Unusual Calls For Submission

2nd Annual String Poet Prize:
Up to 40 lines, all forms accepted, including free verse.  Contest theme: “Remembrance.” No previously published poems, or poems that have already won prizes.  Winner receives $200 honorarium and performance of an original musical composition inspired by the winning poem as part of the New York Times-featured String Poet Studio Series is offered for the best poem submitted on the theme: "Remembrance." . Our Final Judge is Kim Bridgford; our Composer is Australian Pianist, Barry Tognolini. Winners and Runners-up published in Spring 2012 issue of String Poet are invited to read at the Award Ceremony on May 25th; all contest submissions are considered for publication in journal. All Submissions due February 25, 2012

NoirCon
What is Noir Poetry? Noir Poetry is (1)* Poetry that makes reference to the subject matter, dialog or style of film noir or the hard-boiled detective genre, or, (2)* Poetry that invokes stark urban landscapes and atmosphere, and which either alludes to crime and perilous attachments or else seems to bear dark knowledge of this territory, or (3) Poetry that tells the story of tortured souls—lovers, psychopaths, obsessives—driven down deadly paths, following desperate plans that are doomed to failure. What to Submit: Your entry should be your own original work. You must be the poet of the submitted work(s). Entries must be original and unpublished works (either in print or on-line). Submitted poems should concern the subject of Noir Poetry and not exceed 2000 words. Poets of all nations may enter. However, the poems you submit should be in English. If you have written a poem in another language, you may translate your poem into English and submit the translation. Prizes and Publication: First prize: $250 and a copy of the printed program with the winning poem to be read at the NoirCon 2012 Award Dinner on November 9th, 2012. Second prize: $150 and a printed program. There will also be eight Most Highly Commended Awards winners. They will receive a copy of the NoirCon 2012 printed program and official NoirCon buttons. The top 10 entries will be published in the NoirCon 2012 printed program. The judge of the winning poem will be Robert Polito, Professor of Writing at The New School, New York City, New York. Entry Fee: The fee is $15 for 1 to 3 original, unpublished poems dealing with Noir. Entry fees are not refundable.  All submissions must be postmarked by March 2, 2012. 

The Origami Poems Project
The Origami Poems Project announces its first annual Poetry Month Celebration Contest. Poems selected will be issued in Origami Collaborative micro-chapbooks this spring. There are 2 themes for these books:  Music  -  and  -  Kindness. We will create at least two books of 5 – 6 poems each per theme. There is no fee for this contest but your submission is priceless to us.  Our prize is also priceless - but the selected poets will receive 5 copies of the book in which your poem appears!  Imagine, getting a snail-mail of an Origami book with your poem – very exciting! Submission Guidelines include: 1. Poem should be around 23 lines long, including Title and Spaces. 2.  Poem’s Line Length should be around 47 characters (which includes spaces between letters). 3.  Poet may submit up to three poems per theme in the body of an email.  Please indicate into which category your poem(s) applies. 4. Unpublished and previously published pieces are welcome. If a piece was published elsewhere, ask nicely for the relevant permissions to reprint. For all selected poems, copyright will revert to the authors. 5.  Email must reach us by Saturday, March 10th, with the subject: Poetry Celebration (or some such wording). Our poetry-welcoming email address: <origami.submission(at)gmail.com> (replace (at) with @). 6.  Selected poems will be announced via email, on our website, and our Facebook page, Monday, April 2, 2012.

Fringe seeks submissions for its sixth-anniversary theme issue:
This issues theme is Remnants. Remnants are fragments, scraps, traces of what came before. They’re Sappho’s poems; the crumbling, Gilded Age mansions of Detroit; the still-burning bits of rig from the Deepwater Horizon spill; the vacation train ticket found stashed in your wallet; the love letters scattered by the Joplin tornado. Remnants speak to the whole that has vanished. As always, we invite you submit work that engages the theme topically and/or formally.  Please carefully read the guidelines for the genre you're submitting in, and add “Remnants” to your subject line. We look forward to seeing your work! Fringe Magazine was founded in 2005 by an all-women group of editors dedicated to political and experimental literature. The quarterly online journal has published work by more than 120 writers and artists since its first issue in February 2006. Each month, the magazine receives 13,000+ unique users. Submissions for art are closed as of February 15, 2012. Submissions in all other genres close March 15, 2012.

