Contest Ten

Ten Things About Writing Grants and Contests

The Marie Alexander Poetry Series offers "A prize of $500 and publication by Marie Alexander Poetry Series, an imprint of White Pine Press, will be given for a collection of prose poems by a U.S. poet. Submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages during the month of July." No entry fee, see web site for more details. Deadline: July 31, 2010.

The Delaware Division of the Arts offers "individual artist fellowships and opportunity grants to individual artists. Fellowships provide funding to Delaware artists working in the visual, performing, media, folk, and literary arts. Fellowships are designed to enable recipients to purchase equipment and materials, allocate working time, or fulfill other needs that will allow them to advance their careers." Also: Emerging Professional Fellowships in the amount of $3,000 are available to artists wh"o have not yet established reputations in their fields. Established Professional Fellowships in the amount of $6,000 are available to artists who have significant achievements in their fields. A Masters Fellowship in the amount of $10,000 is available on a rotating basis. In Fiscal Year 2011, this award will be presented to a visual or folk artist." See guidelines page for more details. Current deadline is August 2, 2010.

Gemini Magazine is holding a flash fiction contest: "A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine will be given annually for a short short story. The editors will judge. Submit a story of up to 1,000 words." I don't know if I'd call that length flash fiction, but there you go. Entry fee: $4; $3 for each additional entry. See contest page for more details. Deadline: August 31, 2010.

Great Lakes Colleges Association awards "three prizes annually to a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer to honor their first books. The winners will receive all-expenses-paid trips to several of the thirteen GLCA colleges, each of which pays an honorarium of at least $500, to give readings, meet with students, and lead discussions and classes. The judges are faculty members at the colleges." See guidelines page for more details. Deadline: Publishers may submit four copies of one book in each category by July 25, 2010.

The Memoir (and) Prizes for Memoir in Prose or Poetry are "awarded to the most outstanding prose or poetry memoirs—traditional, nontraditional or experimental—drawn from the reading period." Grand prize is $500 cash + publication + copies; no entry fee; see submission guidelines for more details. Deadline: August 16, 2010.

Memphis Magazine has a short fiction contest open to writers who live within 150 miles of the city of Memphis: "A prize of $1,000 and publication in Memphis Magazine is given annually for a short story by a writer who lives within 150 miles of Memphis. Unpublished stories and those previously published in magazines with a circulation under 20,000 are eligible. Submit a short story of 3,000 to 4,500 words with a $10 entry fee. Send an SASE for complete guidelines." No submission page, but here's the address: Memphis Magazine, Fiction Contest, 460 Tennessee Street, Memphis, TN 38103. Deadline: August 1, 2010.

Ohio University Press offers The 15th annual Hollis Summers Poetry Prize for an unpublished collection of poetry, and awards to the winner $1000 + publication. There is an entry fee of $25.00, which doesn't make me happy, but they welcome those who have not yet unpublished, and they award to as many female poets as male, which does. See guidelines page for more details. Deadline: October 31, 2010.

IFWG Publishing has Story Quest, what appears to be two annual writing contests. From the web site: "Entry is free. Two contests a year - the first commences 1 November and ends 31 May. The second contest commences 1 June and ends 31 October. Yearly. All genres are accepted - we are looking for quality short stories and cover art! Children and YA stories are also welcome. Note contest rules regarding content. Some contests will have a broad theme - in these cases stories must adhere accordingly. For short stories, we strictly require 1000 to 3000 words, title and author not included. . .The winning short story writer for the contests this year will be offered a publishing deal for any novel sized work and will have his or her short story published in SQ Magazine. Finalists of each short story competition will be published in SQ Magazine." Current deadline is October 31, 2010, see web site for more details.

The Uncovered Short Fiction Contest is offering "In total, $290 and two signed copies of THE TAVERNIER STONES is on the line. There is a $100 prize for first place alone!" Entries seem to be 250 words or less but that's all the details that are posted fo far; stayed tune to the host blog for more info(via Anne Frasier).

The Young Lions Fiction Award from The New York Public Library is "a $10,000 prize awarded each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories." Note that the collection does have to be written for the adult market and already published; see submission guidelines for more details. Deadline: August 27, 2010.