Newsletter for January 2024

 Thank you, as ever, to Becky

Subscribe to the Vermont Arts Calendar! This is a statewide, crowdsourced directory of arts and culture events around the state. Check it out at HERE

Check out upcoming Vermont Humanities Council events HERE.

Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest Info HERE An annual prize of $1000 for a single poem, judged by Marge Piercy. Applicants can submit up to five poems with a $15 entry fee by January 31.

Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards. Info HERE.  An annual prize of $2000 for a single poem. Submit three copies of up to five poems with an $18 entry fee by February 1.

American Short(er) Fiction Prize. Infor found HERE. Submit up to three stories of no more than 1000 words each with an $18 entry fee by February 1. Prize of $1000.

Wild Women Story Contest. Info HERE. A prize of $1,000 and publication in TulipTree Review is given annually for a single poem, a short story, or an essay “whose main characters embody the wild woman spirit.” Submit up to five pages of poetry or up to 10,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by March 8.

James Jones Literary Society: First Novel Fellowship. Infor HERE   A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a novel-in-progress by a U.S. writer who has not published a novel. The first runner-up receives $3,000 and the second runner-up receives $2,000.  Using only the online submission system, submit the first 50 pages of a novel-in-progress and a synopsis of up to two pages with a $33 entry fee by March 15. 

Reedsy Prompts Weekly Writing Competition HERE. A prompt a week – winner gets $250.

Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize.  Info found HERE Submissions are open from August 1, 2024 to November 2, 2024. Stories should be from 500 to 10,000 words and in any range of speculative fiction: fairy tale, magic realism, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and the like. Winner gets $1000; entry fee is $23.

BEST BOOKS FOR WRITERS

Got something to recommend? Just contact me!

By Paul Anthony Jones, The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities: A Yearbook of Forgotten Words (University of Chicago Press, 2019) pairs a word, a day, and a notable event for each day of the year. January 1 hits it off with quaaltagh, meaning the first person you meet on New Year’s Day, a word that comes from Manx.

Meeting Minutes January 18, 2024

 Attendees: Judith, Don, Vickie, Nancy, Becky, Michelle

Contests

Frontier Poetry Ekphrastic Poetry Prize. (Ekphrasis comes from “description” in Greek. Ekphrastic poems seek to vibrantly describe, interpret, or converse with a visual scene or moment, usually a work of art. They often are about the speaker’s encounter with the art, and how viewing or experiencing it has impacted them. Think of Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats. $3,500 prize.  January 28, 2024.  Find more information HERE

Master's Review short story aware for new writers. $3,000 prize.  Deadline January 28, 2024.  More information found HERE

Fractured Lit: Ghosts, Fables and Fractured Fairy Tales contest.  $3,500 first prize. Flash fiction contest, 1,000 words or less. Deadline February 4, 2024.  More information found HERE

Craft Novelette Print Prize: 30-60 pages (7,500-15,000 words) $3,000 prize. Deadline March 17, 2024.  Find more information HERE 

Reading

Vickie read chapter 15 of her novel set during the Covid pandemic; Nancy read a short piece rejecting resolutions, but touting wishes; and Becky read a short essay imaginatively titled "Resolutions."

Michelle and Eileen are zeroing in on publication for their respective books - Michelle's YA novel and Eileen's sequel to The Gosling Bride. (Keep us posted and we'll plan a book launch party!)

We discussed having Bill Schubart back again in the spring - we'll talk about dates at next meeting. I'll invite him!

WRITING PROMPT for the next meeting is anything to do with February. Dismal winter month? Valentine's Day? (Chocolates and roses? Or every kid in the class got a Valentine but you?) Presidential birthdays? The pros and cons of leap year? Seasonal affective disorder?

Next Meeting, February 15, 6 pm at the Swanton Library.