We’ve also decided to move beyond our traditional sphere of publishing – specifically, five anthologies (and counting) containing funny stories about travel and the great outdoors. This time ’round we’re opening up the contest to other genres of storytelling.

So: do you have a wacky, funny or outrageous yarn that would fit into one of the four categories we’re seeking? If so, we want to hear from you!

Please click here for complete contest guidelines in PDF format.

Story contest deadline has been extended to February 29, 2012 at midnight PCT

Ploughshares

Login to our submission manager here to submit. (https://www2.pshares.org/submit/)

SIGN UP to get contest alerts and updates.

Since 1971, Ploughshares has been committed to promoting the work of up-and-coming writers. In the spirit of the magazine’s founding mission, the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest will recognize work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Literary work first published in Ploughshares has been cited in the Pushcart Prize volumes more frequently than any other literary journal and is regularly featured in Best American anthologies. The magazine has an international readership and is widely distributed throughout the United States.

ELIGIBILITY:

We define an “emerging writer” as someone who has yet to publish a book and has won no major awards.

SUBMISSION POLICIES:

Please log in to our online submission manager between February 1st and April 2nd to submit.
Submit 3-5 poems; nonfiction and fiction entries should be under 5,000 words.
The entry fee of $20, payable by credit card on the submission manager site, will include a 1-year subscription to Ploughshares. (Current subscribers may add to their subscription or give the subscription as a gift.)
Writers are allowed to submit only one entry to the contest, per year.

PUBLICATION:

The winning story, essay, and poems will be published in the Winter 2012-13 issue of Ploughshares.

Creative Writer Wanted in Moncton NB

Creative Writer Wanted

Did you read that right? We’re looking for a creative writer. Not someone who can write the perfect press release (but thanks for trying). We seek someone who can write with inspiration, and who can say inspiration in a dozen fresher ways. Someone with so many ideas, there’s a light bulb literally hanging over your head (we won’t stare; it’s a common mutation around here). From radio scripts to digital media and everything in between, you turn a nice phrase into an emotion. Humour, compassion, wonder, whatever you’ve harnessed the power of the written word, and you can cleverly tailor your word craft for any target market, from age 5 to 105. An English degree is certainly an asset but not a deal-breaker. 3-5 years experience a plus, and in today’s world of marketing, some web savvy wouldn’t go astray either.

Send résumé and creative, cliché-free cover letter (one document please) to Human Resources atjoin-our-team@m5.ca by Monday, March 7. Please quote competition number CW0218-CBwhen applying.

m5 is the largest marketing communications group in Atlantic Canada with offices in St. John’s, Halifax, Moncton, and Manchester, New Hampshire. This is a permanent, full-time position at ourMoncton Office and comes with a competitive salary, stellar benefits package, summer hours, and even a wickedly discounted gym membership. Sweet action.

See http://www.careerbeacon.com/search/en/-1/-1/14/-1/0/0/0/0/0/0/3/MB1102189098

The competition is open to New Brunswick writers, both amateur and professional, and all members of WFNB. Submissions must be postmarked no later than February 28 and will be judged blind by professional out-of-province authors.

The results of the 2011 competition will be announced at WordsSpring, WFNB’s annual gathering and AGM. This year’s event will be held in Sussex, May 13-15. Winners will be invited to attend and read from their work. In addition to receiving a cash prize and provincial recognition, the competition has been a springboard for previous winners who have gone on to publish their work in magazines and with major publishing houses.

The competition’s major awards are The Richards Prize for a collection of short stories, a short novel or a substantial portion of a longer novel, and named in honour of highly acclaimed New Brunswick author David Adams Richards and The Alfred G. Bailey prize for poetry manuscripts. The Sheree Fitch Prize for Fiction, named for the sponsor of this award, is open to youth, ages 14 to 18 years.

For more information on the competition, including genres, entry fees, word limits and other rules, visit the WFNB site at www.wfnb.ca.

