Archive for the ‘Call for Entries’ Category

Wild Words, an open genre, open form prose competition. Open genre means that fiction in all forms (literary, horror, children’s, etc.) and non-fiction (memoir, essays, creative non-fiction, etc.) will compete head to head and word for word. Open form gives writers full license to experiment.

• Send readers on a Wild ride
• Back to nature in the Wild
• Invent a character with Wild ideas
• Be a “Wild and Crazy” writer
• Minnesota Wild hockey team
• Baby, it’s Wild out there

So send us your very best Wild Words by the November 30, 2010 deadline

Please…no poetry. We love poetry but it is still not prose.

JUDGING:
Three-tier blind judging

PRIZES:
• $750 first place

• $500second place

• $250 third place

• Selected honourable mentions, plus first,
second and third prize winners, to be published
in the anthology Wild Words and receive $25
PLUS contributor’s copy

• All entries will receive feedback from
the first-tier judges!

FINAL JUDGE: To Be Announced

$20 entry fee through PayPal

Attach entries to email ‘cover letter’ to wildwords (at) wcdr.org
All entrants will be sent their feedback by email

THE RULES

• Maximum: 1200 words in English; entries must be original, unpublished and not submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere.

• Email entries as attachments to wildwords@wcdr.org

• Blind judging. Any name or other identifying mark on your entry will disqualify it. Include a cover email with your name, address, telephone number, and email address and entry title(s). Judges cannot enter the contest.

• All entries in manuscript format: 12 pt, Times New Roman, double-spaced, MSWord or RTF only.

• $20 Canadian entry fee ($25 for international entries) Online via Paypal (below); cheque or money order may be sent by surface mail. See www.wcdr.org for address; No entries by surface mail.

• Enter as many times as you wish; each entry requires the entry fee.

• First, Second and Third Prize and selected Honourable Mentions will be published in the Wild Words print anthology.

• Entries will NOT be returned.

• Deadline: November 30, 2010; winners announced March 2010

Click HERE to download a PDF version of the guidelines for WILD WORDS.

$20.00 Canadian entry fee
$25.00 International entry fee

Click here to see the entry from last year’s contest anthology launch.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

DOROTHEA HELMS “THE WRITING FAIRY” and “CREATIVEJAMES” DEWAR PRESENT:

The WCDR SUMMER SLAM auditions, slated for Monday evening, June 28th, has been relocated to a wonderful venue, Cuisine ‘n’ Jazz, which is in the AMC Complex and only 2 doors from JP Fitzpatricks. It is in the same group of buildings, just around the corner. For more information please visit www.cuisinenjazz.com

A special thanks to Deb Rankine, who knows the owners and referred them to us. They are normally not open on Mondays, but they have agreed to open up just for this event, as a favour. We are elated that the owners, Shirley and Roger Ouellette, are being so supportive. They will have a limited menu available. They will open at 6:30, the auditions will start at 7:00 and end when the last performance is completed. Cuisine ‘n’ Jazz holds about 60 people, so if you want a seat, please come early.

As we have announced, anyone who wishes to audition may show up without signing up, but as of today we have 19 registered performers! All those who register in advance will have their names put in a hat and drawn at random starting at 7:00, so all performers please arrive by 6:45 and check in. Anyone who wants to enter the contest without registering will be invited to perform after the registrant acts are finished.

See you there!

ONLY WCDR MEMBERS MAY ENTER.

The WCDR SUMMER SLAM is a writing AND performance competition.

ANY form of writing is permitted: poetry, prose, humour, grocery list, monologue, stand-up routine, whatever…

THE 10 RULES OF the WCDR SUMMER SLAM:

1. You are only allowed to perform ONE piece of material
2. The piece you read/perform must have been written by you
3. You must perform the piece by yourself. No other humans or other life forms are allowed on stage during your performance
4. Your performance of the piece must be THREE MINUTES or less in length. (This includes EVERYTHING you say. The clock starts when you engage with the audience. i.e. make eye contact, wave, start talking. All performers are given a 10 second grace period, BUT once you go 10 seconds over the 3 minutes you are penalized for every 20 seconds you go over)
5. Only your voice and body may be used in the performance. No props of any kind are allowed. (except the microphone, mic stand and anything containing your reading material. See note on memorization)
6. No costumes. No nudity.
7. No musical accompaniment.
8. Although some singing is permitted, the singing must not exceed 25% of the performance. Judges have final say in this regard.
9. You are not permitted prompting from anyone
10. No racist, sexist or unusually profane language is allowed.

NOTE: The organizers and judges have the right to disqualify or penalize contestants who contravene these rules.

JUDGING:

SEVEN finalists will be chosen at the June 28th Auditions.

The JUDGES will base their decisions on the following THREE CRITERIA:

1. Quality of the writing
2. Quality of the Performance
3. IMPACT on the audience

At the July 10th WCDR SUMMER SLAM the judges will make brief comments after each performance (Think American Idol) to help the audience make up their minds. At the end of the competition audience members will be given a ballot containing the name of all SEVEN slammers and asked to secretly circle the one name they think should win the WCDR SUMMER SLAM TROPHY and $100.00 in PRIZE MONEY. Ballots will be collected and tallied by an independent group of WCDR members not involved in the competition.

