Writers Wanted September

The Village Pariah: Call for Submissions for Volume II: Winter 2010
The Village Pariah, a bi-annual literary journal sponsored by the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, is accepting submissions for its second issue. We publish poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, and other works inspired by the writings and life of Mark Twain, his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, the Mississippi River, the Midwest, and small town or rural life in America.
Our theme for this issue is: the juvenile pariah of YOUR village. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain creates one of the most classic descriptions in all of literature, and America is introduced to its first anti-hero, Huckleberry Finn, “the juvenile pariah of the village” who was “cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town because he was idle and lawless and vulgar and bad,” but adored by the children of St. Petersburg who wished they could be like him. This topic can be interpreted broadly; it could be the bad boy your parents forbid you to date, the town bully, or someone with a deeper heroic vein, such as the rough-around-the-edges Huckleberry.
Each issue will also include an introductory essay by an established author, poet, artist, songwriter, etc who speaks of Twain’s influence on his or her art or life. We welcome writings from established writers, as well as those who are new and unpublished.
Electronic submissions only. Please limit poetry to five poems and prose to 3000 words. Entries should be emailed as an attachment to
thevillagepariah@yahoo.com
Please include name, contact information, and a short bio along with your submission. Our reading period is now open and entries will be accepted until November 1, 2010.

Visit the website (http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/index.php/community-projects/the-village-pariah) for more information. All proceeds from the journal go to support the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum.

Blueline, A Literary Magazine Dedicated to the Spirit of the Adirondacks seeks poems and stories relating to the Adirondacks and regions similar in geography and spirit, focusing on the shaping influence of nature.

Also seeking essays that interpret the literature and/or contemporary culture of the Adirondack region or surrounding areas, including New York State, New England, or eastern Canada. The editors especially welcome ecocritical essays or non-fictional short memoirs based in the region’s literature. Submission period is September through November 30. Decisions in mid-February. Payment in copies. Submissions must not have been previously published. Simultaneous submissions are considered as long as they announced as such. Send manuscripts to The Editor, Blueline, 125 Morey Hall, Department of English and Communication, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY 13676. Blueline welcomes electronic submissions, either in the body of an e-mail message or in Word or html formatted files. Mail to: blueline@potsdam.edu

The Ultimate Christian Living

Amazon.com Widgets

A book of personal, true stories by and about Christians whose lives have been impacted by their faith. If you have a passion for God, His word, and His people, we invite you to share your stories of faith, including those of service to others, challenges you’ve faced, and spiritual leaders who have helped you in your journey as a Christian. Submission details: http://www.ultimatehcibooks.com/

Submission deadline:October 19, 2009

Call for Submissions

Working Title:

And Then It Shifted: Women Open Up About Leaving Men for Women (Seal Press, 2010)

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/andthenitshifted

2,000-4,000 words. Payment: Upon publication. Amount will vary, depending on experience and other variables ($50 and up). Please include a list of any previous publication credits with your query or submission. Contributors will also receive two copies of the published book.Deadline: December 1, 2009. That said, we strongly encourage you to send us a query well beforehand, so that we can review it, give you helpful feedback, and have a good sense of what will be coming our way that month. If you are able to submit the piece earlier, we prefer that you do.

Editors: Candace Walsh and Laura André. Candace Walsh is the editor of the recently released anthology Ask Me About My Divorce: Women Open Up About Moving On (www.askmeaboutmydivorce.com).

As Dr. Lisa Diamond’s recent groundbreaking book Sexual Fluidity makes clear, women’s sexual desire and identity are capable of shifting. Cynthia Nixon, Carol Leifer, Wanda Sykes, Portia de Rossi, and countless others have left the fold of heterosexual identity to enter into or pursue same-sex relationships.

Although this book will evolve as we receive submissions, we welcome first-person essays from women

1) who were aware that they had always felt robust same-sex desires, but wanted to try to make it work in the straight world.

2) who identified as heterosexual at one time, but found that the situation they were in just naturally led to embarking on an intimate romantic relationship with a woman.

We seek a diversity of voices, and welcome submissions from a variety of perspectives.

We also welcome essays from women who don’t fit precisely into the above descriptions.

Here are some questions that we’d like answered in your piece. It may be one of the questions, or you may touch on most of them, and throw in some extra, great stuff that didn’t even occur to us. Please don’t feel like this is an essay question test and that you have to cover them all—we want the format of your essay to feel organic and not be explicitly dictated by our questions.

