The Quill
A Production of the South Carolina Writers Workshop
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Thank you for your patience as we revamp and improve the QUILL. We are working toward a more updated subscription roll and more consistent delivery with monthly deadlines. Please let us know how we can serve you better! Please ask your local chapters if all members in good standing are receiving The Quill. If not let us know by contacting SCWWQUILL@GMAIL.COM.
FROM NOW ON, PLEASE EXPECT MONTHLY DELIVERY OF THE QUILL ON:
~THE 10th OF EACH MONTH~
MEMBER CHATTER DEADLINE: THE 6th OF EACH MONTH
COLUMN/ARTICLE DEADLINE: THE 6th OF EACH MONTH
The next edition of The Quill will release on November 10th.
Please submit all Member Chatter, columns, articles, and contributions by
November 6th.
Thank you for subscribing to The Quill and for your efforts as a member of SCWW!
Symposium: Writing for Publication
October 26, 2013
9am-5pm
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center
Columbia, South Carolina
Registration is $100 for members and $150 for non-members. Please click here to sign up.
The deadline for purchasing critiques has been extended to October 19th!
OCTOBER 26, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, SC, with an after hours gathering: – See more at: http://myscww.org/conference/#sthash.ObGt4AH6.dpuf
~Save the date for our return to the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort October 24-26, 2014!~
Please scroll down to the President’s Post below for more information.
SCWW Chapter Challenge: The Submission Marathon Continues!
Although the legend’s historical accuracy is questioned, the term “marathon” is said to have evolved from the story of the Greek messenger Pheidippides (sometimes referenced as Philippides). In August or September 490 BC, Pheidippides left the battlefield of Marathon to run several hundred kilometers (without stopping) all the way to Athens. Reaching his destination, Philippides dashed into the Assembly proclaiming the defeat of the Persians and shouting, “We won!”
Unfortunately, he then collapsed and died.
But the point of the story is that he did it…he made the run. He accomplished his goal. He completed the race. And as writers, we would do well to take note of this persistence. SCWW was established, in part, to encourage writers to go the distance to accomplish their individual writing goals. As a part of this encouragement, it is vital that we train by submitting work to be considered for publication. But when it comes to running the “submission marathon,” many of us “hit the wall.” We get the story written, workshop it, revise a bit. Then we send it off, take a break, get a rejection. We suffer extreme fatigue, frustration. Dejected, we leave the track.
But rejection does not disqualify us as participants in this race. We persevere. We fuel up and keep running. Like Pheidippides, we must complete the run in order to proclaim victory. And we will not collapse and die.
So, pull up those computer files; take out the old folders, and haul down the shelved boxes. Dust off those old stories, or even write something new. Flex those typing fingers because making submissions offers groups the opportunity to build revision muscle, to tone market-selection sinew, to develop prowess in following guidelines and formatting.
We’re holding a marathon.
Each SCWW Chapter is challenged to participate. The goal of this marathon is to encourage us to submit, to struggle through that process, to put ourselves out there. We’re training for the Olympics, here.
Members should submit writing to various publications, contests, etc. during the weeks between September 15 and October 15, 2013. Your submissions may include articles, stories, novels, memoir–anything that can be submitted for publication. Acceptance and publication are NOT requirements. Just the act of submitting will help your chapter claim victory. Members may send as many submissions as they wish. Email the SCWW Chapter name, the title and author of each submitted work, the place it was submitted and the date of submission to Sandy Richardson at prichardson5@sc.rr.com no later than October 16, 2013.
At our Conference on October 26, special recognition will be presented to the SCWW Chapter submitting the MOST pieces for publication between September 15 and October 25, 2013. A certificate will also be awarded to the individual member overall who submits the most pieces. All you have to do is accept the challenge, do the training, and run the race.
YOU might just win the gold medal—publication.
President’s Post
Greetings, all!
I hope you’re enjoying the new look of The Quill. Kudos to Editor Courtney Diles Henderson. In addition, she has worked diligently to update the subscription roll. If someone you know is not getting the Quill, please let Courtney know at scwwquill@gmail.com.
The 23rd annual SCWW Conference, in the form of a one-day symposium, is at hand. “Writing for Publication” will be presented on October 26, 9:00-5:00, Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. See www.myscww.org/conference for class details and registration. The deadline for purchasing critiques has been extended to October 19. You don’t have to attend the symposium to take advantage of this offer. See the link at the Conference Page at the website. Conference Chair Kia Goins has a wonderful, informative day planned for us. A round of applause please for the outstanding work Kia has done to bring the symposium to life! Not to mention the fellowship we enjoy when we come together. In fact, Beth Brown has coordinated an after-hours component for socializing and networking. For details, look for her blog on the website next week: http://myscww.org/category/blog. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in Columbia on October 26.
The SCWW Board is excited to announce the 2014 Conference Chair – Linda Cookingham of Murrells Inlet. Linda has experience in event planning and the hospitality industry. Already she has begun building her team: Helen Aitken, Conference Co-Chair; Teresa Burgher, Silent Auction Chair; Ginny Padgett, Faculty Coordinator. If you have suggestions or want to serve on the Conference Committee, email Linda at scwwconferencechair@gmail.com. Save the date for our return to the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort October 24-26, 2014.
The Board continues to accept, and encourages, nominations for positions for the 2014-15 term. It is important that we have representation from as many chapters as possible. Please consider serving SCWW in this meaningful way. Email me for an application: ginnypadgett@att.net. The deadline for completed applications is October 31.
