Sherry Chandler » Contests
The Kentucky Women Writers Conference calls for submissions for their 2008 prizes:
Each year, the Kentucky Women Writers Conference offers opportunities for both emerging and established voices to be singled out and cheered on by our community.
This year, we are pleased to again present the Betty Gabehart Prize and also the Gypsy Slam Poetry Prize.
The Gabehart Prize is our way of honoring our good friend, patron, and long-time director who took the decade of the 1980s to show us all how it’s done. Three prizes are awarded, in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Each winner receives $100, two 2-day passes, and the opportunity to read her winning manuscript at the conference.
This post was written by sherry
The Kentucky State Poetry Society is now accepting entries for their 2008 contest.
Poets can compete in 25 categories this year, several of which pay as much as $100 for first place. I’m pleased to see the return of the Poet Laureate’s Prize, sponsored and judged this year by Jane Gentry. The Grand Prix pays $200, $100, and $50.
Submission deadline is June 30, 2008.
Entry fees for non-members are $2 per category (1 poem per category) and $5 for the Grand Prix.
You can get a full set of guidelines by downloading a pdf file here or by contacting the contest chairwoman, Irma Cooper, by e-mail at wordweaver313@adelphia.net.
Awards will be announced at the annual awards banquet, Pine Mountain State Resort Park, October 18. First prize winners will be published in the annual contest issue of Pegasus.
This post was written by sherry
After years of withering in an unfriendly legislative committee, a bill that would stop coal mine operators from filling valleys and creek beds with toxic excess waste jolted to life Tuesday.
House budget committee chairman Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, inserted language from the so-called stream saver bill into a decoy measure that would have given tax breaks for camels and heard 90 minutes of testimony on the proposal from various proponents.
Believe it or not, there are a few camels in Kentucky and with the droughty summers we’ve been having they may become more popular.
Be that as it may, this “decoy measure” was necessary because Jim Gooch, the chair of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee has refused to let HB 164 out of committee for three years. You remember Jim Gooch, the man who holds committee meetings on global warming and invites only the wing-nuttiest opponents, the man who wants political cartoonists declared lobbyists, the man who sells mining equipment to coal companies. No conflict of interest of course for such a man to be chair of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee.
Decimation of our mountains is bad enough, but as House testimony showed yesterday, the fallout of mountaintop removal mining effects water quality for a large part of the state:
Two university scientists testified in favor of the measure, saying the industry’s practice of pushing spoil and overburden over mountainsides and into the valleys below is harming water quality, increasing the potential for floods and destroying aquatic habitat.
“The increase in metal concentrations is particularly alarming because of their toxicity to humans and wildlife,” said Nathaniel Hitt, a research associate in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Virginia Tech University.
As a result, many of the small streams that now flow into tributaries of the Kentucky River, which supplies water to 800,000 Kentuckians, are “as colorful as a fall Oak tree,” said Democrat Don Pasley of Winchester, the sponsor of HB 164.
“While questions about Central Kentucky’s water supply have divided us in recent years, we should at least be able to agree that it should be clean,” Pasley said.
This bill may come to a committee vote today (March 5). Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Central Kentucky Council for Peace & Justice are urging us all to call House Appropriations and Revenue Committee members before 1:30 today in support of this bill.
***
In other good news, Dennis Kucinich won his Ohio primary bid yesterday.
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) — Voters in two southern Vermont towns passed articles Tuesday calling for the indictment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for violating the Constitution.
More symbolic than substantive, the items sought to have police arrest Bush and Cheney if they ever visit Brattleboro or nearby Marlboro or to extradite them for prosecution elsewhere — if they’re not impeached first.
This post was written by sherry
Well, your Senate just made the Bush unitary presidency stronger by passing a FISA bill that gives the executive branch the right to decide who they should spy on, without judicial review, and gives the telecommunications industry retroactive immunity from legal action for giving up your information.
You might call your Congress person and suggest that s/he support the RESTORE act. Otherwise, unfettered spying for six years.
