The page has moved to:
this page


Monday, March 31, 2008

MiPOesias Magazine's Call for Chapbook Manuscripts

(This news courtesy of Tovli Simiryan)


MiPOesias Magazine has issued a Call for Chapbook Manuscripts.

MiPOesias Magazine is now seeking submissions of chapbook manuscripts from writers who have never published a chapbook or first book. Individual published pieces are fine, but the manuscript as a whole should be unpublished.

Send manuscripts through April 1st 2008. Manuscripts should include between 24-48 pages, a title page, a table of contents page, and a page including your name, email address, and mailing address. Please DO NOT send illustrations. Manuscripts that fail to meet our guidelines may be disqualified. We are interested in manuscripts of free verse, formal, or prose poetry. We are also interested in a collection of short stories, memoirs, or one story/memoir/poem that meets the page count guidelines. Interdisciplinary or collaborative work will also be considered. All subjects welcome. Translations will not be accepted.

Please use a standard font like Times New Roman (12pt) or Ariel (10pt). Manuscripts should be submitted electronically, attach file as either a Word for Windows .doc or .rtf file, and let us know it’s a chapbook submission in the subject line of the email. No submissions within the body of the email will be accepted or considered.

There are no reading or entry fees. The chapbook selected will be published by Didi Menendez (Menendez Publishing) and available via a print on demand service. Please send manuscripts to jrussellhughes@yahoo.com.

66: The Journal of Sonnet Studies is seeking submissions.

(This news courtesy of Tovli Simiryan)

For those of you who really enjoy writing sonnets, 66: The Journal of Sonnet Studies is seeking submissions.

They are seeking submissions for a special supplement consisting entirely of original sonnets in English. This chapbook, available only to subscribers, is published annually in November.

Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis, but materials must be received by August 31st in order to be considered for the November 2008 chapbook or the February 2009 journal.

Manuscripts and inquiries may be sent by email to sonnetjournal@gmail.com or by post to:
66: The Journal of Sonnet Studies
attn: Zachary Bos, Editor
95 Melville Avenue
Boston, MA 02124

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Silas House Announces Writing Contests

Writer Silas House has put the word out on a few writing contests via the Appalachian Writers Forum Blog.

The information is below, or you can see it in its original context HERE. Thanks go to Granny Sue Holstein for sending us in that direction...

FROM SILAS HOUSE:

We thought your members/readers might want to know about a couple of great opportunities for writers. If you could pass this on we'd sure appreciate it. We're especially excited about the Ritchie Fellowship, in which your members are sure to be interested.

1. The Third Annual Mountain Heritage Literary Festival Writing Awards

2. The Jean Ritchie Fellowship in Appalachian Writing-a $1,500 award for a deserving Appalachian writer

1. The Mountain Heritage Literary Festival at Lincoln Memorial University announces its third annual writing competition. Visit our website at www.lmunet.edu/mhlf

The Jesse Stuart Prize for Young Adult Fiction will be judged by Anne Shelby http://www.anneshelby.com/ , beloved author of The Adventures of Molly Whuppie. Entries for this prize are limited to no more than 2,000 words and may not be entered simultaneously in the Still contest.

The James Still Prize for Short Story will be judged by Chris Holbrook http://www.moreheadstate.edu/eflp/index.aspx?id=6752 , author of the modern classic Hell and Ohio. Entries for this prize should be no more than 4,000 words and there is no restriction on subject matter.

The George Scarbrough Prize for Poetry will be judged by Lyrae Van Clief Stefanon http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=35423 , Academy of American Poets award-winning author of Black Swan. There are no restrictions on subject matter or length for this prize and an entry is considered one set of up to three poems. If the winners so choose, the top three prize poems will be published in The Emancipator literary journal.

The Emma Bell Miles Prize for Essay will be judged by Karen McElmurray http://al.gcsu.edu/ksmcelmurray.htm , award winning author of Surrendered Child and Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven This prize is restricted to essays that address Appalachian life, literature, religion, folklore, culture, and/or values. Entries for this prize should be no more than 4,000 words.

Submitted entries must be unpublished. Photocopies are accepted. Submit two copies with a title page that includes your name, address, telephone number, email address, the title of the piece and the name of the contest to which you are submitting. Make sure that your name does not appear anywhere besides the title page to insure blind judging. Judging for this contest is completely blind and will go through a series of readers before getting to the final judge, who will pick the top three entries in each category. Contest entry fees cannot be refunded and no entries will be returned. Prizes will be awarded at the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival at LMU on June 14, 2008. Those winners not present will be mailed their prizes. Deadline for postmark is May 20, 2008. Any entry that is not postmarked will not be opened and failure to follow the above guidelines will result in disqualification.

