Attention, California Poets and Fiction Writers!

Although we need to wait until August to find out which state's writers will be able to compete for the 2007 Poets & Writers Writers Exchange award, information is now available for a parallel California Writers Exchange contest, made possible by a special grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

"Selected by renowned judges, the winning writers receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City, where they meet with agents, editors, and prominent writers, and give a public reading of their work." One poet and one fiction writer will be chosen; they will also receive $500 honoraria.

The contest is open to California poets and fiction writers who have never published a book, or who have published (self-published books do not count) no more than one full-length book in the genre in which they are applying. Applicants must have resided in California for a minimum of two years prior to the date they submit their manuscripts.

There is NO FEE to apply. Application deadline: August 31, 2006.

Find out more and download the required entry form here.

Contest Results

It's relatively easy to find contest announcements, but not always so simple to learn the competitions' results. That's why I was so pleased to hear back from the organizers of the Like Heaven Short Story Competition, which you may have read about here awhile back. Congratulations to all!

Winner - Like Heaven Short Story Competition

We want to thank entrants and website managers for their support to this competition. We also want to thank British writer Andrea Semple for acting as one of the judges. We received nearly 100 entries, many containing very fine writing. We want to commend all the entrants on their talent and dedication. The following writers, in particular, sent work in that was very enjoyable and/or moving to read.

Writers of Shortlisted Entries: Samara McDowell, Emily Waples, Leigh Hancock, Tom Bentley, Lucas Shane Triplett, Sharon Wright, Nancy Malek, Sue Orenstein, Robert Ronsson, Richard Leo Barrett, Gina DaMaia, Gimbiya Kettering, Jonathan Gurling, Polly Nelson, Louise Wilford

Three finalists were eventually chosen out of the shortlist and we read their stories with pleasure over and over. Those writers were: Lucas Shane Triplett, Samara McDowell and Robert Ronsson.

The judges had a very difficult time selecting an overall winner but were finally able to do so. We are very proud to announce that

The Winner of the Like Heaven Short Story Competition is Robert Ronsson.*

The winning story, as well as some from the shortlist will soon appear on the Like Heaven Writing Holiday website. Again, we want to thank all those who helped make this competition a success and wish you all good luck with your writing.

Niala Maharaj
Sally Sontheimer

*Robert started writing with the intention of getting published in June 2004. He has completed two novels - one of which is for children aged 0-15. Neither has secured a publication deal - yet. Robert is currently researching and drafting his next book, a fictional account of how his father's birth in 1920 changed the course of British political history.

Deadline Extended

This just in from Camille Cusumano:

Greece, a Love Story anthology by Seal Press is still open to submissions AND the deadline is extended to July 1.

See www.sealpress.com under Submissions, (also pasted in below).

If you've already sent a story and I acknowledged its receipt, no need to inquire further---I will notify you as the selection process proceeds.

Thanks for all your interest in the book,

Camille



CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

GREECE, A LOVE STORY
Women Write About the Greek Experience

Slated for Spring 2007

Greece evokes a richly embroidered tapestry of images, from old monuments rife with history to idyllic isles of glass-blue sea and blinding white stucco dwellings. The ancient Greeks, as well as the contemporary, permeate our Western culture with the unparalleled gifts of beauty and wisdom they left behind: classical literature, mythology, philosophy, rhetoric; a mind-stirring history and civilization; and a language that is musical and expressive of emotions/ideas not reflected in other languages. Vestiges of their artistic genius are huge and imposing: Greek temples, marvels of architecture such as Athens's Parthenon and Acropolis, gracefully sculptured statues, delicate pottery. Greece, it is said, is where “art became inseparable from life.”

We are looking for twenty to thirty essays to fill this collection on the Greece that lies behind postcards. We would like personal stories that go beyond the practical travel guide and that embrace more “literary” travel writing, from writers who have been deeply affected by the country. Writers will demonstrate that they have had some kind of love affair with the country, whether with its people, cities, islands, food, history, art, or culture.

For examples of the various styles of writing that will work for this collection, see essays in the books already published in the “Love Story” series—on France, Italy, and Mexico. As with these anthologies, Greece, A Love Story will embrace every angle of love—whether of place, people, food, culture, or art—and the stories will capture the experience that changes, teaches, enlightens the author-and by extension the reader.