As always, contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions at my personal email address (see above).
Yours,
Ginny Padgett
Member Chatter
Glad tidings of great writings by our membership! Please send your news to scwwquill@gmail.com.
GREENVILLE
Bob Strother’s short story “A Little Off the Top” has been selected for publication in the November/December issue of Children, Churches, and Daddies: the Unreligious, Nonfamily-Oriented Literary and Art Magazine.
COLUMBIA II
Bonnie Stanard has had two poems, “Journaling Faith” and “Natural Piety,” accepted for publication by Lalitamba. The journal’s name means Divine Mother and reflects its interest in mystics of our time. It is an annual publication of Chintamani Books which publishes fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Its website is http://www.lalitamba.com.
Shaun McCoy sold the urban fantasy story “Pwned” to Big Pulp Magazine. It will be printed in March of 2014.
ROCK HILL
Mary Ellen Lives has two short stories currently on the web: Warehouse 101 has been published by drafthorse literary journal and The Day He Lied is on Mooingaround.com.
Send your Member Chatter to scwwquill@gmail.com! If you sent your MEMBER CHATTER and don’t see it, the editor apologizes and asks that YOU click HERE to resend it directly to the editor for inclusion in next month’s issue.
The Stealth Poet: Writing Description
By Nan Lundeen
What tools do writers use to provide apt description? More than that, what can we use to provide our readers with scintillating description?
Personification often has stunning results. Consider Anne Lamott’s description of writer’s block in Bird by Bird: “. . .you sit staring at your blank page like a cadaver, feeling your mind congeal, feeling your talent run down your leg and into your sock.”
Lamott tosses a simile in there, too. The woeful writer suffering writer’s block does indeed stare at the blank page “like a cadaver.”
Forgive me for again lauding J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith in The Cuckoo’s Calling as I did last month, but Rowling is a master of description. Consider this contemporary London street scene: “The cameras looked like malevolent shoeboxes atop their pole each with a single blank, black eye.”
To write like that, one must be a master at observation salted by an alert imagination.
The metaphor is the tool of choice for many a writer. It’s less up-front than the simile and has no pointer—the word “like” is absent. It is a figure of speech which identifies two terms being compared with each other; an implicit rather than an explicit comparison. Mary Oliver writes in her Poetry Handbook: “The two things compared often seem very different, and the linkage often surprises and delights as well as it enlightens.”
I love Theodore Roethke’s use of the wren metaphor in his “Elegy for Jane.” Jane was his student who died after being thrown from a horse. He remembers her this way:
And she balanced in the delight of her thought,
A wren, happy, tail into the wind,
Her song trembling the twigs and small branches.
How much more alive she becomes for us than if he had only used reportorial language.
Oliver tells us personification gives a physical characteristic or innate quality of animation to something that is inanimate, or to an abstraction. Probably the most famous of those that sticks in the minds of English majors is from T.S. Eliot’s, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the
window panes,
Now that I’ve read Lamott, “feeling your talent run down your leg and into your sock” holds a close second in my heart. Probably because I don’t rub my back against a lot of window panes, but I sure have felt my talent running down my leg. My socks never seem to fit quite right after that.
I do agree with Faulkner that the most important thing a writer can do is “read, read, read.” We learn by example. And if you read not because it’s going to make you a better writer, but because you love language, you’re already on the path.
Just be sure to wear the same socks every day so nothing is lost in the wash.
Happy writing!
Nan Lundeen
www.mooingaround.com
Contest Hound
Know of a great contest or competition? Share it with your SCWW friends!
PLEASE NOTE, THESE LISTINGS ARE NOT DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE CORRESPONDING ORGANIZATION’S WEBSITES. LINKS MUST BE BROKEN TO AVOID SPAM FILTERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GOOGLE THE CONTEST DETAILS.
NEW! WOMEN, WORK, AND THE WEB: HOW THE WEB CREATES ENTREPRENEURAL OPPORTUNITIES
DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 30
Book Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Editor: Carol Smallwood, Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland, 2012) on Poets & Writers Magazine “List of Best Books for Writers.” Writing After Retirement: Tips by Successful Retired Writers forthcoming from Scarecrow Press.
Seeking chapters of unpublished work from writers in the U.S. and Canada for an anthology. Interested in such topics as: Women Founding Online Companies; Women Working on the Web With Young Children or Physical Disabilities; Woman’s Studies Resources and Curriculum; Surveys/Interviews of Innovative Women on the Web.
Chapters of 3,000-4,000 words or two chapters coming to that word count (up to 3 co-authors) on how the Internet has opened doors, leveled the playing field and provided new opportunities for women, are all welcome. Practical, how-to-do-it, anecdotal and innovative writing based on experience how women make money on the Web, further careers. One complimentary copy per chapter, discount on additional copies.
Please e-mail two chapter topics each described in two sentences by November 30, 2013, along with a brief bio to smallwood@tm.net Please place INTERNET/Last Name on the subject line; if co-authored, paste bio sketches for each author.
NEW! WRITING AFTER RETIREMENT: TIPS BY SUCCESSFUL RETIRED WRITERS
DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 30
Book Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Co-editor: Carol Smallwood co-edited Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland, 2012), on Poets & Writers Magazine’s “List of Best Books for Writers”; edited Pre- & Post-Retirement Tips for Librarians (American Library Association, 2012).
