COR’s Annual Literary Contests

The Richard Peterson Poetry Prize,
Jack Dyer Fiction Prize,
&
John Guyon Literary Nonfiction Prize

$2,000 and publication to each genre winner
(finalists are offered $500 and publication)

All Entries must be submitted through
SUBMITTABLE
http://craborchardreview.submittable.com/submit

February 21, 2014 – April 21, 2014
Entry Fee: $22.50 per entry
(additional entries $10.00; up to two additional entries)
All entrants receive a year’s subscription ($20.00 value)
(additional entries receive one back issue each entry)

BELOW ARE THE GUIDELINES FOR THIS YEAR’S LITERARY CONTESTS:

One winner and at least two finalists will be chosen in each category (there is no theme for the Literary Prize entries; just send your best work). The three category winners will be published and the finalists offered publication (with a payment of $500) in the next Winter/Spring issue of CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW. The winners and finalists will also be announced on the CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW Website and in the following year’s March/April POETS & WRITERS.

The submission period for this year’s prize competitions is February 21, 2014 through April 21, 2014. Entries must be previously unpublished*, original work written in English by a United States citizen or permanent resident (current students and employees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are not eligible). The author’s name should not appear on any page.

All entries must be submitted online between February 21, 2014 and the end of April 21, 2014 (entries will be accepted online until 11:59:59 PM (Pacific Daylight Saving Time) on April 21, 2014). All entrants will receive notification of the results by email by May 31, 2014.

All entries will also be considered for publication in the Winter/Spring 2015 issue. Regular CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW contributor’s payment rates ($25 (US) per magazine page. $50 minimum for poetry; $100 minimum for prose) apply to any accepted work that is not a genre winner or finalist.

We hope to make all editorial decisions for the issue by the end of June 2014.

GUIDELINES:

Poetry entries should consist of one poem up to five pages in length (this is a change in the entry instructions from last year).

Prose entry length: up to 6000 words for fiction and up to 6500 words for literary nonfiction.

The author’s name should not appear on any page of the entry.

One initial COR Annual Literary Contest poetry entry, or one story entry in fiction, or one essay entry in literary nonfiction per $22.50 online entry fee. If you wish to enter a 2nd or 3rd entry, please follow the instructions for a 2nd or 3rd entry and use the “2nd or 3rd COR Annual Literary Contest Entry.” Entering a 2nd or 3rd entry will each cost $10.00. A writer may send up to three entries in one genre or a total of three entries if entering all competitions, but please do not submit more than three entries total.

The initial $22.50 fee entitles entrant to one copy of the 2014 Summer/Fall issue of CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW, our special issue “The West Coast and Beyond,” and one copy of the 2015 Winter/Spring issue of CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW, which will include the winners of these competitions. If you already have a CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW subscription we will extend your subscription for one additional year.

If you submit two or three entries, please use the entry link for “2nd or 3rd COR Annual Literary Contest Entry.” Entering a 2nd or 3rd entry will each cost $10.00 and will entitle you to one of the following past issues of CRAB ORCHARD.

—Crab Orchard Review Vol. 15, No. 2, our special fifteenth anniversary issue “Land of Lincoln ~ Writing about and from Illinois”

—Crab Orchard Review, Vol. 16, No. 1

—Crab Orchard Review Vol. 16, No. 2, our special issue “Old & New ~ Re-Visions of the American South”

—Crab Orchard Review, Vol. 17, No. 1

—Crab Orchard Review Vol. 17, No. 2, our special issue “Due North”

—Crab Orchard Review, Vol. 18, No. 1

—Crab Orchard Review Vol. 18, No. 2, our special issue “Prairies, Plains, Mountains, Deserts”

Please indicate the back issue you wish to receive for a 2nd or 3rd COR Annual Literary Contest Entry in your cover letter through Submittable.

Submit online to Crab Orchard Review’s Annual Literary Contests using Submittable

We are pleased to announce the winners and finalists of last year’s Jack Dyer Fiction Prize, John Guyon Literary Nonfiction Prize, and Richard Peterson Poetry Prize.

In fiction, the winning entry is “Five Deaths of Ellie Marsh” by Troy Ehlers of Wayzata, Minnesota. The judge selected two finalists in fiction, and they are “My Dead Boy’s Wedding” by Suzanne Hodsden of Bowling Green, Ohio; and “Default Setting” by Elizabeth Morgan of Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

In poetry, the winning entry of three poems—“Detroit, Llorona, My Heart, My City,” “Loosing Between Manholes and Myths” and “The Warning”—is by Nandi Comer of Bloomington, Indiana. The judge selected three finalists in poetry, and they are three poems—“How to Watch Your Son Die,” “Killed Boy: Beautiful World,” and “Fifteen,” by Lauren K. Alleyne of Dubuque, Iowa; three poems—“How to Talk About the Dead,” “Spring’s Return,” and “About Disappointment”—by Jeff Newberry of Tifton, Georgia; and three poems—“Teta,” “Istanbul,” and “Afterlife”—by Cecilia Woloch of Los Angeles, California. (The guidelines have changed in poetry for 2014 submissions. Poetry entries now consist of one poem up to five pages in length.)

In literary nonfiction, the winning entry is “Inertia” by Allison Backous Troy of Laramie, Wyoming. The judge selected three finalists in literary nonfiction, and they are “Like Held Breath” by Katherine Dykstra of Brooklyn, New York; “Water of Sleep” by Leah Lax of Houston, Texas; and “They Say” by Abby Travis of Somerville, Massachusetts.

The final judge for the poetry competition was Allison Joseph, CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW’s poetry editor and editor-in-chief. The final judge for the fiction and literary nonfiction competitions was Carolyn Alessio, CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW’s prose editor.