Category Archives: Contests

University literature contest 'dumbed down'?

From This Is North Scotland:

Aberdeen University has been accused of dumbing down by allowing secondary pupils to use text language in a literature competition.

The What’s the Story competition asked them to enter stories in the language they felt most comfortable with, including abbreviated language used in text messages on mobile phones.

There were no entries entirely in text-message form, but some included phrases like "c u later".

Full story here.

Posted in Contests |

Deadline: Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition; Fri. May 11

• Entry fee: $5 for the first poem, $3 for each additional poem.
• Poems must not have been published in a nationally-distributed print publication.
• No entry form required. Put your name and address on each page (email and phone optional)
• Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification of the results.
(Outside U.S., just a self-addressed envelope. No IRC required.) No entries will be returned.
• Make checks payable to Atlanta Review. Checks in your national currency are acceptable
at the current exchange rate. We also accept uncancelled stamps from your country.
• Entries must be postmarked by May 11, 2007. (The postmark is all that matters.
Don’t waste money on express mail–buy a subscription instead!)

Despite having a site which sports one of the worst web designs I’ve seen in a while, the grand prize is a respectable sum of $2,007.

Link (via the Poets & Writers, inc. contest calendar)

Posted in Contests, Poetry |

Deadline: Mosher short fiction prize; Thurs. May 10

The Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize will be judged by Wally Lamb this year. Lamb is the author of She’s Come Undone and Oprah Book Club selection I Know This Much Is True, and served as editor of the best-selling Couldn’t Keep It to Myself, an anthology of stories written by female inmates at Connecticut’s only maximum-security prison for women. The deadline for the Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize is June 1, 2007. The prize awards $1,000.00 and publication. For complete guidelines, click here.

Two honorable mentions also receive prizes of $100 each.  Entry fee is $15.

Via the Poets & Writers, inc. contest calendar

Posted in Contests, Short stories |

76th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition

Writer’s Digest online is offering 101 people the opportunity to win great prizes in one of ten writing categories with their 76th Annual Writing Competition. Writers of children’s fiction, poetry, movie scripts and more will compete with their short entries for a chance to win $3,000 cash and a trip to New York.

Unlike other contests that offer just a few prizes, this one is offering 101! Your chances to get recognized are great, so don’t delay in polishing your entry.

Title: Writer’s Digest Writing Competition
Award: Grand-100th place prizes offer cash, a trip, critiques, certificates, and books
Deadline: May 15th, 2007
Entry Fee: $10-15 depending on entry
Length Limit: 2,000-4,000 words depending on entry
More information: https://www.writersdigest.com/contests/annual/76th/

Posted in Contests |

Shortlist for British National Short Story Prize announced

The shortlist for the British National Short Story prize has been announced.  The prize, only in its second year, is the world’s richest short story prize, with £15,000 going to the winner, a prize of £3,000 for the runner-up and £500 going to each of the other finalists.
The five finalists are:

  • ‘Slog’s Dad’ by David Almond
  • ‘The Morena’ by Jonathan Falla
  • ‘The Orphan and the Mob’ by Julian Gough
  • ‘How to Get Away with Suicide’ by Jackie Kay
  • ‘Weddings and Beheadings’ by Hanif Kureishi

The prize exists to raise the profile of the often-neglected short story in Britain.  The chair of the judges, Mark Lawson, said:

“This prize exists partly because many – perhaps even most – publishers and literary editors still regard the novel as the most important form of story-telling and are suspicious of short stories,” he said. “But this year’s selection makes very clear that there is no connection at all between word-count and the scale of subject matter or characterisation that can be achieved.”

Link to the Yahoo News article

Posted in Articles, Awards, Contests, Short stories |

Mother's Day writing contest

Borders, Gather.com and Mitch Albom are teaming up to run a writing contest for this spring’s Mother’s Day.  The challenge is to write “an original story that relays a childhood memory of a particular moment in which their mother stood up for them.”

The first prize is a seven-day cruise for two.

Essays must be 300 words or less and will appear on Gather.com, where the top 10 picks will be selected. The winner, chosen by Albom, will be announced May 10 on “The Early Show.” The nine finalists each will receive a $100 Borders gift card.

Submissions will be accepted starting Wednesday, and continuing through April 25.

