We found over three dozen excellent free poetry and prose contests with deadlines between June 15-July 31. In this issue, please enjoy the second set of three pages of "The Burial of the Dead" from "The Waste Land" by T. S. Eliot, illustrated by Julian Peters.

Last month's Annie Mydla column on "Older Writers and Finding Success" was a big hit, even mentioned in Lit Mag News. This month's column is on "Exploitation Versus Representation".

Winning Writers is proud to be named by Writer's Digest as one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" for the third year in a row. We appreciate your nominations!

Last Call!
NORTH STREET BOOK PRIZE
Deadline: July 1. 10th year. Cash awards totaling $20,400, including a top award of $10,000. This year's categories: Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Poetry, Children's Picture Book, Middle Grade, Graphic Novel & Memoir, and Art Book. Accepting hybrid-published as well as self-published books. Fee: $79 per entry. New this year: All entrants who submit online via Submittable will receive a brief commentary from one of the judges (5-10 sentences). See the previous winners and enter here.

Also open now, our Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest will award $10,000 in prizes, including two top awards of $3,500 each. Submit 1-3 poems for $22. Deadline: October 1.

View past newsletters in our archives. Need assistance? Let us help. Join our 135,000 followers on Twitter and 53,000 followers on Facebook. Advertise with us, starting at $40.

Congratulations to Charlene Mossman, Noah Berlatsky, Lori D. Johnson, S. Mei Sheng Frazier, R.J. Eastwood, Joan Gelfand, Lesléa Newman, Jack A. Ori, Robbie Gamble, Sharon Vardatira, J Brooke, Maria Williams, Gail Thomas, Duane L. Herrmann, LindaAnn Lo Schiavo, and Angela Yuriko Smith.

Learn about our subscribers' achievements and see links to samples of their work.

Have news? Please email it to jendi@winningwriters.com.

Do you use TikTok or Instagram? Send your news to the @winningwriters account so we can share it!

with Helen Klonaris

Earth is a miraculous place. Teeming with life, from massive underground networks of mycelium to gentle manatees that roam the seas, Earth is home to countless incredible beings, including human ones. But our planet is in crisis. From superstorms ravaging small island countries, to fires devastating forests and neighborhoods, to thawing glaciers causing the imminent rise of sea levels across the globe, we are witnessing a suffering and disenchanted planet.

Scientists, activists, and Indigenous communities the world over have been calling for interventions to heal our Earth and to bring balance back to the great web of life. If fantasy in literature reveals possibilities where we had not thought to look for them, where we had not thought they existed, then writing the fantastic by tuning into our Earth and our more-than-human relations offers us a way to intervene.

In this eight-week online workshop, we'll use myth, fairy tale, and the fantastic of all kinds, as well as the words and voices of some of the most thoughtful ecological writers today, to imagine climate interventions, non-human stories, and a re-enchanted Earth. We need wonder tales and fantastic stories now more than ever!

An eight-week immersion | Cost is $420 | Thursdays, 6pm-8pm EST | July 11-August 29, 2024. To learn more and register, please email helenklonaris@gmail.com.

Helen Klonaris is a writer, a writing doula, a healing practitioner, and co-keeper of Sacred Islands Sanctuary in Nassau, Bahamas. She is the creator of the Writing the Fantastic Series and believes in the power of magic in literature and in our lives to transform separation and remember us to the great web of life—the Animate All, our Home. Her short story collection If I Had the Wings was a finalist for the BOCAS Caribbean Prize for Literature. She is co-editor of the anthology Writing the Walls Down, and the author of numerous poems, short stories, and essays, including Landfall: The Air We (Can't) Breathe. Visit Helen at www.helenklonarisfiction.com and www.soulhealingway.com.

Grand Prize Winner, 2023 North Street Competition sponsored by Winning Writers

"A sensitive, tragic love story between a modern-day Romeo and Juliet who transgress religious boundaries."
—Judges, North Street Book Prize

This year's North Street judges selected The Evil Inclination from over 1,850 competing submissions, calling the book "a brilliant novel that works on many levels—theological, personal, cultural—with high stakes and sharply observed humorous moments that make the characters achingly real." See their full critique.

