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 Submissions must be unpublished works and postmarked by May 15th.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.

Redwood Writers Announces Its Poetry Contest Winners

Becca Lawton, photo by Paul Christopulos

October 6, 2009, Sonoma County -- The Redwood branch of the California Writers Club announces the winners of its Poetry Contest, in conjunction with our 2009 Writers Conference.

The contest was, in part, a celebration of the California Writers Club centennial celebration. It was open to all residents living in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano, Lake, and Mendocino Counties. All winning submissions were previously unpublished works and they were judged on clarity, originality, and cohesion. One of the judges, Mike Tuggle, Sonoma County Poetry Laureate, reports that, "I'm an imagery poet. All of the poems submitted had strong images, making it hard to choose. I think you'll enjoy reading these winning selections."

Winners were announced at the Redwood Writer's - CWC general meeting held on October 4th. More than fifty entries were received. The following poets won the contest and will read their entries at the pre-conference dinner event on October 23rd:

Place Poet County Poem

First Rebecca Lawton Sonoma Journal

Second B.J. Stolbov Sonoma Ode to a Little Yellow Pencil

Third Jodi Hottel Sonoma Three Roosters

As Rebecca Lawton said of her winning entry, "It's truly exciting to have a poem chosen about a place I so dearly love." Rebecca writes prose and poetry about the canyons and rivers she knows and loves. Her winning entry, "Journal," is from her poetry collection in progress, Swimming Grand Canyon.

B.J. Stolbov is a cook, a nurse, a T'ai Chi and Chi Gong teacher, a bocce player, and is completing his latest poetry collection, Moments.

Jodi Hottel is a retired high school English teacher, who tries to spend as much time as possible grazing in that emerald strip between worry and hurry.

The contest was organized by the Redwood Writers 2009 Conference Committee and judged by Terry Ehret, Sonoma County Poetry Laureate Emeritus and Mike Tuggle, Sonoma County Poetry Laureate.

Press coverage of Becca Lawton's win was included in the Sonoma Valley Sun.

The evening of poetry with dinner on October 23rd is open to everyone aged 18 and over and the cost to participate is only $30.00 per person. Please register on-line at

http://www.redwoodwriters.org/conference.html or download a registration form and mail it to the address shown below. Walk-ins are discouraged as space is limited.

The Redwood Writers 2009 Conference, including the evening of poetry is organized by the Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club, celebrating its Centennial. This event is supported, in part, by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation.

About Redwood Writers Evening of Poetry:

The Redwood Writers 'Evening of Poetry' takes place on October 23, 2009 from 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm, at the Flamingo Hotel and Resort in Santa Rosa, 2777 Fourth Street, 95405, (707) 545-8530. The cost is $30. Speaker-poets include Al Young, Mike Tuggle, Armando Garcia-Davila, Carolyn Miller, and Lynn Knight. Armando Garcia-Davila is also the emcee for the evening of peotry.

About Redwood Writers 2009 Conference:

The Redwood Writers 2009 Conference takes place on October 24, 2009 from 7:30 am - 6:00pm (check-in from 7:30 - 8:15am), at the Flamingo Hotel and Resort in Santa Rosa, 2777 Fourth Street, 95405, (707) 545-8530. This one-day conference, part of the California Writers Club Centennial activities statewide, will feature agents, editors, and writers from all genres. They will offer their insights and experiences in the craft of writing at beginning through advanced levels, as well as the encouragement of fellow writers in a relaxed and friendly, wine-country setting. Copperfield's Books is our exclusive on-site bookstore seller. Conference web site: http://www.redwoodwriters.org/conference.html.

Redwood Writers Memoir Contest

Redwood Writers and “The Memoir Group” host the

Fall Writing Contest

Memoir and Personal Narrative

1^st Prize $100

2^nd Prize $50

3^rd Prize $25

3 Honorable Mentions $5

Winners will be announced on Sunday, January 10^th

Guidelines:

*Entries must be postmarked October 4^th through November 15^{th *}RW Memoir Contest, P.O. Box 4687, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

Payment must be received with entry:

Members $10/Non-members $12

*Entries must be 1,800 words or less, 12 pt Serif type, double spaced on one side only.

