Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition Deadline Looms

The Atlanta Review, despite it's somewhat primitave Web site, is a well-known poetry publication that boasts the poetic publication of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. Their 2008 International Poetry Competition is open and the deadline is less than a week away. Entries must be postmarked on May 9th, 2008.

GRAND PRIZE: $2,008
(not bad!)
and 30 International Merit Awards that includes Certificate, Honorable Mention in Atlanta Review, and Free Issue

A few extra details from their Web site:

20 International Publication Awards
Winners will be published in Atlanta Review and appear in over 120 countries.
This is the only poetry competition that guarantees you international recognition!
Winners will be announced in August. The Poetry 2008 contest issue will be published in October.

Profit From Mood Swings in Many Ways ~

If you are one of the estimated 5.7 million people with bi-polar disorder, you might be interested to know that there is an online magazine for you: bphope.com, whose aim is to provide "hope and harmony for people with bipolar." It is not a medical journal, but rather a lively and information-rich consumer magazine. The reason I mention it here is that, happily, they accept submissions -- articles and stories -- that relate to this often crippling disorder. They seek features that are:

• Useful to their readers, ie., they can relate the material to their own lives.
• Meaningful to readers on a personal level, through the use of stories, quotes, anecdotes and humor.
• Educational and rich in comments from experts and those living with bipolar.
• Informational and inclusive of resources such as Websites, books, and so on.

Main articles are between 1,500 and 2,500 words, and they also publish short features (650 to 750 words) on such topics as interviews with those living with bipolar; food and nutrition; healthy living; spirituality; parenting with childhood depression; exercise; wellness and so on. Email a query letter to queries (at) bphope (dot) com. Please go to their website for complete writer's guidelines.
Fees are negotiated on a per story basis, based on length, experience, complexity, etc. They pay for North American rights for original material, and for rights to post stories on their website, www.bphope.com.

* Celebrating the Goddess in Every Woman *

SageWoman, a quarterly magazine of women's spirituality, is dedicated to helping women explore their spiritual, emotional and daily lives in a way that respects all persons, creatures, and the Earth. Their readers relate positively with the term "Goddess," and include women from a variety of religious faiths, from Roman Catholic to Lesbian Separatist Witch and everything in-between. Their focus is on issues of concern to Pagan and other Goddess-friendly women, and they are accepting submissions (written by women), of non-fiction prose that relate to women's spiritual experience. They also accept modest amounts of poetry, photographs and graphic artwork. They do not accept fiction, screenplays, long narrative poems, erotica, or press releases. Since their editorial style focuses on personal experiences, please write in the first person!
Your articles should be between 800 and 5000 words in length. All material should be sent to the attention of the Editor to either meditor (at) sagewoman (dot) com, or P.O. Box 687, Forest Grove, OR. 97116. They'll pay $.01 per word for unsolicited material, with a minimum of $10, as well as one copy of the issue in which your work appears. They are often able to pay more for work that is commissioned especially for SageWoman, so please contact them directly if you are interested in working for them on this basis.
The theme of their next issue is "Giving and Receiving." For those of us who are already aware of some of the many instances that life is a plethora of give-and-take and sharings, that we are not as isolated and alone as we may feel, it might be a fun challenge to dip into this awareness and come up with something personal to illustrate this. You have until August 1, 2008 to send them your submission.
Please go to their website for more information and to find samples of articles they have published.

SheKnows Presents the “Defining Moment” Poetry Contest.

If you work best under pressure, The Life Before Her Eyes Poetry Contest just might be one to inspire you to get some of your work out there, paid for and read by people you don't know. Might lead to a nice way to meet and greet, practice social skills, show off your talents, bask in the glow of pride. Fun, yes? You could ENTER TO WIN $500! Nothing to sneeze at (gesundheit) Pretend the part about laying your ego on the line is the least aspect of the venture. "The Life Before Her Eyes" is a movie made by the same director, Vadim Perleman, who created "House of Sand and Fog", one of the more devastatingly powerful movies to come out in recent years.
Moving backwards and forwards in time, "The Life Before Her Eyes" combines the dramatic intensity of "Sophie's Choice" with the eerie mystery of a ghost story like "The Others."
How much more does a contest need to be totally compelling?? Not much. "The Life Before Her Eyes" explores the reverberations stemming from the collision of past and future, reality and dream.
They are asking us to submit poems that capture a moment in our lives in which we had to make a difficult choice and how that choice impacted the course of our lives.
Please email entries to poetry (at) magpicture (dot) com. Enter your poems by May 8th to win the Grand Prize $500 Amazon.com gift card, or be one of five runners up to win $100 Amazon.com gift card.

"Inscribed" Sponsors Two Writing Contests ~

Inscribed is not only a small press not-for-profit publishing company operating out of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Their mission goal is to provide excellence in literature, poetry and art from around the world to international audiences through their publications in order to support artistic and environmental education and programs. They are also hosting one poetry and one short story competition in 2008. The deadline for both is December 1, 2008, so you have plenty of time to fine-tune your entries! Prizes:

• 1st Place: $50
• 2nd Place: $25
• 3rd Place: $15
• All winners will receive a copy of the printed anthology.

Send all submissions to submissions (at) inscribed (dot) org, with "Poetry Contest" or "Short Story Contest" in the subject.

Glass Woman Prize

The Fourth Glass Woman Prize submission deadline is September 21, 2008. What, you may ask, is a Glass Woman? It is someone who is able to acknowledge, transparently, who she is. The contest sponsor, Beate Sigriddaughter, would depict her as:

a woman of glass, with a blood system and gut system visible inside her, pipes and veins, and in those there would be bits of poetry, newspapers, roses, sentimental things, baby’s teeth, locks of baby hair, all kinds of lace bits, birds, and foxes, ice-picks, wedding rings, veils, and wedding cake doves, graduations gowns, tarot cards, sacred stones, pressed flowers, and a whole lot of joy and a whole lot of sorrow. She’d have a flute and a piano key, an ankh, and a woman symbol (♀), everything, anger and joy, hiking gear, rock climbing gear, motorcycle gear, dirt, fear, bras, lilacs, mirrors, underwear.

I'm thinking that pretty much includes all of us, so, if you have a short piece of fiction, or creative non-fiction between 50 to 5,000 words, you have nothing to lose (No Entry Fee!), and the possibility of gaining $600 if you win, or $100 if you're one of the two runners up. Her criterion is passion, excellence, and authenticity in the women's writing voice. You may email your submission to glasswomanprize (at) comcast (dot) net, or send it via regular mail to Beatte Sigriddaughter, 333 East 16th Avenue, #517, Denver, CO, 80203. Please visit her website for more information and links to previous winning entries.

For Women Only ~

Here's one for women only: Underwired Magazine publishes personal essays every month! They set the theme, and all we have to do is submit an essay, from 800 to 1200 words, by the 15th of every month for publication in the following month's issue. June's will be The Getaway Issue, and they are looking for essays that relate to being adventure bound, the road less traveled, roving, wandering, rambling, planes, trains and automobiles, going abroad, seeing the world, globe-trotting, getting lost, and getting found. Sounds like fun, yes? And they'll pay $100 per essay! Submissions may be sent via regular mail to the attention of the editor, P.O. Box 2158, Louisville, KY, 40255-0128, or via email to editor (at) unmag (dot) com. Please include a brief bio with your submission. You may go to their website for further details.