Link to the Yahoo News article

Posted in Authors, Contests |

Writing It Real Essay Contest

Can you write a great personal essay? Are you a master at telling the story from within? The Writing It Real Essay Contest is looking for authors who can share their experiences with others. Essays of any and all themes are welcome.
Title: Writing It Real Essay Contest

Award: Cash prize, publication, and free software for writers

Deadline: June 30th, 2007

Entry Fee: $15 (includes a subscription)

Length Limit: 10 typed, double-spaced pages (Times New Roman)

More information: http://www.writingitreal.com/contest.html

Posted in Contests |

Deadline: Ruth Lily Poetry Fellowships; Mon. 16 Apr.

Two Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships are awarded annually through a national competition open to undergraduate and graduate students in creative writing or English who are enrolled in a university or college at the time of the application. Students must be American citizens born on or after April 16, 1976, and must not have published a collection of poetry or had one accepted for future publication.

Program directors or department chairs are invited to nominate one, and only one student-poet from their programs. All nominations must be accompanied by an official application form, along with samples of the candidate’s work. Applications must be postmarked by April 15th. Students should include their name and address on each page of their submission.

In the special case of a young poet who is not currently enrolled in a university but who is independently pursuing a poetic career, nominations may be made by a teacher or colleague familiar with the poet’s work. Please note: if you are enrolled in a university at the time of the application, you must be nominated by your program director. If you have completed a graduate program in creative writing, you are ineligible.

Each Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship is in the amount of $15,000, for use in further studies of poetry. The Fellowship winners will be announced early in the Fall.

For more information, visit their website. The complete rules are available here (pdf).

Posted in Contests, Poetry |

Deadlines: Three poetry prizes for Sun 15 Apr.

The Oberon Poetry Prize (from the Poets & Writers, Inc. contest calendar):

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Oberon, a literary journal published by the Oberon Foundation, is given annually for a single poem. Daniel Thomas Moran will judge. Submit up to three poems of no more than 40 lines each with a $15 entry fee by April 15. Call or e-mail for complete guidelines.

Oberon, Poetry Prize, P.O. Box 2236, St. James, NY 11780. (631) 584-5736. Claire Nicolas White, Editor.
oberonarts@optonline.com

No website provided.

Spoon River Poetry Review Editors’ Prize:

One winning poem will be awarded $1000 and two runners-up will be awarded $100 each. Winning poem, runners-up, and honorable mentions will be published in the 2007 fall issue. This year’s judge will be announced after judging is completed.

Guidelines: Submit two copies of three unpublished poems, maximum of ten pages total. Name, address, and phone number of poet should appear on each page of one copy only. Entries must be unpublished and will not be returned.

For further information, see their website.

Tupelo Press Poetry Contest:

Submit a previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscript between 48-80 pages, enclosed in a simple folder, with two cover pages: one with title of the manuscript only, the other with title of manuscript, name, address, telephone number and email address. Cover letter or bio optional. Include a table of contents and an acknowledgments page. Neither cover letter, bio, nor acknowledgments will be read until the conclusion of the competition.

All manuscripts will be read anonymously by the editors of the journal Crazyhorse, and the competition will be judged jointly by Jeffrey Levine, Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press together with Carol Ann Davis, Editor of the esteemed literary journal Crazyhorse. Any poet writing in English who has not previously published a full-length book is eligible.

An entry fee of $25 must accompany each submission, made payable to Tupelo Press, Inc. A stamped self-addressed postcard may be included to confirm receipt of manuscript. Simultaneous submissions are permitted so long as accompanied by separate entry fee.

Entry must be postmarked between January 1 and April 16, 2007.

For further information, see their website.

Posted in Contests, Poetry |

25 most influential books of the past 25 years

USA Today has a feature on “the most memorable books of the last 25 years”. Number one is (big surprise) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I’m only surprised that The Da Vinci Code isn’t right behind it in second place. Here’s the full top ten list:

  1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  2. The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard (1996)
  3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (2003)
  4. The 911 Commission Report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (2004)
  5. Chicken Soup for the Soul by Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield (1993)
  6. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray (1992)
  7. Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins (1992)
  8. And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts (1987)
  9. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)
  10. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (1998)

    Link (via The Leaky Cauldron)

    Posted in Articles, Contests |