The Department of English at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and GRASSROOTS, SIUC’s undergraduate literary magazine, are pleased to announce the 2010 Devil’s Kitchen Reading Awards. One book of poetry and one book of prose (novel, short fiction, or literary nonfiction) will be selected from submissions of titles published in 2009, and the winning authors will receive an honorarium of $1000 and will present a public reading and participate in panels at the Devil’s Kitchen Fall Literary Festival at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. The dates for the 2010 festival are yet to be determined, but usually takes place in late October/early November. Travel and accommodations will be provided for the two winners.

Entries may be submitted by either author or publisher, and must include a copy of the book, a cover letter, a brief biography of the author including previous publications, and a $15.00 entry fee made out to “SIUC – Dept. of English.” Entries must be postmarked December 1, 2009 – February 1, 2010. Materials postmarked after February 1 will be returned unopened. Because we cannot guarantee their return, all entries will become the property of the SIUC Department of English. Entrants wishing acknowledgment of receipt of materials must include a self-addressed stamped postcard.

Free Short Story Writing Contest “Family Stories”

Maybe not every family does have its secrets, but they sure do have their stories! Fiction or nonfiction, we want to read yours. The short stories could be about your family in the past, your family in the future, an imaginary family, a family of ducks or a family of your friends.

Enter your short story about families in BookRix’s free writing contest “Family Stories” now. The story must relate to families in some way. Tell us your story and share it with other readers to win cash and fame. In addition to the cash prize, the contest winner will receive free proofreading and editing services (of up to 3,000 words), courtesy of Elite Editing.

Timeline:
Community Voting – December 21, 2009 to February 23, 2010
Jury Voting– February 24, 2010 to March 15, 2010

Sitting this one out? You can still help your fellow BookRixers by reading their contest books and voting for your favorite stories. Our readers choose the top ten stories, which will then be reviewed by our independent jury. You also could win prizes for voting — when you vote, you enter into a raffle to win Amazon vouchers worth $20.

The “Scare the Dickens Out of Us” Ghost Story Contest is in conjunction with the annual “A Dickens Christmas In Lockhart” festival, which is held on the first weekend in December (Friday night, Saturday) in Lockhart, Texas.
The contest is a fundraiser of the Friends of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library of Lockhart, Texas.

We want ghost stories. Here are the contest rules:
(download a pdf of Contest Rules)

1. The contest is open to published and unpublished writers alike. All publication rights remain with the author. Contest judges and their immediate families are ineligible.
2. The ghost story must include a character from any of Charles Dickens’ works as part of your original story.
3. The story must be set in the month of December and around any of the December holidays.
4. The story must be 4,000 words or less, in English, typed double-spaced.