Saturday, 10 February 2018

Wnning Writers newsletters

Here are the latest Winning Writers newsletters for my followers to peruse:



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Welcome to Our January Newsletter

Adam CohenWe found over four dozen high-quality poetry and prose contests that are free to enter with deadlines between January 15-February 28.
View Free Contests
In this issue: Please enjoy "I am a creature" by Giuseppe Ungaretti, illustrated by Julian Peters. Coming in our February 15 newsletter: Winners announced for our third North Street Book Prize.
Join our 102,000 followers on Twitter for timely news about contests and resources for writers. Want to view past newsletters? Visit our archives. Need assistance? Let us help.
BookBaby - 5 Steps to Self-Publishing

Recent Honors and Publication Credits for Our Subscribers

Congratulations to Gail ThomasHelga Gruendler-Schierloh, Joan Leotta, Stephen Weinstock, Nick Korolev, Annie Dawid, Lesléa Newman, Phylis Campbell Dryden, Anna Scotti, Janet Ruth Heller (featured poem: "Obsession"), Evelyn Krieger, Lance JohnsonLana Rafaela Cindric (featured poem: "Lives"), Rick Lupert, R.T. Castleberry, and Ellaraine Lockie.
Have news? Please email it to jendi@winningwriters.com.

The 2018 Autumn House Press Rising Writer Contest

The Drowning Boy's Guide to WaterDeadline: January 31
Autumn House Press is now taking submissions for our annual Rising Writer Contest. The Rising Writer Contest is for a first full-length book of poetry by an author 33 years old or younger. Autumn House believes in supporting the work of younger, less-established writers who will become the voices of an emerging generation. The judge for this year's contest is RICHARD SIKEN.
Congratulations to last year's winner: Cameron Barnett's The Drowning Boy's Guide to Water (selected by Ada Limón). Please enjoy this sample poem.
When the Mute Swans Return
If you ask me, every spring should be spent
on the Seneca. The casual swirl
of wet fingers in the hard yawn of March,
knuckling your way through the cloudy slough
your tousled likeness tonguing the surface,
the shape of you clapping in on itself,
everything slipping away in ripples.
What else would happen pulling at water?
When the mute swans return, a huff of leaves
escapes the nearby tree; the fledgling wind
refuses the home of your lungs. Only
the Finger Lakes catch its breath—a hiccup.
Sometimes the spring lakes feign themselves as clouds;
the mute swans—to fly—pull at the water.
by Cameron Barnett from his collection, The Drowning Boy's Guide to Water (winner of the inaugural Rising Writer Contest)

2018 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

Entries must be received by January 31
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.
Congratulations to our 2016 Fiction Winner T. Geronimo Johnson, author of Welcome to Braggsville, and our 2016 Nonfiction Winner Lori Jakiela, author of Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe. See our complete list of 2016 winners and finalists.
William Saroyan

BlueCat Screenplay Competition

Regular Deadline: February 1, 2018
Final Deadline: February 20, 2018

BlueCat Screenplay Competition, now in its 20th year, is currently accepting submissions for its 2018 competition!
BlueCat accepts features, pilots, and short screenplays.
WRITTEN ANALYSIS FOR ALL ENTRANTS
BlueCat remains committed to the undiscovered writer, and will continue its tradition of providing written analysis on every script submitted at no additional charge.
SCREENPLAY CONTEST AWARDS
·         Feature Screenplay Winner $10,000. Four Feature Finalists will receive $1,000 each.
·         Short Script Winner $5,000. Four Shorts Finalists will receive $500 each.
·         Pilot (Hour) Winner $5,000. Four Hour Pilot Finalists will receive $500 each.
·         Pilot (Half-hour) Winner $5,000. Four Half-hour Pilot Finalists will receive $500 each.
·         The Fellini Award $1,000. Best feature screenplay by a writer living outside the U.S.

Creative Nonfiction Seeks Essays on "Intoxication"

Deadline: February 26
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.
Creative Nonfiction

Ventura County Writers Club Poetry Contest

On The Premises Short Story Contest (no fee)

On The Premises
IT'S ON YOU
For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which one or more pieces of clothing play an important role. NOTE: Jewelry does not count as clothing for this contest, so crowns are not allowed but hats are okay.
Deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern US time, FRIDAY, March 2, 2018.
One entry per author. There is no fee for entering this contest. Winners receive between US$60 and US$220, and publication.
GENRE NOTE: Any genre except children's fiction, exploitative sex, or over-the-top gross-out horror is fine. We will also never accept parodies of another author's specific fictional character(s) or world(s). No exceptions!
Click for details and instructions on submitting your story. To be informed when new contests are launched, subscribe to our free, short, monthly newsletter. On The Premises magazine is recognized in Duotrope, Writer's Market, Ralan.com, and other short story marketing resources.

