Tuesday 20 March 2018

Winning Writer's newsletters

Here are the latest Winning Writer's newsletters for my followers to peruse:


 

 

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Award-Winning Poems: Spring 2018

Jendi Reiter
Welcome to my spring 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: "Sous mon lit de métal" by Cato Fortin, illustrated by Julian Peters.
—Jendi Reiter, Editor
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Deadlines Next Month 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.
 

Featured Sponsor: Give your book the professional editing it deserves! Click on ad to enter now!

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Award-Winning Poems Selected by Jendi Reiter

THE NOTEBOOK
by Donald Levering
Winner of the 2017 Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry
Postmark Deadline: March 15
This long-running, competitive $1,000 prize for unpublished poems is sponsored by a foundation preserving the legacy of American poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962). In Levering's tribute to the prison writings of Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti, a Hungarian Jewish poet killed in the Holocaust, the details that are left out are as important as what is included.
UNDERNEATH THERE IS A WOUND
by Natalie J. Graham
Winner of the 2016 Cave Canem Poetry Prize
Entries must be received by March 16
Cave Canem's prestigious awards for African-American poets include this first-book prize with $1,000 and publication by Graywolf Press. In this incisive poem from Graham's winning collection Begin with a Failed Body, she contrasts her son's wholesome compassion for dead creatures with a writer's professional consumption and dissemination of trauma stories that are not his to tell.
STILL LIFE WITH IVORY
by Brad Aaron Modlin
Winner of the 2015 Cowles Poetry Book Prize
Entries must be received by April 1
Southeast Missouri State University Press offers this open poetry book prize of $2,000 and publication. Modlin's Everyone at This Party Has Two Names was the 2015 winner. In this remorseful litany, a deceased uncle's tall tales stand in for all the questions that children don't think to ask their elders until it's too late. Read more excerpts on his website.
THE SECRET OF WHITE
by Nancy Hewitt
Winner of the 2016 Spoon River Poetry Review Editors' Prize
Postmark Deadline: April 15
This long-running contest with prizes up to $1,000 is judged by prominent poets and includes a reading in Bloomington, IL. Inspired by a Pierre Bonnard painting, Hewitt's poem invites us to interrogate vision itself—the multiple layers of technique, emotion, and narrative that make up our response to the physical act of seeing a color.
PSYCHE INCITES A RIOT
by Bradford Tice
Winner of the 2014 Trio Award for a First or Second Book
Entries must be received by April 30
Trio House Press gives two annual prizes of $1,000 and publication for poetry collections: the Trio Award for a First or Second Book, and the Louise Bogan Award for a book of poems contributing in an innovative and distinct way to American poetry. In this taut poem from Tice's prizewinning second collection, What the Night Numbered, the myth of Psyche pulling off Cupid's veil is recast as a queer uprising akin to Stonewall.
 

CineStory's Feature Retreat - Win $10,000

LATE DEADLINE MARCH 12TH!
CineStory's Feature Retreat is dedicated to the advancement of fresh voices in screenwriting by selecting 25 screenwriters for a 4-day retreat held in the Fall. One writer will receive $10,000 and a 12-month mentorship from Industry Mentors.
Attendees are selected through our submission process, which you can start here: SUBMIT.
Use discount code WW2018 for $5 off the submission fee!
THE RETREAT
The Mentors — Attending writers sit down with 3 industry professionals and receive feedback, along with general advice on how to navigate their career.
The Writers — Writers attend the CineStory Retreat from all over the world (Japan, Australia, the UK, among others) and leave with lifelong friendships.
Idyllwild — Just 2 hours from Los Angeles, Idyllwild is the perfect writer's getaway. It is surrounded by the beauty of the San Jacinto mountains and has a rustic charm that allows creatives to be creative!
Please click here for more information about this year's retreat, which will be held on October 20th - 23rd.
Don't forget to use your discount code (WW2018) for $5 off!
 