Co-editor: Dr. Christine Redman-Waldeyer, Assistant Professor, Coordinator of the Journalism Option Program, Passaic County Community College, Paterson, New Jersey; Editor/Founder, Adanna Literary Journal; Author, Eve Asks (Muse-Pie Press, 2011).
An anthology of unpublished 3,000-4,000 word chapters or two chapters coming to that word count by successful, men and women retired writers from the U.S. and Canada (up to 3 co-authors) previously following other careers than writing. Fiction, poetry, memoir, nonfiction, journalism, and other writers welcome. Looking for topics as: Business Aspects of Writing, Writing as a New Career, Networking, Using Life Experience, Finding Your Niche, Privacy and Legal Issues, Using Technology. With living longer, early retirement, popularity of memoir writing, this is a how-to for baby boomers who now have time to write. Compensation: one complimentary copy per chapter, discount on additional copies.
Please e-mail two chapter topics each described in two sentences by November 30, 2013 with brief pasted bio tosmallwood@tm.net placing RETIREMENT/Last Name on the subject line. If co-authored, pasted bios for each.
NEW! THE UNION COUNTY WRITERS CLUB 18TH ANNUAL LITERARY CONTEST
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 31
The Union County Writers Club seeks entries for the 2013 contest in the areas of fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. For more information contact either Barbara Johns, contest chairman at bjghosthunter@yahoo.com or Randy Rayfield at randyr1904@gmail.com. Contest guidelines are also available on our website at www.ucwc.webs.com. In addition to a monetary prize, winners will receive a certificate of accomplishment with an invitation to attend the Spring Literary Event and read their work. Winning entries will be published on the club website.
NEW! JUDITH KITCHEN CREATIVE NONFICTION PRIZE
Deadline: December 1
Award: $1,000, publication, contributor copies
Fee: $20
Water-Stone Review announces the 2014 Judith Kitchen Prize in Creative Nonfiction in honor of Judith Kitchen, distinguished author and long-time friend of the review. Literary nonfiction submissions only. Excerpts from larger works must be able to stand on their own.
NEW! BLACK-EYED PEA REVIEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: December 5
The new online international journal, the Black-eyed Pea Review, invites submission of poetry, short fiction, scholarly articles, book reviews and interviews connected to the historical and triumphant African Diasporan experience. Submissions, by experienced as well as emerging voices, should adhere to MLA literary guidelines. Black-eyed Pea Review is published by the Creative Writing Program at North Carolina A&T State University.
NEW! WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING
Deadline: January 31, 2014
Award: $5,000 (each genre)
Nominations are now being accepted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Two prizes of $5,000 each are given biennially for works of fiction and nonfiction. Co-sponsored by the Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation, the awards are intended to “encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan legacy of originality, vitality, and stylistic innovation.”
NEW! SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
Deadline: March 3, 2014
Award: $1,000 and publication
Fee: $35
The South Carolina First Novel Prize recognizes one of South Carolina’s exceptional writers by providing a book contract with Hub City Press. The competition is a highly competitive, anonymous process. Publication by Hub City of at least 1,500 copies of the book will bring recognition that may open doors to other resources and opportunities. The book will be nationally distributed. Six to eight novels will be judged by nationally recognized novelist Ben Fountain.
NEW! GLINT CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: March 31, 2014
Glint Literary Journal is a creative endeavor produced by the student body of Fayetteville State University to provide an outlet for the literary and artistic. The literary, journalistic, and artistic works contained within Glint are that of the highest quality, created by a diverse group for a diverse audience. Accepting fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and more.
NEW! CALL FOR LATINA/O VOICES IN NC LITERATURE
The North Carolina Literary Review is seeking Latina/o voices in North Carolina literature. Their 2013 topic is “North Carolina: A State of Change, a Changing State.” They also offer a “Flashbacks” section that allows them to pursue this topic with additional writers.
NEW! SEEKING FICTION WRITING GROUP IN ASHEVILLE AREA
Flexible, fun, a voracious reader and lover of literature, Emily is looking for serious fiction and/or fiction and creative nonfiction writing group that meets regularly. Please e-mail Emily at emilyeileencarter@gmail.com if your group has an opening.
FURIOUS SEASON CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: October 5
Furious Season is a Charlotte-based zine that seeks to publish flash fiction, micro essays, and poetry from emerging and established writers. We LOVE experimental forms and have a particular soft spot for pieces that exemplify a strong use of language and voice. Preference is given to works that are concise. In addition to literature, we accept visual art. Published artists will be invited to particpate in readings given throughout the Charlotte area.
3ELEMENTS REVIEW
Deadline: October 10
The goal is to write a story or poem that includes all three of the given words. Each quarter, we´ll post three new elements. We hope 3Elements helps your creativity as much as it has helped ours! Current elements: procession, tandem bicycle, ache. Stories must stay under 3,500 words. Poems must not exceed two pages.
ARTE LATINO NOW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: October 12
Sponsored by The Center for Latino Studies at Queens University of Charlotte in partnership with Gil Projects, Inc., Art Sí and Queens’ Departments of Art and Foreign Languages, ARTE LATINO NOW seeks to highlight the exciting cultural and artistic contributions of Latinos in the United States. We invite artists who self-define as Latino and live and work in the United States to submit an original creative work in their medium of choice. Winners will be exhibited at Queens University of Charlotte in Spring 2014.
