Three free contests and a call for submissions from Accenti

TransitionsAbroad.com, an important travel webzine, invites you to enter its free Narrative Travel Writing Contest with a $500 first-place prize.

The theme for this year's contest is very broad and in keeping with our editorial. We wish to explore the idea of travel as a way to not only leave behind your material and spiritual preconceptions, but to use the opportunity to open up to ideas, aesthetics, and rituals which you have internalized into your own life going forward. 

What did you learn during your travels and did this fundamentally transform your perception(s) of the world? Do you believe that you may have touched your hosts in ways which may have in some way transformed their views of the world as well, or is that presumptuous as a de facto "outsider" to their rituals and way of life? 

We encourage you to approach the subject in the empathetic way in which you traveled and stayed in host countries and homes. Please weave these ideas implicitly into a narrative if this relates to one of your experiences.

Accompanying photos which enhance the narrative are highly preferred. Photojournalistic essays or accompanying videos will also be considered, and humor is appreciated where appropriate.

Please include an optional bio of 1-3 sentences which reference your websites, blogs, books, and contact information in the body of the submission.

TransitionsAbroad.com will publish the top three winners' entries as well as those of the selected runner-ups.

In this year's Narrative Travel Writing Contest, the first-place winner’s entry will receive $500 US, the second-place winning entry $150, and the third-place winner $100.

Any other articles selected as runner-ups will receive a $50 payment.

Deadline:  January 15, 2014. Full submission guidelines here.

Transitions Abroad also accepts and pays for articles. Payment ranges from $25 to $150 (the average payment is $100 for an article in the 1,000 – 2,000-word word range). See submission guidelines here.

SpiritFirst.org is dedicated to promoting meditation, spiritual awareness and mindfulness. Each year it sponsors a free contest and awards prizes up to $175 for unpublished poems of any length on the theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence.

Poems may reflect any discipline or any faith or none. Maximum 3 poems per person. Email entries strongly preferred; postal mail is only accepted from authors who have no Internet access. Contest sponsor Spirit First is an interfaith meditation center in the Washington, DC area. 

Deadline: Entries must be received by January 31, 2014. Full contest rules here.

Jerry Jazz Musician awards a $100 prize for short fiction, 1,000 – 5,000 words. The work will be published on the home page of Jerry Jazz Musician and featured there for at least four weeks. The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theatre, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America.  While your writing should appeal to a reader with these characteristics, all story themes are considered.

This is a free contest; no entry fee.

Deadline: January 31, 2014.  Full contest details here.

Brian,

Based in Montreal, Accenti describes itself as "the Canadian magazine with an Italian accent." It strives to reflect the cultural imprint of Italian Canadians in its editorial content. Accenti appeals to Canadians of Italian origin and anyone who shares an affinity for things Italian. In so doing, it endeavours to act as a cultural bridge among peoples.

Accenti is currently publicizing its 9th Writing Contest, open to prose works (fiction and nonfiction) worldwide. Accenti Magazine would be very glad to have this competition publicized in your newsletter. 

The topic is open and the top prize is $1,000 (CDN) and publication in Accenti. Entries must be previously unpublished and not under consideration by any other publication. Thus, entries must be original and not a translation of a previously published work, although these can be an English translation of the author's unpublished original work in another language. The maximum length for submissions is 2,000 words. The entry fee is $20.

Deadline: February 7, 2014. For more details see here. 

Kindest regards,
Nora Martín
for Accenti Magazine

Regular submissions:
Accenti considers unsolicited articles for publication. These can include news items, commentaries, works of fiction, non-fiction, etc. Photographs and illustrations can accompany submissions. However, please do not send images unaccompanied by an article or story. Submissions must be in English and be between 500 and 2000 words. Email submissions must be sent as attached files, preferably in Word format. 

Full submission guidelines here. Submit to: submissions@accenti.ca 

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.