Deadline Extended to March 15! Win $250 and Publication

COG Page to Screen Awards

"I like to listen. I'm much more interested in listening than speaking, for sure."
—Final Judge Gish Jen, whom Junot Diaz calls "the Great American Novelist we're always hearing about..."
Deadline: March 31. Submit unpublished short stories and creative nonfiction pieces no longer than 7,000 words. Entry fee: $17.
Winner receives:
·         $1,000 prize
·         Publication online and in the print issue of COG
·         A blurb about your short story by Gish Jen
·         Your story adapted as an animated short film, 2D animation, graphic novel, or series of interpretive illustrations by students in Cogswell College's celebrated Digital Art & Animation and Digital Audio Technology programs.
Gish Jen
 

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 "The God Who Dances" by Constantina Clark, a 2017 Grand Prize winner.
 

The Frugal Book Promoter

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

The Kurdish Bike — A novel by Alesa Lightbourne

·         Winner of the 2017 North Street Book Prize for General Fiction (first place)
·         Winner of the 2017 Independent Publishers Book Award (gold medal)
"Set against the backdrop of a powerful political landscape, The Kurdish Bike offers a stunning social, political, and cultural commentary of what it is like to live in a third world country torn apart by war. A single mom, the newly recruited teacher on a bike, makes friends with native women and her contact and relationship with them lead her to get glimpses of the not-so-obvious conflicts that threaten life in the country. Bezma's family stands out as a symbol of the oppressed. The prose is polished and rings through the ears like music. The author has the rare gift of weaving national conflict into the lives of individuals. And then there is the biting sense of humor, the ability to portray hope through simple relationships, to find meaning in the will to survive each day at a time. The characters are well grounded, sculpted to reflect the social landscapes from which they sprang. In spite of the powerful conflict that permeates every layer of this book, the unspoken words and the silent cries, there is a current of positive energy communicated through laughter, love, and friendship. The novel is beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Fans of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini will adore Alesa Lightbourne's evocative writing, the reminiscences of war images, and the general malaise felt by millions of people, plus the pain of belonging to their own country." (Five stars, San Francisco Book Review)
"The story is admirable for its characters, for they are not only well-thought out, but also reflective of a country whose people are torn by a decade-long war. The characters are well-developed and are a mirror to the courage and strength shown by women in times of distress. Alesa Lightbourne has shown excellent penmanship writing this novel based on her personal experience and shows how involved she was in the lives of the people she taught and met in Iraq. If you are interested in knowing about the lives, cultures, and hardships faced by people in the Middle East, this book is a must-read." (Five stars, Manhattan Book Review)
"Lightbourne writes in a cinematic prose and easily folds in background about the Kurdish people's suffering under Saddam Hussein. This story of sisterhood, motherhood, and nationhood should have wide appeal." (BookLife)
 

White Man's Disease by Paul Thornton

Winner, 2017 North Street Book Prize, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir
Paul Thornton rose from the streets of Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood to become a Fortune 500 executive. But a catastrophic event threatened his marriage, his career, and his self-respect. Thornton's remarkable resurrection is a gripping, inspirational story of hope, resilience, and the essential American Dream of realizing one's full potential. Poignant, sad, tragic, funny, and compelling, White Man's Disease is a redemption story for the ages.
 

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
 

40 Short Poems by Jim DuBois

40 Short Poems by Jim DuBois
From long-time poet Jim DuBois comes a volume called "relentlessly dramatic" by one reader and "perfectly put together" by another.
"A short poem doesn't leave room for error. You must condense everything down to one point, and economically yet dramatically aim for it. You either make it, or you miss it." —Jim DuBois
 
Sometimes
 all it takes
  is
 the cool air
  underneath
   the bridge
 
Buy 40 Short Poems now from Lulu.
 

Get a signed, limited edition of Swallow by Jendi Reiter

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:
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Abridged)

I know who is responsible for all my problems.
I would rather bake a pie than repair a latch.
I don't always tell the truth.

I think that I would like to be a florist.
I am not afraid of snakes.
My father was not a good man.

