Wednesday Writers Round-Up

December deadlines that keep you from Christmas shopping! (No need to thank us....)

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Call for Ten-Minute Plays, Fiction, and Poetry
Deadline: December 15th, 2009

Grist: The Journal for Writers is accepting unpublished ten-minute plays (8-12 pages) for their third issue. Note that this is an opportunity for publication only, not production. Grist is also accepting poetry and fiction for the third issue. All submissions are due by December 15th to be considered for the third issue. Please send submissions to the appropriate editor: George Pate, Drama Editor; Joshua Robbins, Poetry Editor; Adam Prince, Fiction Editor at Grist: The Journal for Writers, University of Tennessee, 301 McClung Tower, Knoxville, TN 37996.

For more information, go to the web site:
http://www.gristjournal.com

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A Little Girl Called Pauline, a print journal excited about the possibility of an experimental and diverse poetic landscape, is seeking submissions for its first issue. Poetry is our activism.

Our deadline for submissions for the first issue is December 15, but poems received after that date will be considered for later issues. Please visit our abysmal website if you are so inclined (http://alittlegirlcalledpauline.webs.com/) to witness our slow fertilization process.

Submissions of 3-5 poems (preferably as an attachment) should be sent to
alittlegirlcalledpauline@gmail.com

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The Mom Egg, an annual journal, seeks flash fiction, prose, poetry and art for its Spring 2010 issue, which will be a print issue on the theme of "Lessons". The Mom Egg publishes work by mothers about everything, and by everyone about mothers and motherhood. Details on the site ("Submit"); you can also download a special online issue free ("Current Issue") and see samples from back issues. Deadline Dec. 31, 2009. http://themomegg.com

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Fifth Wednesday Journal is accepting submissions for the Spring 2010 issue. Submissions for this issue will close on December 31, 2009. We publish poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and black and white photography.

All work must be submitted with our online submissions manager. Please visit the website for complete guidelines and instructions. www.fifthwednesdayjournal.org

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Bayonet, a print DIY art and literature magazine, is looking for submissions for its first issue. Poetry, flash fiction, and short non-fiction attached in .doc format will be considered, as well as any type of visual art in a jpg or pdf format.

Please e-mail the co-editor, Charlotte at charlotte845@gmail.com

Include a short cover letter and contact information (e-mail and mailing address). please put in the subject line "bayonet submission". Deadline for submissions is January 1, 2010. Thank you!

Writing Prompts

Last night was my second to last session of writers group for the year. One of the prompts I provided for the writers was to write in the P.O.V. of a place using "I am..." as a nudge into the piece. I gave them about 5 minutes since it was the first piece of the night and a bit of a warm up after the holidays. I wrote along and thought I'd share today. My place was Portland, Maine, a place I have visited ...

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I am dark water, November rain, statues of poets long-dead and longer forgotten. I am red and white towers, green and black mussels swimming in saffron. I'm Saturday afternoon happy hour lobster, $4 for 6 inches. I'm the slow roll of dockside walkway. I am men that smell of brine and their cracked hands and chapped lips. I'm hand-painted storefront, chipped and peeling each winter, re-coated and blister bright in May. I'm haunted brownstones, brick and board barrooms; glass-front, corner cafes where the squash soup was made this morning and the coffee is fresh because it never stops pouring. I'm fog and spray and lighthouses that keep ghosts and look for survivors. I'm the literature of Longfellow and the cry of a foghorn, long & low. I'm blue-collar, white-washed and live on salt water taffy and the meat of the sea drenched in butter.

Wednesday Writers Round Up

One to get you going (December 20, 2009 deadline) and two that allow you to take your time (ongoing).

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SPIRITS ART/LITERARY MAGAZINE

Now Accepting:

· Short Stories of 1,500 Words or Less
· One Act, One Scene Plays
· Photography
· Sketches
· Paintings
· Essays
· Poetry

Submit all work to: spirits@iun.edu

Deadline: December 20, 2009

*Include your full name, email address and a bio of 100 words or less.
*Artwork submissions must not include frames, borders or backdrops.

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Kartika Review is accepting submissions for upcoming issues of our online Asian-American literary magazine.

We accept fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art by Asian-American (west, east, central, south, and southeast Asian) writers and artists.

