SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and Other Information and News

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

APEX MAGAZINE is an “online prose and poetry magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mash-ups of all three. Works full of marrow and passion, stories that are twisted, strange, and beautiful. Creations where secret places and dreams are put on display.”  While it does not accept unsolicited submission of poetry, it is open for submission of original short fiction, reprint fiction,nonfiction and artwork.  Details HERE.

BREAK THE PARENTING MOLD for parents with special needs children seeks: “Stories about advocating for your child; Stories that lift up parents with children who have special needs; Aha! Moments; Why having a special need can be a gift; HUMOR!; Activities; DIY therapy ideas and tips on building language and motor skills; Recipes that address food allergies.” Will consider previously published work. Details HERE.

DYING DAHLIA REVIEW seeks previously unpublished work by women writers and artists and welcomes submissions of poetry, flash fiction and art. Editor Abbie Coleman and team are on break but encourage continued submissions. Details HERE.

GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA has an open call for poetry, short stories, flash fiction, dramatic mono glue and creative nonfiction for an anthology. There is no theme but their focus is on”te earless, the unpredictable, and experimental.” Deadline: January 15. Details HERE.

OFFBEAT, a literary journal affiliated with the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Culture at Michigan State University has an open call for “the thought-provoking, humorous, and quirky” and welcomes submissions of fiction, nonficton, poetry and sequential art. “Show us writing that falls off the beaten path.” Submission fees: $3. Details HERE.

PØST contemporary poetry will announce the opening of its call for submissions for issue two. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to know when their next call for submissions opens, which should be sometime in the Spring. Visit their website HERE.

WISING UP PRESS, WRITERS COLLECTIVE has an open call for submissions to its 2018 anthology, Surprised by Joy. Prose and poetry. No submission fee. Payment in copies. Deadline: February 1, 2018. Details HERE. Scroll down on the page.

WISHING UP PRESS, WRITERS COLLECTIVE has an open call for second or their novels or short-story collections. “Books need to fall under one of the subject areas the press focuses on: Creative Acculturation; Pluralism in Families; Social and Psychological Resilience; Illness and Meaning; Creative Aging; Listening Across Faith Traditions; Social Justice and Inclusion; Citizen-Scholars.

” No submission fees. Details HERE.

SLAB, Sound & Literary Art Book is open for submission until the end of December. Interest is in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and text-based graphic art. Details HERE.

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THE BeZINE call for submissions

The November 2017 issue – themed Hunger, Poverty and Working-class Slavery –  is now open and the deadline is November 10th. Send submissions to me at bardogroup@gmail.com. Publication is November 15th. Poetry, essays, fiction and creative nonfiction, art and photography, music (videos or essays), and whatever lends itself to online presentation is welcome for consideration.  No demographic restrictions.

Submissions of work on your country and its history and culture are welcome no matter your citizenship, national origin, first language, religion or lack thereof. The more diverse the representation, the better. English only or accompanied by translation into English. Please read at least one issue and the Intro/Mission Statement and Submission Guidelines. We DO NOT publish anything that promotes hate, divisiveness or violence or that is scornful or in any way dismissive of “other” peoples.

The BeZine is a gift of life and love and an entirely volunteer effort. It is not a paying market but neither does it charge for submissions or subscriptions.

I do consider previously published work if you hold the copyright and I encourage submissions from beginning and emerging poets and writers as well as pro. / J.D.

The BeZine fosters understanding through a shared love of the arts and humanities and all things spirited; seeks to make a contribution toward personal healing and deference for the diverse ways people try to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of a world in which illness, violence, despair, loneliness and death are as prevalent as hope, friendship, reason and birth. Actively supports peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and a life of the spirit.