More than once a week I feel hot all over.
I do not believe that my sins are unforgivable.
I like surprise parties.

Ghosts and angels influence the events of our lives.
I try to be polite when interrupted at work.
I would rather buy shoes than take apart an engine.

Most people will cheat if given the chance.
I do not seek out fistfights.
Sometimes I feel happy for no good reason.

My sex life is satisfactory.
I am afraid of water.
I would not like to relive my childhood.

I know the source of the voices I hear.
It is not true that I do not like everyone.
I would rather dance than play baseball.

No one is following me.
I admire good manners more than intelligence.
I was not beaten repeatedly as a child.

I have never been so drunk that I fell down.
I trust myself around knives.
I am not afraid of lightning.

I think more often now about death and the afterlife.
My style of dress is flamboyant.
I cannot say that I have never had a vision.
 

Favorite New Resources

Here are some of our favorite newly added resources at Winning Writers. For a full list, see our Resource pages.
American Prison Writing Archive
Online archive of creative essays by people in the US prison system
Authors Alliance Fair Use Guidebook
Free online legal handbook for nonfiction writers
Barrelhouse
Print and online journal bridges pop culture and literary writing
Guide to Finding Your Published Poems from the Library of Congress
Help from Library of Congress for tracking down your work in amateur anthologies
Heartspark Press
Publishing collective for trans women and nonbinary authors
LibraryThing: Name That Book
Discussion forum crowdsources the name of that book you read and can't remember
Libby App
App to borrow e-books and audio books from libraries
Queer in Color
Promotional site for fiction featuring LGBTQ characters of color
Redheaded Stepchild
This literary journal only accepts poetry that was rejected elsewhere
Should You Pay Writing Contest Entry Fees?
FundsForWriters editor C. Hope Clark explains contest economics
American Prison Writing Archive
 

Favorite New Books

Inside/Out by Joseph Osmundson
Inside/Out
by Joseph Osmundson
This daring flash memoir, which can also be classified as a prose-poem collection, looks from multiple angles at the arc of an emotionally abusive relationship between the white author and his African-American ex-lover. Like a mosaic of broken mirror fragments, each sliver of memory reflects larger themes of exclusion, power exchange, personal and collective trauma, and the nature of intimacy, raising as many questions as it answers.
3arabi Song
by Zeina Hashem Beck
Winner of the 2016 Rattle Chapbook Prize, this Lebanese poet in exile keeps her heritage alive through lyrical tributes to famous singers of the Arab world. These multi-lingual poems weave together phrases in English, French, Italian, Arabic, and the new hybrid language Arabizi, a creation of the younger generation to represent Arabic sounds in English-character text messages. These poems are hopeful elegies, political dance tunes, nostalgic manifestos.
Trip Wires
by Sandra Hunter
With startling breadth of vision, this short story collection reveals the raw and tender material of our common humanity across borders—from a Sudanese refugee in Glasgow, to the survivor of a Colombian paramilitary kidnapping, to young soldiers in the Middle East whose emotional armor is breached by defiantly joyful children. The standout tale "Brother's Keeper" channels Flannery O'Connor to expose the underside of white Christian benevolence toward Africans. For immigrants and wanderers everywhere, gratitude takes a backseat to homesickness, and rescue is not the same as safety. Hunter restores these displaced persons to the center of their own life story.
Don't Call Us Dead
by Danez Smith
"Every day is a funeral & a miracle" in this award-winning poet and performance artist's second collection, a defiant record of life as a black gay man under the twin shadows of police violence and HIV. The pervasive image of blood links these poems and the boys, alive and dead, for whom Smith speaks: blood as kinship, as bearer of the memory of dangerous intimacy, as evidence of murders that white America wants to wipe away. Smith's honors include a Lambda Literary Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Selections from Our Contest Archives