Lev Livitski, devoted son and upright young man, walks the path of Jewish observance without giving it a second thought. But one day in college, Lev encounters Angela Pizatto, a dark-haired knockout, and suddenly, what used to mean everything to him is no longer enough.

Layered into this love story are themes about identity and longing: how desire—what traditional Judaism calls the "evil inclination"—can define who we think we are. It's a novel not only about the burdens of tradition clashing with the power of passion, but also about the struggle to understand how the people we fall for can change us in profound and unexpected ways.

"An exhilarating, spellbinding tale...that will surprise, astonish and move you deeply."
—Joseph Telushkin, best-selling author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal.

"A captivating love story pitting passion against faith ... an irresistible read..."
—Judith Shulevitz, best-selling author of The Sabbath World.

"A riveting—and surprising—book about family, faith, lust, heresy, temptation, wisdom and God."
—Ari Goldman, Professor and author of the best-selling The Search for God at Harvard.

The Evil Inclination is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Learn more at the author's website.

• July 1-July 28 (July Session)
• August 5-September 1 (August Session)
• October 7-November 3 (October Session)

If you participated in last year's online retreat (summer or fall), you will find that this retreat has all-new prompts, exercises, and reflection questions. Same style as previous years' retreat, but with new material to inspire you!

This Year's GUEST POETS:

• Diane Seuss (Winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for frank: sonnets)
• Traci Brimhall (NEA fellow & Author of 4 Poetry Collections)
• January Gill O'Neil (Award-Winning Poet and Professor)
• Jennifer K. Sweeney (Winner of the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets)

Note: Space is limited, so sign up early to make sure you receive your first choice of guest poet to respond to your poem.

WHAT YOU NEED: Access to email and a desire to write new poems.

WHAT WE PROVIDE:  Poem prompts, sample poems, a Two Sylvias Press publication, ideas where to send your poems after the retreat ends as well as reflection questions/activities to guide and inspire. All prompts, writing exercises, and inspiration sent daily or weekly to your email (your choice!)

AND—at the end of the retreat, an award-winning poet will critique one of your poems and offer ideas on where to submit them! (Summer participants choose critiques from Diane Seuss, Traci Brimhall, January Gill O'Neil, or Jennifer K. Sweeney! Or if you choose the October retreat, receive critiques from the editors of Two Sylvias Press!)

• All levels of poets are welcome (from beginning writer to published author)
• Register now for the July, August, or October Retreats

Praise for Two Sylvias Press Online Poetry Retreat
"I decided to take the Two Sylvias Press Online Poetry Retreat as a way to reignite my passion for writing poetry and reconnect with my 'poet's mind' after not writing poetry for several years. The format was perfect for me—it enabled me to work alone and at my own pace while still feeling connected through daily prompts and encouragement. The result: I wrote more poems in that four-week period than I had written in as many years and new poems are still coming. The feedback I received was insightful and improved the poems while still showing respect for the essence of the work."
     —Cathy J. (read other testimonials here)

Click here to learn more and register.

Exploitative content can even creep into the work of progressive writers. Here's a primer on how to identify potential exploitation in your writing and what to do about it.

When we think of book critiques, we often think about narrative features like structure, character, plot, and theme. But as a contest judge and critique writer, I am also concerned with identifying exploitative depictions of disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

"Exploitation" can sound like a scary, moralistic word. It can spark arguments about who is "allowed" to imagine their way into characters different from themselves. In the Winning Writers North Street Book Prize, we're looking at how these depictions function within the story itself. And as a developmental critiquer, I also consider how exploitative scenarios might appear to agents, publishers, and a book's intended audience.

Exploitation means that a character from a marginalized group is given a narrative function that does not benefit people from that group, but instead benefits members of a more privileged group.

Read the essay.

Hey there, writers!