TallGrass Writers Guild
This issues theme is: 'Deep Waters – Rivers, Lakes and Seas’; direct links to the natural world are fine, but don’t overlook emotional ‘deep waters’; dams; naval warfare; commercial transport; and denizens of the deep. We interpret broadly and are especially interested in poetry. Prizes: $500 each for poetry and prose. Include SASE. Previously published and simultaneously submissions OK (please indicate on entry form). No limit on number of submissions in either category. We accept hard copy only.FOR COMPLETE GUIDELINES with required entry form email: outriderpress(at)sbcglobal.net; or tallgrassguild(at)sbcglobal.net, replacing (at) with @. Telephone: 219-322-7270 or toll-free 866-510-6735. All Submissions must be postmarked by March 30, 2012.

HFR Art Editor Nadia Sablin Photography Exhibit

News Around the Net

Celebrating Charles Dickens's 200th birthday in London with Slate.

The hero of Dave Eggers last book, Zeitoun, is having some serious legal problems. This may put a wrench in the film adaption.

Here's Sylvia Plath reading Lady Lazarus.

From the bad ideas (or lack of new ideas) department, here's this. Can't we just leave The Watchmen alone as an awesome book? It's not too late.

Tolkien fans, another Tolkien fan put together a complete genealogy of every character in Middle-earth. Not every character in Lord of the Rings. Every character in Middle-earth!

Fellowships and Residencies!

Fellowship/Writing: Visting Fellow: International Writers Project. The Brown International Writers Project is currently seeking nominations and applications for its one-year fellowship with residency. The Fellowship is designed to provide sanctuary and support for established creative writers-fiction writers, playwrights, and poets who are persecuted in their home countries or are actively prevented from pursuing free expression in their literary art. The Fellow will be a member of a supportive community that includes faculty members and graduate students in Brown's Department of Literary Arts and the Watson Institute for International Studies, co-sponsors of the Project. The fellowship will be accompanied by a series of lectures, readings and other events that highlight the national artistic and political culture of the writer and address the global issues of human rights and free expression. It will include a stipend, relocation funds, and health benefits. Brown will aid the writer in the visa and relocation process and provide administrative support, equipment and office space on the Brown campus in Providence, Rhode Island. To apply or to nominate a candidate, send a letter, providing publishing history and explaining need, together with a resume, and if available, a writing sample (preferably in English) of creative work by the candidate to Literary Arts, Box 1923, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, or by e-mail to iwp@brown.edu. Supporting letters from others would be helpful. The application/nomination deadline for the next Fellowship is February 15, 2012.

  

The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, NE offers 2- to 8-week residencies year-round for writers, visual artists, and music composers. Housing, studio space, $100/week stipend are provided. Approximately 50 residencies are awarded per year. Two deadlines each year,  March 1 for the following July through December; or September 1 for the following January through June. $35 application fee. See website for complete information, guidelines and the online application portal: www.KHNCenterfortheArts.org. The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the  Arts, 801 3rd Corso, Nebraska City, Nebraska 68410. 402-874-9600,  info(at)KHNCenterfortheArts.org (replace (at) with @ in sending email).

Writers in The Heartland is now taking applications for its 2012 season. Writers in the Heartland is a writing colony for creative writers in all genres. The colony is located in Gilman, Illinois, approximately 90 miles south of Chicago. It is located on a beautiful 32-acre wooded site with lakes and walking paths. A limited number of one-week residencies are available for August 31 - September 7 and October 7 - 12. All lodging and food is included. Writers must reside in the Midwest region or have some Midwest connection. Applications must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2012, to be considered. Decisions will be announced on or around July 1st. All submissions are peer reviewed by three person panel. For further information about applying to Writers in the Heartland, see our website www.writersintheheartland.org or contact us at writersintheheartland@gmail.com.  