We are looking for strong narratives, excellent first-person writing, good storytelling, and diverse voices. Personal style and humor are encouraged.

EDITOR: Camille Cusumano was an editor at VIA Magazine in San Francisco for 17 years. She is the author of many food and travel articles and several books and the editor of France, A Love Story, Italy, A Love Story, and Mexico, A Love Story.

PUBLISHER: Seal Press, an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group, Inc.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2006

LENGTH: 2,500 to 5,000 words

FORMAT: Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please include your address, phone number, email address, and a short bio on the last page.

SUBMITTING: Electronic submissions are preferred. Send essay electronically as a Word or Rich Text Format file (with .doc or .rtf extension) to CAMILLE CUSUMANO at ocaramia(at)earthlink.net. Put GREECE A LOVE STORY in the subject line. If email is not possible, mail the essay to CAMILLE CUSUMANO, Seal Press, c/o Denise Silva, 1400 65th Street, Suite 250, Emeryville, CA 94608. Please direct any inquiries to ocaramia(at)earthlink.net.

PAYMENT: $100

REPLY: Editor cannot reply to every submission personally. Please allow until July 31, 2006, for a response. If you haven't received a response by then, please assume your essay has not been selected.

Blog Break

I'll be away from the blog for the next several days (yes, I'm taking an extended Memorial Day break). But don't worry--I'm still planning to send out the next "Practicing Writer" newsletter at the end of the week (look for a feature article especially for past, present, and future MFA grads--'tis the season, after all).

See you back here next week!

Another No-Cost Contest for Poets

Writing about work is something that's interested me for awhile (AWP members can read my article, "Working Men and Women: Characters and Their Development," over at the AWP site: you'll need to log into eLink, click "Chronicle," and then click "eLink Exclusive" to access it).

Now there's an interesting opportunity for poets writing about work, too: the Being at Work Poetry Challenge.

From the announcement:

Work in the hustle and bustle of the now is central to the human experience, yet rarely do we sit back and think about how work has come to define our being. In an attempt to explore this notion we are challenging experienced and beginner poets to submit poetry that captures the essence, nuance and personal of worklife experiences. We're looking for poems by people about the work they personally do or have done, paid or unpaid, blue- or white- or no-collar. And for poems about the work of looking for work, and about how our hours at work affect the rest of our lives. In an attempt to reach people from all walks of life we have organized two contests; one contest for experienced poets and another contest for everybody else. Challenge our unique panel of judges and tell us about your work.

"Experienced poets," for this purpose, include "those with at least 6 works published in literary magazines and/or have one of their collections published by a reputable publisher." Note that "we would like to focus on poems outside of the work involved in the writing process."

This is a Canadian-organized contest, so I'm assuming that the prize money is to be awarded in Canadian currency: $300 for first prize; $150 for second prize; $75 for third prize, in each contest. A selection of winning poems will be published in Our Times, "Canada's independent labour magazine."

There is no entry fee. You can submit by postal mail or e-mail. Deadline: July 31, 2006.

For more information and submission instructions, visit the Web site.

(Source: CRWROPPS)

New Market for Writing on Writing

Just found out about a new (low-paying, but paying) bi-weekly e-zine for writers, Coffee Break for Writers. The editor really seems to have thought a lot about what she wants in the content, and offers detailed guidelines at the site. You can also request an even more specific theme list.

Remember, you'll find many more possibilities in our new guide, WRITERS' MARKETS: Where To Sell What You Write When You Write About Writing. Download your free preview (with sample market listings) today!

Family Health History

You may already know that family history is one of my obsessions--I mean, hobbies. Sometimes, obsessions can be healthy. Check out my article on family health history, first published in Family Chronicle, reprinted in Reunions magazine, and now available online. There's lots of other useful information on family health history on that page, too—just in time for the summer family reunion season.

Tattoo Tales

Now that there are lots of little kiddies in our extended family, I have the privilege and pleasure of attending plenty of interesting birthday parties. At one little one's celebration last month, "temporary tattoos" were part of the fun. They made quite an impression; my not-yet-three-year-old niece is still talking about them.

Too bad she can't write yet. It seems that grownups find tattoos worth discussing, too; right now there's a call for submissions for a volume to be titled Chick Ink: Every Tattoo Has A Story. The editor is looking for "original, true, personal stories by women on the experience of being a woman with a tattoo--the ups, the downs, and everything in between." The publisher is Adams Media, and the submission deadline is May 31, 2006. Essays should run 1,000-1,500 words. Note: "Stories must be TRUE, we do not publish fiction or poetry." You may submit multiple essays. Payment for selected writers will be $100 plus one copy of the book.