"A Crown of Sonnets on the Euphronios Krater"
by Gretchen Fletcher
Honorable Mention
2007 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
"Explaining the D to You"
by M.E. Silverman
Finalist
2007 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest
"Boston Public"
by Erin Neil
Highly Commended
2009 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
"8 Missed Birthdays"
by Arielle Kaden
Most Highly Commended
2010 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
"Daft Idylls"
by Sooja Jones
Third Prize
2008 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
"To Wednesday"
by James Dorr
Finalist
2008 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
Gretchen Fletcher
 

PSA: ProLiteracy Makes Readers for Life

ProLiteracy, the largest literacy and basic education membership organization in the nation, believes that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts with an educated population. For more than 60 years, ProLiteracy has been working across the globe to create a world where every person can read and write. Learn more.
 

Advertise in This Newsletter

Advertisers: We send this newsletter to over 50,000 subscribers. Ads are just $150 each. On a tight budget? Pressed for time? Advertise to our 104,000 Twitter followers for just $40 per tweet or less.
Buy Advertising
 
Solo mailings and website advertising available. Inquire with Adam Cohen at adam@winningwriters.com.
 

"Sous mon lit de métal" by Cato Fortin, illustrated by Julian Peters

Julian Peters writes, "Here is my adaptation of an extract from a poem by the Montreal poet Cato Fortin. The adaptation was created as an initiative of the Université de Montréal undergraduate literary journal Le Pied for a series of 'Poster Poems' featuring collaborations between young poets and visual artists. You can view all of the posters here." Visit the website of Julian Peters Comics. See a translation of the poem below.
'Sous mon lit de métal' by Cato Fortin, illustrated by Julian Peters
Translation by Julian Peters:
Under My Metal Bed
by Cato Fortin
Beneath my metal bed
My brother is sleeping
The sliver of light
Through the slightly open door
Reveals his hand
He copies his breathing on my own
I am not his twin sister
 
 
 
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Winning Writers - best resources for poets and writers
 
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Welcome to Our February Newsletter

We are thrilled to announce the winners of our third North Street Book Prize competition for self-published books. They are Dr. Paul Thornton (top left), Alesa Lightbourne (bottom left), and Nicole Evelina (bottom right). They each received $1,500, a marketing consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and three free ads in this newsletter.
We also commend our seven Honorable Mentions—Cynthia Harris-Allen, Imani Josey, Robbi Pounds, Robin Reardon, Patricia Rohner, D.B. Sieders, and Michael H. Ward, and six Finalists—Arjay Lewis, Susan Harrison Rashid, Steven Schlozman, Vanda, Doug Piotter, and Susan Tereba. Judges Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche reviewed 378 entries, assisted by Lauren Singer and Annie Keithline. We awarded $6,250 in all. Please read excerpts from our winners' outstanding books, with critiques by the judges and advice for future contestants. See the press release about the winners.
Our new competition opens today, with a deadline of June 30. We are increasing the prize pool to $9,250, including a new top prize of $3,000. By popular request, we are adding categories for Poetry and Children's Picture Book. The other categories are Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction & Memoir. ENTER HERE.
THE BEST FREE LITERARY CONTESTS
We found over three dozen high-quality poetry and prose contests that are free to enter with deadlines between February 15-March 31.
View Free Contests
In this issue: Please enjoy "I Have Come To Consume The World", illustrated by Julian Peters.
Join our 104,000 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.
 

Featured Sponsor: Get Feedback for Your Writing and Enter Writing Contests at FanStory.com

FanStory
Sign up today and you'll...
·         Learn from feedback that will be written on everything you write. Share your poetry, stories and book chapters.
·         Enter fun writing contests with cash prizes. Over $5,000 in cash prizes this year. View our contest listing.
·         Be a part of a community for writers of all skill levels. Make connections and friends.
Upcoming contest deadlines:
5-7-5 Valentine Poetry Contest
Submit a three-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Write about anything that will warm the heart of that special someone or perhaps the opposite approach to that Valentine you'd rather forget. Cash prize. Deadline: February 16 (tomorrow!)
Rhyming Poem Contest
Write a poem of any type, but there must be a rhyme schme. The winner receives a cash prize. Deadline: February 18 (in three days!)
5-7-5 Poetry Contest
These poems follow the structure of haiku (three lines, 5-7-5 syllable pattern) but without any limits on the subject. Win cash. Deadline: February 19 (in four days!)
Share a Story in a Poem
Write a poem that tells a story in rhyme. Winner receives cash. Deadline: February 22.
100-Word Flash Fiction
A drabble is a flash fiction story that uses around 100 words. Write a drabble on any topic using 98-102 words. Cash for the winner. Deadline: February 26.
 