Please enclose an $8 fee per entry (make check payable to LMU) and send your submission to Mountain Heritage Literary Festival Writing Contest, Kresge Hall, Lincoln Memorial University, 6965 Cumberland Gap Parkway, Harrogate, TN 37752. Please send email inquiries about the contest to Denton Loving at denton.loving@lmunet.edu but please make sure your answer cannot be found above.

2. THE JEAN RITCHIE FELLOWSHIP IN APPALACHIAN WRITING

Through literature, a region tells stories to its citizens and the world. The Jean Ritchie Fellowship seeks to support, encourage and honor writers from the Southern Appalachians.

The fellowship is the first of its kind for the region's writers, and is committed to Appalachian voices.

Jean Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky, and Port Washington, New York, is a musician, author of prose and poetry, social activist, teacher, historian and folk music collector. The fellowship strives to support artists who, like Ritchie, create works of beauty and social relevance, while honoring traditional heritage and forging a new path.

Find out more about Jean Ritchie at http://www.jeanritchie.com/.

Award amount: $1,500

Fellowship Guidelines:

Poetry: Submit no more than ten pages.
Prose (Fiction and Nonfiction): Submit no more than twenty pages.

All work samples must be double-side printed and page numbered. Previously published material will not be accepted. No collaborative work samples or joint applications, please. Include a very brief, one page cover letter. To ensure an anonymous reading process, please do not put your name on any application materials excepting the cover letter.

For all genres, include a statement of purpose-no more than two pages-summarizing:

1. What Appalachia means to you (for example: identity, culture, sense of place, values, economics, environment).

2. What does writing mean in your life?

3. Your current writing project.

4. How would you utilize the fellowship funding?

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

If awarded a fellowship, you will not be eligible to apply for another five years.

http://www.lmunet.edu/mhlf/map.html Please consult the map http://www.lmunet.edu/mhlf/map.html http://www.lmunet.edu/mhlf/map.html to determine if the county and state in which you live, or are originally from, is eligible as defined by the fellowship requirements. Indicate your county and state in the cover letter.

Fee: Five dollars per submission. You may apply in more than one genre. For each genre in which you apply, there is an additional five dollar reading fee.

Check or money order made out to LMU, Jean Ritchie Fellowship. No cash.

Submissions will be accepted from February 1 - April 1, 2008.

Postmarked deadlines are firm. Early, late, ineligible, and incomplete applications will be rejected. Manuscripts will not be returned but will be recycled.

Fellowship winner will be announced at the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival, June 14, 2008, and posted on this website by June 17.

Please do not seek information on the status of your application before the announcement date listed above.

Please mail your submission to: The Jean Ritchie Fellowship c/o Silas House Lincoln Memorial University P.O. Box 2005 Harrogate, Tennessee 37752 If you have questions, email:
denton.loving@lmunet.edu or 423.869.6432

Monday, March 24, 2008

Shepherd University West Virginia Fiction Competition

(This news forwarded by Granny Sue Holstein)

This is to announce the WV Fiction Writers Competition. Adriana Trigiani, the 2008 Appalachian
Heritage Writer-in-Residence, will select the winners of the competition, and she will provide written critiques for all finalists' stories.

This is a terrific opportunity for talented writers to have their writing reviewed by an award-winning novelist. The first-place story will receive a prize of $500.

See the submission form below or go to the Appalachian Heritage websites at
http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb and
http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/new_writers.html.

Electronic submissions are acceptable. The deadline is May 1. The West Virginia Fiction Writers
Competition is supported by The WV Center for the Book and The Shepherd University Foundation.

Fiction Competition and Award

Shepherd University's Appalachian Heritage Literary Project announces the West Virginia Fiction Competition, a literary competition to encourage writers and storytellers, whose talent and ability in creative writing is distinctive and promising, and to foster an appreciation of Appalachian culture and values represented in the diverse writing of the region. Submissions are encouraged from any resident of West Virginia or student in West Virginia who meets the criteria below. Look here to view a list of past Fiction Competition winners.

http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/FictionWinners/index.htm

Who can submit? Any resident of West Virginia or student attending school in West Virginia.

