Creative Nonfiction Opportunities

A grab bag of calls for submission (2), contests (2--very long-winded postings from the people in charge), and positions. Good luck!

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Naugatuck River Review, a journal of narrative poetry, welcomes submissions for the Summer 2010 issue. Submission guidelines: The winter submission period is an open (no fee) submission and is from January 1 – March 1st at midnight. We accept electronic submissions only through our ONLINE SUBMISSION MANAGER at http://naugatuckriverreviewsubmissions.com/. Contributors will be rewarded with a copy of the journal. We are not in a position to pay you otherwise, but hope the journal is worth much more than the cost of its paper. During the submission period ONLY please submit no more than 3 unpublished NARRATIVE poems of no more than 50 lines through the online submission manager. Please remove your name from your file, as the poetry is read blind by our editorial staff. Questions? Feel free to email us at naugatuckriver@aol.com. Multiple submissions are discouraged, but simultaneous submissions are fine, as long as you inform us right away if your poem is accepted elsewhere. Publishing rights revert to the author after the initial publication period. We prefer work that has not been previously published.

Diverse Voices Quarterly http://www.diversevoicesquarterly.com is a new online literary journal looking for submissions from all walks of life. Our second issue is available for download here: http://www.diversevoicesquarterly.com/2009/second-issue-available-now. Deadline for submissions is 02/15/10.Personal essays/creative nonfiction: 3,000 words MAX. Send only one essay at a time. –Simultaneous submissions are accepted but multiple submissions are not, unless you wish to send in artwork at the same time. Please query first. –We will not read any material previously published online; this includes works published in other online journals or from any message board or blogs. –While we will read submissions from everyone, the work MUST BE in English. –Be sure to include your last name and type of submission in the subject line (Example: Kaling – Short Story Submission). –Include a cover letter, a short bio, and your complete contact information in the body of the e-mail. –Only attachments are accepted, either as MS Word (.doc or .rtf) or WordPerfect (.wpd) files. Pasted-in submissions WILL BE deleted. –Send your submissions to: submit@diversevoicesquarterly.com.

CONTESTS

EVENT 2010 Non-Fiction Contest http://www.douglas.bc.ca/visitors/event-magazine/contestdetails.html -- $1,500 -- Three winners will each receive $500 plus payment for publication in EVENT 39/3. Other manuscripts may be published. Preliminary judging by the editors of EVENT. Final Judge: Lynn Coady is the author of the novels Strange Heaven (1998), Saints of Big Harbour (2003), and, most recently, Mean Boy (2006). She has also published a short story collection, Play the Monster Blind (2000). Her non-fiction has appeared in magazines and newspapers across Canada. She has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, as well as the Rogers Writers’ Trust Award, and is a recipient of the Dartmouth Book Award, The Canadian Authors Association Jubilee Award and the CAA Award for Authors under Thirty. In 2005 she received the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for an artist in mid-career, and in 2007 she received the Writers Guild of Alberta George Bugnet fiction prize for Mean Boy. She lives in Edmonton.
Writers are invited to submit manuscripts exploring the creative non-fiction form. Check your library for back issues of EVENT with previous winning entries and judges' comments. Contest back issues are available for $9 (CAN$13 for overseas residents). Postage and GST included. To purchase a print copy now, visit http://www.douglas.bc.ca/visitors/event-magazine/online-sales.html. Note: Previously published material, or material accepted elsewhere for publication, cannot be considered. Maximum entry length is 5,000 words, typed, double-spaced. The writer should not be identified on the entry. Include a separate cover sheet with the writer's name, address, phone number / email, and the title(s) of the story (stories) enclosed. Include a SASE (Canadian postage / IRCs / US$1). Douglas College employees are not eligible to enter.
Entry fee: Multiple entries are allowed, however, each entry must be accompanied by a $29.95 entry fee (includes GST and a one-year subscription; make cheque or international money order payable to EVENT). Those already subscribing will receive a one-year extension. American and overseas entrants please pay in US dollars. Deadline for entries: Postmarked by April 15, 2010. Send entries to: EVENT, Non-Fiction Contest, PO Box 2503, New Westminster, BC, V3L 5B2 Canada; Phone: 604-527-5293 Fax: 604-527-5095. Email: event@douglas.bc.ca.