English: Two Year Fellowship (English and Creative Writing; fiction and/or Poetry). Augustana invites applications for a two-year Fellowship in English and Creative Writing (fiction and/or poetry), beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year. A Ph.D. or M.F.A and dedication to teaching in our first year general education program are required, as is participation in creative writing extracurricular activities. The department seeks candidates with dynamic teaching skills who are able to incorporate active learning pedagogies into their teaching and value the college's commitment to the liberal arts. Priority will be given to those candidates with broad teaching skills, who are comfortable teaching composition, literature and creative writing. Questions may be directed to the co-chairs of the department, Joseph McDowell at JosephMcdowell(at)augustana.edu or Kelly Daniels at KellyDaniels(at)augustana.edu. We will interview at the AWP Conference in Chicago. Position is contingent on funding. You must provide the following information: cover letter (detailed, indicating fit for the position and the college) curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts (copies are fine), evidence of teaching effectiveness, statement if teaching philosophy, three current letters of recommendation. All application materials should be submitted to: Search #111-12 CW-English / C/O Dr. Pareena Lawrence, Dean of the College / Augustana College / 639 – 38th Street / Rock Island, IL 61201. Review of applications will begin February 1, 2012.  

Deflating the Emerging Writer's Ego

My name is Nils. I'm an undergraduate English literature major at Arizona State University. And I have a problem. Well, I had a problem. With my ego. I've learned a lot from writing classes over the past few years, and one thing I learned that doesn't get talked about in class very much is the writer's ego. Having an ego sucks, but it doesn’t seem like it until it’s deflated. Nearing my BA, I look back at the arrogant writer I was during my freshman year and how much it hindered my writing. I remember the second story I had in a fiction workshop, the professor holding it at the corner like a crusty sock and saying: “If I were an editor for a review, I would have stopped reading this after the first paragraph.”

I was also the one to find all the flaws in a colleague’s story and magnify them without pinpointing strengths. I was the 19-year-old who was completely full of crap. But then, after my manuscripts were held to my face and punched in with critiques, I began to listen. Now, I am published.

These were the basic steps I trudged through:

➢    Lowered Financial Expectations

I’m not a celebrity, nor do I plan to be one. Writing doesn’t make the author that much money, I found that out quick. I’m thankful to be published where I am now, but I never made one red cent from my writing. I workshop with writers who are in their 80’s and haven’t gotten rich, but still write for the passion.

➢    Submitted Work and Received Rejections

“Submit, submit, submit” is what my first creative writing professor would say. I got my first rejection and couldn’t help but feel like that manuscript had failed, but I pressed on: wrote more stories, read more work from new authors, and networked with other writers. Submitting is an ongoing process that takes patience to navigate.

➢    Dropped the Zombies Obsession

Yes, I admit that I wanted to write screenplays for B movies. I thought it would be easy and a quick foot-in-the-door to a promising career where I would have a good income and all my ex-girlfriends would swoon over my fame. I had my head stuck in Hollywood and not in literary journals. Reading more literary fiction, I saw its true aesthetic and found that I liked it better than writing screenplays. I felt more emotion coming from them.

➢    Accepted That There was Always Someone in the Workshop that Was Better Than Me At Something

To me, a workshop works best when everyone brings something they’re particularly good at to the table. I attend a workshop hoping to learn from others.

➢    Attended Different Workshops

After taking workshop classes at the community college, I started to attend workshops at Denny’s and Village Inns with complete strangers. I learned so much from strangers and found that their unbiased approach to my work made them the best critics.

Having an ego is natural. Even animals have egos, as I must deal with my cat’s ego everyday. It's like a horrific beach ball that doesn't stop inflating and takes up all the space in a workshop classroom until someone pulls the valve plug. Now that my ego is deflated, I feel that I have more space for improvement in my writing.

Unusual Calls for Submissions

Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award
Now accepting submissions of short fiction or memoir of 2000 words or less, for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Contest. The theme of this publication is Seasonal Pursuits: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales. In addition to a $200 prize, the first place winner's story will also be considered for print publication in the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC's upcoming anthology of Seasonal Pursuits: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales. Second place will receive $100 and third place will receive $50. Submissions will be reviewed by our celebrity judge, Jonathan Maberry. All stories must be submitted by February 15th, 2012.