What are the limitations upon submissions? Any original, unpublished work of fiction, between 500 and 2,500 words, one submission only. The submission may not have received any other award, recognition, or special honor.

What is the deadline for submissions? May 1, 2008.

Where should submissions be mailed?

West Virginia Fiction Competition
Department of English
Shepherd University
P.O. Box 3210
Shepherdstown, WV 25443

Electronic submissions should be sent to bfeltner@shepherd.edu.

What should accompany submissions? The application form below.

What prize will be awarded? $500.00 and possible publication.

Who will select the fiction contest winner? A panel of writers, editors, and creative writing instructors will choose finalists, and the 2008 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence, Adriana Trigiani, will select first, second, and third place winners from these finalists.

The first place winner will receive the West Virginia Fiction Award and accompanying $500 prize on the night of Wednesday, October 1, 2008, at the Appalachian Heritage Awards Presentation; and the winning story will be read at the Appalachian Heritage Festival Concert the following night.

Both events are part of the 2008 AHWIR residency: "The Voice of 'Ferriner': The Fiction and Film of Adriana Trigiani." The focus of this year's residency is on the "outsider."

Ms. Trigiani will present the awards and offer story critiques to the competition finalists. First, second, and third place prize winners will dine with Ms. Trigiani on the evening of the awards. The fiction competition is supported by the West Virginia Center for the Book and the Shepherd University Foundation.

When will the winner be notified? August 1, 2008

________________________________


West Virginia Fiction Competition


Name:__________________________________________________________

Title of
Submission:___________________________________________

Address:__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

E-mail:_______________________________________________
Phone:________________________________________________

Brief Biography (limit 100 words):

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Colleen Anderson Workshops

WV Writers Colleen Anderson is leading several workshops around the state, and indeed the country, over the next few months. Here's a brief rundown of her events...

MAY 18-23: Elderhostel Creative Writing Workshop at Cedar Lakes, Ripley, WV

OCTOBER 6-12: Radio Essay Writing at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico

NOVEMBER 21-23: 2nd annual Women's Writing Weekend, Tygart Lake, WV

There's more information on her website: www.motherwitdesign.com/workshops.html

Monday, March 17, 2008

Members Matter: Savannah Schroll Guz

(From WV Writers Member Savannah Schroll Guz)

The story "David Dreams of Australopithecines" (and an accompanying interview) appears in the latest edition of SmokeLong Quarterly.

Read David Dreams of Australopithecines here: http://www.smokelong.com/flash/7489.asp

"His fingertips touched one of the brass pulls, and after some hesitation created by the drawer’s weight and his uncertain force, it slid open. Inside were shin bones, a mandible, a tiny misshapen skull, whose bone density seemed too insubstantial to provide any true protection for the brain...Several small molars rolled over the felt cloth lining the drawer."

Read the SmokeLong interview, explaining the story, here:
http://www.smokelong.com/interview/411.asp

"The story revolves around three characters: David, whom we met here; his wife Rachel, who goes missing; and a character named Charlotte, a nine year-old Polish girl killed by Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz. The book is partly about eugenics and cloning, partly about quantum mechanics and the paranormal, and partly about human weakness."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
~Savannah

Savannah Schroll Guz
Read novel excerpts at: www.myspace.com/savannahschrollguz
savannahguz@yahoo.com

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Patricia Elam Reading in Morgantown

Morgantown: Monday, March 17th, 7:30 p.m.

Visiting Novelist Patricia Elam will read from her novel, Breathing Room, March 17th at WVU. Booklist called "Breathing Room" a "compassionate and genuine" novel that grapples with "the uncertainty and burden of motherhood, the compromise of friendship and the power of intimacy." Elam - whose work has appeared in Essence, The Washington Post, Newsday and the O. Henry Awards: Prize Stories anthology - will be the first author to give a reading for the public in the newly refurbished Colson Hall, across from WVU*s Downtown Library. The reading begins at 7:30 p.m. in Room 130.

Admission is free.

DETAILS - http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/news/page/6579/

Friday, March 14, 2008

WV WRITERS CONTEST DEADLINE LOOMS NOW!

The deadline for sending entries in to WV Writers annual writing contest is nearly upon us. Oh, how it looms! It LOOMS!

Fear not, citizens, for while March 15 is indeed the cut-off point for accepting entries... at the cheapest rate possible... WV Writers will continue to accept your entries through the end of March, albeit with a slight adjustment in price. Instead of our usual $8 per entry, come March 16 we're looking at a full $9 per entry due to that pesky $1 late fee we tack on.