Remember the incredible Imagine 2200 Climate Fiction Contest with its $3,000 grand prize? The clock's ticking—submissions close in just 9 DAYS on June 24th!

Don't miss your chance to:

• Share your vision of a climate-resilient future through storytelling.
• Compete for a life-changing prize and publication on Grist.
• Become an Environmental Writing Fellow at Oregon State University (grand prize only!)

This is your chance to make a difference and showcase your creativity.  Climate fiction has never been more important.

Here's a quick reminder of the amazing opportunities:

• Grand Prize: $3,000
• Second & Third Place: $2,000 & $1,000
• Nine Finalists: $300 each
• Publication: All winners & finalists on Grist's website
• Environmental Writing Fellowship: Exclusive opportunity for the winner (grand prize)

Ready to share your story?

Head over to submit your entry before the deadline!

See you on the other side,
The Imagine 2200 Team

P.S. You can find all the contest details here.

Deadline: June 30

Nostalgia Press, going strong since 1986, will award $500 and publication in HEART 19 (Fall/Winter 2024). Honorable Mentions also published. Winners going back to our first contest in 1988 are recognized on our website.

• Judge: Elizabeth Thomas
• $10 entry fee covers 3 poems
• All contestants will receive the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of HEART
• Submit prose poems and modern free verse that are insightful, immersing, poignant, and reflective
• Submit unpublished work only
• On each page, please include your name, address, phone number, and email address (this information will be hidden so your work can be judged blind)
• Winners will be announced on the Nostalgia Press website
• Submissions will not be returned

Submit online or mail your entry to:
Nostalgia Press
Attn: HEART Poetry Award
115 Randazzo Drive
Elloree, SC 29047

Please enjoy this poem by this year's judge:

SOUND VIEW, AUGUST 1965

We turn down the last road
leading to the beach
and like a magician
my father snaps his fingers
and the ocean appears,
a glittery vision.
We all applaud,
even my mother
who hates the water,
but wants desperately
to get out of the steaming station wagon.

The salty scent of sea
tangles with anticipation
of lemon ice
purchased on our way to the sand,
our fingers sticky
before we even drop towels
and splash into the surf.

Our mother is left
to lay out the blanket
still gritty from last weekend,
sort peanut butter sandwiches from
bologna,
adjust the umbrella she will sit beneath
while hiding her "True Romance"
inside the cover of "Life".

As children
we want nothing more than a carousel
horse
to ride into the sunset.
The only clouds in this day
are beyond the horizon,
our life laid out before us,
vast and sparkling
like the sea.

Preferred deadline: June 30 (extended deadline: July 31)

The Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences (PJAS) is a vibrant platform for individuals all around the world to share their scholarly and creative pursuits. The diverse voices amplified by our journal showcase creative articles, poetry, reviews, and art. With contributors from all walks of life, PJAS aims to cultivate a community rich with intellectual curiosity. PJAS accepts submissions on a rolling basis, with our next issue published in Summer 2024.

To submit to PJAS, attach your work via this online form with a description and a short biography. There is no submission fee. Work on the theme of "How to Let Go" will receive priority attention. When submitting art, please supply high-resolution images.

We look forward to reading your work!

Deadline: July 1—Last Call!

Winning Writers will award a grand prize of $10,000 in the tenth annual North Street competition for self-published and hybrid-published books. We are proud to be a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. Partner Members include "contests that have been vetted and align with ALLi's Code of Standards." These are ALLi's guiding principles in rating literary awards:

• The event exists to recognize talent, not to enrich the organizers
• The judging process is transparent and clear
• Entrants are not required to forfeit key rights to their work
• Receiving an award is an achievement
• Prizes are appropriate and commensurate with the entry fees collected
• There is no profiteering upsell

Choose from eight categories in our contest:

• Mainstream/Literary Fiction
• Genre Fiction
• Creative Nonfiction & Memoir
• Poetry
• Children's Picture Book
• Middle Grade
• Graphic Novel & Memoir
• Art Book

$20,400 will be awarded in all, and the top nine winners will receive additional benefits to help market their books. Books published on all self-publishing and hybrid-publishing platforms are eligible. Any year of publication is eligible. Entry fee: $79 per book, with free gifts for everyone who enters.

