The annual contests sponsored by the Knoxville Writers' Guild will award about $1,200 in prizes for fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction works, plus a high school poetry contests, Awards Chairman Art Stewart announced.
The deadline for the contests is Feb. 28. Winners of the contests will be announced in late spring and honored at a Guild event to be announced. First, second and third place prizes for each of the contests is $150, $100, and $50, respectively.
Contestants must be residents of Tennessee, entries may be made to more than one contest, and all contests are judged blind. For a complete list guidelines, see the Guild's website (www.knoxvillewritersguild.org) or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Awards, KWG, P.O. Box 10328, Knoxville TN 37939. Membership information is also available from these sources.
The four contests and some information about each:
The KWG Award for Fiction, in honor of Leslie Garrett: An entry consists of one typed, double-spaced short story or novel excerpt totaling no more than 6,000 words each. Only one entry per contestant. The lead judge is Jeanne McDonald. Sponsored by Don Williams, columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel, and Jim Johnston, owner of Celtic Cat Publishing. There is no entry fee.
The KWG Award for Poetry, in honor of Libba Moore Gray and Terry Semple: An entry consists of not more than three types poems. Multiple submissions by a single contestant are allowed. The lead judge is Judy Loest. Entry fee is $10 for KWG members, and $20 for nonmembers.
The 2007 KWG Prize for Creative Nonfiction: The topic is hometown. Preference will be given to narrow subject matter. Entry consists of one typed, double-spaced creative nonfiction piece of no more than 3,000 words. Multiple submissions by the same contestant are allowed. The lead judge is Julie Auer. Entry fee is $10 for KWG members, and $20 for nonmembers.
The 2007 Young Writers' Prize in Poetry: Entry consists of three typed poems of no more than 100 lines total. Only one entry per contestant. There are no restrictions as to style or content. The contest is open to all high school students in the Greater Knoxville Area of East Tennessee. Laura Still is the lead judge. The sponsors are Still, a poet and playwrite, and Dr. John Reaves, English professor at Pellissippi State Technical Community College.