Recent Honors and Publication Credits for Our Subscribers

Try Literistic
Congratulations to Francine Witte (featured poem: "Charley Says Give Me Your Heart"), Robert Walton, James W. Gaynor, Scott Winkler, Sheryl Clough (featured poem: "Night Fire"), Jill Hoffman, Gary Beck, Mary Freericks, Nancy Louise Lewis, Terry Hynes, Mike Tuohy, J.C. Todd, Kathleen SpivackRick Lupert, and Diane Frank
Have news? Please email it to jendi@winningwriters.com.
 

Your Screenwriting Career Starts Here!

The Launch Pad Competitions are dedicated to giving writers the exposure they need to launch professional Hollywood careers. That's why in just 5 years the Launch Pad has helped over 254 writers land representation with top agents and managers, 81 writers set up projects, 45 writers earn staff writing jobs and sparked 4 bidding wars from major Hollywood studios. Our 2018 pilot competition is currently underway so enter today to have your work seen by companies that include CAA, Verve, Anonymous Content, Chernin Entertainment, and many more.

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

Tupelo Press Snowbound Chapbook Award

Deadline: February 28 (postmark or online submission-date)
Final Judge: Eduardo C. Corral
The Snowbound Chapbook Award includes a cash award of $1,000, publication by Tupelo Press, 25 copies of your book, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. All finalists will be considered for publication. Results announced in late spring 2018.
The Snowbound Chapbook Award is open to anyone writing in the English language, whether living in the United States or abroad. Translations are not eligible for this prize, nor are previously self-published books. The contest is competitive. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers or contests are permitted; notify Tupelo Press promptly if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Submit a previously unpublished, chapbook-length poetry manuscript (20-36 pages) with a table of contents and, if applicable, an acknowledgments page for poems previously published in periodicals. We encourage online submission via our Submittable system. You may also submit via postal mail:
Tupelo Press Snowbound Prize
PO Box 1767
North Adams, MA 01247
For mailed manuscripts, request notification of receipt by including a SASP. For notification of the winner, enclose a SASE. Manuscripts will not be returned.
A reading fee of $25 payable by check to Tupelo Press or via Submittable must accompany each submission. Multiple submissions are accepted, each accompanied by a $25 reading fee.
Please enjoy this selection by Allan Peterson, author of Other Than They Seem (Tupelo Press, 2016) and winner of the 2014 Snowbound Chapbook Award, selected by Ruth Ellen Kocher.
Longing
by Allan Peterson
Point to the longing they said and I touched a map
of the whole body
the ulnar   radial   that which draws tears
from fingers after touch
the words soothing and lying at the same time
cloudburst   sunrise
a whiteness like a bone and then your picture
Tupelo Press Snowbound Chapbook Award
 

Last Call for the WNBA Writing Contest

 

Essay Contest: "What Would Life Be Like Without the Arts & Entertainment?"

Deadline: March 30
We want to receive your freshly-inspired, thought-provoking, and compelling essay describing what life would be like if we didn't have the arts & entertainment. 100 words minimum. 500 words maximum.
Prizes: 1st Place $500 and publication on our website along with winner's photo and bio; 2nd Place $100 and name listed on our website; 3rd Place $50 and name listed on our website; Honorable Mentions will have their names listed on our website.
$8 entry fee. Sponsored by Divine Connections Special Events. Contest open to all writers 18 years and older who are legal residents of the United States of America. Void where prohibited.