This contest is co-sponsored by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, BookBaby, Book Award Pro, Self-Publishing Made Simple, and Laura Duffy Design.

New this year: All entrants who submit online via Submittable will receive a brief commentary from one of the judges (5-10 sentences).

Poets & Patrons of Chicago is sponsoring two contests offering cash prizes this year:

Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest (no fee, open to all)
Open now. Deadline: July 15
Two categories (Traditional and Modern). Prizes for both categories: First Prize: $50. Second Prize: $30. Third Prize: $20. Three Honorable Mentions and three Special Merits per category, ranked.

The 68th Chicagoland Poetry Contest
Submission period: July 15-August 31
12 categories (includes free verse, formal verse, humorous, nature, and many more). Categories are open to all except category 12, which is for poets in the Chicago area or who are members of Poets & Patrons. $50, $30, $20, plus three Honorable Mentions in each category. Entry fee is $12 for members, $15 for non-members, and covers one poem per category. If you wish to enter more than one poem in any one category, the fee for those additional poems is $1 per poem for members, and $2 each for non-members. Limit of 3 poems per category.

Visit the Poets & Patrons website for all the details and guidelines for both contests. Electronic entries only.

Deadline: July 15

The annual Rattle Poetry Prize celebrates its 19th year with a 1st prize of $15,000 for a single poem. Ten finalists will also receive $500 each and publication, and be eligible for the $5,000 Readers' Choice Award, to be selected by subscriber and entrant vote. All of these poems will be published in the winter issue of the magazine.

With the winners judged in a masked review by the editors to ensure a fair and consistent selection, an entry fee that is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine—and a runner-up Readers' Choice Award to be chosen by the writers themselves—the Rattle Poetry Prize aims to be one of the most writer-friendly and popular poetry contests around.

We accept entries online and by mail. See Rattle's website for the complete guidelines and to read all of the past winners.

Please enjoy one of last year's Rattle Poetry Prize finalist poems, a sonnet by Meredith Mason, published in Rattle #82, Winter 2023:

USE YOUR WORDS

My son looks up from drawing plants with teeth,
says, "You're long-gone when we're at Dad's," then tries
to find a better green. I think I'll weep,
or maybe raise my hand and give him five.

He's used his words. I want to hand him back
some other words, remind him that he's fine,
but nights when he's not here I jolt awake;
the other side of his long-gone is mine.

I burrow underneath my blanket pile,
remind myself he's safe, we're fine, and … and …
the research shows, blah, blah, that kids can thrive …
Outside the maples wave their empty hands.

My son sleeps on the river's other side.
I cannot swim across. It's cold, and wide.

Join us for an unforgettable evening with JANE HIRSHFIELD in July and kick off your summer of writing! For less than $20 a month, you receive A YEAR of Zoom classes and WEEKLY poetry prompts, a list of places to publish your work, interviews with celebrated poets and SO MUCH MORE! (You can also sign up for the yearly rate to get a bigger discount and guarantee you won't miss any of the incredible classes!) Become a paid subscriber now.

With The Weekly Muse, every Sunday becomes a source of inspiration! And there's always a new Zoom class to look forward to!

🌞 Sign up TODAY and not only do you receive an evening with Jane Hirshfield (Zoom registration link will arrive in your welcome letter!) but also the recording of award-winning poet & memoirist Jane Wong and her most talked-about class where she will teach you to write a poem most surprisingly and innovatively!

Don't just dream about writing more—make it a reality! The Weekly Muse is tailored for poets at all stages, from beginners to published authors. And we even have a private Facebook group for you to share your poems and successes!

🚀 Let's make 2024 a year to remember. Become a paid subscriber and start your journey towards a summer filled with poetry, growth, and connection.

