Living Literature Festival: Horatio Alger

Living Literature Festival: January 2012

Horatio Alger

Deadline – September 30, 2011

Submit

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Metropolitan Playhouse presents its 7th Annual Living Literature Festival, devoted to Horatio Alger.

WHAT
Scheduled for January 16th through January 29th, 2012, the festival is a collection of new plays celebrating the spirit of the artist who made a cultural touchstone of the term “rags to riches”. Horatio Alger became famous in America promoting a popular myth of opportunity for all, and but also against a backdrop of self-made millionaires challenging an entrenched social order. For their promise or their threat, his boys’ adventure stories were inspirations to many readers. Adaptations of Horatio Alger’s works, biographical pieces exploring his life, or works inspired by/critical of what has become known as the Horatio Alger Myth are all welcome.

HOW IT WORKS
The annual festival is a co-production of Metropolitan Playhouse and the participating artists.  Metropolitan will curate, host, and promote the festival, while the participants will create and perform the plays in the festival.  Proceeds will be divided between Metropolitan and the participants.

WHO CAN SUBMIT
Submissions are welcome from individual artists and performance companies alike.  Co-producers will take responsibility for conceiving and creating their contribution to the festival, with use of Metropolitan’s space and physical resources.  Metropolitan will coordinate and promote the festival as a part of its 20th Season.

WHAT KIND OF WORK
Submissions may be twenty-minute plays, one-acts, or full length performances (though no longer than 1 hour and 45 minutes.) There are no restrictions concerning style.  Adaptations, biographies, fantasies, and treatises, as well as song/poetry/dance cycles will all be considered.  Selection by Metropolitan Playhouse will be based on artistic quality, feasibility of production, relationship to literature of Horatio Alger, and suitability for the venue.

However: 
No scripts alone!  Please note, we are seeking submissions of performances which we will co-produce.  We are NOT seeking scripts for Metropolitan to produce. We will not provide directors or actors for productions.

And plays from the period will receive lowest consideration. This festival is particularly devoted to new theater pieces inspired by non-theatrical writing.

Guidelines

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Submissions will be accepted by e-mail or snail mail, and must include:

1.  Cover sheet with
•     Name of Company/Artist taking responsibility for producing the work
•     Project Title
•     Author, Person, or Subject who inspired the work (and specific titles of inspiring works, as applicable)
•     Performance Length (Max. 1 hr, 45 min.  This is extremely important for scheduling.)
•     Contact Person
•     Telephone Contact
•     E-mail Contact
2. Project narrative of no more than 2 pages
3. Key artist biographies and, if applicable, company history
4. Sample text (may be the script for the proposed performance or a comparable work by the key artist(s))

Submission Deadline: September 30 , 2011

Visit the website:  http://metropolitanplayhouse.org/index
Mail to:
Metropolitan Playhouse
220 E. 4th Street
New York, NY  10009
Attn: Living Literature

E-mail to:
alger@metropolitanplayhouse.org

The Writer 2011 Essay/Memoir Contest

The Writer, in collaboration with Gotham Writers’ Workshop, invites writers to enter The Writer 2011 Essay/Memoir Contest with guest judge Lee Gutkind.

Write an essay or memoir that catches our eye, touches our heart, or tickles our funny bone, and you could win one of our great prizes! Only original, unpublished works of 1,000 to 1,200 words will be accepted.

PRIZES
• First Place: $1,000 (USD); enrollment in a 10-week online writing workshop offered by Gotham Writers’ Workshop ($420 value); publication in The Writer and on WriterMag.com; and a one-year subscription to The Writer.

• Second Place: $300 (USD); enrollment in a four-week How to Get Published seminar taught online by a literary agent and Gotham Writers’ Workshop ($150 value); publication on WriterMag.com; and a one-year subscription to The Writer.

• Third Place: $200 (USD); enrollment in a four-week How to Get Published seminar taught online by a literary agent and Gotham Writers’ Workshop ($150 value); publication on WriterMag.com; and a one-year subscription to The Writer.

