[stylist] Also contest coming - RE: Poem -

Tue Nov 4 18:04:04 UTC 2014

Bill

I too enjoyed the poem. I like un-worldly stories, be they proes or poetry. 

Welcome back! Our writing contest for 2015 is now being advertised; getting
people to get prepared.) 

Here are the guidelines:

2015 ADULT WRITING CONTEST GUIDELINES

The annual adult writing contest sponsored by the NFB Writers' Division,
opens January 1st, and closes April 1st. 

NEW THIS YEAR: 2015, being the Federation's 75th birthday, the contest will
for the first time ever, have a required theme. All submissions will need to
somehow incorporate the theme of 75. It does not have to be necessarily
about the anniversary of NFB. It could just be the number 75, or perhaps the
diamond anniversary, or 75 steps to your destination, or even 75 balloons.
Thinking of past entries, 75 aliens would work. Seriously, let your
imagination take over. Write the piece you want, just remember to
incorporate the theme of 75; this is inspired by the 75 years of the great
work that has been happening within, and because of the National Federation
of the Blind. 

The categories are: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and stories for youth. The
contest is open to all entrants eighteen, or older. 

All contest winners will be announced during the first week of July, at the
Writers' Division's business meeting, as part of the NFB national convention
to be held in Orlando, Florida; the winners will also appear on this
website. 

In each contest category, there may be up to three prize winners (1st 2nd,
3rd) and one or more receiving honorable mention. Additionally, a prize
winning entry may be published within the Writers' Division's magazine,
Slate & Style.

PRIZES 

*Adult contest winners will receive $100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place,
and $25 for 3rd place. 
*If a contest winning piece is chosen to be published within Slate & Style,
the author will receive complimentary electronic copies of the issue in
which their work appears.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 

*We will consider only unpublished original entries. 
*Fiction short stories can be of any main stream genre, and cannot exceed
3,000 words. 
*Non-fiction entries should be either a memoir or personal essay, and cannot
exceed 3,000 words. 
*Stories for youth, are stories with content written at an intellectual
level appropriate for the younger reader, and cannot exceed 3,000 words. 
*Poetry - NEW THIS YEAR: We will accept poetry of any length (prior, the
limit was 36 lines per poem).
*Authors of either poetry and/or prose are encouraged to submit multiple
pieces.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

*Adults are required to submit all poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and stories
for youth entries as attachments to an E-mail message. 
*The attachments must be in either Microsoft Word (doc) or Rich Text Format
(rtf). 
*Fiction, non-fiction and stories for youth should be written in a normal
prose style, with paragraphs being left justified, lines are single spaced,
and having a 14 point font of Aerial, regular. 
*No hard copy submissions will be accepted.

COVER LETTER 

Along with your entry or entries, include a cover letter providing the
following: 
*Your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. 
*List the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they
are being entered.
*State your method of payment for the entry fee (check or PayPal). 
*Finally, the cover letter could be your e-mail message, or a separate
document attached along with your submissions.

CONTEST ENTRY FEES PAYMENT AND METHODS

FEES: 
*$6.00 is the fee for each short story, non-fiction piece, or story for
youth.
*$6.00 is the base fee for poetry; read the following examples carefully:
$6.00 will cover up to three poems, if the combined line-count of all three
pieces does not exceed 108 lines - additional poems require a second fee of
$6,00, following the same fee payment scheme. Accordingly, a $6.00 fee is
required for a single poem of more than 108 lines; submit as many of these
longer pieces, following the same payment scheme.

PAYMENT:
*You may use PayPal from the Writers' Division website,
http://writers.nfb.org
*Alternatively, you may mail a check made out to NFB Writers' Division, with
a note in the memo line relating to the contest.
*E-mail submissions should be sent to Robert Leslie Newman at:
newmanrl at cox.net 
*Checks should be mailed to: 
Robert Leslie Newman
504 S 57th St
Omaha, NE 68106 

*If you have questions, please contact Robert Leslie Newman, president of
the Writers' Division, at newmanrl at cox.net

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William L
Houts via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2014 1:29 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: [stylist] Poem -

HI Bards and Poets,

Been away for some time, I guess.  Finally surfacing after solving some 
unusual access problems.  Anyway, hope all here are well and productive, 
assuming you want to be.

As for me, the past few months have been extremely productive. Below is 
one of my favorites.  It's gone through some revision since I wrote it 
this summer, and I think this is the vest version so far.  Also, my work 
over the summer has, by design, been aimed at being somewhat less 
"literary" in my approach. Comments welcome, as always.

--Bill

---

*Alien*

In the dream, I stood at an

uncountable remove, in some canyon

of red and earthlike rock.

Before me, at twelve unblurred feet

were a couple.They were

not remotely human, and yet

I sensed their minds or something deeper.

they'd neither hands nor heads, and the female

in her had a kind of hollow

into which her mate would go, a pen or roost.

They were boxlike, somehow, with short fur.

And here's the great reveal:

they knew I was there, and didn't mind.

They were peaceful and decent in the most ordinary way:

not saints, yetsacred, earnest folk,

bearing gravity's grip without complaint.

I might go or remain, they seemed to say,

and all would be well. They were light years

away, I think, and suppose they were real enough,

convincing as thunder or suns.

How could you know such things, you say.Poetry's fine,

but we dwell on a rock among rocks

in the black unhomely cold.

Yet maybe the cosmos dreams us to each other

I venture, across the stellar gulfs

that we might abide for dreaming seconds

in the presence of friends both strange

and utterly dear; neighbors or kin like us:

adrift on rocklike rafts in a dark and motherlike sea.

WLH
8/14

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/newmanrl%40cox.net