Open Today! Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series

Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)

Dancing Poetry Festival Contest

Deadline: April 15
Now in its 25th year, all Dancing Poetry Festival prize winners will receive a prize certificate suitable for framing, a ticket to the 2018 Dancing Poetry Festival in the Florence Gould Theater at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, and an invitation to read their prizewinning poem at the festival.
Three Grand Prizes will receive $100 each plus their poems will be danced and filmed. Many smaller prizes. Each Grand Prize winner will be invited onstage for photo ops with the dancers and a bow in the limelight.
Please look at photos of our Dancing Poetry Festivals to see the vast diversity of poetry and dance we present each year. For poetry, we look for something new and different including new twists to old themes, different looks at common situations, and innovative concepts for dynamic, thought-provoking entertainment. We look forward to reading your submissions. See the complete contest rules and please enjoy "Shinrin-Yoku: Forest Bathing" by Shirley McPhillips, a 2017 Grand Prize winner.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Creative Nonfiction Seeks Essays on "Home"

Deadline: May 21
They say it's where you hang your hat; it's where the heart is; it's where they have to take you in. But what does home mean for communities and individuals facing rising temperatures and extreme weather; wealth disparity and resource scarcity; and the forces of globalization and nationalism? What does it mean to belong somewhere? For the winter 2019 issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine, we're looking for true stories about finding—or, perhaps, coming to terms with losing—your place in the world.
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.
All essays submitted will be considered for publication; this is a paying market.
Creative Nonfiction

Creative Nonfiction Seeks Essays for "Let's Talk About Sex" Issue

Deadline: July 16
For the spring 2019 issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine, we're looking for true stories about doing it. Whether you're straight, gay, or other; alone, in a couple, or in a crowd; doing it for the first time or the last, or not doing it at all, we want to hear your story.
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.
Please note: for this issue, we are interested primarily (and perhaps even exclusively) in stories of consensual and/or victimless sex. Also note, we are not seeking erotica. No photos, please.
Creative Nonfiction editors will award $1,000 for Best Essay and $500 for runner-up. All essays will be considered for publication.
Creative Nonfiction

Laren Singer: Professional Editing and Proofreading

Lauren SingerFinishing up your manuscript? Putting those last touches on your thesis or dissertation? Submitting application essays to your dream school? Can't figure out where to put the dialogue in your magnum opus? These writing projects can take a lot out of a person. Sometimes the work is so dense and the topics so subjective that it's difficult to see a clear end in sight. Sometimes the solution is as simple as lending another pair of eyes to those stuck points.
Don't pull out more hair—give yourself a break! I'll help ease your typing tension so you can show that writer's block who's boss. Email Lauren Singer at SingerLaur@gmail.com or call 347-675-4877 for professional copyediting, proofreading, and general assistance with your current project. I have many years of experience, a bundle of great references, and am currently a staff judge at Winning Writers. Let's tackle those big ideas together!
"When I needed help with my chapbook manuscript, Lauren was candid, professional, and insightful. She was a pleasure to work with and I will definitely be hiring her for editing in the future."
-Catherine Weiss
"If you need fresh eyes and solid creative insight, Lauren is absolutely the person to call."
-Stephanie Huey
"Lauren regularly edited for me. Her comments and corrects were thoughtful, thorough, and holistic. She also frequently went above and beyond and offered style suggestions and additional ways to structure my approach."
-Roxanne Astra Slate
"Lauren takes the time while editing, to both consider the one-day reader and the voice of the author."
-Tara Jean Bernier

Swallow by Jendi Reiter - Signed, Limited Edition

Swallow by Jendi Reiter
"The first thing that strikes the reader about Jendi Reiter's Swallow is, naturally, the unusual cover illustration, which appears at once to be a multi-eyed cherub (the proper Old Testament kind), a brace of clothespins, a flock of nightmare birds, sewing needles, bent nails, and a heart-shaped crown of thorns. While one may have a difficult time explaining all of this, one need only know that this image by Richard C. Jackson is the best visual realization of the horror, madness, blood, and beauty that infuse Reiter's work: Like something out of a fever dream, it just makes perfect sense."
–JoSelle Vanderhooft, The Pedestal Magazine
This chapbook is a limited edition. Request your signed copy from jendi@winningwriters.com. Available now for $8 plus postage.
Please enjoy this sample poem:
Body II by Jendi Reiter