It’s WINNER TAKE ALL!

SECRETS OF SLAM:

1. The MAIN GOAL is to MAKE AN EMOTIONAL IMPACT
2. MEMORIZING your piece is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
2. MOVE YOUR BODY
3. USE YOUR VOCAL RANGE
4. TIMING is CRITICAL – Your performance MUST BE 3 minutes or less
5. PRACTICE with a MICROPHONE
6. THE AUDIENCE PICKS THE WINNER

A message from the Writing Fairy:

“Summer is just around the corner, and it’s time to start thinking about a challenge for our July meeting. As many of you know, I usually hijack the meeting to do some fun interactive thing. This year, I’ve roped James Dewar into being my partner in crime, and we have something fun cooked up.

We’ve had “WCDR Idol” and “So You Think You Can Write” – now, get ready for the WCDR SLAM!

“We’re giving you a lot of lead time to come up with a creative piece of writing (can be poetry, prose, humour, grocery list, monologue, stand-up routine, whatever) that can be read aloud/performed in UNDER 3 MINUTES.

CLICK HERE for more DETAILED RULES.

“AUDITIONS: We will hold auditions for this competition at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, June 28, 2010 at J.P. Fitzpatrick & Son pub, where we hold the breakfast meetings. A panel of judges will hear each piece, and the 3-MINUTE TIME LIMIT will be adhered to.

After the auditions, the judges will decide on the top 7 contenders, who will be notified and invited to perform at the WCDR breakfast on July 10th with the same strict 3-minute time limit.

“On breakfast morning, attendees are encouraged to whoop, holler, hold up “We Love So-and-So” signs, and generally create fun chaos. We will have a judging panel again like Canadian Idol, BUT the audience will vote and pick the winner.

The winner will walk away with $100 AND a fabulous cheesy trophy! REMEMBER – this is not just for poetry – any genre is welcome!”

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A WCDR MEMBER TO ENTER THIS COMPETITION!

Yours in SLAMMING,
Dorothea Helms and James Dewar

Stories wanted: “How to expect what you’re not expecting.”

Stories are being sought for an anthology, “How to expect what you’re not expecting.” Seeks narrative non-fiction, lyric essays, and experiments that reflect personal experience of miscarriage or stillbirth, or anything else unexpected.

Deadline: May 31, 2010.

Submissions and queries: howtoexpect@gmail.com

A Call for Submission of Poetry and Prose

Editor: Jessica Outram

In spring 2011, Sunshine in a Jar Press will publish a book exploring the humour, the drama, the traditions, and the culture of cottage life.  We are looking for previously unpublished, themed submissions of poetry, fiction and non-fiction on the theme “From the Cottage Porch” (including family, tradition, the environment, and cottage living).

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2010

Publication Date: Spring 2011

Before submitting work to ‘From the Cottage Porch,’ please note the following guidelines:

Poetry: up to 5 poems

Prose: up to 3 prose to a maximum of 2000 words

Format: We accept submissions by email. Please send to . We will send you a note confirming we received your work within 72 hours. Please attach your submissions in MS Word or PDF format. Submissions must be typed, double-spaced, with 1.5″ margins. Manuscripts may be rejected if they do not adhere to these guidelines.

Payment: If accepted, authors will receive one contributor’s copy of the anthology.

Please contact sunshineinajar@ymail.com for general inquiries.

To celebrate this new project, Jessica begins a new weekly column “From the Cottage Porch” at www.sunshineinajar.com

Jessica Outram

www.sunshineinajar.com

Just a friendly reminder that The Toronto Quarterly is now accepting submissions. They are looking for ONLY unpublished works, no multiple submissions, and work sent to them for consideration should not be submitted elsewhere until they have made their selection.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

SEND 4-5 POEMS WITH A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

SEND 1-2 SHORT STORIES (500-2500 WORDS) WITH A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

SEND PHOTOGRAPHS, ARTWORK AND PAINTINGS WITH A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

SEND YOUR BOOK/MUSIC REVIEWS (200-1000 WORDS) WITH A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

SEND YOUR INTERVIEWS WITH POETS/AUTHORS/MUSICIANS WITH A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

SEND YOUR BOOKS AND CD’S AND THEY WILL CONSIDER REVIEWING THEM. (PLEASE QUERY AND THEY WILL PROVIDE MAILING ADDRESS INFO.)

SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR TTQ5 IS: FEBRUARY 1, 2010.

email your submissions to: thetorontoquarterly@hotmail.com

Please note that The Toronto Quarterly does not compensate contributors to the magazine monetarily or with free print copies of TTQ. But we do provide all contributors with a free pdf file which is downloadable through http://www.facebook.com/l/9eba0;lulu.com and your name in lights.

Quattro Books will publish the two best novella manuscripts as part of their Spring or Fall 2010 Publication List (15 000 to 42 000 words,) submitted to us by September 30, 2009.

Send your manuscript, neatly typed, along with a $15 reader’s fee, to:

Quattro Books,
PO Box 53031 ,
Royal Orchard Postal Station,
10 Royal Orchard Blvd.,
Thornhill, ON ,
L3T 3C0 .

Please include an e-mail address.

Submissions will not be returned.

This contest is restricted to Canadians.

PLEASE VISIT or contact www.quattrobooks.ca for contest details