We are a quarterly journal. We read submissions all year. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

Full submission guidelines and the email addresses for submitting work are available at our website: http://www.kartikareview.com/submit.html

Kartika Review serves the Asian-American community and those involved with Diasporic Asian-inspired literature. We scout for compelling Asian American creative writing and artwork to present to the public at large. Our editors actively solicit contributions from established virtuosos in our community in hopes their works here will inspire the next generation of virtuosos. We also want to promote emerging writers and artists we foresee to be the future powerhouses of their craft. Ultimately, Kartika strives to create a literary forum that caters to and celebrates the wordsmiths of the Asian Diaspora.

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The Weekly Poet, a new literary blog, is now reading unsolicited submissions of between 3 and 10 poems. We intend to publish weekly. If accepted your poems will be featured on our front page for one week along with an extended bio and interview. http://www.weeklypoet.com/

The poems we intend to feature will be "well rounded," which means we pay equal attention to aesthetics as we do meaning. They should be tight. They should sound smooth when read aloud and demonstrate a good understanding of sonics. And they should have a profound theme or meaning which is arrived at through the combined effort of form and diction. Aside from that, we will consider any type of poem, so long as it does not go over 1 page in Microsoft Word in 12-pt Times New Roman with standard margins.

Feel free to submit between 3 and 10 previously unpublished poems to benjaminckrause@gmail.com, attached in a Word document with one poem per page. Cover letter is not required. Please include a bio of up to 100 words, including your publication history (list no more than 5 publications) if applicable and anything interesting about you. Please also put your name in the subject field of your email, along with the words "Submission" and "The Weekly Poet." Simultaneous submissions are fine and dandy; just notify us if a poem you have submitted is accepted elsewhere. No more than one submission per month please. We endeavor to reply to everyone, but if you do not follow these simple guidelines we need not show you that courtesy.

Wednesday Round Up - Themed Submissions

Hi Readers! We've noticed a trend in themed submissions and thought we'd include them in our Writers Round Up this week.

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The 2010 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize with guest judge Nathan Englander

http://www.symphonyspace.org/shorts/writing_contest

The winning submission, selected by Nathan Englander, will be read as part of the Selected Shorts performance at Symphony Space on April 7, 2010. The story will be recorded for possible later broadcast as part of the public radio series. The winner will receive $1000.

Story requirements

Submit a single short story that addresses the theme, Apartments and Neighbors
Your story must have a title. Make sure your name and contact information appear on the first page of your story. If you are submitting by online, this information needs to appear on the first page of the attached Word document. Include page numbers. Your story must be no more than 3 double-spaced typed pages in length (Times New Roman, 12pt font) and no more than 750 words.

Deadline

All submissions must be received by January 29, 2010. To be specific, online submissions must be submitted by 5pm Eastern Standard Time. Mailed submissions must arrive with the day's mail. (Entries postmarked on January 29 will NOT be accepted.)

Where to submit your story
http://www.symphonyspace.org/shorts/writing_contest

Mail to
CONTEST, Selected Shorts
Symphony Space
2537 Broadway
New York, NY 10025

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Call for Submissions: Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry http://www.poemeleon.org

We are now accepting submissions for Volume IV Issue 2, the collaborative issue. For this issue, we are looking for works that are collaborative in nature: poem collaborations, call-and-response, or poet/painter (or other medium) pairs/trios, etc. If there are two or more collaborators, and the project involves poetry, we might be interested. In addition to poems, we are looking for relevant essays and interviews that speak to the collaborative process.

Please visit the website for full guidelines. All submissions must come through our electronic submissions form: http://www.poemeleon.org/submission-guidelines2/

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Switched-on Gutenberg, one of the first on-line poetry journals, announces its 15th issue on the theme Gains and Losses. The issue is on-line at http://www.switched-ongutenberg.org

Accepting Submissions of Art and Poetry for Issue 16 on the theme "Assemblage":

--Will be taken from December 1, 2009 to March 1, 2010.
--ONE TO THREE POEMS ONLY, not to exceed 48 lines.
--Must be original (previously published work is okay if credits are included).
--Simultaneous submissions are OK, if you notify us as soon as any work is accepted elsewhere.
--Poetry can be in Text only (TXT or RTF) or in Word (DOC or DOCX) format or included in the body of the e-mail.
--Artwork should be in JPG, GIF, or PNG format.
--Should be e-mailed to editor@switchedongutenberg.org. Please include your name in the subject line.

All submissions should include:

--your name and e-mail address
--a short (three-line) biographical note.
--Address and phone number in case we need to contact you concerning a local reading.