LEE SMITH NOVEL PRIZE
Deadline: October 15
Award: $1,000 and publication
Fee: $20
Carolina Wren Press will choose one unpublished novel to receive the Lee Smith Novel Prize, an award of $1,000 and publication in honor of esteemed Southern author, literary mentor, and teacher Lee Smith. The award will be presented to a novel by an author from, living in, or writing about the American South–authors need only meet one of these qualifications, not all three. It is our hope to find and promote novelists from the South and their novels and, in the process, to explore and expand the definition of Southern literature. Submissions must be original, previously unpublished novels, written by one person, in English, at least 50,000 words in length.
CALL FOR NONFICTION SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: October 22
New Delta Review is seeking to increase the presence of the nonfiction genre in its literary magazine. We are interested in personal essays that either elevate the form or challenge it through experimentation. We accept both online and print submissions (6,000 word limit). To be considered for our Winter 2013 edition, please send work by October 22, 2013.
THE WRITERS’ WORKSHOP FICTION CONTEST
Deadline: October 30
Award: Varied choices
Fee: $25
Submit a short story or chapter of a novel of 5,000 words or less. Multiple entries are accepted. All work must be unpublished.
CALL FOR THEMED ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: October 31
Silly Tree Anthologies is excited to announce our third Call for Submissions. AND – we now accept poetry. The theme for this anthology (to be published in January, 2014) is: “As one year closes and another begins, you realize that some things need to be left in the past for the next year to truly be new.” Affix your thinking caps, latch onto your keyboard, and type away! Any story or poem fitting within our Submission Guidelines and adhering to the above theme is eligible. Please submit sooner than later. We can’t wait to read your stories and poems.
DRAFTHORSE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: October 31
Drafthorse is a biannual online publication of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, visual narrative, and other media art where work, occupation, labor—or lack of the same—is in some way intrinsic to a narrative’s potential for epiphany. We are interested in how work, or the absence of it, effects people and communities on an intimate level. While we’re open to various interpretations, we expect the subject to be fundamental to your submission in some way. We are now seeking writing to consider for our Winter 2014 issue.
OPEN READING PERIOD: POETRY MANUSCRIPTS
Deadline: October 31
Steel Toe Books is now reading full-length (48-80 page) poetry manuscripts. This is not a contest, and there is no reading fee per se, but we do ask everyone who submits to purchase one of our existing titles directly from us.
SLASH PINE CALL FOR PROSE CHAPBOOKS
Deadline: October 31
Award: Publication, 3 contributor copies
Fee: $3
We are interested in seeing manuscripts of prose in any genre: fiction, nonfiction, or prose poetry. Manuscripts should be entirely in prose and should be made up of at least three interconnected or separate pieces. We are not considering, for example, submissions of one to two stories or essays. We are more interested in flash fiction or nonfiction, longer works made up of smaller pieces, or work that is conscious of how it uses white space and the page itself. Manuscripts should be between 15-25 pages not counting cover page, acknowledgment page, or contents page (if included).
STORY QUARTERLY FICTION CONTEST
Deadline: October 31
Award: $1,000 / $300 / $200 and publication
Fee: $18
Story Quarterly is currently accepting submissions to our Third Annual Fiction Contest. This year’s contest judge is fiction and nonfiction writer Jess Walter. Walter is the author of six novels and, most recently, the short-story collection We Live in Water: Stories (2013).
SYCAMORE REVIEW: WABASH PRIZE FOR POETRY
Deadline: October 31
Award: $1,000 and publication
Fee: $15 (includes 1-yr subscription)
The 2013 Wabash Prize for Poetry is now open! Sycamore Review is accepting previously unpublished poems for consideration in the annual contest. This year’s prizewinning piece will be selected by acclaimed poet C.D. Wright.
BLOTTERATURE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: November 1
Blotterature is a small press online lit journal, started by a few Region Rats who want to see good literature reach a larger audience. Blotterature accepts a wide variety of prose, poetry, and artwork. We want the nontraditional mixed with careful attention to craft and process. Well-developed with an edge. Experimental while knowing exactly what you’re doing. Thought-out. Thrilling. Fiction: short stories, flash fiction. No chapters from novels, 4,000 words or less. Nonfiction: Memoir, articles, essays, micro-essays, etc. No unsolicited interviews or reviews. All Poetry.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: MERMAID POETRY
Deadline: November 1
Mermaids in the Basement is an anthology seeking original poems of mermaid poetry. This project is interested in poems that push the mermaid myth and figure into a new light. Submissions should not simply retell the mermaid and her classic story but establish new facets in which to read, question, admire, interrogate, and fear this fantastical siren. Poems need not mention mermaids directly but must suggest, at the very least, a mermaid theme. This project is not interested in genre, fantasy, or overtly-campy writing, so please consider if your work would fit the aims of this anthology. Please send 3-5 poems in a word document. Previously published work will be considered.
COAL HILL REVIEW CALL POETRY CHAPBOOK CONTEST
Deadline: November 1
Award: $1,000, publication, contributor copies
Fee: $20
Coal Hill Review, an imprint of Autumn House Press, is interested in a wide range of poetry. We ask that all submissions come through our annual contest. Submission should consist of
10-15 pages, either a long poem or a group of poems.
“MISTAKES” ESSAY CONTEST
Deadline: November 1
Award: $1,000 / $500
Fee: $20
For an upcoming issue, Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays about mistakes—major or minor, tragic or serendipitous, funny or painful. We’re looking for stories about poor decisions, missteps, or miscalculations; we want to read about embarrassing boo-boos, dangerous misjudgments, or fortuitous faux pas in well-crafted stories that explore the nature and outcomes of human fallibility. Essays must be vivid and dramatic; they should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element, and reach beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. We’re looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; all essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. Guidelines: Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,000 words.
