The 2009 International Reginald Shepherd Memorial Poetry Prize

Knockout recently established a new poetry contest, the 2009 International Reginald Shepherd Memorial Poetry Prize, to honor the life and work of highly acclaimed poet Reginald Shepherd, who left us on September 10, 2008. For more information on Reginald Shepherd’s work, visit his blog at reginaldshepherd.blogspot.com. One of Shepherd’s previously unpublished poems will appear in Knockout #2.

Here is the essential contest information, but DO NOT submit to the contest without reading the entire contest submission guidelines.

* The contest will be judged by Carl Phillips.
* The entry fee is $12 and all entrants will receive a copy of Knockout with their entrance fee.
* The first-place winner will receive (1) a $300 gift certificate to Powell’s Books, (2) publication in a forthcoming issue of Knockout, and (3) five copies of the issue in which their poem appears.
* The second-place winner will receive (1) a $50 gift certificate to Powell’s Books, (2) publication in a forthcoming issue of Knockout, and (3) two copies of the issue in which their poem appears.
* The third-place winner will receive (1) a $25 gift certificate to Powell’s Books, (2) publication in a forthcoming issue of Knockout, and (3) two copies of the issue in which their poem appears.
* Submit on or before Saturday, August 1, 2009.
* Winners will be announced on Knockout’s website (knockoutlit.org) by Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE FREE ISSUE of Tea Party

www.teapartymagazine.com/pages/call-for-submissions-submission-guidelines.html

TEA PARTY magazine (www.teapartymagazine.com) seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, photography, visual art, comics, interviews, and feature articles for its upcoming issue #18, to be published in June 2009. Our theme for Issue #18 is THE FREE ISSUE. What does FREE mean to you? How does FREE speak to our investment as individuals and as communities, and what meaning does remain FREE in our society at this particular point in history? What isn’t FREE but should be? What do you give away and what’s been given to you? What would you like to be FREE of? What’s considered FREE to the public? How do you spend your FREE time?

Send us your FREE verse poems (we encourage you to defend the use of free verse). Send us your free-form writing (and explain how white space is being used). Send us your free-space art and writing (and detail if art can exist in its own space devoid of other considerations). Send us your art made from found, FREE objects. Send us your unique photos that include the word FREE in them. We welcome other ways you can think of to relate to this theme. Surprise us!

What does FREE mean to you? What words or associations does it conjure? Here are just a few possibilities:

Political Freedoms
Incarceration
Local, national,and world economies
Public space
Found art and poetry
Hitchhiking
Free hugs
Free resources
Free housing
Music sharing
Acts of kindness
Free time
Free will
Health care
Free education
Guerrilla media
Volunteering
False freedom
Cost vs. value
Oppression and liberation
Airwaves and the Internet
Immigration
Free advice
Stewardship and responsibility
Commodification
Etc.

Email works to TeaPartyMagazine@gmail.com by Friday, March 20th, 2009.

Be sure to include “FREE SUBMISSION” in your subject heading.

Tusculum Review Fiction Contest

www.tusculum.edu/tusculumreview/contest.html

Deadline: March 15, 2009 (postmark)

Works Accepted: Previously published stories (including web publications) are not allowed.

Send all work to:

The Tusculum Review
Tusculum College
Department of English
P.O. Box 5123
Greeneville, TN 37743.

Submission inquiries: wthomas@tusculum.edu

How to Label Your Submissions

Please send us a cover letter with your name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Please do NOT include your name on your actual submissions/manuscripts. You must include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) for notification.

Prizes

$1000.00 USD & Publication

View the list of previous Contest Winners.

Contest Guidelines

Entry Fee: $15.00

Method of Payment: Check or money order payable to The Tusculum Review.

Benefits from Fees: One-year subscription to The Tusculum Review (an annual publication) and consideration for publication. We ALWAYS consider ALL works submitted for publication. Only works with entry fees, however, will be considered for the contest.

Manuscript Return: None. Please do NOT send postage paid envelopes for return of manuscripts. We do not have the staff to accommodate this. All unpublished manuscripts will be recycled.

Judges: The judge this year will be Michael Martone. Family, friends, and previous students of the judge, or those with a reciprocal professional relationship with the judge, will be disqualified from the contest. Submissions will be screened by the staff of The Tusculum Review, and finalists will be forwarded for judging.

Method of Judging: Manuscripts will be numbered and all names on the manuscripts will be removed before they are presented to the judges. In the event that judges do not deem any submissions worthy of the prize, The Tusculum Review reserves to extend the call for manuscripts or to cancel the award.

Notification: All contestants will receive the 2009 issue of The Tusculum Review and a letter listing the winner and finalists. The winner and finalists will be listed on The Tusculum Review website.

The Willow Springs Fiction Prize

Willow Springs invites submissions for The Willow Springs Fiction Prize, $1,000 plus publication in Willow Springs.

Submission deadline: April 1, 2009

willowsprings.ewu.edu/contests.html

Contest Submission Guidelines

Include a $15.00 entry fee. Submissions without an entry fee will not be judged.

Send only one story per submission.

Use a check or money order only; cash will not be accepted. Please make the checks and money orders payable to Willow Springs.

Submissions should be typed. Handwritten submissions will not be judged and the entry fee will not be refunded.

Submissions must be 7,000 words or fewer.

Your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, as well as a short bio, should appear in a cover letter included with your submission.

Do not include identifying information anywhere else in your submission.

Submit only original, unpublished work. Contest entries may neither be previously published nor simultaneously submitted elsewhere.

Do not send an SASE.

Don’t send us your only copies—manuscripts will not be returned.

If you would like confirmation that your work has been received, include a self-adressed, stamped postcard instead.

Entries must be postmarked by April 1, 2009.

Please send entries to:

The Willow Springs Fiction Prize
Willow Springs
501 N Riverpoint Blvd, Ste 425
Spokane, WA 99202

All contest entrants will receive the Willow Springs issue containing the award-winning works. We look forward to receiving your entries. Good luck!

The 3rd Annual Hotmetalpress Chapbook Contest

www.hotmetalpress.net/PoetryPrize.html

Our prize is $350 and 20 free copies. We also want to send every entrant a copy of the winning collection.
Page Limit: 32 pages
Fee: $20.00
Deadline: end of May 2009

If you are looking for clues as to what we look for a winner, we wish you luck because our selections are unpredictable and eclectic. We like to take risks if the poems interest us. We do not know what poems will interest us either until we see the poems.

Please make out a check for $20 to Hotmetalpress. Send it to

Carole Towers
1173 Sea Eagle Watch
Charleston, SC 29412

Judged by the staff. Please send a copy of your manuscript in a word document. Your work will be read upon receipt of your check.

The entry rules:
Single spaced poems in 12pt Courier.
Attach title page with your name, address, telephone, and email.
32 page maximum limit including title, content page, acknowledgments, and pages. Anything with more pages will be eliminated.