Here is my latest round-up of FREE poetry and short story competitions for adults for June and July 2014. Be aware that the deadlines for a few of them are coming up, so if you want to enter, better get writing! Full guidelines are on the sites themselves, but I’ve summarised some of the information so you can save yourselves some reading time. Good luck submitting and happy writing!
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More of my poetry out this month in The Open Mouse….mid-June is turning out to be quite the poetry-fest! Forthcoming debut news, followed by my poet hubby’s publication yesterday and the nights staying light for longer (and warmer too)! Isn’t summer great? 🙂
New-sense
Hair
clings to a shred of scalp
After death,
it is best,
to crush the skull
into bone powder
and fertilise the plants
What a nuisance
a new-sense
of doom
For skeletons
do not keep growing;
their hair
and nails
fall to the whims
of the velvet casket
The four walls
can only contain
what was a foolish
ego
of a mynah bird
mimicking,
poorly,
a parrot
in the first place
Copyright © Leilanie Stewart 2014
Leilanie Stewart is one half of a writing couple – the other half is poet and writer, Joseph Robert. Her work has appeared in over 30 print and online lit mags in the UK and US. More about her writing can be found at www.leilaniestewart.wordpress.com.
Clouds above the Suicide Forest, seen from Mt. Fuji, Japan
Another of my poet and writer hubby’s poems is published in Bluepepper magazine today. It’s a poem that will cut deep (bad pun, apologies, I’m great at these!). Joseph is published alongside another poet, Michele Seminara, who used inspiration from Ulysses for her poem – appropriate, since Bloomsday was only a couple of days ago on June 16th. Enjoy!
Glamour… in the pits!
Yesterday I received the news that my debut poetry pamphlet collection, A Model Archaeologist (available from my publisher Eyewear Publishing and from my online store Meandi Books) will be published in mid 2015 by Eyewear Publishing. To say that I am excited is an understatement! After 5 years of publishing my work in print and ezines online and promoting my poems at events in London, I’m delighted that a collection of my work will appear.
Eyewear are a London-based publisher that promote Indie writers and run competitions to find up-and-coming new authors. In this day and age, it’s refreshing to have a traditional publisher who will take on new writers with track records of publishing within the small press scene.
Here’s my poetry reading for June. This poem was first published in September 2011 in Graffiti magazine issue 12. Watch for the cameo by the magazine itself… all I can say is that there was no gust of air present on that day. Spooky? Maybe not. Funny, perhaps!
Last day of May and another flash fiction piece squeezed in to kick off the start of June (and hopefully nicer weather here in Britain), published in Pure Slush Magazine. The Art of Something out of Nothing is a sketch that plays around with language and interpretation. Just as an artist starts out with a blank canvas, a writer begins with an empty page; at least in a normal writing process. But what happens if a story is already fully formed and the writer begins by deconstructing the concept, picking away at elements and leaving the reader with only the bare bones that they need to know to follow the idea? Continue reading
I always enjoy the post coming when there’s a literary magazine or a poetry pamphlet that someone has sent, instead of bills, bills and more bills. This week, 2 copies of Mistress Quickly’s Bed Issue 5 arrived, which Joseph Robert and I have been busy reading. I’ve had an enjoyable commute the past few days perusing the poems, short fiction and entertaining reviews. Of course, the editorial at the start always amuses me; a dialogue between editors Alan Dent and Nancy Frost that in this issue makes a fun compare-contrast between poetry and politics – appropriate for today since it’s election day. Who are you voting for, people in Britain? Continue reading
Landmass
This month, Kind of a Hurricane Press has published its best of 2013 poetry and fiction in an annual anthology, Storm Cycle. Editors A. J. Huffman and April Salzano selected pieces from both the print magazines and online journals that they felt were ‘truly special and deserved extra recognition’. I’m delighted that three of my pieces – Landmass, Snowball Effect and Twenty Questions – were picked for the anthology and are published alongside some great poems and flash fiction. Continue reading
Excarnation… what a way to go!
My writer hubby’s latest fiction, Pitch for a Picture Book, is out in Mad Swirl magazine this month. The editor of Mad Swirl, Tyler, described excarnation in writing terms as defleshing art. It’s true that the process for a writer is to construct, then deconstruct their work – draft 1 is to get the ideas out and draft 2 is to edit and cut any extraneous parts, or to refine what works. Excarnation can also epitomise life’s tragedies (or comedies, depending on how you look at it!) In Pitch for a Picture Book the death or loss of everyone living who is dear to the central character, initiates a bit of philosophical reflection, and a quest for new friendships among inanimate objects. Continue reading
Here’s my latest update of FREE poetry and fiction competitions for teenagers to enter, either by themselves or through a school or local library. A lot of writers these days are cash-strapped and aren’t in a position to enter every fee-charging competition that comes up. There are many legitimate competitions that rely on funds to keep running their business and keep the world of poetry and short fiction alive (which I’m grateful for!), but in my mind, the odds of winning the top prizes are so low that it seems to me a writer would spend more on entry fees than reaping rewards. I’ve personally never entered a competition that isn’t free – however, I regularly subscribe to my favourite literary magazines to do my part for the industry! At least with magazines you subscribe to you get a product for the money you spend. And in my opinion, children and young people shouldn’t have to pay to enter competitions at all – on that note, here’s my round-up of freebie poetry competitions for youngsters:
