Thursday, April 23, 2009

Moon Poem Contest

Moon Poem Broadside Contest

Do you have a poem about the Moon? Moonlight? Phases or effects of the moon? What waxes or wanes? Clever personifications? Something new under the moon?

Twin Cranes Press is sponsoring a free Moon poem broadside contest. The winning entry will be produced in a limited, numbered edition of 100 copies, of which 25 go to the author and 75 will be sold to raise funds to support Moonlit, a Chicago-based literary journal edited by Lisa Janssen and Claire McMahon. In the event of a tie, the press may publish co-winners.

The fundraising event for Moonlit will be held in Cleveland on June 13th, and the winning poet will be invited to attend and read the winning entry. Twin Cranes Press of Canton, Ohio publishes occasional projects to raise funds to support journals, literary centers, and causes it deems worth. Winner(s) will be selected by the editors, Robert Miltner and Lisa Vargas.

The guidelines are simple and are as follows:

All forms of poetry considered

Include author contact information—name, address, phone number, email—on each submission

Poets should submit no more than three entries

Limit poems to approximately 30 lines

12 point font, please

Previously published poems considered if poet holds copyright and publication information (journal, issue, year, page or website) is provided
Poems may be co-authored

Rights revert back to author upon printing

Electronic submissions only.

Send submissions to twincranespress@gmail.com

Put your last name in the subject line. Attach your poem(s) in a word file AND paste the poem(s) in 12 point font in the body of the email.

Deadline is midnight, May 31, 2009

Results of contest will be sent electronically after decisions are made

For questions, contact editors at twincranespess@gmail.com. Put “Question” in the subject line.

(From Creative Writing Contests)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Diverse Voices Quarterly

Call for Submissions

www.diversevoicesquarterly.com is a new online literary journal looking for submissions from all walks of life.

Deadline for consideration into the first issue is MAY 1, 2009.

Submission guidelines are:

Poetry: 3-5 poems, 40 lines MAX. Please send in one file, separated by a page break between poems.

Short stories: 3,000 words MAX. You may submit up to two short shorts that add up to 1,000 words. If sending two shorts, please send two separate files.

Personal essays/creative nonfiction: 3,000 words MAX. Send only one essay at a time.

Artwork accepted in .jpg or .png format. Send only two images at a time.

–Simultaneous submissions are accepted but multiple submissions are not.
–We will not read any material previously published online; this includes works published in other online journals or from any message board or blogs.
–While we will read submissions from everyone, the work MUST BE in English.
–Be sure to include your last name and type of submission in the subject line (Example: Kaling – Short Story Submission).
–Include a cover letter, a short bio, and your complete contact information in the body of the e-mail.
–Only attachments are accepted, either as MS Word (.doc or .rtf) or WordPerfect (.wpd) files. Pasted-in submissions WILL BE deleted.
–Send your submissions to: submit@diversevoicesquarterly.com

Friday, April 17, 2009

BLW News and Notes

The writers of Bearlodge have been busy—the news snippets below for late 2008\early 2009 are in a loose chronological order:

Last fall, long before we added this newsy blog to our BLW web site, Helen’s book, Eco-Friendly Families, was published by Alpha Books (a division of Penguin), ISBN-13: 978-1592577613. Her additional fantastic news: on November 19, 2008, Helen appeared on the Today Show (!!!) with Al Roker (and another reporter); video here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27802999. The following is a Today show link to a front-page online article excerpted from Helen’s book. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721336.

"Take Back Your Life", a piece on anorexia by Jackie Lindstrom, is included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School: 101 stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens. ISBN-13: 978-1-935096-25-2. http://www.chickensoup.com/. The Chicken Soup books are distributed to the book trade by Simon & Schuster.

Last October, Bathsheba Monk, author with Farrar, Straus & Giroux, announced a short story contest via her web site http://www.bathshebamonk.blogspot.com/, complete with prize money and publication on her site for the winner. Amanda retrieved an answering machine message in February informing her that her story, “Tybee Island,” had won. Her winning entry (along with a gorgeous photo of Amanda) is front and center of the contest blog site, http://bathshebamonkssc.blogspot.com/, with links or posts on Monk’s other web pages.

On February 10, Kathy received this email from Writer’s Digest: Congratulations! Your piece has been selected as a finalist in our contest. You can see the full list here: http://writersdigest.com/article/redheart-blackheart-finalists. Kathy had entered a poem, “Moment,” in the WD Red Heart::Black Heart Valentine’s Day contest. Scroll partway down the page to see Kathy’s name listed with the Black Poems.

Dave Wagner’s first book, Powder River Odyssey, is now available for purchase! http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html Published by the Arthur H. Clark Company, an imprint of the University of Oklahoma Press, http://www.ahclark.com/, this book brings to life the ill-fated 1865 Powder River Expedition (the story is continued in his second book, Patrick Connor’s War, due for publication this fall). We remain saddened by Dave’s untimely death last November; he would have been so proud to see this result of the almost forty years he spent as a serious student of the military history of the West, and we would have been delighted to share this with him. Books available from Backpocket Books http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html.

Andi Hummel and Lanette Bousa have poems in the March 2009 issue of WREN (Wyoming Rural Electric News), a monthly publication with a circulation of over 40,000 readers.

Helen’s article on barrel racing, "Take 'er to the Line," is in the March-April 2009 edition of I. M. Cowgirl (International Magazine of Cowgirls), a classy, fairly new magazine celebrating “The Life of the Western Woman.” A short blurb on her article is the third snippet down on this page: http://www.imcowgirl.com/html/thisedition.html.