THE BeZINE NEWS:

• The October music issue of The BeZine is available for reading.
• HEADS-UP ON THE DECEMBER ISSUE OF The BeZine: the theme is Spirituality (Spiritual Paradigms, Awakenings, Miracles). Deadline: December 10.
• Beginning January 2018, we’ll move to a quarterly format with themes and – possibly – sub-themes. Your suggestions for sub-themes are welcome. Email me at bardogroup@gmail.com

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COFFEE, TEA AND POETRY dot net

Coffee, Tea and Poetry is a home for simple pleasures and features poets and their poems, specialty teas and coffees along with slow-carb grain-free recipes.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Send food poems and brief bio to Jamie Dedes for consideration – thepoetbyday@gmail.com with Coffee, Tea and Poetry in the subject line.

Encourages responsible sourcing and wholesome – not prefabricated – foods.

Recent Posts:

• ESPRESSO … “stronger than all the religions of the world”
• The Language of My Grandmother’s Hands; يانسون‎‎ Yānsūn (Anise Tea)

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CONTESTS

GLIMMER TRAIN PRESS Annual Family Matters CONTEST (1st place – $2,500) welcomes submissions through November and December. The call is for stories about families of all configurations. Most entries run from 1,000 to 5,000 words, but any lengths up to 12,000 are welcome. Details on this and other Glimmer Train Press contests HERE.

ROSE METAL PRESS Twelfth Annual Short-Story Chapbook Contest opens on November 1 and classes on December 1. Cash prize. $10 reading fee. Details HERE.

SCRIBES VALLEY PUBLISHING short story contest is open through November 30. Submission fee: $7. Cash award for top three. Details HERE.

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NaNoWriMo

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH

welcomes writers from anywhere in the world

November 1 – November 30, annually

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November and was initiated in 1999 by Chris Baty with just twenty-one participants in the San Franciso Bay Area. Now, billions of people (adults and youth) participate from all over the world. Children participate with their classmates and even multiple members of families participate.  For several years, my daughter-in-law and I enjoyed this exercise and I recommend it for those of you play with prose as well as poetry.

Participants attempt to complete a 50,000 word manuscript between November 1 and November 30. Well-known authors write “pep-talks” to keep them motivated throughout the process. The website provides participants with tips for writer’s block, information on where local participants are meeting (usually coffee shops or libraries), and an online community of support. NaNoWriMo focuses on the length of a work rather than the quality, encouraging writers to finish their first draft so that it can later be edited at the author’s discretion. Details HERE.

Logo © NaNoWriMo and posted under fair use.

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POETS IN JAIL

The Poet by Day actively supports freedom of expression and we work and pray for the day when incarceration, torture and murder of poets and other artists is a thing of the past. Julian Hanover (My Poetic Side) brought this round-up by Joanne Jeffries to our attention: Behnd Bars: 61 Poets Who Went to Jail.  Thank you Julian and Joanne.

Of further interest:

• Writers Worldwide Mourn the Death of Writer-Activist Liu Xiaobo in a Chinese Prison
• Russian Theatre Director, Kirill Serebrennikov, Detained … part of a strategy to stiffle artistic freedom
• Critical Minds, Critical Times: UNESCO World Press Freedom Day

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EVENTS

• Poets Speak Loud!, October 30, Monday, 7:30 pm EDT at McGeary’s Irish Pub, 4 Clinton Sq., Albany, New York 12207 This is the long-running open mic for poetry and spoken word with a featured poet every month. Hosted by Mary Panza. Sign up at 7:00 PM.
• Alexander McCall Smith in Oakville, Ontario, November 7, Tuesday, 7 pm. Atrium, Oakville Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville
• JENNIFER TSENG reading from Not So Dear Jenny and The Passion of Woo & Isolde, November 20, 8 pm at the Blacksmith House Poetry Series, With Brionne Janae. $5.00 entry. Blacksmith House Poetry Series, Spiegel Auditorium, 56 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• SOFIA SAMATAR and CHRIS ABANI in conversation about memoir and the speculative in regard to their recent books—Samatar about Monster Portraits and Abani about The Face—at Women & Children First , May 17, Thursday, 7:30 pm. Free and open to the public.Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois
• San Francisco Film Screening of Doctors Without Borders’ Exodus, a special screening of the award-winning documentary Exodus (KEO Films – 2015). This ground-breaking film features footage shot by refugees using smartphones to document their harrowing journey fleeing war and persecution to seek safety in Europe. Register to attend. This event is part of a traveling exhibition about the global refugee crisis: Forced From Home.

