Upcoming Contests

Here are a few upcoming contests, in order of their deadlines with the closest one being mentioned first:

Flash Fiction, Memoir and Creative Nonfiction Contest by Writer Advice

We were alerted to this contest by B. Lynn Goodwin who spoke at the last Redwood Writers Conference.

WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction that mesmerizes the reader in 750 words or less. DEADLINE: April 15, 2010. Entry fee: $10 per submission. First prize: $150. Former prizewinners are the judges. Complete guidelines, mailing address, and prizes at www.writeradvice.com.

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Poetry Chapbook and Poetry Book Contest by Heartsounds Press:

Redwood Writers member Liz Pinto alerted us to that her online Pulse Literary Journal is accepting fiction submissions and has two poetry contests. This is more than just submitting one or two poems. If you have a collection of poems worthy of publication, you might garner publication as a chapbook or a book.

Larry Kramer Memorial Chapbook Contest

Send 16-24 pages of poetry.

Deadline (postmark date) April 15th, 2010.

William Dunbar Book-length Poetry Contest:

Send 48-54 pages of poetry, single-spaced, one poem per page.

Deadline (postmark date) May 1st, 2010.

Please note that the deadlines listed here are correct. Their website has conflicting deadline dates, and should be corrected soon. I verified the deadlines with Liz Pinto and the ones listed here are correct. I did not want to wait any longer to post this information.

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Redwood Writers 2010 Short Story Contest

Redwood Writers Short Story Contest begins immediately and is open to all residents living in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano, Lake, and Mendocino Counties and all CWC members statewide. Submissions must be unpublished works and postmarked by May 15th. No more than two submissions per author allowed.

The cost is $10 per entry (or $8 for CWC members). Winners will be announced at the Redwood Writers' general meeting on August 8th. In addition to receiving cash prizes, the first place winner will be considered for publication in the popular Redwood Writers Anthology. Winning writers will also have their stories published in a special edition Redwood Writers newsletter.

Entries will be judged on clarity, originality, and cohesion by well know writers and judges Dan Coshnear and Stefanie Freele, Healdsburg Literary Laureate of 2010 - 2011.

Entry guidelines are found on the Redwood Writers web site.

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$2,000 Awaits Winners of Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

Entries are now being accepted for the 2010 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, created to enthusiastically support the efforts and talent of emerging writers of short fiction whose voices have yet to be heard.

Writers will compete for a $1,000 first-place prize, $500 second-place prize, and $500 third-place prize in this internationally-acclaimed competition. Several honorable mentions are also awarded each year. As an added prize, beginning in 2009, The Saturday Evening Post will publish our first-place winner. Payment by The Saturday Evening Post for publication of the winning story will be in addition to our $1000 first-place prize.

Stories in all genres of fiction are welcome. Maximum length is 3,000 words, and writers retain all rights to their work. The final deadline is May 15, 2010; winners will be announced at the end of July.

For complete guidelines, please visit www.shortstorycompetition.com, e-mail shortstorykw@gmail.com, or send an SASE to the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041.

Workshops with Ransom Stephens

Here are two upcoming workshops given by Redwood Writers member Ransom Stephens.

Tools of the writer and how to use them

To write stories that grab readers - whether fiction or memoir - you have to understand your tools: point of view and characterization, dialog and description, showing and telling, metaphor and simile, pacing and voice, backstory and flashback, repetition and opposition. We examine every tool and see where, why and how they can be put to work constructing great stories. Bring your story idea or manuscript and let's get to work!

Instructor: Ransom Stephens, Ph.D.

• Saturday, March 20, 10a-4pm, Sebastopol: Sebastopol Center for the Arts.

Sign up with this form. $50 Non Member / $45 Member of Sebastopol Center for the Arts + $7 materials fee.

How to Give a Great Reading

You've just been invited to read at a literary event. Don't panic! Ransom Stephens has produced hundreds of readings and wants to prepare you. Choose the right piece for each venue and time allotted and discover your strengths as a storyteller so that you can enjoy this opportunity to develop your audience.

Instructor: Ransom Stephens, Ph.D.

• Saturday, April 3, 1p-4pm, Sebastopol: Sebastopol Center for the Arts.

Sign up with this form. $30 Non Member / $25 Member of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.

Memoir Workshop for Capitol City Young Writers

Here is another upcoming event that features two California Writers Club members and was organized by friend of Redwood Writers, Verna Dreisbach.

On Saturday, March 13th, aspiring young writers and avid readers, from grades 6 thru 12, will mingle with peers, published authors and book industry professionals featuring several guest speakers, followed by a writing workshop. This event will highlight the art of memoir. Guest authors include Patricia V. Davis and Linda Joy Myers.

MEET THE AUTHOR

PATRICIA V. DAVIS -

Harlot's Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss, and Greece, is an award winning finalist in the 'Multi-Cultural, Nonfiction' Category of the National Best Book Awards 2008, sponsored by USABookNews.

Patricia’s essays, opinion articles and celebrity interviews have appeared in various newspapers and magazines nationally and internationally. She is the author of published poems on women's issues, including,“If This Woman is Being Operated Recklessly” which appeared alongside Laurence Ferlinghetti's work in New Press magazine. Patricia is also the editor-in-chief of Harlots' Sauce Radio, non-partisan e-magazine and podcast at www.harlotssauce.com.

CAREER EXPLORATION LINDA JOY MYERS, PHD -

is a practicing therapist of thirty years in Berkeley, California. She has taught writing as a healing courses to her clients and has trained therapists in this method. She is President and Founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of The Power of Memoir: Writing Your Healing Story.

WRITING WORKSHOP Led by, PATRICIA V. DAVIS

One of the tougher genres to write, memoir combines the truth of non-fiction with the craft of fiction. Not an autobiography, the memoir needs to be carefully considered and constructed. As a painter chooses his scenery, so must a memoirist choose their stories. From traditional to experimental, narrative to fragmented, a memoir has no single form, no specific guideline or method - memoir demands the writer create art. Discover the many forms of this genre, how to avoid the most common mistakes and where to begin. If you have a work in progress, please bring the first page to workshop.

Saturday, March 13, 2010 9am - Noon

Sacramento State University

Forest Suite, 2nd Floor

Student Union

Park in Structure II

For more information about the Capitol City Young Writers organization, please visit their website.