Spotlight Contests (no fee)

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
NFSPS Edna Meudt/Florence Kahn Memorial Awards. The National Federation of State Poetry Societies will award two prizes of $500 apiece for manuscripts of 10 previously unpublished poems, written by undergraduate students enrolled in accredited US colleges or universities. The two winning manuscripts will be published as perfect-bound 6"x9" chapbooks and marketed through Amazon.com. In addition, winners receive 75 free copies of their chapbook, a one-year membership in NFSPS and an NFSPS-affiliated state poetry society, complimentary registration and a $300 travel stipend to attend the NFSPS Annual Convention. Due January 31.
Intermediate Writers
Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize. This major literary publisher will award $12,000 and publication for the best full-length manuscript of creative nonfiction by a US resident not yet established in the genre. Sample of manuscript-in-progress should be a minimum of 100 double-spaced pages (25,000 words). Due January 31.
Advanced Writers
Harold Morton Landon Translation Award. The Academy of American Poets will award $1,000 for the best book of poetry translated from any language into English and published in the US during the previous calendar year. Translator must be a living US citizen or resident who has resided in the United States for the past decade. Due February 15.
See more Spotlight Contests for emerging, intermediate, and advanced writers within The Best Free Literary Contests database.
Search for Contests

Calls for Submissions

·         Rattle "Athlete Poets" Issue (poems by athletes, on any subject - January 15)
·         Saddle Road Press: Open Reading Period (book-length collections of poetry and literary prose - January 30)
·         Rescue Press: January Open Reading Period (avant-garde fiction and nonfiction manuscripts - January 31)
·         Sinister Wisdom "Dump Trump!" Issue (lesbian-feminist creative writing - January 31)
·         Seshat (writing by homeschoolers - February 15)
·         Uncanny Magazine: "Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction" Issue (sci-fi and fantasy poetry, fiction, and essays by disabled writers - February 15)
·         World Weaver Press: Baba Yaga Anthology (short fiction on Slavic folktale character - March 1)
·         Lambda Literary's Poetry Spotlight (LGBTQ poets - March 13)
·         Emerald Theatre Company 10 Minute Play Fest (unpublished short plays on theme of "Gaydar" - April 1)
·         Her Believing Heart Anthology (poems about lesbian domestic violence - April 30)
·         Ollom Art: "The Hole: Mining Portals of Vulnerability" (writing and art about openings in the body and mind - May 25)

PSA: Support ProLiteracy

ProLiteracy: From Helpless to Empowered

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Solo mailings and website advertising are available. Inquire with Adam Cohen at adam@winningwriters.com.

"I am a creature" by Giuseppe Ungaretti, illustrated by Julian Peters

Julian Peters writes, "This adaptation of a WWI poem by the Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti was sensitively translated by Marco Sonzogni and Ross Woods. The 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."
I am a creature
Kindly reprinted by permission of Julian Peters. See more at Mr. Peters' website.

The Last Word

Problems of Lineage and Magic
Decolonization isn't so much about ethnic ownership of spirituality, as it is about accountability for the fact that white people violently disrupted POCs' ability to practice their own traditions, and then we turned around and adopted those traditions as exotic and authentic. [read more]
Jendi Reiter is the editor of Winning Writers. Follow her on Twitter at @JendiReiter.
Jendi Reiter
One of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (Writer's Digest)    





Carolyn Howard-Johnson's expert PR book will save you money |

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Make 2018 your book's best year ever 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.
"Where does a new author turn for help on promoting her book? Sure, there's the usual word of mouth, advice from fellow writers, close-your-eyes-and hope-for-the-best reliance on agents, publishers and publicists. But if you really want to understand the process, and make educated decisions with regard to what most authors feel is the 'black hole' of promotion, read award-winning Carolyn Howard-Johnson's The Frugal Book Promoter."
     —Leora Krygier, author of When She Sleeps (Toby Press)

Learn more about The Frugal Book Promoter on Carolyn Howard-Johnson's website, or buy it now at Amazon.
 





