Wisconsin People & Ideas Contests

Enter the 2009 Wisconsin People & Ideas/Wisconsin Book Festival Short Story and Poetry Contests

Wisconsin People & Ideas, the quarterly magazine of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, is accepting submissions for its annual short story and poetry contests, with a deadline of December 1, 2008. Prizes include cash, publication in Wisconsin People & Ideas, and a one-week stay at [link: http://www.edenfred.org/] Edenfred, a creative arts residency in Madison. Winners are also invited to read their work at the Wisconsin Book Festival.

About the Short Story Contest
The 2009 Wisconsin People & Ideas/Wisconsin Book Festival Short Story Contest is supported by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, Avol’s Bookstore, and a number of other independent booksellers throughout Wisconsin. Winners will receive prizes of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place). Their works will be published serially beginning with the first-prize story in the summer 2009 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas. The first-place story will be reviewed by a noted literary agent, and the author will receive a one-week stay at Edenfred, a creative arts residency owned by the Terry Family Foundation.

This year, an esteemed panel of authors will judge short story submissions. The lead judge is UW–Madison English professor Jesse Lee Kercheval, author of eight books and two poetry chapbooks, and director of the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. The contest is coordinated by author and UW–Madison assistant dean, Timothy Walsh. Other judges include Marylyn Annucci and John Heasley.

About the Poetry Contest
Winners of the 2009 Wisconsin People & Ideas/Wisconsin Book Festival Poetry Contest receive cash awards of $500 (first place, the John Lehman Poetry Award), $100 (second place), and $50 (third place). Winning poems by the top three winners appear in the spring 2009 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas, with 10 runners-up in the summer 2009 edition. The first-prize poet receives a one-week stay at Edenfred and a three-hour CD recording/editing session at Abella Studios.

Some of Wisconsin’s best poets will judge this year’s poetry contest. Lead judge Karl Elder is the Poet in Residence at Lakeland College and author of nine collections of poetry. The contest is coordinated by Rosebud founder and Wisconsin People & Ideas poetry editor, John Lehman. Other judges include Joan Wiese Johannes, Nancy Rafal, and Lynn Patrick Smith.

The top three winners of both contests will be invited to read their work at a special event at the Wisconsin Book Festival in October 2009.

Contest Rules
Deadline for both contests: December 1, 2008, 5:00pm.

Fiction
1. Authors must reside in or attend school in Wisconsin.
2. Stories must be between 2,500 and 5,000 words in length.
3. Authors must submit three copies of a story (photocopies are fine).
4. Each story must be accompanied by a $20 entry fee (non-Academy members) or $15 (Academy members, including those who join while submitting an entry) payable to Wisconsin People & Ideas Short Story Contest.
5. Writers may submit more than one entry, but each story must be mailed in separately with its own cover letter (see Rule 9) and entry fee.
6. Entries must be postmarked on or before December 1, 2008. Entries may be hand-delivered to the Wisconsin Academy (1922 University Avenue, Madison) by 5:00pm on December 1. Entries postmarked after the deadline will not be considered and the entry fee will be retained to cover handling.
7. Previously published stories (online or in print) are not eligible.
8. Each manuscript must be typed, double-spaced, in standard 10- or 12-point type. Each page must include the title of the story as a header. All pages must be numbered with both an individual page number and the total number of pages (e.g., Stormy Night, page 1/15, Stormy Night, page 2/15, Stormy Night, page 3/15, etc.).
9. The author’s name may not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself. The manuscript must be accompanied by a letter bearing the story title; the author’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address (if available); and the story word count. Every contestant must be able to provide an electronic version of the story if needed, either on disk or via e-mail.
10. Keep a copy of your manuscript. Manuscripts will be recycled, not returned. Do not send an SASE.
11. Contest winners will be announced on our website (www.wisconsinacademy.org) and notified by the end of March 2009. The three winners will be published in the summer 2009, fall 2009, and winter 2010 issues of Wisconsin People & Ideas.

Poetry
1. Poets must reside or attend school in Wisconsin.
2. Poets may submit up to three poems per entry. No poem may be longer than one page.
3. Each entry must be accompanied by an entry fee of $10 (non-Academy members) or $8 (Academy members, including those who join while submitting an entry), payable to the Wisconsin People & Ideas Poetry Contest.
4. A poet may enter more than one submission of up to three poems each, but additional submissions must be accompanied by a separate entry fee and cover letter. (See Rule 7.)
5. Contest deadline is December 1. Entries may be hand-delivered to the Wisconsin Academy (1922 University Avenue, Madison) by 5:00pm on December 1. Entries postmarked after the deadline will not be considered and the entry fee will be retained to cover handling.
6. Previously published poems (online or in print)) are not eligible. All work must be original. Any style or theme is welcome.
7. The poet’s name or address may not appear anywhere on the poems. Poems must be accompanied by a cover letter bearing the poem title/s, the poet’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address (if available).
8. Keep a copy of your poems. Entries will be recycled, not returned. Do not send an SASE.
9. Contest winners will be announced on our website (www.wisconsinacademy.org) and notified by the end of February 2009. Top three winners will be published in the spring 2009 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas, which appears at the end of March, in time for National Poetry Month (April). Ten runners-up will be published in summer 2009.

Short Story Contest Sponsors
This year’s contest is sponsored by the Wisconsin Book Festival, the Terry Family Foundation, Avol’s Bookstore, and the following independent bookstores:

Bramble Bookstore, Viroqua
Conkey’s Book Store, Appleton
Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, Milwaukee
Ocooch Books & Libations, Richland Center
University Book Store, Madison

We thank these sponsors for their generous support.