COG Page to Screen Awards

"I like to listen. I'm much more interested in listening than speaking, for sure."
—Final Judge Gish Jen, whom Junot Diaz calls "the Great American Novelist we're always hearing about..."
Deadline: March 31. Submit unpublished short stories and creative nonfiction pieces no longer than 7,000 words. Entry fee: $17.
Winner receives:
·         $1,000 prize
·         Publication online and in the print issue of COG
·         A blurb about your short story by Gish Jen
·         Your story adapted as an animated short film, 2D animation, graphic novel, or series of interpretive illustrations by students in Cogswell College's celebrated Digital Art & Animation and Digital Audio Technology programs.
Gish Jen
 

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 "How To Come Full Circle in Five Steps, More Or Less" by Claudine Nash, 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
 

Jendi Reiter's Two Natures Finalist for 2018 EPIC eBook Award

Two Natures by Jendi Reiter
Jendi Reiter's debut novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press, 2016) is a finalist for the 2018 EPIC eBook Awards in the Contemporary Fiction category. Winners will be announced in March. Since 1998, EPIC, the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition, has supported independent authors and publishing professionals through workshops, conferences, and annual competitions for the best e-books in a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres.
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
"Jendi Reiter has delivered a complex, nuanced, heartbreaking, and intellectually engaging novel about life in the 90s for the gay man, along with a wittily scathing putdown of the fashion industry and its fragile pretentious foibles."
—Goodreads 5-star review by Sandra Hunter, author of Trip Wires (Leapfrog Press, 2018)
 

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
Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. $10,000 advance and publication in print and ebook editions for literary fiction, 45,000 words minimum, by a first-generation immigrant of their country who has not previously published a book in that particular genre with a US publisher. "First-generation" can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere. Due February 28.
Intermediate Writers
Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers. Two prizes of $1,000 each for LGBTQ authors who have published 1-2 books of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Candidates' contributions to the LGBTQ literary field beyond their writings and publications will also be considered. Due February 20.
Advanced Writers
Lewis Galantiere Award. The American Translators Association awards $1,000 for a distinguished book-length literary translation from any language, except German, into English. Entries must have been published in the US in the past two years (in 2016 or 2017 for the 2018 contest), and authors should be US citizens or permanent residents. Due March 1.
See more Spotlight Contests for emerging, intermediate, and advanced writers within The Best Free Literary Contests database.
Search for Contests
 

Calls for Submissions

·         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)
·         White Wall Review (poetry, short prose, art - May 1)
·         Ollom Art: "The Hole: Mining Portals of Vulnerability" (writing and art about openings in the body and mind - May 25)
·         Orison Books: Simone Weil Anthology (creative writing about 20th-century activist/mystic - August 1)
 

PSA: 7 Unseen Problems Low-Literate Adults Experience When They Hide Their Secret

ProLiteracy
Ben Davis from ProLiteracy writes:
There are 36 million adults in the United States who can't read above a third-grade level. That means the likelihood of meeting someone who struggles to read is truly staggering.
And while one in seven American adults struggle to read, you wouldn't know it. Most of these adults find creative ways to hide their reading issues because of their own embarrassment. For example, someone might ask for help reading something saying they "forgot their glasses". Or at a restaurant, unable to read the menu, they might ask the waitress what she recommends. And contrary to popular belief, the majority of these people are very smart. I have met a successful business owner who went through most of his life without being functionally literate. I have heard stories about a truck driver making deliveries by following landmarks, business owners having their spouse sign documents, and parents pretending to read to their children by making up stories from the pictures in a book.
Here are just some of the issues people who are unable to read deal with on a daily basis:
1.       Worrying if they are giving their children the right dose of medicine.
2.      Unable to fill out a job application.
3.      Hiding their low literacy from their employer.
4.      Not being able to help their children with homework.
5.       Memorizing products so they can find them at the store.
6.      Making excuses to avoid activities that might involve reading.
7.       The constant stress of hiding your secret.
ProLiteracy promotes adult literacy through content development, programs, and advocacy. Our goal is to help literacy programs increase the quantity and quality of services provided. Learn more.
 