SPLIT THIS ROCK POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: November 1
Award: $500 / $250 / $250
Fee: $20
Submissions should be in the spirit of Split This Rock: socially engaged poems, poems that reach beyond the self to connect with the larger community or world; poems of provocation and witness. This theme can be interpreted broadly and may include but is not limited to work addressing politics, economics, government, war, leadership; issues of identity (gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, body image, immigration, heritage, etc.); community, civic engagement, education, activism; and poems about history, Americana, cultural icons. Split This Rock subscribes to the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Contest Code of Ethics. Submit up to 3 unpublished poems, no more than 6 pages total, in any style, in the spirit of Split This Rock. Judged by: Tim Seibles.
WAITING WITH SANTA ANTHOLOGY (Corrected)
Submissions Open: October 1
Deadline: November 1
North Carolina-based publisher Old Mountain Press will publish a collection of poetry by a number of poets. Their goal is to gather enough quality poems and flash fiction for an estimated 50 to 90 page book with the theme anything relating to the holidays: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years, or that time of year (Winter). Poem may not exceed 38 lines (includes title author’s name and a blank line prior to the poem) short short should not exceed 325 words (bottom line is that the short short must fit on a 5″x8″ page). Poetry lines that exceed 47 letters and spaces will wrap and count as two lines.
MALAHAT REVIEW OPEN SEASON AWARDS
Deadline: November 1
Award: $1,000 CAD (each genre)
Fee: $35 CAD (Canada) / $40 (USA) / $45 USD (Other) (includes 1-yr subscription to Malahat Review)
Enter either three poems (100 lines max. each), one work of short fiction (2,500 words max.), or one work of creative nonfiction (2,500 words max.).
LENA M. SHULL BOOK AWARD
Deadline: November 15
Award: $250, 50 contributor copies, reading, publication
Fee: $25
The Lena M. Shull Book Award is an annual contest for a full-length poetry manuscript written by a resident of North Carolina. The manuscript must not have been previously published, although individual poems within the collection may have been published elsewhere. The winning manuscript will be published by a NC press. Sponsored by the Poetry Council of NC.
RASH AWARDS IN FICTION AND POETRY
Deadline: November 15
Award: $500 and publication
Fee: $15
The Broad River Review invites submissions to the 2013 Rash Awards in Fiction and Poetry. We will award $500 to the winner of each contest, as well as publication in the next volume of the Broad River Review, which will appear in Spring 2014. Finalists will also be considered for publication. Wiley Cash will judge the fiction contest, while Joseph Bathanti will judge the poetry contest.
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS/NEW ORLEANS LITERARY FESTIVAL
Deadline: November 15
Award: $1,500 (fiction) / $1,000 (poetry) plus acess to 2014 New Orleans Literary Festival and publication
The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival’s Poetry Contest is now accepting submissions. For poetry, Robert Pinsky will serve as the contest’s judge. We’re also offering a $1,000 grand prize, a VIP All Access Pass ($500 value) for the 2013 Festival and publication in Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine. Only open to writers who have not yet published a book of poetry. We are also accepting submissions for our annual Fiction Contest. Victor LaValle and Emily Raboteau are the judges. This contest is open only to writers who have not yet published a book of fiction.
THE WRITERS’ WORKSHOP 25TH ANNUAL MEMOIRS COMPETITION
Deadline: November 30
Award: Varied choices
Fee: $25
Submit a memoir of 5,000 words or less. Multiple entries are accepted. All work must be unpublished.
ANTHOLOGY SEEKS STORIES ABOUT ANIMALS
Deadline: December 1
The After Coetzee Project, an anthology of fiction, seeks short stories that bring forth a new kind of writing about animals, one that disengages from speciesist fictional strategies (animals as metaphors and allegories) and reimagines animals as subjects.
OUT OF SEQUENCE: THE SONNETS REMIXED
Deadline: December 1
From that very first line, Shakespeare tells us “we desire increase.” First published in 1609, the 154 sonnet sequence has not only proven to be a seemingly immortal book of poetry, but also a series that changed the art form itself endlessly. Even if unbeknownst, we have never stopped revisiting the Sonnets, revising and remixing them at every turn. Out of Sequence, a media event from Upstart: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies, seeks responses to Shakespeare’s sonnets from poets, writers, and visual artists. Resulting in a 154-part publication with editorial introduction accessible both online and in print, we expect the project to be available by the end of summer 2014. We are particularly interested in responses that remix the sonnets in a contemporary context while also speaking back to the historical moment of Shakespeare’s original. We ask that you choose a sonnet and respond to it through a poem or brief essay of no more than 500 words.Will you help us create in every bad a perfect best, as fast as to our beams assemble?
THE VESALIUS PRIZE
Deadline: December 1
Award: $1,000
To commemorate the 500th birthday of Andreas Vesalius and his spirit of excellence and inquiry. Art Flashes: art and disease, and medical themes in the visual arts. Physicians of Note: portraits of famous physicians. Moments in History: notable events relating to medicine. Literary Vignettes: extracts with commentaries related to medicine and literature. Famous Hospitals: articles about historical or current hospitals. Articles should not be longer than 800 words.