Connie received this email in early March: We wanted to let you know your poem entitled “Searching for Proteus” has made the "1st Cut" by our judges. Less than 15% make it this far. Overall winners will be announced March 15th. Franklin-Christoph. The maker of fine pens hosts a poetry contest every year. Another email was sent to all entrants on March 13: Earlier this week our university judges realized they had some 120 extra poems they had not yet judged for the contest. Rather than try to rush to make the March 15th date, I've asked them to extend the date to April 13th. Unfortunately, no one in BLW made the final cut.

Maureen will have an essay, “Harvesting Hope, One Tomato at a Time,” in The Ultimate Gardener: The Best Experts’ Advice for Cultivating a Magnificent Garden with Photos and Stories, a 248-page paperback by HCI, publisher of the Chicken Soup books. http://www.hcibooks.com/ ISBN-13: 9780757313523. The book is scheduled for an April publication.

My poem (Jeanne), "Lady of the Manor," has been accepted for publication in Plains Song Review, volume XI (Spring 2009), an annual journal from The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/PSR/psr.shtml. A reception and reading will be held April 22 at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln. View the invitation here, with the journal cover photo and contributors’ names: http://www.unl.edu/plains/CGPS_images/publications/psr/PSR%2011%20invite%204-09.pdf.

My other news: The second printing of Standing Witness: Devils Tower National Monument, A History has arrived at the Tower. With revised text (no more 21-foot-bison-horn-span!), wider margins, corrected typos, and a properly-laminated cover, the new edition feels and reads much better than the first. I remain extremely thankful to Linda Tokarczyk, business manager of the Devils Tower Natural History Association, for her continued diligence to have a quality product. Books are available from the DTNHA bookshop http://www.nps.gov/archive/deto/bookshop.htm or from Backpocket Books http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html.

Pat has a chapbook, Grassland Genealogy, in the publication pipeline with Finishing Line Press, http://www.finishinglinepress.com/, with a due date of July 31, 2009.

Monday, April 6, 2009

BLW members presenting program

Visit the Bearlodge Writers

On Wednesday, April 8, Pat Frolander and I will be presenting the April Brown Bag program at Matthews Opera House in Spearfish to help celebrate National Poetry Month. We will be reading and discussing our poetry, working in tandem to showcase the similarities and disparities in our work.

http://www.spearfishartscenter.org/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=180

The Brown Bag will begin at noon and conclude at 1:00 p.m. at the Opera House at 612 Main Street in Spearfish, South Dakota.

The Bellman Brown Bag series is a humanities program designed to explore ideas, history, literature, art, and culture. Programs are presented on the second Wednesday of each month, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the historic Matthews Opera House. Designed to begin and end within the lunch hour, patrons are invited to bring their lunch, or simply enjoy an hour of learning and entertainment. (from the Spearfish Arts Center web site: www.spearfishartscenter.org/)

Please join us! Jeanne Rogers

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Men Only Contest

“More Than a Few Good Men” Anthology Call for Submissions

5 April 2009

www.goodmenbook.org./writing-contest.html

Do you have a compelling story to tell about a defining moment in your life? The editors of More Than a Few Good Men are sponsoring a national writing contest and are accepting submissions from March 1 through May 1. The contest is open to men ages 35 to 60. Each writer should submit an original essay focused on a defining moment in his life, when the challenges of childhood, coming of age, work, relationships, fatherhood or death caused a fundamental change in his understanding of himself as a man. Essays should be from 1,000 to 3,000 words long and written in the first person. More Than a Few Good Men is an anthology of essays about what it means to be a man in America today. Contributors include such accomplished writers as Mad Men creator Matt Wiener, Memoires of a Geisha novelist Arthur Golden, and Not That You Asked essayist Steve Almond. An NFL Hall of Famer, a former Sing Sing inmate, a one-time Wall Street wunderkind, and a photojournalist embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq are among the other contributors. More Than a Few Good Men will be published in spring 2010. All proceeds from the book will benefit the Good Men Foundation, a charitable organization founded to support men and boys at risk. For more information about the book, the contributors or the contest, visit www.goodmenbook.org.

Women Only Contest

Remarriage in Midlife Call for Submissions (Women Only)

5 April 2009

Personal stories needed for self-help book: Remarriage in Midlife: 10 Things Women Over 50 Should Think About Before Saying I Do a Second—or Third—Time! Author (and FFWA member) Catherine Rain invites midlife women writers approaching and/or over the age of 50 who have contemplated a midlife remarriage, or made one, to send in first-person stories about their experiences. Stories needed in these areas: Reasons for marrying in midlife as well as staying single; Working through financial issues including prenuptial agreements; Learning to live with a man again; Sharing decision-making power; Step-family issues for midlife couples; Working with/around Exes, including toxic and troublesome types; Establishing new traditions; Merging households; Life stage/empty nest; and Personal growth. If your story does not fit these areas, but you think it is something midlife women should know, beware of, avoid, or celebrate, send it anyway. The book’s tone is upbeat and proactive. Writers’ stories will be used anecdotally as examples of the book’s narrative. No payment, as the book is targeted to a small press. However, I will credit you as a contributor, and anyone whose story is used will receive a copy of the book when published. Since stories may be personal in nature, please let me know if you want me to use a pseudonym and/or to change any details that might reveal your identity. In all cases, I will use first names only. Submit stories to c3brain@gmail.com

Deadline: May 20, 2009.
Double-space submissions and provide contact information.