Accessible from anywhere in the world:

• The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, online every week and all are invited to take part no matter the stage of career (emerging or established) or status (amateur or professional). Poems related to the challenge of the week (always theme based not form based) will be published here on the following Tuesday.
• The Poet by Day, Sunday Announcements. Every week opportunity knocks for poets and writers.
• THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be – always online HERE.  
• Beguine Again, daily inspiration and spiritual practice  – always online HERE.  Beguine Again is the sister site to The BeZine.

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Well this is intimidating. 🙂

Super talented and smart: Solli Raphael, 12, Becomes Youngest National [Australia] Poetry Slam Winner. Thanks to Susanne Harford for this one.

And another:

Says young Solli: “I am very passionate about creating a life of harmony & equality. I cannot really understand inequality other than for one reason – and that is because it is a part of our past. “EMBRACE OUR DIFFERENCES” raises my view on inequality. I hope that you enjoy this poem :)”

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KUDOS TO

• Amy Barry for the publication of her poem Fall in the Fall 2017 issue of The Opiate
• Sofia Kioroglou for the publication of her poem No tertium quid in Outlaw Poetry and her poem Like a Fallen Adam from Grace in Pages & Spine
• Michael Lee Johnson on the occasion of his 139th YouTube poetry video (This one features his homage to Alexandra David-Neel.)
• Sakina Minhaj Shikari for the lovely cover design for upcoming book, Adrift, Poems by Shyam

NEWS AND INFORMATION

Thanks to Michael Dickel (Meta/Phor(e)/Play) for the first two of these.

• An Ode to the Number Pi by Nobel-Winning Polish Poet Wislawa Szymborska, Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
• What Julio Cortázar Might Teach Us About Teaching Writing, Pasha Malla, The New Yorker
• FAT NEVERLAND (I’M LOATHIN’ IT) by Luke Prater … and a call for help from Luke and his family, The Poet by Day
• Phillip Pullman’s Realm of Poetry and Inspiration, Annalisa Quinn, NPR
• Best new poetry: Mary Oliver, Nikki Giovanni and Maggie Smith, Elizabeth Lund, The Washington Post
• Henry Miller, A Writer’s Writer, Jamie Dedes, The Poet by Day
• Circling the Core & Writing My Way Through Cancer: An Interview with Myra Schneider, Jamie Dedes, The Poet by Day
• “Plagiarists never do it once”: meet the sleuth tracking down the poetry cheats, Will Storr, The Guardian

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YOUR SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS may be emailed to thepoetbyday@gmail.com. Please do so at least a week in advance.

If you would like me to consider reviewing your book, chapbook, magazine or film, here are some general guidelines:

• nothing that foments hate or misunderstanding
• nothing violent or encouraging of violence
• English only, though Spanish is okay if accompanied by translation
• though your book or other product doesn’t have to be available through Amazon for review here, it should be easy for readers to find through your site or other venues.

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Often information is just that–information – and not necessarily recommendation. I haven’t worked with all the publications or other organizations featured in my regular Sunday Announcements or other announcements shared on this site. Awards and contests are often (generally) a means to generate income, publicity and marketing mailing lists for the host organizations, some of which are more reputable than others. I rarely attend events anymore. Please be sure to verify information for yourself before submitting work, buying products, paying fees or attending events et al.

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ABOUT THE POET BY DAY

• The Poet by Day, an information hub serving poets and writers
• Coffee, Tea and Poetry, Simple Pleasures for Body, Mind and Spirit (my blog, which is admittedly getting off to a slow start)… “I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground
• The BeZine, founding and managing editor
• Beguine Again, regular contributing writer and poet
• Testimonials
• Disclosure
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