You wouldn't believe the number of people who willingly incur that dreaded late fee each year because they don't have their entries together and post-marked before March 15. You're welcome to do this, of course, but I just wanted to warn you in advance.

While I'm mentioning deadlines, let me just alert you to the fact that the low, low, pre-order price of $12 each (or five for $10 each) on the new WV Writers Anthology, Seeking the Swan, is also an endangered species. This lovely tome is also less than a month away from publication and will soon increase to its regular retail price of $16 each. If you'd like to get in on some of this cheap anthology action, I suggest you consult the retail page of our latest newsletter, or pop on over to our online store where you can either purchase them through Pay Pal or by regular snail mail.

Or, if you're a truly daring soul, you can wait and see what sort of nifty Multi-Anthology Super-Package we come up with, wrapping up all five anthologies into a single brick of WV-authored goodness. We'll likely unveil such a creature at the 2008 Conference.

And speaking of which...

While WV Writers has not yet opened for conference pre-registration, that blessed day when we do is also fast approaching. I'm thinking Aprilish looks pretty good on that one. (Keep watching this space and our website for details.) In the meantime, to whet your appetite, you may have a small taste of what's in store for the conference via our 2008 Conference Flyer.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Love Poem Contest

“CALL to ALL who write LOVE POEMS”

ONEAL WALTERS’ LOVE POEM CONTEST
(offering the largest prizes given by a CONCEIT MAGAZINE author)

Visit Oneal at: Oneal's love poems at Allpoetry!
www.allpoetry.com/oneal and Oneal's poetry book available at Myspace! www.myspace.com/onealwalters

$110.00 - First Prize
$60.00 - Second Prize
$30.00 - Third Prize
(1st prize winner will receive a 1 year subscription to CONCEIT MAGAZINE)

$3.00 per poem

“ALL” writers welcomed, unlimited entries

DEADLINE: June 06, 2008

Winners notified in July by the LOVE POET himself, Oneal Walters

Email entries and queries to: Conceitmagazine2007@yahoo.com

PayPal users go to the CONCEIT MAGAZINE Website
http://www.myspace.com/conceitmagazine

or
Snail mail entries and reading fees to:

Perry Terrell, Editor
Oneal Walters’ Love Poem Contest
P. O. Box 8544
Emeryville, CA 94662 - USA

(Make payable to: PERRY TERRELL)

NOTE:
$1.75 to Oneal Walters’ THE AGE BEGINS BOOKS and $1.25 to the $100.00 monthly stipend fund for CONCEIT MAGAZINE writers

Monday, March 10, 2008

2008 PENUMBRA POETRY & HAIKU CONTEST

2008 PENUMBRA
POETRY & HAIKU CONTEST
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JUNE 30, 2008
Sponsor web site www.tallahasseewriters.net
Contest email: poetry@tallahasseewriters.net

Categories No limit on entries in either or both categories. All skill levels welcome.
Poetry up to 50 lines, any style or subject; line length may be edited to fit chapbook publication format 3-line haiku (need not conform to strict syllable count)

Contest does not accept simultaneous submissions or work previously published or having received awards in other competitions

Prizes Poetry $200, $60, $40; haiku, $100, 40, $20.
Top winners and finalists in each category are published in the annual contest chapbook and mailed a complimentary copy.

Entries Submit 2 copies of poetry on 8-1/2x11 paper; haiku on 3x5 index cards.
One copy should show name, address, phone, email and source of contest info; 2nd copy should be anonymous for judging purposes. Include a brief bio with most recent or noteworthy awards and publications.

Notification: Winner and finalist notifications mailed no later than August 31 2008.
Winners list returned to entrants if SASE included. List posted to sponsor web site no later than September 30 2007.

Fees: $5 per poem; $3 per haiku in $US check, cash or money order

Mail entries, fees, SASE for winners? list and book orders to :
TWA Penumbra
P. O. Box 3428
Tallahassee, FL 32315-3428

Judging Judges are published, recognized poets and haiku experts.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Ohio River Festival of Books

The Ohio River Festival of Books is this weekend in Huntington and WV Writers will be there! At our table you can pick up contest entry forms (which we're counting down to) as well as our brand new 2008 Summer Conference Flyer announcing some of the great folks we're going to have as presenters!

Find out all the information about the shindig at the following link...

http://ohioriverbooks.org/