompt and order your Advent Calendar, please visit Two
Sylvias Press.
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Deadline: December 15
Judge — Luis
Rodriguez is an American poet, novelist, journalist, critic,
and columnist. He was the Los Angeles Poet Laureate from 2014-2016.
Prizes — $1,500 & publication (winner); $500 &
publication (honorable mention); all finalists will be published in the
2018 Spring/Summer awards issue. Finalists will be paid at regular
contributor rates.
Submit up to 3 poems online or
by mail. $20 entry fee includes copy of the awards issue. Please submit
previously unpublished work only. Any size print run or online
publication (including blogs and/or social networking) disqualify an
entry.
december magazine was founded in Iowa City in 1958 by a
group of poets, writers, and artists who declared, "We are
humanists…far more concerned with people than dogmatic critical or
aesthetic attitudes." december was a pioneer in the
"little" magazine and small press movement, publishing
cutting-edge fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and art. Its pages have
included Donald Barthelme, Marvin Bell, Stephen Berg, Rita Mae Brown,
Raymond Carver, Stephen Dunn, Donald Hall, Michael Harper, Donald
Justice, Ted Kooser, Philip Levine, Joyce Carol Oates, Marge Piercy,
William Stafford, C.K. Williams, Charles Wright, and James Wright.
Relaunched this decade by
Gianna Jacobson, december continues its original
mission—publishing exceptional, thought-provoking poetry, prose, and
art; championing the work of unheralded writers and artists and celebrating
fresh work from seasoned voices; and promoting and advocating for december's
writers in the literary and general communities.
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First Prize:
$3,500, publication in LitMag,
and agency review
Second Prize: $1,000 and agency review
Finalists: Five finalists will receive $100 each.
Agency review by Sobel Weber
Associates (clients include: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Richard Russo, Laura
Lee Smith)
All finalists will be
considered for possible agency review.
All entries will be considered
for publication.
Deadline: December 15, 2017.
Contest Fee: $20.
Submission
Guidelines: Entries must
be short stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. Please use 12pt type,
preferably Times New Roman, and submit your short story as either a
Word doc or a PDF. Only previously unpublished short stories are
eligible. Writers may submit multiple stories, each of which requires a
separate submission. Submissions through Submittable
only.
Notification: The contest will be judged by the editors of the
magazine. The winning short stories and finalists will be announced
publicly on our Web site and social media as well as by email to all
contestants in March of 2018.
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Deadline: January 15, 2018.
$1,000 and book publication for each winner.
The annual John Ciardi Prize
for Poetry and the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction are
awarded to collections of poetry and short fiction in English by a
living author. Guidelines
available here.
Prize-winning books have
received reviews or features in: Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus
Reviews, ForeWord Reviews, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Kansas
City Star, Slate, Garrison Keillor's Writers Almanac, etc., and won or
placed in the Poets' Prize, Eric Hoffer, IPPY, ForeWord, Chautauqua,
Balcones Fiction, Devil's Kitchen, etc.
Founded in 1971 and part of the
University of Missouri-Kansas City since 1983, BkMk Press publishes
collections of poetry, short fiction, and creative essays. Publishing
roughly six titles a year, the press has over 140 titles in print.
BkMk
Press, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5101 Rockhill
Road, Kansas City, MO 64110.
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Deadline: January 31, 2018
Sponsored by Cogswell
College. Submit a set of 1-6 poems. The winner will receive:
·
Publication online and in the
print issue of COG, as well as a $1,000 prize
·
Your story adapted
as an animated short film, 2D animation, graphic book/ebook,
or series of interpretive illustrations by students in Cogswell's
celebrated Digital Art & Animation Program and Digital Audio
Technology Program
The adaptation of 2016-17's
winning poem by Megan Merchant will be published online in late
November. Meanwhile, please enjoy this animation
made from "The
Last Gun" by Anne Harding Woodworth, 2015-2016 COG Poetry
Awards winner:
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Entries must be received by
January 31, 2018
Submissions are now being
accepted for the eighth William Saroyan International Prize for
Writing. This award, given by Stanford University Libraries in
partnership with the William Saroyan Foundation, recognizes newly
published works of fiction and nonfiction with a $5,000 award for the
winner in each category.
The prize is designed to
encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan literary legacy
of originality, vitality, and stylistic innovation. For entry forms and
more information on the prize, visit the Saroyan
Prize website.
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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.
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Winning Writers editor Jendi
Reiter's fourth poetry book and second full-length
collection, Bullies in Love,
is available from Little
Red Tree Publishing, with illustrations by fine art
photographer and Massachusetts Cultural Council award winner Toni
Pepe. Poems in this collection have won prizes from Atlanta
Review, Anderbo, Alligator Juniper, Descant, New Millennium Writings,
Solstice Literary Magazine, Wag's Revue, and others.