National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org) is a challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. In that spirit, we are encouraging participants to set personal goals for the 24-Hour Write-In. There will be writing games and other activities going on throughout the event to keep participants motivated. There will also be a meet n’ greet social event Friday night, August 13.

The Fredericton Inn is conveniently located near many food outlets. You can find out more about the hotel from their web site: http://www.frederictoninn.nb.ca/.  A few couches for out-of-town participants are available with members of Freddy Words. These are provided on a first-come first-serve basis.

To register, please email freddywords@gmail.com with your name and whether you would like to be billeted with one of our members. We can accept payment by PayPal or cheque (Canadian cheques only, please), and we accept Canadian cash at the door. We will respond to confirm you are on our list, and your spot will be secure once we receive your payment.

Peter Lanyon, Branding with Integrity workshop.

The Frye Festival offers two new workshops this year! Authors, artists, cultural organizations, and the general public are invited to learn more about How to Get Published and Branding with Integrity. Both workshops, presented in collaboration with Enterprise Greater Moncton, will be offered in English with simultaneous translation.

Also on the program for the 11^th edition of Canada’s only bilingual international literary festival: creative writing, poetry writing, and writing workshops for kids. People are invited to buy their tickets for workshops in advance since spaces fill up quickly. Workshops for kids are free. The 2010 Frye Festival will be held in Moncton from April 19^th to the 25^th.

The challenges of getting published

How to Get Published is presented by industry expert, Brian Henry. It’s open to all of those who dream of professionally publishing their work and do not necessarily know where to start. The workshop is geared towards professional writers, but all are welcomed, amateurs as well as the general public. Henry will cover topics such as finding an agent, getting your short stories published, finding a book publisher, writing a query letter, and how to get a publishers’ attention. Participants are invited to bring a draft of a presentation letter. This workshop will take place on Friday, April 23 on the second floor of the City Grill restaurant in Moncton from 9 am to 12:15 pm. Tickets are $55 and $50 for members of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC).

Branding with Integrity

The arts community and cultural organizations will surely be interested in hearing what marketing guru, Peter Lanyon, has to say in his workshop Branding with Integrity. The presentation will focus on developing a winning brand to improve its commercial success, but  without losing its authenticity or its specificity. This conference is for artists of all disciplines interested in developing their cultural enterprise through the advice of a marketing expert of international renown. An artist himself, Peter Lanyon has worked in the advertising industry for more 30 years, co-founding two industry-leading Canadian agencies: Cossette Toronto and Lanyon Phillips Communications. In 2009, he wrote and published Life in the Lawn: a PoemGarden, a book and touring exhibition of short poems with paintings by renowned Acadian artist, Raymond Martin. This workshop will be held on the second floor of City Grill restaurant in Moncton, on Friday, April 23^rd from 2 pm to 3 pm. Tickets are $10.

Creative and Poetry Writing Workshops

All poets (published and closet!) are invited to get creative with the Frye Festival’s literary workshops. On Saturday, April 24^th, a great opportunity to get some writing tips from Canadian experimental poet, Christian Bök. He is the author of Eunoia (Coach House, 2001), a bestselling work of experimental literature, which has gone on to win the Griffin Prize for Poetic Excellence. The poetry workshop will take place on the first floor of Moncton’s City Hall.

On Thursday, April 22^nd, join creative writing professor, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer for a fiction writing workshop. On the same day, France Cayouette will offer a French workshop on the Haiku. International bestselling author Steven Galloway will offer a fiction workshop on Friday, April 23^rd and New Brunswick poet, Robert Moore, will host a poetry workshop while Quebec author, Christiane Duchesne, will present a creative writing workshop in French. All these workshops are to be held at the Moncton Public Library.

And for the kids

The Frye Festival always offers writing workshops for youngsters during KidsFest (Saturday, April 24^th). Author Nancy Wilcox Richards will lead the workshop Publish your own book for kids 8 to 12 years old and poet Guy Marchamps will present a writing workshop for children aged 8 to 10, in French. Both workshops will be held at the Moncton Public Library. There is no need to register, both workshops are free.

