Feeling competitive?
Poets&Writers Magazine recently published a list of not ten, not twenty, but forty-five writing contests whose deadlines fall between February 15 and March 15 of this year. Entries include many competitions sponsored by literary magazines and journals, as well as grants and other awards, for a range of genres and styles. And if the idea of wading through forty-five possible contests takes you from feeling competitive to just feeling overwhelmed - don’t worry! Poets&Writers has organized the information into a handy submission calendar, with easy links to all of the specific submission and contact information you need.
Good luck!
The Poets&Writers Submission Calendar for February 2010.
The accomplishments of our Storystudio writers and staff are coming in fast and furious. The latest kudos goes to Lisa Katzenberger who had a short story included in the recently released 2009 Genre Wars Anthology. The book comes from the minds of three writers who run The Literary Lab website and decided to put their money where their mouths are. (Actually, the money from books sales are being donated.)
Lisa’s piece is in the “Literary” section and is titled, In Amsterdam. I haven’t yet had the pleasure of seeing it but she better be bringing in a copy for us to hang on the wall! In case you’re wondering, Lisa’s been in the Advanced Writers Workshop on and off for a couple years (currently on) and has also taken the Freelance Magazine Writing class. She is the studio’s Events Coordinator where she puts together member events, pubnights, readings, and crazy write-a-thons.
Congratulations Lisa!
If you’re a StoryStudio writer and have some exciting news, . We love to brag.
I often tell students that the one magazine worth reading to get the latest on publishing opportunities is Poets & Writers Magazine. We have a subscription at the studio and I’m always waving it in the air during class, showing off the great information the magazine tracks on contests, residencies, awards and all kinds of fascinating classified ad requests for compilations and chapbooks.
They also like to send us regular emails with news on upcoming contests. In the latest missive, they boast 48 contests you must inspect. So see for yourself. 
Just this week I managed to hear from a handful of writers who either won, or placed, in novel and short story contests. (Our Open Houses are great for catching up on news like that!) So it’s definitely worth your time.
We’ll be talking more about publishing this year at the studio. In fact, coming up in February and March we have an agent coming in to share her wisdom on the book industry and to run a Pitchfest for you to polish your own pitch. You can see more here.
What magazines about writing do you read?
The Common Review, the magazine of the Great Books Foundation, is holding its first annual Short Story Prize! Awards are $400 for first place, $200 for second, and $150 for third.
Manuscript envelopes may be postmarked no later than January 31, 2010. All manuscripts must be mailed to The Common Review Short Story Prize, The Great Books Foundation, 35 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 400, Chicago IL 60601. Electronic submissions will not be considered. No reading fee. SASEs are optional. Manuscripts can be between 500 and 5,000 words.
All prize winners, plus two Honorable Mentions, will receive a free copy of The Great Books Foundation Short Story Omnibus and a one-year subscription to The Common Review. The first prize winner will be published in the magazine during 2010. Contest judges for the finalists in the competition are novelist Achy Obejas, former Poetry magazine editor Joe Parisi, and Chicago journalist Danny Postel. All three serve on the editorial advisory board of The Common Review.
Check out the latest issue of The Common Review. Some highlights:
- Does philosophy need a trash can?
- Suicide bombers and the liberal imagination after the death of God
- Redefining revolution in a post-1989 world
- The legacy of John Updike
Also includes reviews of:
- Flannery: A Life, by Brad Gooch
- Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding, by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
- The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama
- Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love, by Sheila Rowbotham
Plus new poetry by Jean Gallagher and Kathleen Kirk, along with artwork by Lisa Haney, Onsmith Jeremi, and Genevieve Simms.
If you’ve thought about entering writing contests, but don’t know where to start, hop on over to Poets & Writers and review their submission calendar. Poets & Writers offers a calendar of writing contests and thirty-seven have deadlines this November. This includes the Briar Cliff Review‘s three prizes of $1,000 each for a poem, a short story, and an essay. For more information, visit Poets & Writers newly designed Grants & Awards database, now sorted by upcoming deadline and featuring related content from pw.org.