To read the complete call with submission instructions, click here.

Occupational Hazards

The more time I spend at the computer the more often I feel disturbing pains in my fingers, hands, and wrists. I need to heed some of the advice in Geoff Hart's article on avoiding repetitive-stress injuries. Maybe you do, too. (Thanks to Claire Zulkey at the MB Toolbox for the lead.)

More MFA News

Judging from this job announcement for an MFA Coordinator/Creative Writing Instructor, Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, KY) will launch a low-residency MFA program in 2007, with residencies in June and January.

E-book Updates

I like to keep our market directory e-books as current and correct as possible, which means that I update each of them more than once each year. The latest versions of our guides to paying poetry markets and paying essay markets are now available, and I hope you'll check them out soon (you can download a free preview of each and see some sample listings from each one before purchasing).

As you may remember I recently made our directory of paying short story markets free to all practicing writers, because I'd located an free online resource offering very similar material. But I think you'll agree that our poetry and essay e-books are still rarities, products of careful research through not only literary journals but also through a variety of newspapers, hobby magazines, regional publications, anthology series, and other possibilities.

Remember, our e-book market guides direct you only to markets that reveal their pay rates/terms (and guidelines) up front and online, so you're not left guessing how much you may be paid, or how to submit your work. (And compare the prices to other e-books you may find for sale elsewhere. I doubt you'll find a better deal anywhere.)

So check them out and, please, let me know of any sales that come your way through their tips!

Southern Arts Journal--Hold Your Submissions

From the Southern Arts Journal submission guidelines:

Please be advised that at this time we have stopped accepting new material, as well as unsolicited queries regarding new content, as we are full up for upcoming issues. Should this condition change we will post the information here.

Thank you for your continuing interest.

Prize-Winning Poetry Wanted

Triplopia is running a "Best of the Best" Poetry Competition ("because great poems deserve to win more than once!").

The prize includes $100(US), an author interview, and publication in Triplopia.

Deadline: May 31, 2006

NO ENTRY FEE

You must hold copyright for your submission, a poem which must have won 1st place in a poetry competition (either online or print). Check out the full guidelines here. Good luck!

(via Duotrope's Digest)

New Magazines

Maybe you're up for some market research this weekend. If you want to know about new magazines--presumably open to writers--check out the archived Media Focus articles over at Bacon's The Navigator. And find the current Media Focus feature here.

If you're willing to do some more independent research, you'll find lists of newly-launched magazines (which you can then investigate on your own) over at the site of Samir "Mr. Magazine" Husni, Ph.D.: Mr. Magazine.

Happy hunting!

SavvyMiss.com Seeks Freelancers

"Savvy Miss, LLC is a new website community dedicated to connecting, empowering, and informing savvy women everywhere. Updated daily, our fresh and unique content includes articles, interviews and expert Q&As regarding careers, colleges, books, dating, volunteer information, and important societal issues--everything that intellectually curious, fun-loving women want to know."

You can visit the Savvy Miss Web site for a sense of the tone/content. You can also request a copy of their (detailed) writer's guidelines (pay rates are included).

Source: JournalismJobs.com

And More Baseball Writing

As a timely follow-up to my recent post on a market for baseball writing, I'm happy to share this call for submissions just received from Adam Pachter (actually, I'll 'fess up and say that it was a conversation with Adam at the Grub Street "Muse and the Marketplace" conference this weekend that reminded me to post the other baseball writing news, too):

Adam Pachter, editor of Fenway Fiction, the first all-fiction anthology devoted to stories about the Boston Red Sox, is currently working on a sequel and would welcome submissions of short stories, play and novel excerpts, poems, etc. There are only two real requirements: 1)the submission must be fiction; and 2)it must relate in some way to the Red Sox. Stories from 1,000-10,000 words are fine, and I'd like to have submissions in at some point this summer. Everyone whose story is published in the sequel will receive a share of the royalties as payment. Send submissions to adampachter(at)yahoo(dot)com; if you'd like more information about Fenway Fiction, it's in bookstores now or you can visit http://rounderbooks.com.