*Entries must be accompanied by a cover sheet that states name, address, e-mail address, telephone, word count and title of entry.

*Title must be included on each page of entry, but

DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME ON THE PIECE.

*Multiple entries will be accepted in separate envelopes with separate payments.

*Fiction and poetry will not be accepted.

^{Judges Panel includes: Patricia Volonakis Davis, Award-winning finalist in the National Best Books Awards 2008 for Harlot’s Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss and Greece; Mary Lynn Archibald, award winning author of Accidental Cowgirl, Six Cows, No Horses and No Clue; and Ana Manwaring, Memoir and Fiction Instructor, Napa Valley College.}

For information: programs@redwoodwriters.org

Contest Deadlines are Looming

It's almost here...

...the deadline to submit your works for the 2009 Redwood Writers Conference writing contests is Saturday, August 15.

The Poetry Competition will be judged by Terry Ehret, Sonoma County Poet Laureate Emeritus and Mike Tuggle, Sonoma County Poet Laureate. You do NOT have to be registered for the conference to enter this contest. A PDF with the information for the poetry competition can be opened or downloaded here:

http://www.redwoodwriters.org/conferencecontestpoetry.pdf

The Writing Competition for your 1500-word work(s) will be judged by B. Lynn Goodwin of Danville, a CWC Member, J.J.Wilson of Penngrove, and Laura McHale Holland, of Rohnert Park, a Redwood Writer. You must be a conference registrant to submit. A PDF with the information for the writing competition can be opened or downloaded here:

http://www.redwoodwriters.org/conferencecontestbeginnings.pdf

Be sure to get your entries submitted by Saturday.

That is also the same day that the early bird registrations for the conference ends. Register after that date and your price will be higher.

Write to Win

What do Marlene Cullen, Susan Littlefield, Ron Pasquariello, Jeanne Miller, Pat Tyler and Karen Batchelor have in common—beside the fact that we are all members of Redwood Writers? This is the list of our club members who have won money from the website www.wordsfordollars.com since its inception in June of this year.

I discovered this opportunity by chance when I was looking on Craigslist for a little part-time, temporary writing or editing job. I saw a post for the website and decided to check it out. At first the young man in charge was offering $500 as first prize, but within a day or two the first prize had dropped to $150 and the runner-up prizes to $50. It costs $5 to enter so I thought I would give it a try because it was not a big investment. I didn’t want to recommend this to the general membership unless I knew it was legitimate. I found out within days that I had won first prize and my check arrived soon after. Then I was convinced.

That first week there were only eight entries, so the operator of this site dug into his pockets to pay the prize money. The second week there were only ten entries. The last two weeks there have been 18 submissions each. He hopes that the quantity of submissions will continue to grow, but it seems obvious to me that he cannot continue to go in the red each week. Therefore the opportunity may not last very long.

There is a posted theme, but it is not necessary to write on that theme. He also writes and posts a piece of his own on-topic writing. He accepts essays/memoir and poems up to 1,000 words, and short stories with a maximum of 2,000 words. He also has a “Discuss” button where readers can leave comments on the winning pieces. Although the manager would like to see more discussion on the winning pieces, this part of the site is not used much.

I suggest that you go to the site, www.wordsfordollars.com and take a look at the winning stories, essays and poems—many written by our members. I also suggest that you try to take advantage of this site. I would like the young man to succeed, but I would also like you to be a winner!

June 28 Karen Batchelor “View from a Distance”

“The Last Day”

July 5 Susan Littlefield “The Favor”

Marlene Cullen “What are Gophers for?”

July 12 Ron Pasquariello “Lament of a Dead Man Walking”

Jeanne Miller “The Hitch”

Pat Tyler “It Never Happened”

July 19 Karen Batchelor “Mirrors and Memories”

Good luck!

submitted by Karen Batchelor