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Award-Winning Poems: Winter 2017-2018

Jendi Reiter
Welcome to my winter selection of award-winning poems, highlights from our contest archives, and the best new resources we've found for writers. These quarterly specials are included with your free Winning Writers Newsletter subscription.
In this issue: "Soir d'hiver" by Émile Nelligan, illustrated and translated by Julian Peters.
—Jendi Reiter, Editor
Did you receive this newsletter from a friend?
Subscribe here. It's free.
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Join our 99,000 followers on Twitter
Open at Winning Writers
WERGLE FLOMP HUMOR POETRY CONTEST - NO FEE
Free to enter, $2,250 in prizes, including a top award of $1,000.
TOM HOWARD/JOHN H. REID FICTION & ESSAY CONTEST
$20 entry fee, $5,000 in prizes, including two top awards of $2,000 each.

Award-Winning Poems Selected by Jendi Reiter

EXCERPT FROM ME DRAWING A PICTURE OF ME(N)
by Rachelle Escamilla
Winner of the 2014 Willow Books Literature Award for Poetry
Entries must be received by December 15
This biennial award series gives $1,000 and publication for poetry and prose manuscripts by writers of color. Escamilla describes her winning collection, Imaginary Animal, as being "about race, labor and assimilation filtered through found text and re-appropriation of language generated from specific Google searches." This playful erotic poem, at times Whitman-esque in its mode of address, is a collage of moments with men from Craigslist and reminiscences of Pittsburgh streets that the narrator will soon leave far behind.
LAPIDARY
by Nancy Chen Long
Winner of the 2016 Tampa Review Prize for Poetry
Postmark Deadline: December 31
This notable competition gives $2,000 and publication by the University of Tampa Press for a full-length poetry manuscript. Long's prizewinning collection was Light into Bodies. Using the metaphor of a rock collector, this measured poem cautions that hardness and perfection are no guarantees of security.
SELECTIONS FROM INSTEAD OF DYING
by Lauren Haldeman
Winner of the 2017 Colorado Prize for Poetry
Postmark Deadline: January 14
The Center for Literary Publishing at the University of Colorado offers this prestigious award of $2,000 and publication. In this excerpt from Haldeman's prizewinning collection Instead of Dying, efforts to heal the "you" addressed by the poem take on a surreal cast, suggesting a wish-fulfillment dream rather than an actual possibility of remission.
GOAT HOUR GOSPEL (SUCH SALVAGE)
by Mark Wagenaar
Winner of the 2016 Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award
Entries must be received by January 31
This long-running award for a full-length collection gives $3,000 and publication by Red Hen Press, a well-regarded independent publisher. Wagenaar's winning collection, Southern Tongues Leave Us Shining, will be published in 2018. In this meditative poem, first published in The New Yorker, the goats' indiscriminate appetite appears as a kind of mercy that salvages the debris of our imperfect lives.
FAMILY FARM
by Peter Mishler
Winner of the 2016 Kathryn A. Morton Poetry Award
Postmark Deadline: March 15 (don't enter before January 1)
Sarabande Books, a prestigious literary press in Kentucky, gives $2,000 and publication for a full-length poetry collection. Mishler's Fludde was the 2016 prizewinner. The mood of this poem is anything but bucolic, though its setting is the stuff of American heartland nostalgia. The speaker seems about to undergo a fatal transformation into an alien mechanical thing, not unlike the agribusiness machinery that has crushed his way of life.

FundsforWriters: Time to Get Serious About Your Writing Career

You won't be able to quit work and write, but you might find a grant to make your writing goals easier. Or a crowdfunding opportunity to fund your project. Find serious contests, too. Only those that pay in cold hard cash. No pay-per-click, $1 per blog or exposure markets either. Hope Clark writes for a living. If she wouldn't try these opportunities, she doesn't post them. Our newsletters are our world. Free or paid subscription.
Free FundsforWriters
Our most popular free newsletter. FundsforWriters provides markets that pay $200 or 10 cents/word and up. Expect 15 or more paying opportunities in the form of contests, grants, freelance markets, jobs, and publishers/agents. Delivered each weekend via Aweber.com. The newsletter also provides an editorial from editor Hope Clark and a freelance piece from a guest author. FundsforWriters is also a paying market. If you would like to pitch a 600-word piece to Hope, see the guidelines. Subscribe. View archive.
Total FundsforWriters
70+ paying opportunities per issue, which means 2,000+ paying opportunities per year. TOTAL is delivered biweekly to your email box and contains grants, competitions, freelance markets, jobs, publishers, agents. Markets and contests all pay $200 or 10 cents/word and up in payment. The same high quality as our regular FundsforWriters newsletter—and five times more of it! Delivered via Aweber. Only $18.75 per year. Subscribe. View sample.
December Special - A Free Gift for Yourself or a Friend!
Buy a new or renewal subscription to Total FundsforWriters in December, and receive a free book by Hope Clark. Visit Hope's website to browse the selection: The Shy Writer Reborn, The Best of FundsforWriters, Vol 1., the Carolina Slade Mysteries, and the Edisto Island Mysteries. After you subscribe to Total, email Hope with how you'd like her to autograph your book (if it's print) and where she should send it.
FundsforWriters