We report on submissions 2 - 3 months after the close of the submission period. We plan to release Issue 16 in late-summer 2010.

For more information, check our web site: http://www.switched-ongutenberg.org

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Daughter/Father Stories Call for Submissions

Seeking Female Writers to to share how your father’s character, personality, and/or actions (in-actions) influenced your development, for the opportunity to be included in an anthology to be published in June 2010.

Details for submission can be found at www.daughterstory.blogspot.co

Deadline is December 15, 2009

No longer than 1200 words, your narrative should be emotionally moving and tangible with descriptive imagery readers can relate to via sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.

Email daughterstory@gmail.com
Include your full name, address, daytime phone number, and e-mail address. Your story MUST be submitted as a .doc attachment, or in the body of the email, double-spaced in 12pt. font, Times New Roman. Any other format will not be read.

In the subject line include your year of birth and a one-word theme for your narrative. Also include a bio—a short paragraph (of about 50 words or less) about you, promoting your latest book, project, etc.

Yeats

I'm currently reading about Yeats in order to more fully wrap him into a poem that has been evolving for a few years. It's a short piece, but I know that it is leading me to a deeper understanding of the poet (both Yeats and the poet inside myself).

Yeats had a belief in the higher self - the divinity in each of us and I find the more I read about him and his wife, Georgie, the closer I get to a Truth that has been wiggling its way to the surface of my consciousness. Prior to this, Yeats was never a favorite, but I have read his work and stood at his grave and now I am viewing the world from his shoulders by studying A Vision.

Its funny how you read someone and because of the place/time you are in your own life, you may or may not resonate with the work and then years later you pick them up again and are completely blown away by the absolute synergy of a moment meeting knowledge.

Hike & Write

Yesterday included a hike up the hill behind Brand Library. The trail is found along side the road that runs right behind the library building. It's a well-marked, narrow trail that begins as a switchback going along the hill but then for the most part heads straight up - no mamby-pamby, winding back and forth in a leisurely climb (like some trails in Griffith Park). If you want a challenge going both up and making your careful trek down (wear shoes with deep treads), Brand Library trail is highly recommended. What does this have to do with writing, you ask.

I find my mind is so busy with right brain, problem solving thinking that the editor shuts up for a whole hour and I come off the hill with a fresh perspective and new ideas practically popping out through my fingers.

Oh, and the view at the top - spectacular.

And One More...

MARY Magazine is in search of great work to publish!

Last-minute call for poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and art for our Winter Issue. Here’s a little about the publication:

MARY Magazine is the online arts journal sponsored by Saint Mary's College of California's MFA in Creative Writing program. Since 2002, MARY has published contemporary poetry, prose, and new media arts from a diverse group of established artists, including Peter Orner, Brian Doyle, Gillian Conoley, Bruce Smith, Elizabeth Robinson, Nora Pierce, Rebecca Curtis, Brian Glaser, Carol Snow, Maria Hummel, as well as talented emerging writers. MARY Magazine has conducted interviews with award-winning writers such as Michael Palmer, Pico Ayer, Andrew Sean Greer, Nick Flynn, Phil Jenks, Cristina Garcia, Susan Steinberg, Michael Pollen, John D'Agata, Jo Ann Beard, Mary Roach, Forrest Gander, and Chris Abani.

There is no fee to submit to MARY. Writers selected for standard publication are awarded $50. Those who are chosen for our NouVeau section, which is dedicated to emerging writers who have not yet been published, are not paid. Please visit www.maryjournal.org for more information and submission guidelines. When you’re ready to submit, send work to mary@stmarys-ca.edu. The deadline for the Winter issue is December 1st, 2009.

Wednesday Writers Round Up

Kicking off our weekly list of places that want your writing! We have provided a link to each call for submissions where you can get all the nitty-gritty details.

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Call for Submissions for CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOVEMBER 20, 2009. THIS IS A POSTMARK DEADLINE, SO THERE IS NO NEED TO EXPRESS MAIL, OVERNIGHT, OR FAX ANY SUBMISSION. CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW DOES NOT CONSIDER ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS AT ANY TIME, SO PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL YOUR SUBMISSION. THANK YOU.

Special Issue: Land of Lincoln, Writing from and about Illinois

CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW is seeking work for our Summer/Fall 2010 issue focusing on writing by Illinois writers and writing from writers outside Illinois about the people, places, past and present of Illinois. Especially interested in work about the distinctive neighborhoods and cities of Illinois, and its political, social, musical, cultural and sports history.