And don't just take our word for it!
Testimonials from Weekly Muse paid subscribers:

"The Weekly Muse has become an integral part of my writing routine. I can't emphasize enough the benefits of committing for the year. The consistent support, resources, and community have been invaluable. If you really care about your poetry, get the yearly subscription."
~ Fatima Z., Poet and Weekly Muse Subscriber

"I've spent more on a bottle of wine that didn't last the night than I did on a month of The Weekly Muse. And guess which one enriched my life more? This isn't just another subscription—it's a true investment in my poetry life. Wish I'd discovered it sooner!"
~ Tyler M., Regretful Sommelier and Thrilled Muse Subscriber

"Switching from a monthly to a yearly subscription was a no-brainer after attending the Zoom event with Maggie Smith. That single experience was worth the annual fee alone. Everything else I receive now just feels like an added bonus!"
~ Riley M., Poet, Educator, and Muse Subscriber

We look forward to helping you reach your goals as a poet! Don't miss out any longer! Sign up here.

Deadline: Friday, August 30, 2024, 11:59pm Eastern US Time

Last time we checked, 77% of web-based fiction magazines pay their fiction writers nothing.

So did 60% of print-only fiction magazines!

If you'd like to try getting paid for your fiction, why not consider us? Since 2006, On The Premises magazine has aimed to promote newer and/or relatively unknown writers who can write creative, compelling stories told in effective, uncluttered, and evocative prose. We've never charged a reading fee or publication fee, and we pay between $75 and $250 for short stories that fit each issue's broad story premise. We publish stories in nearly every genre (literary/realist, mystery, light/dark fantasy, light/hard sci-fi, slipstream) aimed at readers older than 12 (no children's fiction).

For our 44th short story contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which one or more characters with significant expertise in some area matter to the story. The expert(s) DO NOT have to be the story's main character(s), though it's fine if they are—the judges won't care either way. We're also open to the idea that your story's character(s) with expertise might be either wrong, or frauds, or idiots. (Or they're legitimate experts!) However, the idea of expertise, and at least one person who has it (or doesn't?) has to matter to the story.

Any genre except children's fiction, exploitative sex, or over-the-top gross-out horror is fine. We will not accept parodies of another author's specific fictional characters or world(s), and we do not accept fan fiction for the same reason. We will accept serious literary drama, crazy farces, and any variation of science fiction and fantasy you can imagine. Read our past issues and see!

You can find details and instructions for submitting your story here. To be informed when new contests are launched, subscribe to our free, short, monthly newsletter.

"On The Premises" magazine is recognized in Duotrope, Writer's Market, Ralan.com, the Short Story and Novel Writers guidebooks, and other short story marketing resources.

Pre-order Jendi Reiter's new novel, Origin Story, forthcoming in July from Saddle Road Press. Noah Berlatsky, author of Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peters Comics, calls this book: "a carefully created and curated mix of genres and perspectives: diaries, poetry, comics, interviews, emails...[that] conceals, and reveals, the multiple selves, and one self, of trauma."

Find Jendi on tour at these events:

• July 9: Broadside Bookshop, Northampton MA, 7pm
• August 14: Easton Mountain Gay Spirit Camp, Greenwich NY, time TBA
• September 28: With Joe Osmundson, Food 4 Thot co-host, at the Bureau of General Services-Queer Division in the LGBT Community Center, New York City, 7pm
• February 4: Straw Dog Writers Night Out, Forbes Library, Northampton MA, 7pm (open mic at 6)

Some contests are best suited to writers at the early stages of their careers. Others are better for writers with numerous prizes and publications to their credit. Here is this month's selection of Spotlight Contests for your consideration:

Emerging Writers
Stony Brook Short Fiction Prize. Stony Brook Southampton offers college students in the US and Canada a $1,000 prize, a scholarship to the Stony Brook Southampton Writing Conference, and consideration for publication in The Southampton Review. Send one story, maximum 7,500 words, and proof of current undergraduate enrollment for the academic year in which the deadline falls. Must be received by July 14.