Rattle Chapbook Prize

Rattle Chapbook Prize
Deadline: January 15, 2018
The annual Rattle Chapbook Prize gives poets something truly special. Every year, at least one winner will receive: $2,000 cash, 500 contributor copies, and distribution to Rattle's 7,000+ subscribers. In a world where a successful full-length poetry book might sell 1,000 copies, the winning book will reach an audience seven times as large on its release day alone—an audience that includes many other literary magazines, presses, and well-known poets. This will be a chapbook to launch a career.
And maybe the best part is this: The $20 entry fee is just a standard subscription to Rattle, which includes four issues of the magazine and the winning chapbook, even if it isn't yours. Rattle is one of the most-read literary journals in the world—find out why just by entering! For more information and to read portions of last year's winning entry, The Whetting Stone by Taylor Mali, visit our website.
Please enjoy a sample poem from Mr. Mali's book, "The Second Pass".

COG Poetry Awards

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
·         A blurb about your poem(s) by luminary poet Major Jackson
·         Your poem(s) 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
Check out Cogzine and enter the contest at COG's Submittable site.
The adaptation of 2016-17's winning poem by Megan Merchant will be published online shortly. Meanwhile, please enjoy this animation made from "The Last Gun" by Anne Harding Woodworth, 2015-2016 COG Poetry Awards winner:

Grayson Books Chapbook Competition

Postmark Deadline: January 31, 2018
Prize: $500, publication of chapbook and 50 gorgeous copies
Reading fee: $20
Submit: 16-32 pages of poetry
Electronic submissions only. Submit here via Submittable.
Simultaneous submissions are permissible if we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Multiple submissions are also permitted; a fee must accompany each entry. Including acknowledgments of previously published poems is acceptable but not required. When a manuscript is chosen for publication, we will request acknowledgments.
Daniel Donaghy, this year's judge, is the author of Streetfighting, a Paterson Poetry Prize finalist. He is assistant professor of English at Eastern Connecticut State University.
Please enjoy the title poem from Halfway-Heaven by James Crews, our 2017 chapbook winner.
Halfway-Heaven
Before he died, my father tried to teach me
the only language of manhood he knew—
Phillips-head, needle-nose, catalytic converter—
but I left him hunched under hoods
or sprawled on cardboard pallets beneath
stalled cars, thinking the dust of books
and blue glow of computer screens
could keep me from work like that. I hated
his oil-stink, the orange goop he used
to clean grease-black hands, and those
homemade tattoos of lightning on his biceps.
I hated the cigarette dangling from his lips,
his eyes squinting against smoke snaking up
as he scraped a deer skull clean of meat
for mounting. But now, I want it all back.
I replay every scene in my mind as if
seeing my father again could keep him alive
and tinkering in some other realm, some
halfway-heaven he'd love because everything
needs fixing there. I think of the greenstriped
tube socks pulled to his knees when he
mowed the yard, the scratch of sandpaperstubble
against my cheek each time he
kissed me goodnight. I still hear the way
he'd say sorta speak when he meant so to speak,
while explaining, for instance, why tomatoes
taste better with a kiss of salt: Brings out
the sweetness, sorta speak.
Halfway Heaven by James Crews

Honoring Indigenous Poetry from North America: A new anthology exploring and celebrating contemporary Indigenous poetry