Jobs for Translators

Awhile back I mentioned a great new resource for translators: Brett Jocelyn Epstein's Brave New Words blog. Recently Brett's been posting on the subject of finding translation jobs. Read this post for some good leads/links.

Baseball Writing

I've been meaning to post something about 108, a new magazine debuting this summer, which I learned about from Inkygirl.

According to its submission guidelines, 108 "welcomes unsolicited submissions of original and fresh fiction, non-fiction, photographs, illustrations, and cartoons. All submissions to 108 should relate to baseball and its historical and/or cultural connection to society and community."

Payment "will vary"; fees "typically range" between $.50 and $1.00 per word for written submissions, $100 and $500 per photograph or illustration, and between $100 and $500 per cartoon.

Visit the magazine's Web site for more information.

Post-Conference Post #2

And now for a more leisurely report on my weekend at Grub Street's 2006 "Muse and the Marketplace Conference":

(For more information and the full 2006 program, including brief descriptions of the many workshops I was not able to attend, click here. By the way, until I figure out how to include captions with the photos you'll have to bear with me. For the curious, the photo to the right shows Michael Lowenthal and James Wood listening to Grace Paley at the Sunday Keynote Brunch. And if any of you have tips on how to manage such captions [is this something managed through Blogger or through my beleaguered-and-outdated iPhoto program?] please tell me!)

My Saturday highlights included sessions led by Matthew Pearl ("The Thrill of History") and the aforementioned Michael Lowenthal ("Clockwatchers: Time Management in Fiction"). Pearl's workshop featured plenty of lively audience discussion on historical fiction: what it is, how we write it, how we read it, what "ethics" may (or may not) apply in working within this field. Pearl also treated us to the first public reading from his new novel, The Poe Shadow. That's definitely going on my to-read list.

For Lowenthal's workshop, we'd been e-mailed a reading assignment in advance (this is perhaps a good moment to mention that Grub Street's conference is exceedingly well-organized). On Saturday, Lowenthal offered an exceptionally detailed close reading of a chapter from Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road to illustrate how a fiction writer can employ chronology as a tool in the fiction "toolbox." And guess what? We need not rely solely on our beloved space breaks! There are other ways to go back and forth in time in fiction.

Why is this important? Because these shifts, as we saw in the careful analysis of the Yates novel excerpt, can add so much richness to our understanding of a character's goals and emotions. (The second reading assignment, by the way, was an excerpt from Alice Munro's story, "Chance," in the Runaway collection.)

For me, Lowenthal's workshop was followed by a meeting with an agent in the "Manuscript Mart." The Manuscript Mart was also conducted really well--Grub "officials" enforced time limits and the agent with whom I met had, indeed, received the materials I'd forwarded through Grub. Even better, she'd enjoyed what I'd sent!

Sunday's program began, in my case, with James Wood's very smart session on "How to Narrate." It was wonderful to hear Wood read--in his British accent--from two Henry James novels. Frankly, as soon as I saw that Wood had given us handouts of James excerpts I knew it would be a seminar I'd like. Since I've fairly recently read What Maisie Knew (I took the reading suggestion from Brian Kiteley's points about this book [a divorce story told from a child's perspective] in The 3 A.M. Epiphany), I was particularly interested to hear Wood's comments on that work. But the overall point Wood seemed to emphasize was how a third-person point of view can afford a great freedom. (I've always thought so. I usually don't write fiction in the first-person and have sometimes wondered why it really does seem to appeal to so many writers so often.)

After the morning sessions everyone gathered for the keynote brunch. Grace Paley read from her work and answered questions on the topic of "writers as agents of social change." She read fiction (a short story titled, "Wants"); nonfiction (an utterly amazing piece--perhaps even more powerful read aloud by the author than it would be on the page, but I haven't yet tracked it down to find out for certain) called "Three Days and a Question"; a piece she described as between fiction and nonfiction (I didn't catch the title!); and a poem titled "Responsibility." (You can read this poem, albeit somewhat piecemeal, here.)

It was all pretty riveting.

Overall, it was a terrific conference. Congratulations to Grub Street on (another) job very well done!

Post-Conference Post #1

To tide you over until I can write more about Grub Street's "Muse and the Marketplace" conference (and possibly post another photo or two!) here's a snapshot of Grace Paley delivering her keynote address today. Topic: "Beyond the Marketplace: Writers as Agents of Social Change."