CALL FOR WOMEN- AND NATURE-THEMED ISSUE
Deadline: December 15
In honor of the 35th year since the publication of Susan Griffin’s eco-feminist classic Woman and Nature: the Roaring Inside Her, The Fourth River announces a 2014 themed issue on Women and Nature. We are looking for poetry and creative nonfiction, written by women, inspired by the natural world or addressing environmental concerns. Although we will accept lined poems and traditional essays, we are most interested in seeing prose poetry or lyric essays. In the words of Adrienne Rich, who reviewed Griffin’s book, we are looking for any work that “demands of us activity, not passivity; which enlarges our sense of female presence in the world; . . . which uses language and sensual imagery to impart a new vision of reality, from a woman-centered location; . . . which expands our sense of the connections among us in the bonds of history; . . . which drives us wild, that is, helps us break out from tameness and repetition into new trajectories of our own.”
PERMAFROST MAGAZINE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: December 15
Fee: $3
Permafrost Magazine: the farthest north literary journal for writing and the arts. We’re proud of Permafrost’s thirty-five years as interior Alaska’s foremost literary magazine. We welcome prose submissions of less than 8,000 words (more if it’s really great).No length maximums for poems.
NASSAU REVIEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: December 20
The Nassau Review’s open submission period has begun. ALL literary work submitted during this period will be under consideration for the Writer Awards. You do not have to send any separate submissions for the contest. The THEME for the submission period of 2013-2014 is The Art of Science. Biology, geology, chemistry, physics, and so many other realms of reasoning and discovery constantly overlap with the world of art and writing. Please submit works inspired by your interaction with and observation of science. Please do not submit works written for the sole purpose of catharsis, works that are overly-sentimental, or scientific papers or studies. Rather, submit creative works that delve into the scientific mind in some way. We welcome submissions of many genres, preferring work that is innovative, captivating, well-crafted, and unique, work that crosses boundaries of genres and tradition. You may be serious. You may be humorous. You may be somewhere in between. We are looking simply for quality. New writers and seasoned writers are both welcome. All work must be in English.
FOURTH RIVER CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE ON WOMEN AND NATURE
Deadline: December 15
In honor of the 35th year since the publication of Susan Griffin’s eco-feminist classic Woman and Nature: the Roaring Inside Her, The Fourth River announces a 2014 themed issue on Women and Nature. We are looking for poetry and creative nonfiction, written by women, inspired by the natural world or addressing environmental concerns. Although we will accept lined poems and traditional essays, we are most interested in seeing prose poetry or lyric essays. In the words of Adrienne Rich, who reviewed Griffin’s book, we are looking for any work that “demands of us activity, not passivity; which enlarges our sense of female presence in the world; . . . which uses language and sensual imagery to impart a new vision of reality, from a woman-centered location; . . . which expands our sense of the connections among us in the bonds of history; . . . which drives us wild, that is, helps us break out from tameness and repetition into new trajectories of our own.”
PRESS 53 AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION
Deadline: December 31
Award: $1,000 cash advance, publication, travel
Fee: $30
Press 53 is proud to announce the Press 53 Award for Short Fiction, to be awarded annually to an outstanding, unpublished collection of short stories. This contest is open to any writer, regardless of his or her publication history, provided the manuscript is written in English and the author lives in the United States. The winner of this contest will receive publication, a $1,000 cash advance, travel expenses and lodging for a special reading and book signing party at Press 53 headquarters at the Community Arts Café in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, attendance to the 2014 Press 53/Prime Number Magazine Gathering of Writers, and ten copies of the book; all prizes will be awarded upon publication.
SOUTHERN WRITERS SYMPOSIUM EMERGING WRITERS CONTEST
Deadline: January 3, 2014
Award: $300 / $200 and their work read aloud at symposium
Fee: $15
Entries are now being accepted for the 2013 Southern Writers Symposium Emerging Writers Contest. This year categories will feature fiction and poetry. The contest is open to writers who meet at least two of the following criteria: currently live in the South; are natives of the South; write about the South. Additionally, writers must have not yet published a full-length volume in the genre that they are entering. For example, writers are still eligible for the emerging fiction writers contest if published in volume form in nonfiction or poetry.
JULIE SUK PRIZE FOR BEST POETRY BOOK
Deadline: December 31
Award: $500
Fee: $10
Jacar Press is pleased to announce the first annual competition for the $500 Julie Suk Prize for Best Poetry Book. The award competition is open to any poetry book published by an independent press in 2013. All books published by a literary, university, non-profit or any press not considered one of the major commercial publishing houses are eligible. There is no length limit on books submitted. No limit on how many books a poet may submit. All submitted books must contain a Copyright page that shows a 2013 Copyright. Books published by Jacar Press are not eligible.
PRESS 53 CALL FOR SHORT FICTION
Deadline: December 31
In the 21st century, knowledge of the world around us grows increasingly important, and fiction set in other countries has become extremely popular. Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet (Edited by Clifford Garstang, to be published by Press 53 in Fall 2014) is an anthology (and potential series) of short fiction (short stories of any length, short shorts, and flash) set around the globe, including the United States. The anthology will consist of 20-25 fictions, with no more than one story set in any one country. Included stories will be a mix of previously published and new work. Each contributor will be entitled to a contributor copy and author discounts on additional copies. Stories may be any length.
THE GOVER PRIZE FOR VERY SHORT FICTION
Deadline: January 10, 2014
Award: $250 and publication
The Gover Prize, named after groundbreaking author Robert Gover, awards an annual prize and publication in Best New Writing for the best short fiction and creative nonfiction. Entries limited to 500 words or less. The Gover Prize includes $250 to Gover Prize Winner and finalists published in the upcoming Best New Writing edition.