Tupelo Press is eager to celebrate a more complete version of the story we tell—about ourselves, our past, and what is possible in language.
In this anthology of Indigenous poetry, the first of its kind, we are proud to feature new work by Natalie Diaz, Linda Hogan, Santee Frazier, Luci Tapahonso, Layli Long Soldier, Ray Young Bear, Ishmael Hope, and more. Every poet will present new poems, as well as an original essay, and a selection of resonant work chosen from previous generations of Native artists. Pledge your support today!
As Layli Long Soldier tells us, "Everything is in the language we use." Among peoples whose stories have been forcibly withheld, each poem contains a trace of that erasure, a record of what is lost as well as made more whole.
Our anthology is intended to embody the dynamic and ongoing conversations that take place in Indigenous poetry through writerly craft across generational, geographic, and stylistic divides. This anthology will showcase a broad range of Indigenous writers working today and will offer an invitation to enter the richness of their explorations as these continue to unfold around us.
How You Can Help
Join Tupelo Press in publishing this necessary anthology of contemporary Indigenous writing. Your contributions will be applied directly to the production costs for what promises to be a stunningly made volume, one that celebrates the work that appears in its pages through the beauty of its design, and even more importantly, the care with which it is brought to life as a printed book.
Donate any amount by December 13, 2017 and we will proudly post a public thank you via social media. Other rewards include: letterpress broadsides and bookmarks, Tupelo Press t-shirts, 2018 gift subscriptions, poetry manuscript reviews from our editors, writer's retreat weekends for two, and of course, copies of our beautiful anthology!

Wayfarers by Winfred Cook

From the author of Uncle Otto, winner of the 2016 North Street Book Prize for literary fiction, comes a story of perilous love during the conflagration of the Civil War. Kirkus Reviews writes:
"Jerry Hawthorne and Daniel Cook are an unlikely pair of lovers. They are both men, and in 19th-century America, theirs is a dangerous union. They share intense memories of growing up together on the Hawthorne plantation, with Daniel a slave and Jerry the scion of the family that owned him. When they are still boys, Jerry’s father dies, throwing the future of the plantation in doubt...
"...the leads are compelling, and the investigation of interracial and homosexual relationships in the Civil War period should keep audiences invested in their struggles. The book is well-crafted and will likely please readers beyond those who are fans of gay fiction."
An affecting story of two souls separated by slavery and war.

Beatrice by Ellen LaFleche

BeatriceEllen LaFleche, a judge of the North Street Book Prize, explores the emotional life of a semi-cloistered nun in this chapbook from Tiger's Eye Press. Sister Beatrice serves on a jury, bakes bread in the convent kitchen, scatters her mother's ashes in the ocean, and reflects on her friendship with another nun. Order directly from Ms. LaFleche for $10 at ElLaFleche@aol.com.
"The tides of the sacred feminine seek an outlet in the cloistered body of Sister Beatrice, a working-class mystic. The convent offers both refuge and confinement—the paradox of a women-ruled society where women must de-sexualize themselves. The ascetic environment cannot quench the vitality of Beatrice's imagination, which finds golden-faced gods in copper pans and lust's soft satisfaction in a raw quahog."
—Jendi Reiter, editor, Winning Writers, and author of Bullies in Love

Jendi Reiter's Two Natures: Best Book Awards Finalist

Two Natures by Jendi Reiter
Set in New York City in the early 1990s, Two Natures (Saddle Road Press) 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.
Two Natures was recently named a finalist for the American Book Fest Best Book Awards.
In a review for A&U: America's AIDS Magazine, T.J. Banks writes: "Julian Selkirk gets under our skin. Immediately… Reiter has created a funny, astute, self-deprecating hero, and we care tremendously about what happens to him."
Julian would like to tell our newsletter subscribers: "December 1 is World AIDS Day. Please support GMHC, the world's first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy!"

Favorite New Resources

Here are some of our favorite newly added resources at Winning Writers. For a full list, see our Resource pages.
The Big BiList: Bisexual Writers, Books, and Resources
Novelist A.M. Leibowitz's curated list of bisexual representation in fiction
Damonza Book Design
Book cover design and interior formatting
Do Daily Deal Services Work?
Case study at Writer Unboxed compares 19 services for advertising discounted e-books
Don't Make Violence and Abuse Just Another Plot Device in Your Novel
Bestselling novelist Rene Denfeld's advice on responsible writing about trauma
Food Timeline
Resources and free Q&A service about the history of food
The Lovecraft Reread at Tor.com
Critical appreciations of classic and new tales in the Lovecraft Mythos tradition
Reedsy's Best Book Review Blogs of 2017
List of book review blogs searchable by genre
Romantic Comedies: When Stalking Has a Happy Ending
Real-life negative consequences of rom-com tropes
ShoutAbout's Top 30 Book Review Blogs
Product review site's top picks for book review sites in various genres
 