How did you come to your moment of truth?

Did your perception of yourself change?

Do you feel that others’ perceptions of you changed? Did they surprise you with either an unexpected positive or negative reaction? How did this affect you? Did their reactions change over time?

Do you feel like you surrendered heterosexuality or elements of heterosexual privilege? Do you feel like your new life with a woman has yielded rewards? What were the rewards you expected and which ones were surprises?

What do you miss? What do you not miss? Everything from in the bedroom to out at dinner, at a wedding, as a parent, as a family member, at the gym, in the workplace, on a picnic—whatever comes up for you.

What is this journey like, in general and for you? How did you feel as you were setting out on it and how do you feel now? How do you mark your progress? Were there stages? Illustrative moments? Looking back, do you feel like you went through certain phases?

What is it like to shift your identity? What about you is the same and always will be? What about you has changed or altered?

How did you feel as you began your relationship with a woman? Did you get flak from individuals who second-guessed you? Did you feel like you had to prove yourself? How did you keep your internal balance?

How did your socialization as a straight woman prepare you (ill or well) for pursuing a woman or being in a relationship with a woman?

How did your cultural/religious/racial/ethnic background shape your experience?

Do you like, or are you attracted to certain things that your partner or girlfriend, or gay women do that are traditionally labeled as masculine? Feminine?

How do you define yourself? Do you feel like the current “labels” work for you or that what you are is not yet defined by a word or phrase? What paradigm do you imagine?

Are you still with the woman you left your previous relationship for? Was she just a catalyst, or a rebound, or something else, or “the one”?

As editors, we value specificity, detail, “showing, not telling,” honesty, epiphanies, clean, polished, yet real and un-prettied-up writing, and the sharing of insights.

Please send your submission (Word document, double-spaced), along with a short bio and full contact information to: andthenitshifted@gmail.com

The Iowa Review

Details: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview

Only welcomes unsolicited submissions during September, October, and November. Pays: $25/first page and $15/each additional page, "whether of poetry or prose."

Saturday Writers 8th Annual Short Story Contest

Details: http://www.saturdaywriters.org/contest.htm

2009 Guidelines (Short stories only. no essays, poems, or articles)

Deadline: November 1, 2009 (postmarked) Word Limit: 2009

Contest is open to EVERYONE. Open subject, open genre. (No pornography or gore.)

Entry fee: Members of Saturday Writers, MWG, or other MWG Chapters: $5 per story. (MWG or MWG Chapter Membership will be verified by Contest Chair.)

All others: $7 per short story. Maximum of three entries per person.

Checks payable to: Saturday Writers.

Prizes: 1st place - $100, 2nd place - $50, 3rd place - $25. 4-10th Place receive a certificate.

Short stories must be in English, unpublished at the time of submission, and the original work of the contestant. Contestants retain all rights to their stories.

Standard manuscript format: 8 1/2 x 11 paper, typed and double-spaced on one side of the paper, pages numbered, title of entry on every page, 12 point Times New Roman. Paper clip pages together; do not use staples.

No name or other identifying information should appear anywhere on entry.

Attach a separate cover sheet and include: story title, contestant’s name, address, e-mail, phone number, and MWG chapter name (if applicable).

Mail entry fee and two copies of each entry, flat, not folded, by November 1 (postmark) to:

Saturday Writers 8th Annual Short Story Contest

c/o Donna Volkenannt

32 Country Crossing Estates Drive

St. Peters, MO 63376

Do NOT send by certified mail!

Stories exceeding word limit, not having adequate postage, or not adhering to contest guidelines will be disqualified and entry fee will not be returned. Decision of judge is final. Not responsible for lost or misdirected entries. Keep a copy of your entry because stories will not be returned.

For a list of winners, visit the CONTESTS page of our website in December 2009: www.saturdaywriters.org Certificates and prizes will be mailed by the end of December.

Online Journal Seeks Submissions: Squid Quarterly

Details: www.squidquarterly.com

Squid Quarterly, an online journal of the Short (short-shorts, microfiction, prose poetry, flash fiction) seeks submissions for its second issue.

Please send us previously unpublished work of no more than 1,000 words to submissions@squidquarterly.com Electronic submissions only, please!

We welcome multiple submissions of up to 4 shorts (poetry or fiction), and simultaneous submissions, but please let us know immediately if a piece you’ve submitted is accepted for publication elsewhere.