People can buy their tickets for the various Frye Festival workshops at www.tickets.moncton.ca or by calling 506.857.4100. Workshops are $10, except for How to Get Published workshop, with Brian Henry, which is $55 and $50 for PWAC members.

For more information regarding the 11^th edition of the Frye Festival and its program:  www.frye.ca.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years.  He teachers creative writing at Ryerson University and George Brown College and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo.  But his proudest boast is that he’s helped many of his students to get their first book published and to launch their careers as authors.

As a special option, participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter they might use to interest an agent or publisher in their book.

The seminar will run from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and will be held at the City Grill, 2nd floor, 130 Westmorland Street in Moncton, NB. The fee is $55 for the general public, or $50 for Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) members. Participants are asked to register online for the seminar, and all Frye Festival events, through the Moncton Coliseum box office at tickets.moncton.ca.

The seminar is sponsored by Enterprise Greater Moncton, with the collaboration of PWAC’s Moncton Chapter and the Frye Festival.

PWAC’s Moncton Chapter is part of a non-profit support network that represents the interests of 600 writers in Canada’s magazine and newspaper industries. To learn more about the Moncton Chapter, its members and events visit www.monctonwriters.ca.

The Frye Festival brings the best local, national and international authors, poets, playwrights, graphic novelists, spoken word artists and storytellers to Moncton, New Brunswick for a bilingual celebration of words.  This year, the festival runs April 19 to 25.  Visit www.frye.ca.

Enterprise Greater Moncton is the leading community economic development agency for the cities of Dieppe, Moncton and the Town of Riverview, a point of contact for new and existing businesses. Visit http://www.greatermoncton.org/.

What are the perils of writing a biography? The public is invited to a discussion with renowned biographer Harvey Sawler from Charlottetown, PEI.  His talk The Perils of Writing Biographies will take place during the Pop & Frye series on Thursday, April 8^th at 7 pm, at Chapter’s in Dieppe. Admission is free and all are welcome! This discussion presented by the Frye Festival will be in English.

How to Get Published Seminar

Dream of becoming a published author? Then plan to attend the “How to Get Published” seminar Friday, April 23, 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., City Grill, 2nd floor, 130 Westmorland Street, Moncton. Sponsored by Enterprise Moncton, in collaboration with the Frye Festival and Moncton Chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, the seminar will cover everything from finding a book publisher to writing what the publishers want. Workshop leader is Brian Henry, a book editor and creative writing instructor. Fee is $55. Register online through the Moncton Coliseum box office at tickets.moncton.ca.

Share writing from your youth

The Professional Writers Association of Canada’s Moncton Chapter invites everyone to its 2^nd annual Reveille, an event where members of the audience and special guests, including local celebrities and Frye Festival authors, share “works” from their youth (e.g. angst-filled poetry, embarrassing diary entries, sappy songs) in an open mic format. The more cringe-worthy, the better! The event will be held Wednesday, at the Moncton Press Club on Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. Come prepared to groan, laugh and cheer. Reveille’s goal is to reawaken that inner child who wanted to be a writer. Anyone can participate and admission is free.

All events are part of the Frye Festival, Canada’s only bilingual, international literary Festival, which will held this year from April 19 to April 25 in Moncton, NB. For more information, please visit www.frye.ca.

Anyone is welcome to participate, and it’s free!

In Fredericton, many activities will help writers bang out 50,000 words in 30 days. On Sunday, October 25, there will be a “meet n’ greet” at Dairy Queen (South Side) at 2 p.m. Other activities include a kick-off party on Oct. 30 and weekly “write-ins,” where participants work on their novels in the company of others. We also have a Writing Retreat fundraiser planned for Sunday, Nov. 8.

Check out all of our events at our Google calendar: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=writerwithoutborders%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Halifax.

Local events are also being planned in Saint John and Moncton. Check out the New Brunswick forum on NaNoWriMo.org closer to November for details!

