A favorite poet of mine, Bertolino’s new book from Cherry Grove Collections in Cincinnnati is much praised. From the Seattle Times, June 25, 2009:

Bertolino’s masterful command of language, literary devices, and subtle internal rhymes make most poems in this collection as smooth and accessible as a Motown classic by Smokey Robinson. Nothing here has been over-worked into literary or academic obscurity…his dry wit, deepens the meaning and emotions of a poem without being too smart for the room…We taste, we savor. The water flows, the stones we hold.

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Sheila Bender                          voice: (360)385 7839

Become a fan of Sheila Bender’s Writing It Real at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WritingItRealcom/95254998600?ref=ts

The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition seeks entries of Short Fiction, Artwork and Poetry Three winners will be awarded £500 each Additional prizes include an Olympus E-420 SLR camera and a boutique holiday for two. All finalists will be published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual, in stores December 2009. Entry to the 2009 Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is £10 This allows you to submit up to 2 stories, 5 images or 5 poems Closing date to receive Creative Works is 31 August 2009.

For full details please visit www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is internationally recognised for identifying new artists and writers and bringing them to international attention. Previous finalists have achieved success and recognition with accolades including: writing commissions from Channel 4, selection to represent Australia in the Florence Biennale, exhibitions at DACS (London), John Martin Gallery (London), Flores Fine Art Gallery (New York), inclusion in the International Drawing Competition exhibition (Poland) and the National Geographic International Photographic exhibition.

British author Jo Parfitt shares her publication story and the elements that she thinks make a difference in getting published. What is your story? What questions do you have for others? Please comment and I will be sure to answer you as I hope other WIR subscribers will, too!

I’m writing today to let you know that Real Simple is still accepting entries for our second annual Life Lessons <http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/second-annual-life-lessons-essay-contest-00000000013682/>  contest (the link is also pasted below), and we’re hoping that your readers will submit their work for consideration!
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/second-annual-life-lessons-essay-contest-00000000013682/
We’re really looking for smart, well-written and surprising essays that take unclichéd approaches to their topics. Any subjects or tones welcome, but we’d especially love to see essays with humor and an offbeat angle.

The topic of this year’s essay is: When did you first realize that you had become a grown-up? Whether the experience was difficult, funny, easy, or bittersweet, share your lesson and you could win.
The Life Lessons column, which reaches more than two million readers monthly, has featured noted authors such as Mary Gordon, Jane Smiley, Ann Patchett, and many others. The winning essay is scheduled to appear in the April 2010 issue of Real Simple magazine. The winner will also receive a $3,000 cash prize; roundtrip tickets for two to New York City, hotel accommodations for two nights, and tickets to a Broadway play; and lunch with Real Simple editors.
Thank you for your efforts to publicize this important opportunity and for all your support of writers and writing.
Best,
Sarah Robbins
Real Simple
917.676.3476

To the Lighthouse Poetry Publication Prize
http://www.aroomofherownfoundation.org/To_the_Lighthouse.php
Award: $1000 for best, unpublished poetry collection by a woman, and publication by Red Hen Press.
Postmark Deadline: Sept. 30, 2009
Page limit: 48 to 96 pages
Fee: $20 per entry
Orlando Prizes
http://www.aroomofherownfoundation.org/orlando.php
Award: $1000 and online publication for the best unpublished work by a woman in each of
four genres­Short Fiction, Sudden Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry.
Online Application Deadline: 9/1/09 (Nonfiction and Short Fiction) and 10/1/09 (Poetry and Sudden Fiction).
Fee: $15 per entry (payable via Paypal)

Kate Gale, PhD
Managing Editor, Red Hen Press
http://www.kategale.com/index.htm

How does one learn the field?  Go to conferences, (AWP has the best literary book fair I’ve seen recently) book fairs, each part of the country has literary centers where you can learn the dynamics of being public with one’s work.  Go to readings, interact with other writers. Read books by literary presses. Some of the lit presses exhibit in distributor displays at the HUGE book expos — ALA, Book Expo American, etc.

Literary centers/book stores around the country:  Woodland Pattern: MKE, WI; Poet’s House, NYC; The Loft, MNPLS; Beyond Baroque, LA; Small Press Traffic, SF; City Lights, SF; A few good bookstores: Seminary (U of Chicago); Tattered Cover (Denver); Women and Children First(Chicago); Powells, LA, Portland, OR, U of Chicago; Duttons, LA.

Some other thoughts that might be helpful:

We get huge amounts of email – put query in the subject line – we try to go back and find submissions but I know we miss some just because the subject line isn’t informative.

We pre-screen queries, and don’t ask to read until we’ve seen an initial sample — still in general
don’t send hard copy of  manuscript to anyone without yr address, phone number, email address, on front page, name as a header isn’t a bad idea — amazing how many people don’t do this.  So much paper in a publishing office things always get separated from the package they arrived in.
SusanBright,
Poet/Publisher, Plain View Press
P.O. 42255
Austin, TX 78704
http://www.plainviewpress.net

From Sam Turner
For your info:
If you are a serious writer looking for an editor and/or an agent for your projects, you can’t afford to miss the opportunities the annual conference provides. For example, this year we have the managing editor of Champagne Books who accepts un-agented fiction manuscripts. We’ve also brought back editors and agents who have signed clients and purchased books from attendees they met at prior conferences.

Do you write YA? Two top agents in those fields are on the conference faculty. Christian books? The acquistions editor from Whitaker House is anxious to talk to you. Mysteries? Poisoned Pen Press wants to meet you. A NY agent and the editorial director from Penguin USA will be there looking for new nonfiction projects. Blind queries to agents and editors don’t work well, but sitting down and talking face to face about yourself and your projects does work.

The conference is your chance to further your career and to learn more about the process of writing and marketing your work. SSA sponsors this conference for its members. Don’t miss it!! For more information, visit the conference website: www.wranglingwithwriting.com

A few magazines to check out for submitting poems, stories and essays sent in by WIWA’s Marion Blue:

Visit www.flyway.org for Notes From the Field contest

email blueline@potsdam.edu or visit www2.potsdam.edu/blueline for guidelines on submitting work about the Adirondacks or similar geographical areas.

Ironhorse Literary Review: email ironhorselitrev@yahoo.com for guidelines on submitting to their contest for a winning prose chapbook.

Visit www.usu.edu/usupress for guidelines for submitting for the May Swenson Poetry Award.

Visit www.writeonwhidbey.org for submitting to Critique Mania and receiving professional feedback on 1,000 of your words.

Read this article about the efforts of a poet and a tech guy who met working at University of Washington TV: http://uwnews.org/uweek/article.aspx?visitsource=uwkmail&id=51575

Then visit www.readwritepoem.org to enter the conversation!

This week’s article is an essay by Barbara Graham about how the birth of her granddaughter changed her life and the life of her family.  Have you written about life changing events? What lessons can you take from Barbara’s essay about the execution of this kind of material?