Wordstock just announced a call for submissions to their 3rd annual short fiction competition. Ten finalists will see their work published in a Wordstock anthology, and the big winner scores $1,000 and publication of their story in next October’s Portland Monthly.
Entries must be less than 4,000 words, and will be accepted by mail only at 8536 SW St Helens Dr., Suite D, Wilsonville, OR 97070. Entries must be postmarked by July 1, 2009. The entrance fee is $25 per submission. Visit www.wordstockfestival.com for complete guidelines.
Of if you’re more a long-form kind of a gal, don’t forget about Literary Arts, whose Oregon Literary Fellowships awarded 14 new writers $2,500 each 2008. The deadline for that one is June 26.
Wordstock press release after the jump.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Third Annual Short Fiction Competition Kicks Off
Wordstock Book & Literary Festival
— Barry Lopez to Choose First Prize —
Portland, Ore., March 3, 2009 — Wordstock, a four-day festival of books, writers, and storytelling held annually in Portland, Ore., today announced a call for entries for the third annual Wordstock Short Fiction Competition. The winner will be announced at this year’s Wordstock Book Fair, October 10-11 at the Oregon Convention Center.
The national contest is a “double blind” competition, where neither the writers nor judges know the identity of other. The judges, a collection of writers, academics, publishers, bookstore owners, and literary critics, will choose 10 finalists. The winner of the competition will receive $1,000 and publication in the October 2009 issue of Portland Monthly magazine. All 10 finalists’ stories will be published in The Wordstock Ten, an anthology available for purchase at the festival, Portland-area bookstores, and online at wordstockfestival.com. All entrants will receive a complimentary copy.
The final judge for this year’s competition will be Oregon essayist, author, and short-story writer Barry Lopez. Mr. Lopez is a recipient of the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the John Hay Medal, fellowships from the Guggenheim, Lannan, and National Science Foundations, and many other honors, including the National Book Award.
“We received over 300 submissions for 2008 competition,” said Greg Netzer, Wordstock’s executive director. “It was an exceptionally strong group of stories, too. The short story is clearly alive and well. We can’t wait to see the talented work in this year’s field.” Kurt Rheinheimer of Roanoke, Virginia, won the 2008 competition for his story, “Calendar Girl Arrested, Freed.”
Entries must be less than 4,000 words, and will be accepted by mail only at 8536 SW St Helens Dr., Suite D, Wilsonville, OR 97070. Entries must be postmarked by July 1, 2009. The entrance fee is $25 per submission. Visit www.wordstockfestival.com for complete guidelines.
About Wordstock
Wordstock is an annual book and literary festival in Portland, Ore. To date it has hosted over 800 writers, who have read and performed for nearly 70,000 people at past festivals. For more information on the festival and its many programs, visit wordstockfestival.com.
Nice, thanks for the heads up!