January Writing Contests
On January 6, 2014 | 0 Comments

Asheville Poetry Review- the 2014 William Matthews Poetry Prize
Entry fee:  $20 for three poems payable to Asheville Poetry Review
Prizes:  1st Place: $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review, and a featured reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville;  2nd place: $250, publication, and a featured reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore; 3rd place: publication and a featured reading at Malaprop’s bookstore
Deadline: January 15, 2014

The judging process will be “blind” (all identifying info will be removed from the poems. All submissions are considered for publication. Send three poems, any style, theme and length, with the entry fee to:

William Matthews Poetry Prize; c/o Asheville Poetry Review , PO Box 7086, Asheville, NC 28802. The final judge will be Billy Collins.  For additional information, go to: www.ashevillepoetryreview.com.

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Jewish Currents –Raynes Prize for Poetry
Entry fee:  $18 for up to three poems
Prizes:  $1,000 and publication in Jewish Currents
Deadline: Jan 15, 2014

Theme: “Union.”

Length: Each poem, two pages and under, put your name, address, telephone number and email address on each page of your entry.

You may enter more than once, as long as each entry is accompanied by the $18 submission fee. All submissions will be considered for publication. The top 36 poems will be published in an anthology, Summer 2014. Awards will be announced in March. To submit, send your poems and a check for $18 payable to Jewish Currents, poetry prize, POB 111, Accord, NY 12404 or pay your fee by clicking on the $18 button and send your poem to: poetryprize@jewishcourrests.org.

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Iowa Review Awards– Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction
Entry fee:  $20, enclose an extra $10 for a one-year subscription (optional). One entry per envelope
Prizes:  $1,500 and publication;  1st place runner-up receives $750 and publication in the December 2014 issue
Deadline:  January 31, 2014

Submit up to 25 pages of prose (double-spaced) or 10 pages of poetry (one poem or several, but no more than one poem per page). Work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine assuming you immediately inform us of acceptance elsewhere. Judges are: Robyn Schiff (poetry); Rachel Kushner (fiction), and David Shields (non-fiction).  All manuscripts are considered for publication. For additional guidelines and to submit on-line, visit http://iowareview.uiowa.edu/rules.

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Ruth Hindman Foundation—H. E. Francis Short Story Competition

Entry Fee:  $20
Prizes:  $2,000
Deadline:  (postmarked) January 15, 2014

Send in your unpublished original fiction; word limitation not to exceed 5,000 words. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable so long as we are notified immediately in the event that a manuscript is accepted by another competition or publication. We have a tax-deductible submission fee. Send a $20 check or money order made out to Ruth Hindman Foundation, a philanthropic institution which awards scholarships nationwide to undergraduate and graduate students. All manuscripts must be free of any means of author identification. A cover sheet must accompany each submission; this cover sheet must indicate the title of the story, the author’s name and address, and the approximate word count.  For additional information, please go to  www.hefranciscompetition.com/rules/.

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Sixfold (completely writer-voted ) Short Story and Poetry Awards
Entry Fee:  $3
Prizes:  1st place prize: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story; 2nd place, $200 and publication; 3rd place $100 and publication.
Deadline:  11:59 p.m. on January 24, 2014

Upload your own short-story or poetry manuscript PDF for $3. Then vote within your genre to select the three prize-winning manuscripts.  How it works: Read, comment, and vote on 3 sets of manuscripts by writers in your genre during 3 voting rounds of 12 days each. Round 1 is from Feb. 1 to the voting deadline of Feb. 12; Round 2 is from Feb. 13 to Feb. 24; round 3 is from Feb 25 to March 8. Read and vote on 18 manuscripts total in 36 days total.  In each round, you randomly assigned manuscripts to Best, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and write comments to each author. After each round ends, the highest-voted manuscripts in each genre win $1,000, $200 and $100. The top 20 short stories and the top 40 sets of poems are published.  Immediately after voting, you receive up to 6, 24, or 78 votes and comments on your own manuscript from other writers, depending how far it goes through the three rounds.  Voting rules:  In each round, manuscripts are distributed randomly for voting. You never receive your own manuscript to read and vote for. You never read and vote on the same manuscript twice; if you do not vote by any round’s deadline, your own manuscript is withdrawn from voting, and does not advance into following rounds, and you do not vote in following rounds. For additional information, go to www.fixfold.org/howitworks.html.

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The Wednesday Club of St. Louis Eighty-Eighth Original Poetry Contest
Entry Fee: $0
Prizes:  1st prize: $500; 2nd prize: $300; 3rd prize: $150
Deadline:  February 1, 2014

Judge:Lynn Powell, author Old & New Testaments and The Zone of Paradise. Eligibility: Adults over 18, living within a 50-mile radius of St. Louis. Any person having won first prize in a contest twice within the last five years is ineligible for further cash awards, but may be cited for honors. Submit two typed copies of two poems which have never been published or won an award. Sign with pseudonym only; type real name, address, e-mail address and phone number on a separate sheet of paper and enclose with poems. No manuscripts returned. Send to: Marilyn Ortinau; Original Poetry Contest; 1156 New Ballwin Oaks Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021. For more information, go to www.wednesdayclubstlouis.org.

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Writers at Work Fellowship Competition – poetry, short story, novel excerpt or an essay
Entry Fee:  $25
Prizes:  $1,000 and publication in Quarterly West and tuition to attend the Writers at Work Conference in Alta, Utah, June 4-8, 2014;  honorable mentions will be awarded $250 each
Deadline:  January 15, 2014

You may submit multiple submissions  per category and/or submissions in multiple categories; a reading fee is required for each submission. Writers who have not published a book in the genre in which they are applying are eligible. Using the on-line submission system, submit up to 6 poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 5,000 words of prose. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Go to www.writersatwork.org/wp/?page_id=6, Submissions must be electronic; they are no longer taking mailed submissions.

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