To register, go to www.NaNoWriMo.org. The Fredericton chapter also has a Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41943516012), and you can follow our activities on Twitter (“frednowrimo”).

Canada’s only bilingual, international literary festival will take place in Moncton from Friday April 17 to Sunday April 26.

Writing for Film

Tony Sekulich

Saint John, New Brunswick born Tony Sekulich will be giving the Writing for Film Workshop “Story and the Art of Pitching” on Friday April 24 from 9am to 4pm. The workshop is designed to give participants insight into the craft of turning a great story idea into a winning pitch.

“It is not enough to simply come up with a good story, but you must also know how to communicate that story in as little as one sentence or as much as a two hour conversation,” explains Sekulich who considers the art of pitching a story a tool that all aspiring and professional screenwriters must have in their repertoire.

Participants will have the opportunity to pitch a screenplay idea in front of the group. The workshop will take place at the Aberdeen Cultural Centre and the cost is $35. Space is limited!

Tony Sekulich has been a professional screenwriter, story editor, and producer for more than 15 years. In 2003, he adapted Stevie Cameron’s best-selling book Blue Trust into a feature film script. That same year, Tony wrote for the critically acclaimed CTV series Robson Arms. In 2007 Tony’s feature film script The Rivals was sold to Grana Productions and in the fall of 2007 his feature script Sharkjumping was recognized as a top screenplay at the 2007 Austin Film Festival screenplay competition.

Poetry, Science Fiction and more!

Workshops will begin on Thursday April 23 with a Poetry Workshop hosted by Quebec poet Monique Deland, from 9:30 to 11:30am.

On Friday, April 24 from 9:30 to 11:30am, New Brunswick author Sheree Fitch will lead participants into “Write Now,” a workshop for adults who’ve always wanted to write but can’t find time or confidence, for those who do write but don’t make the time and sometimes lose heart, or for word lovers ready to put pen to paper. Sheree has been teaching writing for over 20 years and has a few surprises to jump start everybody’s creativity.

Jo-Anne Elder will be hosting a Creative Writing Workshop (in French) on Friday April 24 from 9:30 to 11:30am (in replacement of Monique LaRue).

Later that afternoon, Irish writer Gerard Beirne will offer a Poetry Workshop from 2 to 4pm. Beirne is currently Writer-in-Residence at UNB and his novel The Eskimo in the Net was short-listed for The Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award 2004.

All these workshops will be taking place at the Moncton Public Library.

Science fiction lovers will have the unique opportunity to meet and learn from one of Canada’s best Sci-Fi writers, Robert J. Sawyer, on Saturday April 25 from 9:30 to 11:30am at Mad City Comics (363 Mountain Road).

“Science Fiction is often called ‘the literature of ideas,’ but where do those ideas come from? How do you turn a grandly cosmic vision into an intimately human story? What is the relationship between theme and plot? And how do you take the classic elements of science fiction – time travel, starships, alien beings, artificial intelligence, alternate worlds – and do something fresh with them, when so many other writers have already mined the same topics?” These are some of the topics Sawyer wishes to explore during the workshop. The author’s highly anticipated new novel Wake, a World Wide Web intrigue, will hit shelves in Canada mid-April.

The same day, Quebec novelist Lise Tremblay will be hosting a Creative Writing Workshop (in French) at the Dieppe Public Library from 9:30 to 11:30am.

Writing Workshops for Children

Kids 8-12 years old are invited to take part in a Writing Workshop with Sheree Fitch on Saturday April, 25 at the Moncton Public Library from 10 to 11am. The workshop will take place during the KidsFest event.

French illustrator of children’s books Jean-Claude Bauer will be on hand to offer a comic book writing workshop in French for kids 8-10 years old.
Entrance for children’s workshops is free.

Tickets for the Frye Festival workshops can be purchased at www.tickets.moncton.ca or by calling (506) 857-4100. Unless otherwise noted, workshops are $10.

For more information on the Frye Festival’s 10th edition go to www.frye.ca.