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"I Have Come To Consume The World", illustrated by Julian Peters

Krishna
In Chapter 11 of the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna reveals himself to the warrior hero Arjuna in his full nature as the transcendent and immanent Lord of the Universe. This watercolour painting is inspired by the portion of this cosmic vision in which Arjuna describes the God's terrifying appearance in the role of destroyer (being all things, Krishna is also the destruction of all things):
"O Vishnu [Krishna is the avatar or embodiment of Vishnu], I can see your eyes shining; with open mouth, you glitter in an array of colours, and your body touches the sky. I look at you and my heart trembles; I have lost all courage and all peace of mind.
"When I see your mouths with their fearful teeth, mouths burning like the fires at the end of time, I forget where I am and I have no place to go. O Lord, you are the support of the universe; have mercy on me!
"I see all the sons of Dritarashtra; I see Bhishma, Drona, and Karna; I see our warriors and all the kings who are here to fight. All are rushing into your awful jaws; I see some of them crushed by your teeth. As rivers flow into the ocean, all the warriors of this world are passing into your fiery jaws; all creatures rush to their destruction like moths into a flame.
"You lap the worlds into your burning mouths and swallow them. Filled with your terrible radiance, O Vishnu, the whole of creation bursts into flames.
"Tell me who you are, O Lord of terrible form. I bow before you; have mercy! I want to know who you are, you who existed before all creation. Your nature and workings confound me."
To this Krishna gives the hair-raising reply:
"I am time, the destroyer of all; I have come to consume the world."
The cited passages are from the translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press, 1985). Artwork by Julian Peters. See more at Mr. Peters' website.

The Last Word

Decolonizing With My Polish Jewish Ancestors
Polish indigenous magic and folk traditions come from the land where my ancestors lived, but do they come from my people?... Judaism, meanwhile, defined itself from the beginning as opposing all forms of folk magic or worship of local spirits. Tearing down pagan altars was a full-time job for the Hebrew prophets. I feel a stronger connection to Jewish material culture and traditions–folk tales, family rituals, recipes, Yiddish songs, immigrant narratives–than to anything Polish. This is the actual heritage of my biological relatives. To the extent that I have any experience of inter-generational oral tradition, this is it. However, the religion is inherently contrary to the witchy project into which I would pour these memories. [read more]
Jendi Reiter is the editor of Winning Writers. Follow Jendi on Twitter at @JendiReiter.
Jendi Reiter
 
 
 
