The Great American Poetry Show ~

The Great American Poetry Show is a hardbound serial anthology open year-round to submissions of poems in English on any subject and in any style, length and number. The editors are asking us to send them "a lot of poems," and such a generous invitation should not go unnoticed. Each contributor will receive one copy of the volume in which his/her poems appears. Volume 2 is scheduled to appear in 2008, if they receive enough good poems (about 120). If they don't, they will hold publication until they do. You may send submissions via email to info(at)tgaps.net, or via regular mail to:

The Great American Poetry Show
P.O. Box 69506
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Write to Win!

For a $5 reading/entry fee, Writer's Journal: The Complete Writer's Magazine, will give you the chance to win $150, publication in their magazine, and: starter phrases! This short-story contest is a great opportunity for those of you who want to write, but don't know what to write about! Postmark deadlines and starter phrases are:

• April 20, 2008 ~ They both stared at ...
• June 20, 2008 ~ The cellar was open, but ...
• August 20, 2008 ~ Those ungrateful ...
• October 20, 2008 ~ Twenty minutes later ...

Maximum word count is 1500 words, entries must begin with the starter phrase, but it may be dialogue, that's your choice. Please go to their website for the rest of the contest guidelines.

What? Me Worry?

Yes, Alfred E. Newman and MAD Magazine are still alive, kicking, and looking to expand their pool of freelance comedy writers. If you have a twisted sense of humor, a peculiar way of looking at the world, or are particularly eager to express your immature, strange, or just plain silly side, they want to see your stuff! They are looking for:

• Material for The Fundalini Pages
• Comic Strips
• Hard-Hitting Satire/Cutting-Edge Yuks
• Media Parody
• Utter Silliness
• MAD 20 Features

Send them a paragraph or two explaining the premise of your article, with 3 or 4 examples of how you would carry it through. They strongly advise checking out the MAD Magazine of today, not the one we grew up with (although that helps!) They pay top rates: $500 per MAD page (for new contributors), on acceptance. Pieces that are less than a page are pro-rated accordingly.
Please go to their website for the rest of their submission guidelines.

For the Birds ~

LBJ is not only an acronym for "Little Brown Job," (used by birders to describe those difficult-to-identify species, such as many sparrows); it is also the name of an upcoming literary magazine. The LBJ is a uniquely literary venue, publishing creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, narrative scholarship, and literary journalism of the feathered variety. The inaugural issue will be out this June, for which they are not only accepting submissions, but are also announcing prizes of $300 for the best previously unpublished poetry and prose. You may submit only one contest entry per genre. For poetry, each entry may include up to 5 poems; for prose, submit only 1 piece of no more than 20 double-space single-sided pages. The reading fee for the contest is $10 for one category, $15 for both. The deadline for both contest entries and submissions is May 15, 2008, and all contest entries will be considered for publication.
They are also looking for visual art, as well as cutting edge stories about birds, their habitats, and the people around them! So if you are into birding (bird-brained?) or know anyone who is, please go to The LBJ website for further details and the addresses (snail and email) of where to send your work.

Book Works - Experimental Prose Fiction Needed

Semina -- "where the novel has a nervous breakdown", published by Book Works in London is looking for artists and writers interested in experimental prose fiction, drawing inspiration from art as much as it does from literature. Think of the ways in which time and space died yesterday, how acceleration exceeds accumulation, the dead city and the perpetual twilight of technology: Georges Bataille, Henri Michaux, Alexander Trocchi, William Burroughs, Ann Quin, Clarence Cooper Jr, Claude Cahun etc. Above all weâ•˙re looking for artists and writers willing to take risks with their prose and who demonstrate total disregard for the conventions that structure received ideas about fiction.

Semina takes its inspiration from a series of nine loose-leaf magazines issued by Californian beat artist Wallace Berman in the 1950s and 1960s. The series is commissioned and edited by artist and writer Stewart Home. The series will publish nine books, six of which will be selected from open submission, two commissioned by the editor, with Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie by Stewart Home the final title in the series.

The selection from open submissions will be made by Stewart Home and Book Works. The series is designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio.

Deadline for applications is 30 May 2008.

Contact gavin@bookworks.org.uk or visit our website for more information http://www.bookworks.org.uk

Forthcoming in the Semina series:

• No. 1 Index by Bridget Penney (2008)
• No. 2 One Break, A Thousand Blows! by Maxi Kim
• (2008)
• No. 3 Bubble Entendre by Mark Waugh (2009)
• No. 9 Blood Rites of the Bourgeoise by Stewart Home (2010)
  

Up for Writing Yourself into a Frenzy?

Our friends over at Script Frenzy, a nonprofit who also runs the popular NaNoWriMo site have issued the following stage play writing challenge:

Script Frenzy is the 100-page challenge designed to inspire everyone who's ever aspired to write a stage play.

The curtain opens and the show begins April 1. Take on the challenge! Write the story you've been threatening to write and have a blast doing it. Thousands of writers will be right there beside you, both online in the forums and at write-ins around the globe.

Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; no valuable prizes are awarded or best scripts singled out. In order to "win" at Script Frenzy, you need only sign up and complete the goal of writing 100 pages in 30 days. In return for your valiant efforts, Script Frenzy winners are granted a Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate, web icon, and eternal bragging rights.

This is the time to get your brilliant idea written in a whirlwind adventure with an unflinching deadline.

Sign up at www.scriptfrenzy.org and get writing.

Calling All Writers!

Steve Lopez of the LA Times is inviting all LA Times readers to collaborate with him on a novel! His column in next Sunday's paper (March 30th) will be Chapter 1 of "Birds of Paradise: A Novel Collaboration," and readers are invited to contribute chapters 3, 4, 5, and so on until noon PST on Thursday, April 24, 2008 -- just in time for the LA Times Festival of Books on April 25-26! Entries must:

• Be 600 words or fewer
• Be entirely original
• Be submitted under the entrants real name

The final chapter, to be published online on April 25th and in the newspaper on April 26th, will be written by Steve Lopez.
Winners will have their entries published online and in the newspaper, receive two tickets to the LA Times Festival of Books Prize Ceremony April 25th at 8:00 PM, and be invited to read their chapter at the festival. The contest is open to all legal California residents who are 18 years or older as of the first day of the contest period. Please go to the contest website to read the rest of the guidelines and who knows where this could lead you??