LABEL ME LATINA/O CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: January 12, 2014
Label Me Latina/o is an online, refereed international e-journal that focuses on Latino Literary Production in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The journal invites scholarly essays focusing on these writers for its biannual publication. Label Me Latina/o also publishes creative literary pieces whose authors self-define as Latina or Latino regardless of thematic content. Interviews of Latino authors will also be considered. The Co-Directors will publish creative works and interviews in English, Spanish, or Spanglish whereas analytical essays should be written in English or Spanish. Scholarly submissions should be between 12-30 pages in length and should follow the MLA Style Manual. Creative poetry, essays and short fiction should not exceed 30 pages, 12 point font, double-spaced.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE SOUTHERN POETRY ANTHOLOGY, VOLUME VII: NORTH CAROLINA
Deadline: January 15, 2014
Editors William Wright, Jesse Graves, and Paul Ruffin now seek submissions for the seventh in our series, The Southern Poetry Anthology, featuring North Carolina poets. The anthology will be published by Texas Review Press in 2014. If you are a North Carolina native, or if you have lived in North Carolina for more than one year, please feel free to send up to five poems for consideration. This anthology is not limited to those who have published before; we invite first-time submitters as well as those who have had full-length works of poetry published with national presses. The only rules: Poems must be original and of high quality. We consider formal poems and free verse. Poems about North Carolina are not necessarily championed over other motifs and themes, as we wish for the “sense of place” to manifest in different ways, with different voices. Please note that the success of this anthology depends a great deal on word of mouth. Notify your poetry students, poetry-writing friends, and gifted nemeses of this opportunity.
THE INDIAN RIVER REVIEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: January 15, 2014
The Indian River Review is currently soliciting submissions for its third issue scheduled for publication in late spring/summer 2014. The theme for this issue is “Technology,” and we plan to take a very broad view of this theme. As man moved from an oral to a literate culture, technology has affected the way we communicate and live. At one time, even the simple number 2 pencil was a technological advancement. From quills to computers, from knitting needles to the Mars Rover, technology comes in many forms, and we would like to explore this concept in our third issue. Genres include short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, critical essays, black and white photography, and book reviews.
ANTHOLOGY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: POEMS INSPIRED BY PUBLIC RADIO
Deadline: January 31, 2014
Seeking submissions of poetry and artwork for an anthology of work inspired by NPR and PBS to be published on Nine Toes Press, an offshoot of Lummox Press and tentatively entitled The Liberal Media Made Me Do It!. The poems may have been inspired by stories, quotations, or lines heard/seen on NPR or PBS, and should, if possible, name their original source (the show and subject matter of the story). These can include poems with subject matter and/or lines taken from interviews and news stories, recipes, even book reviews or documentaries. Contributors will receive an e-copy of the book or reduced cost on the hard copy. Previously published poems or poems printed on blogs are permissible, if the author owns the rights, though the place of first publication should be named.
THE HEKTOEN ESSAY CONTEST
Deadline: March 1, 2014
Award: $1,500 / $1,000
Suggested topics include medicine and art or literature, history of medicine, ethics, music, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, etc. Clinical studies or case reports are not eligible. Essays should be 1,500 to 2,000 words.
TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN WRITERS EXCALIBUR AWARD
Deadline: June 1, 2014
Award: $500 and publication
Fee: $20
Tennessee Mountain Writers announces the Excalibur Award for a first-time novelist of a full-length juvenile (for middle school level readers) or young adult novel manuscript of publishable quality. Only first-time novelists who have never published or self-published a novel are eligible.
2S THEATRE PLAY CONTEST
Award: $25 per performance; staged reading
2S Theatre is currently accepting submissions for new, previously unproduced plays by emerging playwrights for its 2013-2014 Season. Plays are being accepted in each of the following categories: Comedy, Christmas, Romantic Comedy, and Children’s Theatre. Selected plays will receive a fully produced staged reading before a live audience in the Los Angeles area. Authors of selected works will be awarded an honorarium of $25 per performance. Scripts must be unpublished and non-professionally produced at the time that they are being staged by 2S. Workshops and readings are acceptable. Submissions must be of plays written expressly for the stage. Submissions should be of plays that include at least two characters that can be realistically portrayed by actors of any ethnicity. For example, a play about a family from the foothills of South Dakota must also include at least two characters who are not members of that family. Selected playwrights must be in attendance for all performances of their work.
FUTURECYCLE PRESS CALL FOR ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS
North Carolina-based publisher FutureCycle Press is calling for poetry and flash fiction submissions for three new anthologies. Part of the Good Works Projects, the revenues from sales of the anthologies will go to an appropriate charity. Please submit your writings for any or all of the anthologies: Homeland: Writings About Homelessness; Our Place: Writings About the Earth (environmental or nature-related); (Not Yet Titled): An Anthology about Aging. Robert S. King and David Chorlton are co-editors. No submission deadline has been set, but a 2014 target date is planned for all three volumes.
MOBILELOVESTORIES SEEKS SHORT ROMANTIC FICTION
MobileLoveStories seeks short stories of 2,000 words or less for inclusion into a Short Romance Anthology to be released in time for Christmas. The stories need to illuminate something meaningful about love, desire, and passionate human relationships. The stories need not have a happy ending, but they can. The stories need not be explicit, but they can be. The stories can be new or previously published. What is important is that they are the kind of story people will remember for a lifetime. We are accepting historical romance, paranormal romance and contemporary romance submissions at this time.