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Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
Our 17th annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest welcomes your entry through April 1. There's no fee to enter. Jendi Reiter will judge, assisted by Lauren Singer Ledoux. We'll award $2,250 in prizes, including a top prize of $1,000. Winners are published on our website.
This contest welcomes published and unpublished work. Your poem may have up to 250 lines. One poem only, please. Submit online via Submittable.
Click to submit your humor poem
Please enjoy our judges' remarks from our previous contest:
Thanks to everyone who entered our 16th annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. 4,277 contestants gave us poems on themes both timeless and topical, poking fun at consumer culture, social media, the great and not-so-great religions of humankind, and the current leader of the (at least temporarily) free world, He Who Must Not Be Named.
We suspect that first-round screener Lauren Singer Ledoux has one of those Time-Turner magic pocketwatches that Hermione used to double-schedule classes at Hogwarts. Between her full-time social work job and fundraising for the Prison Birth Project, Lauren winnowed our entries to about 180 for final judge Jendi Reiter.
We promised to choose a top winner, runner-up, and 10 honorable mentions. In addition, this year we added a special third prize.
The 2017 picks are astonishingly low on blasphemy and vulgar anatomical references, compared to previous shortlists. What does it mean? Is our audience maturing, or are we? We certainly hope not.
Lauren shares some impressions of the latest entries:
"As always, being a judge for Wergle Flomp is a really wonderful way for me to see a little bit into the cultural psyche of the time. As one might expect, this year offered no shortage of political parody, social media tongue-lashing, or timely and topical commentary on America's top Twitter user—or his hair. The poems that really wowed me often alluded to these trends, but did so subtly or with unique style and wit.
"When writing into themes of pop-culture and current events, it's very difficult not being formulaic or merely remarking on platitudes. Let me just say, that if you are one of the many contributors who each year just submits a broad retelling of a popular headline in the style of Clement Clark Moore's 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', you likely didn't make me laugh. At this stage of the game, it's hard for me to not glaze over as soon as I read the phrase, ''Twas the night before...' something. This year, that something was inevitably the election. Basically, if you're submitting anything 'in the style of' someone else, the task is on you to set it apart from its original—otherwise we're just looking at old hat. And I usually fancy the new hats, if I'm being completely honest.
"This year, the pieces that blew me away featured original themes, complex conundrums woven into poetry that made me 'LOL', narratives that spoke to the inner experience of being a complicated (read: neurotic) human—something I relate to deeply—and, as always, poems that made me laugh, but also made me feel something. It's the poems that work as connective tissue to real experience and nuance that get me every time.
"Poems that continue to make my eyes roll out of my head are always the ones poking fun at fatness, aging bodies, entire poems about farts, or generic 'I hate my spouse' pieces. This isn't to say that these baubles can't ever be made into funny features, but more often than not, I breeze past the 'Beans give me gas' poems in search for something a little more fine-tuned and observational. Themes that are never funny, but always show up: blatantly misogynistic humor, poems that rely heavily on heteronormativity or homo/transphobia, or any pieces that are generally culturally or racially insensitive. I know someone is reading this and thinking, 'But it's humor! It’s subjective! We don't need to be politically correct!' and honestly? Your argument is tired. Take it from this funny lady, we can pull out all the stops and still do it humanely and respectfully, while packing in the belly laughs.
"Wergle 2017, you made me laugh, occasionally you made me cry while laughing, and always you made me feel lucky for continuing to do this work. Can’t wait to see what shows up in the pile next year!"
Our Winners
In this year's list, there's more witty light verse than screaming hilarity. We welcomed subtle, clever treatments of themes we hadn't seen before. In this intense political moment—half the time we're worried that the news is fake, the other half we wish it was—poems succeeded best when flavored with, but not overpowered by, newsworthy concerns like sexual harassment, propaganda, and ostentatious greed.
First-prize winner Penny-Anne Beaudoin's "The Magician's Assistant" employs snappy internal rhymes and double-entendres to voice the complaints of a helpmeet whose patience is vanishing faster than an ace up a sleeve. She rebels on behalf of the women in a myriad of professions who've been expected to make an incompetent man look good: "Smiling has become such a brutal discipline."
"It's so cozy!" is not a comment we typically make about Wergle poems, but it's the reason second-prize winner Mary Somerville's "A Friend to All Is a Friend to None" charmed us so much. In this gentle narrative, Plato and Aristotle pare down their shallow social media networks to appreciate the virtues of two old buddies enjoying Netflix and chill. It's like "Frog and Toad Are Friends" but with philosophers.
Third-prize winner Jennifer Teunon's "Mind Over Mindfulness" eavesdrops on the stream-of-consciousness ruminations of a bored mom at a middle school band concert. Her well-meaning struggle to treasure the moment rings very true, unlike some of the performers' notes.
Our honorable mentions brought style and insight to the peculiarities of modern life, including tacky Hollywood bar mitzvahs, street harassment, pretentious dog accessories, and a certain political leader who doesn't always tell the truth about his resumé.
The 2018 contest is open for entries through April Fool's Day. We need a good laugh before the End Times. Surprise us!
All the Wergle Flomp winning poems and judges' comments going back to 2002 are available for reading in our website archives.
Best regards,
Jendi Reiter

 
 
 
 
    

 


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