Judging
Editors at The Writer will read and judge each of the entries and select 20 semifinalists. Lee Gutkind, the finalist judge, will select and rank three winners from among the semifinalists. Lee is founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction and author of more than 20 books, including Almost Human: Making Robots Think, featured on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His new book, You Can’t Make Stuff Up, the Creative Nonfiction Writer’s Bible, will be published in July 2012 by DeCapo. He is editor of Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction.

Entry fee:
$10 (USD) per entry, payable to Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Payments must be in U.S. funds. Entry fees are nonrefundable.

Entry deadline is 1:59PM (EDT) November 30, 2011.

For Essay/Memoir Writing tips visit WriterMag.com

> CLICK HERE TO ENTER <

Frequently Asked Questions – Official Rules

“Point of View-The Key to Modern Fiction” to be Topic for Author and Editor Shelly Lowenkopf at the Central Coast Book and Author Festival, September 18

(Ventura, CA – September 76, 2011) Santa Barbara editor and author, Shelly Lowenkopf, will be a morning speaker at the Central Coast Book and Author Festival, to be held September 18 in San Luis Obispo. He will be speaking at 10:30 a.m. in the History Center of San Luis Obispo, 696 Monterey Street at the corner of Broad. After speaking, he will be available at the Book Festival to sign copies of his 30th book, The Fiction Lover’s Companion, which will be released on September 12th.

“When a writer tells a story, she needs to know who the narrator is,” Lowenkopf said.  “Will it be her, ‘telling’ the story as though conversation?  Will it be one or more of her characters?  The seasoned writer has already discovered that audiences are more willing to believe her characters than they are willing to believe her.  The seasoned writer knows also that every narrator, herself included, has some blind spot.”

Shelly Lowenkopf will discuss the various applications and nuances of narrative and their downstream consequences relating to believability and relevance.  For instance, if you truly believe this press release and truly wish to gain insight into the applications of point of view, you will be there.

This master editor has shepherded over 700 books through publication. He now distills for fiction lovers-both readers and writers-a lifetime of editorial wisdom. The Fiction Lover’s Companion is the definitive volume explaining the words and phrases writers use when they discuss their work-terms and concepts writers need to know to be able to compete in today’s crowded markets, and that will enrich the joy of books for readers.

Lowenkopf taught courses in short story, novel, dramatic writing, editing, genre fiction, and revision at the graduate level in one of the most prestigious writing programs in America at the University of Southern California, where he was given a Lifetime Teaching Award.  Since its inception, Shelly has led the nightly Pirate Writing Workshops at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. He is a past regional president of the Mystery Writers of America. Since 1975, he has been writing book reviews that have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The National Catholic Reporter, The Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Publishers’ Weekly, the Santa Barbara News-Press and the Santa Barbara Independent.  He has been the weekly book reviewer for the Montecito Journal since 2005. Shelly blogs daily on literary topics at www.lowenkopf.com.

TFLC trade paperback is available at www.WriteWorksPublishing.com and e-books at WriteWorks, Amazon, iBookstore and Barnes & Noble.

For information on the Central Coast Book & Author Festival, visit: http://www.slolibraryfoundation.org/CCBAF2.html

Photos available upon request.

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Switchback Flash Contest

Switchback is proud to announce the start of our monthly Flash Contest. Each month we will be giving you a prompt and we want you to give us your best work inspired by that prompt. The winning entry as decided by our editors will then be featured on the site. Submissions can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or even art, so long as it’s amazing and 500 words or less.

The September prompt is: “He knew he should never have come here…”

• Contest submissions can be poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or even art.
• Submissions must be 500 words or under.
• Please send us only one submission per prompt.
• Please submit only previously unpublished works.
• We accept simultaneous submissions but please notify us immediately of acceptance elsewhere.
• The deadline for submissions is the last day of the month.

Visit www.swback.com for more information.
 

SWITCHBACK is a publication of the Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program of the University of San Francisco.

Strickly Shapespeare Poetry and Prose Contest

We are a creative writing community and monthly competition site called, Strictly Shakespeare and have some wonderfully talented members but are always looking to expand and challenge our writers.

The competition’s are ongoing but here follows the description for September:

Website: http://www.strictlyshakespeare.com

Email: feedback@strictlyshakespeare.com

Deadline: Midnight, 14th September 2011

Prize: £50.00 worth of prizes are given out each month, more possibly dependent on entry fees.