(One of the best compliments I have ever received about one of my short stories--possibly the best compliment--was that a particular aspect of the story was "worthy of Grace Paley.")

Weekend Conference

Busy weekend ahead. I'll be attending Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace Conference. I'll report back next week (and yes, I hope to have photographs to share, too!).

From My Bookshelf

This week I read Valerie Martin's new collection, The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories. (The book will apparently be released here in the U.S. next week; I read the version published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in London.)

So what was my rush? Well, I'd seen the title listed among forthcoming spring publications some months back, and the title itself ("The Unfinished Novel") caught my writerly attention.

But what really sealed the deal for me was a Boston Globe interview Anna Mundow conducted with Martin. Titled "Portraits of Artists as Conflicted Beings," the interview highlighted the collection's portrayals of artists, as Mundow summarizes it, "in all their vileness, sublimity, and humanity." It included this exchange:

Q: These artists are generally selfish, dishonest, cruel. Is that an occupational hazard?

A: [Laughs]. It's an occupational hazard of being human. I don't think of my artists as particularly repulsive. But ambition of any sort puts you in moral quandaries. Artists, however, are persuaded that their goal is somehow sublime. It's a bit like religion. They feel themselves to be in the service of something.

Q: Are the artistic life and the moral life incompatible?

A: I wish I had said that. I totally agree. Or let's just say it's a struggle.

Now, how can any writer-who-reads resist that, in this age of literary ethical "scandals"?

You might find some of the "moral quandaries" in these stories rather unsurprising. But the title story is a standout. And the writing itself is excellent.

Another Chicken Soup Call

Chicken Soup for the Soul: People Helping People is open for submissions. The deadline is August 31, 2006 ("but don't procrastinate!"). Payment for accepted stories is $200 (or 16 complimentary copies of the book--your choice), per story. Payment for published poems is $50 on publication. You may submit previously published work. Details about what's sought and how to send it here.

Hold Off On Your Submissions

Two pieces of news I picked up from Duotrope's Digest:

1) Lorraine and James is on hiatus. According to the magazine's Web site, "We are not sure how long this break will last or if we will have to simply call it a wrap--that remains to be seen."

2) Chattahoochee Review is closed to submissions until January 2007. Click the "submissions" link at the journal's Web site to read the announcement.

Call for Submissions from ColorLines

I've been trying to track down this call for fiction submissions for awhile. Another practicing writer told me about it earlier this spring but I wasn't able to find the call on the magazine's own Web site. (As you may have figured out by now, if you follow this blog or our newsletter, my preference is to take you directly to the source, so to speak, whenever I can. And even then, if I've found out about the opportunity from another writer's blog/site or an announcement list, I try to give that piece of research/discovery credit where it's due.)

Anyway, in this case I wrote to ColorLines and the associate publisher was kind enough to e-mail me back with the information:

ColorLines, the national newsmagazine on race and politics, is proud to announce its first issue devoted to fiction!

We're looking for short stories and novel excerpts written by people of color. We are specifically interested in fiction that addresses the themes of race, politics, immigration and culture. We are open to a range of genres including fantasy, literary stories, crime, and mystery.

Due date: July 15, 2006

Submission guidelines

Your submission should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

Send it as an electronic version (as a Microsoft Word attachment or rich text file) to daisy(at)arc(dot)org. The subject line of your email should read: SUBMISSION and your full name.

The piece should not have been previously published. Let us know if you're submitting it simultaneously to other publications.

Payment: $100 plus two copies of the magazine.

Paying Fiction Markets

I've recently discovered Duotrope's Digest of Fiction Fields, an excellent (and currently free) source of information on paying fiction markets.

Now that I've had a little time to explore the Duotrope site, and have determined that it's pretty thorough (and unbeatably timely) with its information, I can't really see a good reason to keep selling our own e-book guide to paying short story markets. So as of today, that e-book (just updated last month) is going to be available at no charge here.

I hope you find it helpful--I think it does include at least a few markets you still won't find at Duotrope. And if I ever feel there's a real need for our e-book to come back in a new life, I will let you know!

Political Poetry

"Political fiction" is something many American writers (and readers) try to stay away from. But poets and poetry generally have more latitude to deal with "political" content and express "political" messages.

Or do they? Apparently some people doubt the very presence of political poetry in this country. Robert Pinsky's latest Poet's Choice column discusses "political poetry."