YellowJacket Press Submissions open for 2013 Meinke Prize

FLAC Member YellowJacket Press is pleased to announce the 2013 Peter Meinke Prize for a poetry chapbook by a Florida poet.  Submissions must be postmarked June 20-July 5, 2013.  The contest is free, but only one manuscript per contestant may be submitted.  All entrants must be permanent adult residents of Florida.

Poetry manuscripts for the Peter Meinke Prize should be no longer than 20 pages of poetry, along with a title page, table of contents and acknowledgments.  Include a brief bio, date you became a Florida resident, notice of previous publications of specific poems, if applicable, and SASE.  Manuscripts will not be returned.  

Long considered a Florida treasure, Peter Meinke was the director of the Writing Workshop at Eckerd College for over 20 years and is the author of over a dozen poetry, fiction and nonfiction books, including The Contracted World: New and Selected Poems (University of Pittsburgh Press) and The Shape of Poetry, (The Writer, Inc.).  In 2009, Meinke was appointed the first ever Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg.  Currently, he teaches for the MFA program at The University of Tampa.  For more information about Peter Meinke, see his website at http://petermeinke.com

YellowJacket Press, Florida’s premier publisher of poetry chapbook manuscripts, and a non-profit organization, established the Peter Meinke Prize in 2011. Previous winners include Melissa Carroll won for her chapbook The Karma Machine, and J.D. Scott for Night Errands. 

The winner(s) of this year’s contest will be announced by August 20, 2013, will receive $100, 30 copies of the book, and will be invited to read with other YJP poets in September.  Members of the YJP Advisory Board will judge the manuscripts anonymously.

Send submissions to:

YellowJacket Press, Peter Meinke Prize

1410 E. Paris Street,

Tampa, Fl. 33604. 

No e-mail submissions.

YellowJacket Press is a non-profit, independent literary press.  The mission of YellowJacket Press is to support emerging and established poets in Florida with an annual chapbook contest, chapbook publications, and public readings. YellowJacket Press creates a means for poets to share and promote their work, and nurtures a sense of community among poets and audiences across the state.

For more information about YellowJacket Press or the chapbook contest check the website at www.yellowjacketpress.org,  the YJP Facebook page or contact yellowjacketpress@gmail.com

Other Words Conference Update

Call for Proposals and Book Fair Participation

The Other Words conference welcomes proposals for 1:15 minute panels on the theme of "Writing Florida: The First 500 Years” for the 2013 Conference, to be held on the historic Flagler College campus. The conference is open to all who are interested in the contemporary practice of literary writing, and will offer a mixture of panels, workshops and readings.

Proposal Themes

The theme can be a variety of topics: Fountains of Youth, Conquistadors and Missionaries, Robber Barons, Land Scams, Mosquitoes, Hurricanes, Hanging Chads, Spring Break, Retirement Villages—the Stuff of Life.

However we entertain all ideas—the conference includes panels and readings on a variety of topics, from a special tribute to Edmund Skellings, late poet laureate of Florida, to the nuts and bolts of writing and publishing.

Details and Registration

Click here for details about registration, plus creative writing workshops, manuscript consultations and more.

Publishers and journals may sponsor readings by their authors—details to come on the FLAC/Other Words blog, Facebook page, and website.

Stay tuned to the blog for updates about scheduling, participating writers, conference hotels, and more.

Enter Your Proposal Today

Please include:

 

1. Panel Title

2. Description (up to 500 words)

3. List of up to 4 participants with names, affiliation (for example, which university, museum, press, etc.) and complete contact information including e-mail addresses. Please indicate if you are conference sponsors or institutional members of the Florida Literary Arts Coalition when you submit. Indicate which participant will be the main contact; that person will hear from the conference by mid-summer. Please submit early: we regret that the number of available slots means only the most competitive proposals will be considered.

4. List any AV or other special requests for your panel.  

Deadline: June 1, 2013

Submit proposals to:
Rick Campbell, FLAC

Congrats to Terri Witek and Lola Haskins

Florida Literary Arts Coalition members Terri Witek and Lola Haskins won silver and bronze respectively in the 2012 Florida Book Awards. Witek and Haskins won for their poetry collections, Exit Island and Grace to Leave. Click here to learn more about Florida authors who were honored.

The Florida Book Awards is an annual awards program that recognizes, honors and celebrates the best Florida literature and books about Florida published in the previous year. Click here to learn more about this program.

Finishing Line Press poetry competition

The deadline for the Finishing Line Press chapbook-length poetry collection competition is February 15th. The contest is open to women who have never before published a full-length poetry collection. Click here to learn more.

National Poetry Series Deadline Approaching

The deadline for the 2013 National Poetry Series contest is coming up on February 15. Those interested can read the contest guidelines here. Good luck!