Based in North Platte, NE, Little
Red Tree publishes books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and
art that "delight, entertain, and educate", as well as the
print and online literary magazine Peacock
Journal.
"In her remarkable
collection of poems, Bullies In Love, Jendi Reiter
has created an complex odditorium of characters with unique and often
disturbing voices: poems peopled with bullies, the disenfranchised,
monsters, prostitutes, criminals, the abused and forgotten, all
searching for meaning, for faith and love in a postmodern, often
cynical world."
—Pamela Uschuk, author of Crazy
Love, 2010 American Book Award Winner, and Blood
Flower (Wings
Press)
touching
story
not the turn to gold but touch he
wanted most, no object that
flesh of his
supper gelled to shining
ore lumps when he bit, that sepals
stiffened on the rose
like nipples bared to frost. not
the lark that lasted but the scar
its moneyed weight peeled
down the tree. not the trophy
hound, that sudden andiron
dropped from his lap,
but the fox, stinking, invisible,
unchased.
myth
to asses' ears,
no nodding velveted clefts
named his errata, not a page
or armed barber kissed the riverbed
to scandalize the reeds
into singing true. and when his daughter,
as he'd tell it, sprang
into his transmuting arms, and after,
there was no god to take the hardening gift away.
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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
Poetry
Center at Smith College High School Prize. $500 for the best
poem by a high school sophomore or junior girl in New England or New
York. Winner and up to three finalists will read their poems at Smith
College in Northampton, Massachusetts, with the contest judge, a
well-known poet. Due December 1.
Intermediate Writers
Brunel
University African Poetry Prize. 3,000 pounds for a
selection of 10 poems, maximum of 30 lines apiece, by a writer who was
born in Africa, who is a national of an African country, or whose
parents are African. Authors must not have had a full-length poetry
book published. Contest is sponsored by Brunel University, a public
research university in London, in conjunction with the African Poetry
Book Fund, a project of the University of Nebraska. Due December 1.
Advanced Writers
Tony
Quagliano International Poetry Award. $1,000 achievement
award for poets who consistently strive for "cutting edge"
and "avant-garde" innovation, which means experimental,
innovative, "pushing the envelope" literature. Within the
past 5 years, entrants must have published a poetry collection of 48+
pages, or 20+ different poems or pages of poetry in five or more
literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include
poetry as a portion of their format. Up to 16 poems may be in a single
volume of poetry of fewer than 48 pages (i.e., a chapbook). This
volume, however, may count as only one of the required five places of
publication. Online publications may count for no more than 20 percent
of the total. Due December 1.
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ProLiteracy, the largest adult
literacy and basic education membership organization in the nation,
believes that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts
with an educated adult population. For more than 60 years, ProLiteracy
has been working across the globe to create a world where every person
can read and write.
About 36 million adults in the
US—and almost 800 million worldwide—struggle with basic reading,
writing, and math skills. These individuals struggle to read a menu,
fill out a job application, or read a bedtime story to their children.
ProLiteracy removes the hurdles that stand in the way of their goals.
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We send this newsletter to over
50,000 subscribers. Ads are just $150 each. On a tight budget? Pressed
for time? Advertise to our 98,000 Twitter followers for just $40 per
tweet or less.
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Julian Peters writes, "Here is
my adaptation of 'Veglia', a short poem by the Italian poet
Giuseppe Ungaretti. The poem was translated into English by Marco
Sonzogni and Ross Woods, two professors at Victoria University of
Wellington, in New Zealand. This comic is the product of an ongoing
collaboration with Sonzogni and Woods, and with the New Zealand Centre
for Literary Translation at Victoria University in Wellington.
"Ungaretti (1888-1970) was
one of the most innovative and influential Italian poets of the
twentieth century, one of the originators of ermetismo
('Hermeticism'), the current of poetry with which Salvatore Quasimodo
(one of whose poem I adapted earlier) is also associated. Ungaretti had
greeted Italy's entry into World War I with enthusiasm, and enrolled as
a volunteer. The brutal realities of life and death in the trenches
quickly caused him to become disillusioned with the war, however, and
also moved him to write his celebrated war poems."
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My
#MeToo Moment
In late October my high school alma mater sent out a mass email to
current and former students, parents, and faculty, saying that the
school was investigating alleged inappropriate sexual contact between
"former employees" and students in the 1990s and earlier. (I
attended from 1982-89.) This probe was reportedly sparked by an
alumna's #MeToo post. What followed was an amazing, heartfelt
outpouring of personal stories on our alumni Facebook page—so many of
us finally breaking through the walls erected by our school's
competitive culture and by the general pressure on urban teenagers to
seem sophisticated and invulnerable. [read more]
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