Please send your material as attachments in .doc format, and include a brief cover letter/bio in the body of your email.

Our tastes are eclectic, so there are no specific guidelines about theme, subject matter, or narrative style. We’re simply looking for the best short work out there.

If you have questions, please direct them to couture@squidquarterly.com

We nominate for the Pushcart Prize, and publish a year-end print anthology of the best work from each of our online issues.

Contests: So To Speak

Details: http://www.gmu.edu/org/sts/contests.php

Winners in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction are awarded $500, 2 complimentary issues, and publication in the journal. The three finalists are also featured in the journal. All contest entrants receive a free issue!

Winter/Spring 2010 POETRY CONTEST

Submit two copies of your manuscript: one with your name and contact information and one without. Manuscripts should include up to 5 poems, not to exceed 10 pages total. Include a cover letter and a SASE for response. The reading fee is $15. Please make checks or money orders payable to George Mason University. Contest entries are not returned.

Deadline: October 15, 2009.

Judge: Robyn Schiff

Winter/Spring 2010 NONFICTION CONTEST

We welcome submissions of personal essays, memoir, profiles, and other nonfiction pieces not exceeding 4,000 words. Submit two copies of your manuscript: one with your name and contact information and one without. Manuscripts should not exceed 4,000 words; they should be typed and double-spaced with numbered pages. Include a cover letter and a SASE for response. The reading fee is $15. Please make checks or money orders payable to George Mason University. Contest entries are not returned.

Deadline: October 15, 2009.

Judge: Richard Hoffman

Summer/Fall 2010 SHORT FICTION CONTEST

Submit two copies of your manuscript: one with your name and contact information and one without. Manuscripts should not exceed 5,000 words; t
hey should be typed and double-spaced with numbered pages. Include a cover letter and a SASE for response. The reading fee is $15. Please make checks or money orders payable to George Mason University. Contest entries are not returned.

Deadline: March 15, 2010.

Judge: Chimamanda Adichie

Contest Submission Guidelines

To be considered for our annual contests, entrants should send the following:

   1. Two copies of the manuscript, one with entrant name and contact information and one without.

   2. $15 entry fee via check or money order made out to George Mason University. PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH. The entry fees are what make this contest possible.

   3. SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope).

   4. A cover letter stating the following:

* Your complete contact information. Note that we prefer home contact infromation, and please include an e-mail address if possible.

* That your work is a contest entry.

* A bio, not longer than 75 words, that describes your background as a writer or artist, including awards or other publications.

* How you heard about So to Speak (for example, if through a directory, which one?).

Mail Contest Submissions to

So to Speak

(Fiction or Nonfiction Contest)

George Mason University, MSN 2C5

4400 University Drive

Fairfax, VA 22030

Please make checks payable to George Mason University.

*Note* We will not consider any submission that does not adhere to the guidelines and will immediately recycle the submission.

Tarnished: True Tales of Innocence Lost

Details: Http://www.lifesabitchbooks.com/anthologies/calls-for-submissions

We want your true stories about your loss of innocence. Have you ever asked, “is
that all there is?” When did you first realize that you were no longer a child?
What happened to make you realize that life wasn’t always beautiful, and how did
you handle it? When did you lose your romantic notions of fairytale love? What
happened to change the way you view the world? Each of us has a moment or
experience that changed everything and you may have a story that we want to
publish.
Guidelines
All essays should be nonfiction narratives, written in the first-person. Focus
on one or a few selected events in your life; do not send rants or political
speeches. Stories should be titled. Essays should be between 1000 – 5000 words,
double spaced, paginated and word-processed. No funky fonts, please.
Please include a brief bio (1-3 sentences) at the end of your submission.
Deadline: March 1, 2010
Please send your submissions to: white@ifesabitchbooks.com

Writers chosen for the book will be contacted by May 1, 2010. Their selected
stories will be published in an anthology to be released fall 2010. Each
contributor receives two free copies of the finished book, will be included in
publicity promoting the book and will be invited to read at literary events
associated with the release of the book. Books will be available on amazon.com
and our company website.
Feel free to repost and forward!

Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize

Deadline: Oct. 1, 2009
Guidelines

Now in its 19th year, the Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize awards over $15,000 annually in Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction. But that's not all: winners are featured in the spring issue of The Missouri Review and flown to Columbia for a reading and reception. Three runners-up in each category receive cash prizes and are considered for publication. Full guidelines are available here.

Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize

Audio & Video Competition