Tiny Lights Essay Contest Guidelines 15th Annual Contest Deadline: February 19, 2010. http://www.tiny-lights.com/contest.php. Tiny Lights invites entries that feature a distinctive voice, discernible conflict and an eventual shift in the narrator's perspective. We are looking for writers who weave the struggle to understand into the fabric of their essays. This year, we offer 5 prizes in the "Standard" category and 3 "Flashpoint" prizes.
We can only consider unpublished work, or previously published material for which the author holds rights. Rights revert to author after publication in the hard copy edition of Tiny Lights. Each essay must be accompanied by an entry fee: $15 for first essay, $10 each additional essay. Make checks payable to: Tiny Lights Publications. Mail to: P.O. Box 928, Petaluma, CA 94953. SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) recommended for feedback/contest notification. One envelope for multiple submissions OK. Essays may be submitted in one of two categories: STANDARD (no longer than 2,000 words) or FLASHPOINT (no more than 1,000 words). Please indicate preferred category on ms. Entries should be typed and double-spaced. Cover letters are optional, but ideally the title page of the manuscript should include author's name, complete address, e-mail, phone number, and essay word count. Essay title and page number in header or footer OK. Author name should not appear there. Personal essay requires writers to communicate the truth of their experiences to the best of their abilities. While no theme restrictions apply to this contest, we will not consider essays that celebrate brutality or gratuitous violence. Tiny Lights does not accept poetry, short stories, or material written for children. Entry fees for inappropriate submissions may not be returned. Entries must be postmarked by Feburary 19, 2010. Prizes will be awarded as follows: First Place: $350; Second Place: $250; Third Place: $150; Two Honorable Mention Prizes: $100 each. Three FLASHPOINT prizes of $100 are also offered. Awards will be determined by a panel of judges. Final authority rests with the Editor-in-Chief, Susan Bono. Winners will be posted at www.tiny-lights.com by April 10, 2010. Winning essays are subject to editing before publication. Final copy must be approved by writer. No essays will be published in hard copy or online publications without author's permission. All contestants will receive a hard copy of Tiny Lights' contest publication featuring the winning entries.
A few words about hard copy submissions: I know it's old-fashioned, cumbersome and expensive for you to send us your entries via snail mail. Someday, I'm going to have to invest in the software that allows us to manage electronic submissions. But until we learn to enjoy scrolling through hundreds of essays on computer screens, you'll just have to put up with us sprawling on couches and beds, sitting at the kitchen table or in a sunny window or a rocking chair or a dentist's waiting room, reading every single word you send us. We're old-fashioned enough to believe that's important. § One way to save $$ on postage is to submit your entries in a 6" x 9" envelope, which allows it to be sent at letter rates. A 2,000 word essay folded in half with entry fee and SASE should not exceed the U.S. Postal Service's ¼" thickness limit, and costs about half of what the same material sent in a larger envelope does. (Do NOT expect a 6 ½" x 9 ½" envelope to get the same treatment!) Tiny Lights can live with the fold down the middle at those rates! While we're on the subject, please avoid business letter-sized envelopes for entries. Thrice-folded manuscripts are bad news. (Just imagine more than 4 of them open in a pile and you'll start to see what I mean.) § Here's why we recommend a SASE with a single "Forever" stamp (or letter stamp of your choice): By the time the winners are decided, the judges have formed some impressions of your work, even if it didn't place. It only takes a moment to jot these thoughts down, and if we have a SASE, we will send them to you, along with a nice rejection letter. Oftentimes, we will use the first page or two of your essay for this feedback, which can actually help remind you months later where your essay has been. (Of course, you keep meticulous records of where you submit, don't you?) There's no need to include postage for the entire manuscript's return, since you have other copies in your computer. § Speaking of returns, I have a weird confession. Crazy as it sounds, if you have entered our contests before and haven't gotten your SASE back, I probably liked your essay too much. At the end of every contest there are losing entries that are so good, I want to write the authors personally. But whenever I think about doing it, I feel guilty, because I have no real explanation for not choosing them, except someone has to lose, and then I get busy, and 8 months or a year later, I'm ashamed to see these manuscripts still in my office, so I hide them until they are so old I figure everyone's moved on and I can throw them away. Don't think for a minute I'm proud of this behavior. I'm telling you because it's just more proof that you never know what an editor really thinks about your work. So don't be unduly influenced by anything they do. § Any more questions? Additional inquiries may be addressed to editor@tiny-lights.com.

POSITIONS

Norwich University. Visiting Instructor/Assistant Professor of English—Creative Nonfiction/Advanced Writing. The School of Humanities at Norwich University invites applications for a one-year English faculty position to begin fall 2010. Preference will be given to candidates holding the PhD (ABD considered). This position will teach courses in freshman composition, world literature surveys, & English program electives. Documented expertise in creative non-fiction & advanced writing is welcomed. To apply: please submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, names, addresses, & telephone numbers of three references, & a Norwich application, to: English Faculty Search, via e-mail: jobs@norwich.edu. Candidates must have U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident status. This is a one-year appointment with the possibility of extending this position to a second year. Applications must be received no later than February 5.

Gilman School, an independent boys’ school in Baltimore, announces its search to award the fifteenth Tickner Writing Fellowship to a writer in fiction, poetry, playwriting, or creative non-fiction. Responsibilities include teaching one senior elective in creative writing each semester, organizing a series of readings, advising the literary magazine, & working one-to-one with students in the Tickner Writing Center. Salary: $30,000, plus full benefits package. To apply: Send CV, cover letter, three confidential letters of recommendation, & a writing sample consisting of either 10 published poems or up to 30 pages of published prose to: Mr. Patrick Hastings, Director of the Tickner Writing Center, Gilman School, 5407 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210. Firm deadline for receipt of all materials is January 8, 2010.