For more information on Threshold, please visit their new website.

Threshold will be awarding the Threshold Awards for Excellence in each of four literary categories. These categories include Dramatic Literature (one act plays and screenplay excerpts), Creative Non-Fiction (personal essays, literary journalism, memoirs, travel writing, etc), Fiction (short stories, novella or novel excerpts), and Poetry (of all forms, up to three submissions per person). The winners will be selected by one of our prestigious judges and read a portion of their winning piece at our launch party in May. The winner will receive a monetary sum of $100, a 1-year subscription to a top literary magazine, an engraved journal, and certificate. Only one winner will be selected per category. Every published author in this year’s issue of Threshold will receive one free copy of the magazine.

JUDGES

All published entries will have their work reviewed by a published writer with outstanding accomplishments in their field. These judges are…

For Fiction: Scott Blackwood grew up in Texas and currently teaches in and directs the MFA Creative Writing Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. His novel, We Agreed to Meet Just Here won the AWP Prize for the Novel, the Texas Institute of Letters for best fiction, and was a finalist for the PEN USA Literary Award for fiction. His award winning collection of stories In the Shadow of Our House was published in 2001. He was recently named a distinguished Writer in Residence at Wichita State University.

For Poetry: Adam Clay is the author of The Wash (Parlor Press, 2006) and A Hotel Lobby at the Edge of the World, which is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions. He has studied creative writing at The University of Southern Mississippi, The University of Arkansas, and Western Michigan University. A co-editor at TYPO Magazine, he also curates the Poets in Print Reading Series at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center and teaches creative writing and literature at Western Michigan University.

For Creative Non-Fiction: Stephen Markley is the author of Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold, and Published This Very Book. He writes a column for Chicago’s RedEye and a blog for the Tribune called “Off the Markley.” His journalism and fiction have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, RedEye, Perceptive Travel, Weber: A Study of the Contemporary West, This Week, the Chicago Reader, Cars.com’s KickingTires, and 10,000 Tons of Black Ink. He is currently at work on his second novel.

For Dramatic Literature: Philip Dawkins is a Chicago playwright and educator. He has performed his play Yes to Everything! at the Around the Coyote Winter Festival (Chicago) and at ARS Nova (New York). The play has also been performed in DC and Arkansas. His writing has been published in The Stranger and the Packington Review. Mr. Dawkins was the fall 2009 Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Arts Center. He teaches high school playwriting through Chicago Dramatists and Victory Gardens.

DEADLINE REMINDER

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this year’s publication of Threshold and be entered in a chance for some great prizes. Our extended deadline closes at noon on Monday, February 21st. All submissions are taken electronically to threshold2011@gmail.com.