OH, BABY: TRUE STORIES ABOUT TINY HUMANS
For an upcoming anthology tentatively entitled, Oh, Baby: True Stories About Tiny Humans, In Fact Books is seeking new essays about all things related to babies. We want well-written, true narratives about the art and science/wonder and struggle of birth, babyhood, and childrearing. Whether it’s about adopting them or making them, raising them or ‘sitting them, loving them or fearing them, if you’ve got a story about tiny humans at the outset of life, we want to read it. Essays must be vivid and dramatic; they should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element, and reach beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. We’re looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; all essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. 4,500 words maximum.
OSTRICH REVIEW SEEKS GUEST BLOG CONTENT
Ostrich Review is looking for guest blog content. If you are already familiar with Ostrich Review’s Fifty Word Fridays and Tuesday Grab Bags, then you know how fun they are to read! How would you like to try your hand at some TGB and FWF fun?
PARAPALOOZA CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance has created “Parapalooza!”–a YouTube channel devoted to people reading favorite selections from favorite books–as a way to foster avid readers’ enthusiasm for great writing. People are invited to submit their own short videos to the channel. SIBA isn’t looking for book trailers or slickly produced video clips–they are looking for spontaneity and passion. The only requirement is that selections are read aloud with meaning, enthusiasm, and feeling.”
PRIME NUMBER MAGAZINE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Prime Number Magazine is open for submissions! We are looking for work in ALL GENRES: creative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words); flash nonfiction (up to 750 words); fiction (up to 5,000 words); flash fiction (750 words); poetry of any length or style; book reviews and interviews (query Books editor first). A Press 53 publication.
REVOLUTION HOUSE MAGAZINE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The editors of Revolution House Magazine are currently reading submissions of poetry, nonfiction, short stories, flash fiction, and graphic stories for issue 3.1, due late summer/early fall 2013. This issue’s creative nonfiction is also guest edited by Silas Hansen, formerly of The Journal, whose work is forthcoming or has appeared in such publications as The Normal School, Hayden’s Ferry Review and Slate. Hansen welcomes “essays that wrestle with complexity and ask questions without answers.” Revolution House doesn’t care if you have a hundred publication credits or if this is your first attempt. Send us your poems, your stories, your moments of shining truth, and we will treat them as we want our own to be treated: with respect and compassion. Send us the work that moves you, for better or worse.
SEEKING BLACK, MALE SHORT FICTION WRITERS
An online lifestyle magazine targeting black men is scheduled to launch in early 2014. We’re looking to include short fiction (800 – 7,000 words or so) written by (but not limited to) black male authors to be a regular part of the publications. Genre matters less than the quality of the work. Indeed, we generally hope that any story submitted to us stands out more for its moving parts, the story itself, than whatever genre it is labeled as. Given the nature of the magazine, we prefer some sort of connection between men and life.
YOUR IMPOSSIBLE VOICE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Your Impossible Voice is now accepting submissions for its second and third issue due out this winter and in the spring. We publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more. We don’t charge any reading fees and do pay our contributors. For prose we’re looking for quality works. We are interested in writing from around the world. We would like to receive transmissions from outer space, as well as from deep underground. We are not bored and prefer not to be. For poetry we are looking for work that is devious and feisty. Send us work that frustrates our ideas of beauty and illuminates surreal new intersections. Ignite our understanding of form. We are drawn to sharp juxtapositions, secret codes and mysterious circumstances.
In case you’re wondering, this month’s mascot for CONTEST HOUND is 10-week-old Loki Koutarou Henderson. If you have a picture you’d like to submit of your own contest hound, please email scwwquill@gmail.com!
Once again, all above hyperlinks are broken to prevent spam filters from snagging The Quill. Please google the contests and copy-paste information addresses as needed.
SCWW Board Members:
Ginny Padgett, President/Webmaster
Columbia,
Member of Columbia II Chapter
scwwpresident@gmail.com
Beth Browne, Vice President/Publicity Chair
Garner, NC
No Chapter affiliation
scwwveep@gmail.com
scwwpublicity@gmail.com
Kia Goins, Vice-President/Conference Chair
Columbia
scww2013@gmail.com
Trilby Plants, Secretary/Petigru Review Editor
Murrells Inlet
Member of Surfside Beach Chapter
scwwanthology@gmail.com
Jim McFarlane, Treasurer/Webmaster/Membership Chair
Greer
Member of Greenville East Chapter
scwwtreasurer@gmail.com
Standing Committee Chairs
Helen Aitken, Publicity Co-Chair
Swansboro, NC
aitkenhb@gmail.com
Teresa Burgher, Chapter Liaison/Silent Auction Chair
Christiana, TN
scwwliaison@gmail.com
LindaCookingham, Grants Chair
Murrells Inlet
Member of Surfside Beach Chapter
scwwgrants@gmail.com
Marilyn Benner Sowyak, Contests Chair
Charlotte, NC
Member of Rock Hill Chapter
scwwcontests@gmail.com
SCWW (Business address)
4840 Forest Drive, Suite 6-B
PMB 189
Columbia, SC 29206
REFERENCES:
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Contact The Quill via email at scwwquill@gmail.com
SCWW is dedicated to fostering and improving writing talents throughout South Carolina and is funded by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Copyright 2013 South Carolina Writers Workshop.
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