Announcing the 16th Annual Metro Times Summer Fiction Issue.
Imaginative release does wonders for the heavy heart and burdened brain. As creative writers sweat and toil, they hope their labors produce light-filled revelations to be read in amazement by whoever picks them up. But getting an audience is sometimes a real stumbling block, particularly when you’re just starting out. That’s why Metro Times keeps coming back with its annual Summer Fiction contest and the issue (appearing Aug. 13) that publishes the winners. Last year, we introduced a new category and it turned into a keeper. So here are all the rules and instructions you’ll ever need:
Entries must be at Metro Times by 5 p.m., Friday, July 18. Submission fee: $5 per entry.
FLASH FICTION:
The crazy new option. Take the challenge, be original and keep it super-brief. Tell a story in 100 words or less (rule strictly enforced).
LIMIT: FIVE FLASHES PER PERSON, COUNTED AS ONE ENTRY
PROSE:
Short stories, excerpts from novels, etc. Must not exceed 2,500-word limit.
LIMIT: ONE ENTRY PER PERSON
POETRY:
Total entry must not exceed five-page limit i.e. one five-page poem, five one-page poems, etc.
LIMIT: ONE ENTRY PER PERSON
Instructions: Submit three photocopies of entry. Put name on cover sheet only. Do not send original manuscript. Entries cannot be returned. Please include a completed entry form (download the pdf below) and a $5 check or money order made out to Metro Times for each entry. Do not send cash. Entries will be judged by a respected panel of local writers, teachers, artists and editors. There will be no first-, second- or third-place awards; rather, a representative cross section of the best work will be chosen. Winners will be published in the Aug. 13 special Summer Fiction Issue of Metro Times (both online and in print).
SPECIAL BONUS PRIZE One writer will be selected to receive free attendance to the Fifth Annual Springfed Arts Walloon Writers’ Retreat Sept. 25-28 at Michigania on Walloon Lake
Featuring a long fall-color weekend of workshops, panel discussions and readings with guest authors:
Billy Collins, Jane Hamilton, Marie Howe, Joyce Maynard, Craig Holden, Laurel Blossom, M.L. Liebler, Kathleen Ripley Leo and Terry Wooten.
Includes registration fee, meals and cabin lodging (but not travel expenses).
For retreat info call 248-589-3913 or go to www.springfed.org.
Download a pdf of the entry form. Send questions to [email protected]