The National Poetry Series was established in 1978 to ensure the publication of five books of poetry each year. Winning manuscripts are selected through an annual open competition, judged by five distinguished poets. Each winning poet receives a $1,000 cash award in addition to having his or her manuscript published by a participating trade, university, or small press publisher. Publishers currently include HarperCollins Publishers, Fence Books, University of Georgia Press, Penguin Books, and Milkweed Editions.   Recent judges have included John Ashbery, Patricia Smith, Nikky Finney, Dean Young, Campbell McGrath, D. Nurkse, and D.A. Powell.  Among the list of more than 150 esteemed NPS winners are award-winning poets Billy Collins, Stephen Dunn, Mark Doty, Marie Howe, Nathaniel Mackey, Naomi Shihab Nye, Eleni Sikelianos, and Terrance Hayes.

Amina Gautier's Florida Writer's Circuit dates announced

Amina Gautier's Florida Writer's Circuit dates announced:

Miami Dade College, Miami, Monday, Feb 11
Valencia College, Orlando, Tuesday, Feb 12
College of Central Florida Wednesday, Feb 13
University of South Florida, Tampa, Thursday, Feb 14
St. Leo University, St. Leo, Friday, Feb 15
University of Tampa, Tampa, Tuesday, Feb 19
Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Wednesday, Feb 20
Edison College, Port Charlotte, Thursday, Feb 21
http://www.floridarts.org/writer-s-circuit/

 

Dr. Amina Gautier is the winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction for her short story collection At-Risk. Seventy-five of her stories have been published, appearing in Glimmer Train, Iowa Review, Kenyon Review, North American Review, and Southern Review among other places. Her stories have won awards from the Crazyhorse Fiction Prize, Zoetrope—All Story Fiction Contest, Glimmer Train Fiction Open, Jack Dyer Prize, William Richey Award, Danahy Prize, and Schlafly Microfiction Award as well as scholarships and fellowships from Breadloaf, Ucross, and Sewanee Writer’s Conference and a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Award.

 

NPR picks Enid Shomer's novel as one of the year's best

NPR chooses Enid Shomer's "The Twelve Rooms Of The Nile" as one of the best historical novels of 2012:  http://www.npr.org/2012/12/06/166481809/time-passages-the-years-best-historical-fiction

Upcoming reading at Stetson University:  Geoff Dyer will be reading/lecturing/signing at Stetson on Wed. January 23rd at 8PM in Lee Chapel.  Here's a Dyer link if you don't know his work http://geoffdyer.com/.  The event is free and open to the public.

Susan Lilley's New Chapbook Available

FLAC Member Susan Lilley has a new chapbook listed on Amazon. Buy one, review it!

Other Words Conference schedule posted!

Check out the 2012 Other Words Conference schedule! http://floridarts.org/other-words-conference

The Florida Review becomes Instutional Member

The Florida Literary Arts Coalition is pleased to announce that The Florida Review is now an institutional member. Visit their website http://floridareview.cah.ucf.edu/

Literature for Lunch at St. Leo University

Saint Leo University English Department is pleased to present Literature for Lunch featuring poet Rosalynde Vas Dias. Literature for Lunch will take place on Friday, November 2, 12:30-1:30 in Selby Auditorium on the University Campus.

Rosalynde Vas Dias visits Saint Leo as a featured writer on the Florida Literary Arts Coalition Writers Circuit. The Writers Circuit provides guest poets and writers to member institutions several times a year. This is the first year the SLU English Department has been a member of the Coalition.

Rosalynde Vas Dias is the winner of the Robert Dana-Anhinga Prize for Poetry, 2011. Her collection only blue body will be available in November. Her poems have also appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Crazyhorse, New Orleans Review, and The Pinch. Ms. Vas Dias lives in Providence, Rhode Island. only blue body is her first book of poetry.

Literature for Lunch is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch.

For more information contact Gianna Russo at:  352-588-8282 or gianna.russo@saintleo. edu

Interivew with Ira Sukrunguang

Take a look at this interview with Other Words conference workshop leader Ira Sukrungruang with Fiction Fix discussing his memoir Talk Thai, how to skillfully blend humor and poignancy, and exploring his Buddhist roots in Thailand.

Ira Sukrungruang will be leading non-fiction workshops at the FLAC Other Words Conference on Friday, November 9th and Saturday, November 10th.

An excerpt from Bob Kunzinger's "Walled In"

Check out this excerpt from Other Words evening reader Bob Kunzinger in the Southern Humanities Review titled “Walled In: A Four-Week Thoreauvian Rehab.” http://www.cla.auburn.edu/shr/documents/kunzinger-excerpt.pdf

Bob Kunziger is the author of five collections of essays, including the forthcoming Borderline Crazy (Nov 2012). He is a repeat offender for such diverse publications as Southern Humanities Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, as well as many other regional and national reviews, and his work has been noted in Best American Essays.  He is a professor of humanities and creative writing in Virginia.

Stephen Kampa Discusses the Power of Poetry

Did you know Other Words evening reader Stephen Kampa won the 2011 Florida Book Award for his collection of poetry Cracks in the Invisible? Check out his interview in which he discusses the power and importance of poetry.