The Big BiList

Favorite New Books

Calling a Wolf a WolfKaveh Akbar
Calling a Wolf a Wolf
This fierce, dazzling debut poetry collection describes the difficult path out of alcoholism and into the disciplined joy of being present in the moment. Simultaneously self-lacerating and grandiose, the speaker leaps from one aphoristic observation to another, through the ecstasies of Islamic mysticism, his devouring relationships with lovers both male and female, and self-annihilation as the ultimate extreme of pleasure. Yet he discovers that sobriety has its own nearly unbearable intensity, the rupture of his isolation by genuine connection with others.
Rene Denfeld
The Child Finder
This beautifully written thriller goes deep into the minds of survivors of intergenerational trauma: some who become healers and heroes, pitted against others who pass on the evil that was done to them. In the snowbound mountain forests of the Pacific Northwest, a famed investigator with her own barely-remembered abuse history searches for a little girl who was kidnapped three years ago. Meanwhile, this resilient and imaginative child tries to maintain her sanity in captivity, by reliving her favorite fairy tale and forming a bittersweet survival bond with her captor.
em jollie
A Field Guide to Falling
This poetry collection is like a stained-glass cathedral window: even in scenes of suffering, the glorious colors give joy and uplift. Much of the book processes the aftermath of breaking up with a beloved woman, though at the end, the narrator seems to find a new beginning with another partner and a greater sense of herself as complete and sufficient. But this therapeutic summary can't do justice to the mystical meaning of her journey. The speaker bravely walks up to the edge of everything we consider permanent, looks into the clouds swirling above the bottomless gulf, and finds a way to praise their ever-changing shapes. These poems imply that the value of falling—in love, out of love, out of Eden into a world of loss—is in how it challenges us to keep our hearts open, to say Yes despite it all.
Ellaraine Lockie
Tripping with the Top Down
Prolific poet Ellaraine Lockie has a gift for revealing the spirit of a place with a perfectly chosen character sketch or a quirky interaction that invites us to think twice about how we move through the world. In her work, travel produces enlightening friction between an unfamiliar environment and the unnoticed edges of ourselves. This collection, her 13th chapbook, takes us along on her tour of the American West, from her Montana birthplace to her native California and points between.
Diane Lockward, ed.
The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop
This anthology, suitable for both individual and classroom use, features craft essays and exercises for poets of all skill levels. It includes model poems and prompts, writing tips, and interviews contributed by 56 well-known American poets, including 13 former and current state Poets Laureate. Volume II is also available. Lockward is the editor of Terrapin Books, an independent publisher of poetry collections and anthologies.

Selections from Our Contest Archives

"The Leather Suitcase"
by Tom Berman
Most Highly Commended
2006 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest
"Fragments from Crete"
by Jacqueline Cooke
Third Prize
2006 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
"The Right Eye of Justice"
by Dixon Hearne
Fourth Prize
2009 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
"The Train to Harare"
by Lance Mason
Most Highly Commended
2010 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
"And Now, the News"
by Ed Coonce
Third Prize
2007 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
"In Memory of W.H. Gates"
by Benjamin Taylor Lally
Honorable Mention
2007 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
Tom Berman

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"Soir d'hiver" by Émile Nelligan, illustrated by Julian Peters

Julian Peters writes, "These are possibly the most famous lines in the history of Quebec poetry, from 'Soir d’hiver' (c.1898) by Émile Nelligan." Please see the English translation below. Visit the website of Julian Peters Comics.
Here is the complete poem, translated by Julian Peters:
Winter Night
by Emile Nelligan
Oh! How the snow's been snowing!
My window pane is a garden of frost.
Oh! How the snow's been snowing!
What's the spasm of living
Next to all the pain that I have, that I have!

All the ponds lie frozen
My soul is black: Where do I live? Where am I going?
All its hopes lie frozen:
I am the new Norway
From which the blonde skies have departed.
Weep, you February birds
At the sinister shivering of things,
Weep, you February birds,
Weep out my tears, weep out my roses,
Upon the branches of the juniper tree.

Oh! How the snow's been snowing!
My window pane is a garden of frost.
Oh! How the snow's been snowing!
What's the spasm of living
Next to all the ennui that I have, that I have!
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