Meanwhile Antonin Scalia continues his charm offensive, saying torture is just all right with him and you can’t call it “cruel and unusual” unless it’s punishment for a crime. Waterboarding equals a smack in the face? Guess we have a hint how the Supremes might decide on the question of admitting evidence obtained by torture.
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, when everything is pink and rosey. Except in the coal-bearing Appalachians. Still time to consider joining the I Love Mountains Day Rally. Wendell Berry will be there. And it looks like the weather is gonna cooperate. Forecast calls for 45 and sunny.
Friday, February 15, is the postmark deadline for entries to The Heartland Review’s Joy Bale Boone poetry prize. Kathleen Driskell judges.
AND February 29th, Leap Day, is deadline for the Green River Writers suite of contests. (Link is to PDF file.)
This post was written by sherry
MotesBooks of Louisville will accept manuscripts and artwork for an anthology to be published in the summer of 2008. All pieces in the book will focus on Mountaintop Removal (MTR) coal mining. Submission period closes March 1, 2008. To accommodate elementary, middle school, high school and college writers, contributors can be any age up to 24 years. Home-schoolers and non-students meeting the age requirement are also encouraged to submit.
Working title: WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM
Working subtitle: Young Americans Reflect On Mountaintop Removal
Edited by writer, editor, songwriter & MTR activist Jason Howard.
With a foreword by novelist, dramatist, songwriter & MTR activist Silas House.
Literary submissions on the theme may be poems, short stories, song lyrics, short scripts, essays, articles, letters, or creative nonfiction of any length up to 4,000 words. The pieces may approach the MTR theme from any angle – human, environmental, political, cultural, economic, health, water, air, energy, tourism, jobs, coal conversion, etc. Works submitted do not necessarily have to limit their focus to the results of MTR in Appalachia. All points of view are welcomed.
Visual submissions may include sketches, drawings and other original artworks rendered in black-and-white and submitted in the form of a high resolution .tiff file. They should address MTR-related themes. High resolution color images may be submitted for consideration as cover art, as well.
Award: After publication, a panel of adult writers and activists will select the work of a single contributor to be awarded a Youth Activism+Art prize of $100.
Payment: If accepted for publication, every contributor will receive one (1) complimentary copy upon publication as payment, shipped to address provided in submission materials. Contributors will also receive an ongoing contributor’s discount for purchase of additional copies.
The book will be manufactured in softcover, perfectbound format. Basic retail marketing outlets will include Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and the publisher’s websites: www.MotesBooks.com (site of MotesBooks literary imprint) and www.EvaMedia.com (site that primarily serves schools). Wholesales will be available to retailers. Special marketing strategies and events will also be utilized, including at least one reading by selected contributors (at the invitation of the publisher).
Questions? Visit www.MotesBooks.com or email MTR@MotesBooks.com using “MTR ANTHOLOGY” as the subject line.
Writers and artists retain copyright on individual pieces.
Do not send previously published or simultaneously submitted material.
Submission guarantees that the work is original and is created by the student whose name is affixed to it.
Include author bio and contact information (including school affiliation, grade level, age, phone, snail mail, e-mail address, and teacher sponsor, if applicable) with each submission. Teachers may make submissions on behalf of students if individual cover letters signed by each student contributor are included.
Send WRITING in hard copy only (no email attachments) to: MotesBooks MTR Anthology, PO Box 6034, Louisville KY 40206. Use Arial 12 pt. font. Do not send originals; submissions will not be returned. If you want confirmation of receipt, include SASP (self-addressed stamped postcard). NOTE: If accepted, submissions will subsequently be requested in the form of a text or Word file. DO NOT INITIALLY SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS BY EMAIL — HARD COPY ONLY!
VISUAL ART should be submitted in digital form only via email or CD. Submission should include name, age, and all contact info, brief artist statement, and bio. Artwork received by email attachment will elicit a return email confirming inbox arrival. For artwork submissions, use “MTR ANTHOLOGY” as the subject line; send .tiff file by e-mail to MTR@MotesBooks.com, or mail disc to: MotesBooks MTR Anthology, PO Box 6034, Louisville KY 40206. No hard copy is required for visual art submissions. Discs or other submission materials will not be returned. SUBMIT HIGH RESOLUTION (300 dpi) TIFF FILES ONLY; NO JPG FILES WILL BE CONSIDERED. If image files are too large to email, contact us for FTP upload instructions.
