Opportunities in the Great Big Literary World- December 17, 2012

   Hello all! How was the weekend? So, how many of you have finished all your Christmas shopping? I definitely have not! In fact, I just started yesterday! I’ve always been a last minute shopper though. I love the holidays and I love all the preparation that goes into Christmas. I enjoy writing Christmas cards, wrapping presents, listening to holiday music and drinking egg nog! Since next Monday is Christmas Eve, I will not be posting any opportunities because I’ll be with my family. We will have one last hoorah for the year the following Monday. That will be my final post for the year! There is still time to submit. Go ahead, get your work out there now! I’m off to do some Christmas shopping. 


Contests:

1.  Third Annual Prairie Gate Literary Festival Literary Contest

The year 2013 marks the third annual Prairie Gate Literary Festival at the University of Minnesota Morris, and with it, the third annual Prairie Gate Literary Festival Contest. The Prize is  a staged reading of the winning entry by the University of Minnesota Morris’s Meiningens Student Theater Group at the third annual Prairie Gate Literary Festival (February 21-23, 2013) and free registration for the festival workshops. Entry fee is $10 and the contest deadline is January 11, 2012.

http://www.morris.umn.edu/prairiegate/

2. The 2012 Omnidawn Poetry Open Book Contest 

Accepting both electronic and postal poetry submissions. Open to any poet writing in English (regardless of how many or how few publication credits.) Prize includes $3,000, Spring 2014 publication & 100 complimentary copies of book. Cole Swensen will judge. The entry fee is $25 and the contest will close on January 15, 2012. 

http://www.omnidawn.com/contest/poetry-contests.htm

3. Pavement Saw Chapbook Contest

The winner will receive $500 and 50 copies of the winning chapbook. In addition to the prize winner, at least one other manuscript will be published under a standard royalty contract (author paid 10% of press run.) Everyone is allowed to submit regardless of previous publication history. Every entrant will receive the equivalent cost of the entry fee in Pavement Saw Press titles. Entry fee is $15 and the contest ends on December 31, 2012. 

*Unlike many publishers whose collections are printed one copy at a time and therefore lack a large circulation, Pavement Saw chapbooks are published in a first edition of 400 copies plus overage. While chapbooks rarely receive exposure, theirs have been reviewed in Poets & Writers, Publishers Weekly, The Georgia Review, Small Press Review and many others. 

http://www.pavementsaw.org/pages/chapcontest.htm

Calls for Submissions:

1. Valparaiso Fiction Review 

Valparaiso Fiction Review, which has just released its Winter 2012 issue, is now seeking works of short fiction for its upcoming Summer 2013 issue. VFR publishes two editions a year, in December and in May, and it features fiction from established or emerging writers.

http://scholar.valpo.edu/vfr/

2. Call for Poetry Reading Series

The theme for The Woman Made Gallery’s Poetry Reading Series is Public/Private:

“From the exploding popularity of reality television and celebrity culture to the U.S. government’s ever-growing presence in our homes, schools, and community spaces through Patriot Act-sanctioned surveillance, the twenty-first century has seen enormous shifts in cultural and political conceptions of what is considered private and what is considered public, both in the United States and world-wide. We as individuals are losing control over what is seen and what is unseen; known and unknown; public and private. How do these shifts manifest in our daily lives? Who is most affected and why? How do artists address these changes, whether through illuminating, embracing or actively working against them?”

All takes on this theme are fair game for this reading. Send your best.

Selected poets must be available to read in person. Please send 4 – 6 poems on the theme to: gallery@womanmade.org by December 22, 2012.

http://womanmade.org/poetry.html

3. The Kiss: An Anthology

Bushwick Media seeks your original submissions for an anthology on kisses–the good, the bad, and the ugly. Submissions should be 1,000 words (4 pages, double-spaced) or more on the topic of that certain kiss, which changed your world for better or worse. All inquiries and submissions should be sent to Ms. Fiona Pemberton at BushwickMedia@gmail.com. Deadline is unclear.

4. Catamaran 

Catamaran is a new quarterly print magazine based in Santa Cruz, CA. Their themes are the environment, artistic spirit, innovation, and freedom. They accept fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art. 

http://catamaranliteraryreader.com/contact/

5. Bourbon for Blood: An Anthology of Bourbon Poetry

Winged City Press and Two of Cups Press announce a call for submissions for the forthcoming anthology tentatively titled Bourbon For Blood, due out in July 2013. They are looking for well-crafted, full-bodied poems that mention bourbon. A passing reference or a traditional ode to your favorite distillery is fine and they have no stylistic preferences other than to demand that your work is top shelf. Deadline is January 1, 2012.

http://www.wingedcitypress.com/p/bourbon-for-blood-anthology-of-bourbon.html?m=1



   As always, Black Fox Literary Magazine is accepting submissions of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, art and photography. The Fall Issue (#6) is out! Happy Writing!