The submission period for this issue is August 1, 2009 through November 20, 2009. We will be reading submissions throughout this period and hope to complete the editorial work on the issue by the end of February 2010. Writers whose work is selected will receive $25 (US) per magazine page ($50 minimum for poetry; $100 minimum for prose) and two copies of the issue.

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Call for Submissions: The Survivor's Review

The Survivorʼs Review, a not-for-profit online journal encouraging the creative expression of cancer survivors, is seeking stories, essays and poems by those who are intimately familiar with the cancer journey. If you have written a piece that explores the heart of what it means to be a cancer survivor or caregiver, please consider submitting your work to us.

Submissions accepted at: www.survivorsreview.org

Our word count is flexible, but most of our features range from 100 to 1,000 words. Please visit our site and contact us with any questions.

Submissions received by December 1, 2009 will be considered for publication in our next issue.

Question: Who is a cancer survivor?

Answer: Anyone living with a history of cancer from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life.

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Online Journal Seeks Current Events Poetry

THE NEW VERSE NEWS covers the news of the day with poems on issues, large and small, international and local. It relies on the submission of poems (especially those of a politically progressive bent) by writers from all over the world.

The editors update the website every day or two with the best work received. What's best? A genuinely poetic take on a very current and specific news story or event.

See the website at http://www.newversenews.com for guidelines and for examples of the kinds of poems THE NEW VERSE NEWS publishes. Then paste your submission and a brief bio in the text of an email (no attachments, please) to nvneditor@yahoo.com. Write "Verse News Submission" in the subject line of your email.

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Tattoo Highway, an online journal of prose, poetry and art, is now reading
for TH/20: "Detours."

Deadline, Jan. 10, 2010.

GENERAL GUIDELINES: Our tastes are eclectic. We like fresh, vivid language,
and we like stories and poems that are actually about something -- that
acknowledge a world beyond the writer's own psyche. If they have an edge, if
they provoke us to think or make us laugh, so much the better. We strongly
suggest reading a previous issue or two before submitting.

While we particularly welcome poetry and short "screen-reader-friendly" prose or cross-genre pieces work. We encourage hypertext and new media (Flash .swf) submissions, also photographs and original graphics. All readings are "blind" (authors' names and other identifiers are removed). Writers may submit up to 5 poems, prosepoems or flash fictions (500 words max), or 2 longer prose pieces. While we prefer to see work that has not been previously published, we do consider work that has appeared in small-circulation print journals. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know promptly if you place a piece elsewhere.

As always, we're featuring our contest: "A Picture Worth 500 Words." Details on website.

HOW TO SUBMIT: Email submissions to submissions@tattoohighway.org, as Rich Text Format (RTF) attachments or as plain text in the body of your message, and with TH20 in the subject line. For hypertext and Flash submissions, provide us with an URL where we may view the work online. Send graphics in .jpg format.

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Porter Gulch Review invites submissions of poems, short stories, screenplays, paintings, drawings, photographs or anything else that can be transferred to paper.

Written works must be less than 5,000 words each. Up to four poems or two short stories. Typed, single-spaced, one copy only and no staples. Include a cover letter with your address, phone, email, titles of submissions and a 2-3 sentence playful bio. Include a disk with files of literary or art works and mark on the disk your name and names of pieces included. Any originals of artworks should have your contact information on the back. Mail in 9X12 envelope to Porter Gulch Review, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drove, Aptos CA 95003. Email all files including bio to pgr@cabrillo.edu. Deadline: December 1, 2009.

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Call for poems: MisFit

MisFit: A Journal of Long and Short Poetry, is now accepting submissions for its inaugural issue, April 2010. Email your long (60+ lines) poems or your short (7 or less lines) in the body of your email, with the subject line "MisFit (long OR short) Name" to editor.stringbeanpress@gmail.com

Previously published poems will be considered!

The journal will come out in POD format in April. Contributors get one copy.

A little light reading

We don't usually share other blogs here but this made us laugh out loud.

Submission Request from VLP Magazine

Vermillion Literary Project, a literary organization at the University of South Dakota has asked us to post a request for your work!

The link to their submission process is here: http://orgs.usd.edu/projlit/submityourwork.html. The submission page notes that preference is given to works with a South Dakota or Midwest connection, but Sara Kniffen of the editorial staff says that "quality trumps all".

Let us know how it goes....