Both writers and visual artists must include a 30-40 word bio to appear in Contributor’s Notes section of the anthology in the event that work is accepted. Bios may include previous publishing credits, name of school and current level in school (if still a student), background on the piece submitted, or other information as desired.
Submission guarantees that contributors agree that selected submissions may be posted on MotesBooks and/or EvaMedia websites and used in promotional & marketing materials.
Submission deadline is March 1, 2008 May 1, 2008. Book publication is targeted for July 2008.
This post was written by sherry
The Green River Writers Writing Contest is now open for submissions.
This year’s contest offers 17 categories in fiction and poetry, along with six categories for Young Writers (grades 3-12).
Entry fees are $8 each entry for the three grand prize categories, $4 each entry for all other categories. Young Writers enter free.
Unless otherwise state, categories are judged by the sponsors.
Post-mark deadline February 29 (Leap Day).
This post was written by sherry
Postmark deadline for Heartland Review’s 2008 Joy Bale Boone Prize is February 1 15 , so get those poems in the mail!
Judge for 2008 is Kathleen Driskell, Associate Professor and Associate Program Director of the brief-residency MFA program at Spalding University. Her full-length collection of poetry, Laughing Sickness, was published by Fleur-de-Lis Press in 1999 and is in its second printing.
Fee: $5.00 for one poem, $3.00 for each additional poem. Make checks payable to The Heartland Review.
Poems should not be longer than 30 lines.
Send a cover sheet with name, address, and a short bio. DO NOT put identifying material on the poems.
Send SASE for results.
Mail entries to:
2008 Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize
c/o Mick Kennedy
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College
600 College Street Road
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
This post was written by sherry
It’s time again for the Carnegie Center’s annual Legacies Writing Contest for Writers Over 55.
Awards will be offered for the best entries submitted: Poems, stories, essays, or memoirs drawn from the author’s personal history.
The cash prize is $100 for first place and $50 for second.
Winners and finalists will participate in the annual Legacies Reading at the Carnegie Center on Tuesday, March 4 at 6:30 pm, when the Legacies Medallion, donated in memory of Carole Pettit, will be presented.
Entries will be judged by a qualified panel.
Writers over 55 should submit manuscripts up to 1500 words (about five typed, double-spaced pages, which may include up to five poems).
There is a $10 reading fee per five-page entry, payable to the Carnegie Center.
Entries should include a cover page complete with author’s name, address, email address, phone number, and date of birth. Names should NOT appear on the entry itself.
Deadline for submissions is SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9. Entries most be postmarked or received by that date.
Send submissions to:
LEGACIES
The Carnegie Center
251 West Second Street
Lexington, KY 40507
This post was written by sherry
Finishing Line Press has announced their tenth annual New Women’s Voices chapbook competition. Deadline is February 15. Click here for guidelines.
The Heartland Review has announced its third annual short-short fiction contest. Deadline is January 1. Click here for guidelines.
This post was written by sherry
The Heartland Review’s Third Annual Short-short Fiction Prize
1st Place - $100 and publication in The Heartland Review’s winter issue
2nd Place - $75 and publication in The Heartland Review’s winter issue
3rd Place - $50 and publication in The Heartland Review’s winter issue
Submissions should be no longer than 1000 words, typed, and double-spaced.
There is a $5 entry fee for each story. (Checks should be made out to The Heartland Review.)
Send cover page with name, address, and word count. Name and address should not appear on the pages of the story. Submissions are juried blind by The Heartland Review’s Editorial Board.
Post-mark deadline for entries is November 20, 2007.
Winners will be announced in December and invited to read at the Morrison Gallery Poetry Series.
Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope for results.
Mail entries to:
The Heartland Review
Short-short Fiction Prize
c/o Mick Kennedy
Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
600 College Street Road
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
For more information e-mail Mick Kennedy at
mick.kennedy@kctcs.edu or call (270) 706-8407
This post was written by sherry