Entry:  Worldwide/Open, £2.50 for up to three entries

Categories: Poetry and Prose

Description and prompt for September:

September is the first month of the school calendar when high streets are brimming with enticing ‘Back to School’ Sales (which I still love but that’s something to do with women and stationary ~ Am I on my own here or do you feel the stationary love?).  To commemorate this often daunting and exciting time our poetry prompt this month is, “When I grow up I want to be…” or “Students and Teachers”.  So apply some method acting to poetry and make Stanislavski proud by remembering those childhood moments or think about sons, daughter, nephews, nieces, the neighbour’s loud brats and get that ink flowing!

Our prose prompt is a continuation from last month’s theme of “It’s a Mystery” and expanding to include the vaguer “Strange Occurrences” which could be anything from your mother-in-law actually complimenting your D.I.Y. to grand theft or mythical beings, so grab a deerstalker and get your thinking hat on.

ConverSextion.com: “Sexiest Story Contest!” – (Adults only)

ConverSextion.com, the leading sexual network for adults to openly talk about sex, dating, and romance in a tasteful manner is having the “Sexiest Story Contest!” The contest starts on Tuesday, September 6th at 12:01 AM CST and ends on Friday, October 7th at 11:59 PM CST.

 

Prizes:

1st Place- $500.00 CASH!
2nd Place- $100.00 Gift Card to MyTulip.com
3rd Place- $50.00 Gift Card to MyTulip.com

Rules:

• All Stories must be submitted AFTER Tuesday, September 6th at 12:01 AM CST and PRIOR to Friday, October 7th at 11:59 PM CST. Stories submitted outside of this time range are ineligible for contest entry.
• Users must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. Citizen to enter this contest.
• No one related to anyone who works for ConverSextion, MyTulip, ConverSextion partners, or affiliates, can enter.
• Users must be a registered user at ConverSextion to enter and vote for this contest.
• Users can submit as many stories as they like for this contest, however all stories must first be approved by ConverSextion’s moderator to make sure they fall in line with the websites theme “Tasteful!”
• Additional Legal Rules will be in place in conjunction with the Illinois State Contest Laws.
• At midnight October 8th 2011 the top 3 vote receiving stories will receive the above mentioned prizes. Any ties in votes will be determined by ConverSextion Staff.
• Rules are subject to change at any time.

Contest Details:

PHILOSOPHY CONTEST:

 

(PRIZE: Two art prints of your choice and a few stickers. No entry-fee, but donations are always appreciated).

CONTEST OPEN BETWEEN: 9/6/2011 – 10/15/2011

Enlighten us. A good philosophy is developed upon using the scientific method. It should be built upon, scrutinized and amended as other ideas are discovered. The rewritable philosophy of Enlightened Romantic Nihilism is a ladder in which rungs are constantly added, subtracted, and rearranged, just as we human beings ritually add and remove nuances of fashion, taste, and worldviews; it is all expression. At ERN, we believe that expression is perhaps the most important thing the person has in his existential armory. It allows us to transmute the inner-world, to turn perceptual experience into its physical equivalent – freezing our fears, wishes, hopes, tendencies, vulgarities onto paper – something, that in many cases, will survive us. But why do you think you create art? We seek expression and don the boxing gloves of paint and palette as a reflex to death, but is the canvas simply a location for the ego to repose or something more altruistic, something that will survive us and impact future generations?

Here is the question: Does the inner cry of the artist cleave to bricklaying upon the empire of ego, the precognitive commitment to the cult of “Look at me Mom!”, or is it a cry to take the world by the collar and show people life through a unique lens? Can it be both – and if so, how? Or is it something far different?

We want your fearless opinions and personal philosophies, as artists. In October, we will judge these submissions for indelible style and thoughtfulness. The award will be (2) matted art prints of your choice plus a few of our wickedly awesome stickers. Lastly, and most importantly, your philosophy will be published and megaphoned on our website and our end of the year flesh-and-blood publication.

Please keep your submissions between 250-1000 words in length.

Visit the website:   www.enlightenedromanticnihilism.com

 

SUBMIT YOUR PHILOSOPHY