Intermediate Writers
Drue Heinz Literature Prize. The University of Pittsburgh Press will award $15,000, publication, and book promotion support for an unpublished collection of short fiction (150-300 double-spaced pages). Open to writers who have published a novel, a book-length collection of fiction, or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or journals; online and self-publication does not count. Must be received by June 30.

Advanced Writers
Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The Writers' Trust of Canada awards C$60,000 for novels or short story collections published in Canada between October 1 of the previous year and September 30 of the deadline year by Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Books published between May 1 and September 30 must be received by June 25. Publisher makes the submission.

See more Spotlight Contests for emerging, intermediate, and advanced writers within The Best Free Literary Contests database.

Winning Writers finds open submission calls and free contests in a variety of sources, including Erika Dreifus' Practicing Writer newsletter, FundsforWriters, Erica Verrillo's blog, Authors Publish, Lit Mag News Roundup, Poets & Writers, The Writer, Duotrope, Submittable, and literary journals' own newsletters and announcements.

• inScribe: "Food" Issue
(Australian lit mag with an interest in the sacred seeks themed poetry, fiction, and essays - June 28)

• Chestnut Review
(poetry, fiction, essays, flash prose, and artwork - June 30)

• redrosethorns: "Rebellion/Conformity" Issue
(feminist journal seeks themed poetry, prose, artwork - June 30)

• Sinister Wisdom: "Mad Dykes, Queer Worlds" Issue
(lesbian-feminist journal seeks creative writing and artwork on intersections of queerness, psychiatric disability, and neurodivergence - June 30)

• Midsummer Poetry Fest Los Angeles
(published or unpublished poems - July 15)

This month, editor Jendi Reiter presents some of the best self-published books that have come through our North Street Book Prize competition. Click the links for our critiques and samples from the books. More winners are featured in our Contest Archives.

AN EXALTATION OF LARKS
Suanne Laqueur
First Prize, Genre Fiction, 2019
This life-affirming family saga is centered on a bisexual love triangle between a refugee from the 1973 coup in Chile, a writer who supports himself as a sex worker, and the daughter of a small-town doctor.

LITTLE MOSS, BIG TREE
Melissa Yap-Stewart
Honorable Mention, Children's Picture Book, 2019
Painterly illustrations enhance this gentle allegory about friendship and bereavement.

AS WATERS GONE BY
Dr. Asome Bide
Honorable Mention, Creative Nonfiction, 2021
A Cameroonian immigrant to America recounts the tragic mudslide that destroyed his wife's home village and the political failures that preceded and followed it.

RETURN TO HEARTWOOD
William Guion
Honorable Mention, Art Book, 2022
Atmospheric black-and-white portraits of Louisiana's historic live oaks are accompanied by short essays about conservation efforts, the meditative process of photography, and the South's troubled history.

AH, DEVON UNBOWED
Thomas Sheehan
Honorable Mention, Poetry, 2022
This mature collection contemplates the bonds between several generations of Irish-American fathers and sons. Download a free PDF of this book for your private enjoyment.

Here is the second set of three pages from Julian Peters' 16-page comic of "The Burial of the Dead", the first section of "The Waste Land". We published the first set last month.

Mr. Peters writes, "The main references in [the top panels] are to the reminiscences of Countess Marie Larisch, illegitimate daughter of Duke Ludwig Wilhelm in Bavaria. Her cousin is Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, who later took his life in a double suicide with his mistress in the so-called Mayerling incident."

In the last panels, "Most of the various 'broken images'...make reference to other portions of 'The Waste Land' or to elements from my previous adaptation of Eliot's 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'."

Continues next month

Against Literary Heresy-Hunting
I'm not at all dismissing the importance of art to move societies away from human rights abuses. Poems by Mosab Abu Toha and the late Refaat Alareer have gone viral as cries from a suffering people. Such works are inspiring protests around the world. What seems counterproductive is scrutinizing the creedal purity of writers or the institutions who publish them...An institution's values should be expressed through their actions, not empty manifestos. [read more]

Jendi Reiter is the editor of Winning Writers.
Follow Jendi on Twitter at @JendiReiter.