2024 Atlanta Writers Club Annual Writing Contest

Opening for Submissions in December 2023

 

Congratulations to the winners and runners-up of our 2023 contest:

 

Terry Kay Prize for Fiction

Winner: Susan Andrelchik for “At the Beach”

 

Runners-up:

Chuck Storla for “I Chat, Therefore I Am”

Karen Staman for “The Scissor Bird”

 

 

Rick Bragg Prize for Non-Fiction

Winner: Jacqueline Bassan for “Dawn”

 

Runners-up:

Stephen James for “No Cheese”

Mike Burrell for “Blessings (1956)”

 

 

Natasha Trethewey Prize for Poetry

Winner: Colette Bennett for “Wing”

 

Runners-up:

Lauren McGuire for “I No Longer Know What Prayer Is”

Kathleen Whitten for “Dinner with Dolphins”

 

 

 2023 Rules and Instructions:

ELIGIBILITY:

  1. The AWC 2023 Writing Contest is open to: All current (through May 31, 2023), paid club members. Please check your membership status before submitting your entry. To join the AWC or renew your membership, please use this link. If you have a question about when your AWC membership expires, please contact the Membership VP, Yvonne Green, at yvonnegreen1000@gmail.com.
  2. Submissions must be original, unpublished, and previously un-awarded work.
  3. Entrants may submit only one piece to only one category per contest year.

 

DEADLINE:

Midnight, March 20, 2023. Submissions received after this date will automatically be ineligible

 

AWARDS:

Winners will be announced at our club meeting on May 20, 2023. Each award carries a $300 cash prize and a plaque as well as dinner with the other award winners and finalists after the May meeting

 

CONTEST CATEGORIES:

Terry Kay Prize for Fiction                (Maximum, 3000 words)

Rick Bragg Prize for Nonfiction        (Maximum, 3000 words)

Natasha Trethewey Prize for Poetry  (Maximum, 90 lines)

 

CONTEST GUIDELINES:

Manuscript Format. Failure to adhere to the following format will result in disqualification.

  • DO NOT place your name anywhere on the manuscript entry
  • Only Word files (.docx) will be accepted.
  • Font: 12 pt, Black, Times New Roman
  • Margins: 1 inch
  • Line spacing: double – yes, even for poetry.
  • White background (no colors, photos, graphics or images)
  • Page size & layout: 8-1/2 x 11; Portrait
  • First page: Title and Prize Category should appear in the upper left corner

 

PAPER ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

 

SUBMISSION RULES:

Failure to adhere to any of the submission guidelines will lead to disqualification.

 

Send ONE ENTRY and the corresponding Standard Submission Form (SSF) to Contest Apprentice Tiffany R. Jansen at tiffanyrjansen@gmail.com.

The SSF must include the following information:

Author’s Name

Prize Category

Title of Entry

Word Count (Line Count for poetry)

 

**Name your SSF document using the following template: SSF-YourTitle.docx

There is no template for the SSF itself; you create the document as instructed above and send it as a separate attachment. The entry and SSF must both be sent as attached Word documents (.docx). The SSF is used for identification purposes by Tiffany Jansen only. Judges never know the identity of any author; they see only the blind entry document.

IMPORTANT: Name the document files by title, i.e., YourTitle.docx and SSF-YourTitle.docx

Example: if the entry title is Moon Fire, the document file should be named Moon Fire.docx (this is the document that will be sent to the judges) and the SSF should be named SSF-Moon Fire.docx (this is the document that will be seen only by Tiffany Jansen).

 

Attach the entry document and your SSF document to an email addressed to Contest Apprentice Tiffany R. Jansen at tiffanyrjansen@gmail.com.  Your EMAIL MESSAGE MUST INCLUDE:

Subject Line: AWC 2023 Writing Contest

Your name, phone number, prize category, title

Example:

Dear Tiffany,

I have attached [Title] for the [Prize Category] and the corresponding SSF.

Thank you,

[Your name] [Your phone number]