Whistling Fire Guest Editor Themed Selection
Whistling Fire is proud to announce our new ongoing Guest Editor Themed Selection.  Throughout the year we will have various Guest Editors taking over The Whistling Fire for an entire month and selecting special themed work of their choice.  The lucky few selected will be published every Tuesday of their Guest Editor’s month. We welcome experimental pieces but ask that your writing is limited in length to 3000 words. For more submission guidelines visit Whistling Fire's webpage.
Our March Guest Editor is Orlando Ramirez. Ramirez lives in Riverside, California, where is the editor of La Prensa, a Spanish-language newspaper. He recently received an MFA in Poetry from the Cal State University, San Bernardino, Creative Writing Program. He was one of the original editors of Mango Publications, and has been anthologized widely and published in Zzyva, Berkeley Poetry Review, Badlands and other journals.

Dear Writers,
Poetry – the best poetry – confronts that line, erases it, ignores it, smudges it with a little spit on the tip of the finger to blur the before into the after.
I am looking for poems that cross lines, whether it be the double-yellow line on a two-lane road; the wouldcouldshoulda chain of regret; the poetic line and its break; the line between English/Espanol; the fungible line between male, female and whatever other classifications we create.  Send poems that cross that line and be prepared to discuss the consequences. Any style. In English and Espanol.  Remember -- boundaries are of your own making.
Good Luck,
Orlando Ramirez

All poems must be submitted by February 25, 2012.


At Length
At Length will begin its next open reading period on February 1, 2012. Submissions received after the closing date of February 29th will not be considered. POETRY: We're interested in poems and sequences that are at least 7 single-spaced pages long. PROSE: We're looking for fiction and non-fiction of at least 7,500 words in length. We welcome novellas, novel excerpts, memoirs, narratives, essays, and long short stories. No academic papers, please. Simultaneous submissions are fine, previously published pieces, not so much. *Please be aware that we are not yet able to pay our contributors. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but be sure to mention it in the body of the email, and if parts of the work have already appeared in other venues, please note that as well and provide all relevant details. We will attempt to respond to all submissions within two months, and we ask that you only submit one poem at a time. All submissions are due by February 29, 2012.

Two-hundred New Mexico Poems 
Two-hundred New Mexico Poems, a blog celebrating New Mexico's centennial through poetry, is now accepting previously unpublished submissions of poetry. Suitable themes include: New Mexico history (especially between the years of 1912 and 2012), environment and place, culture, and personal significance of the region. Poems may be formal or free verse and utilize narrative or lyric voice. Submissions are open to all poets regardless of residence, just as long as the poems are clearly connected to New Mexico. Poems written in Spanish will be considered as long as they are accompanied by an accurate English translation. Send your typed submissions with line count of each poem and 50 word bio as a word document to 200nmpoems@gmail.com. Submissions are open until 200 poems have been selected. ("Plenty of room," as of January 31, 2011)

Fiction Dismantled

Photo by Todd McLellan
See his Disassembly collection here.

As an intern for the Piper House, I read a lot of  stories submitted to Hayden's Ferry Review. When I'm six stories deep, running on coffee fumes and chocolate-covered espresso beans, form stories ignite my curiosity and pull me in. There is something attractive about a story that looks like a list, or a series of dictionary entries, or even a water bill. Postmodern experimental fiction allows readers to experience the emotional range of the traditional narrative through a fresh perspective while allowing writers to explore and experiment in their craft with a new flexibility.



I think the process of creating a form is a bit like dismantling a clock. Essentially, you're taking elements of the story—important elements integral to the heart of the piece, such as objects or themes—and using them to communicate the story in a fresh and entertaining way. My writing teachers all tell me that everything has to be earned. That, "if I remove one element, the entire story should fall apart. If not, it hasn't earned its spot." The same is true for a clock. Each part has to work in perfect harmony with the others, or else we lose time.

Here's one:


Hannah Wood's telling of Romeo and Juliet, in Blackbird's Fall 2011 Vol. 10 No. 2 issue, is a fresh and entertaining version of the classic. The story takes the shape of a science experiment that tests the strength of love. Wood adds versatility to her version by measuring the infamous duo against several other power couples, ranging from Daisy and Gatsby to Lancelot and Guinevere. For clarity (and some color), Wood offers a Venn diagram and an ionic bonding chart to illustrate their chemical behavior in any situation.

Working on a form story? Have a favorite story that plays with form? Post them in the comments below. I'll be sharing my favorites in this regular post. Currently, I'm working on submitting applications to graduate programs, so I'm considering writing a story through a personal statement or a gratuitously long and obsessively intrusive application...