Wanted: writing about mental health, poetry dedicated to the Milky Way, gutsy narratives, and booklength manuscripts for e-publisher

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. – Brian

The 13th Annual BrainStorm Poetry Contest for mental health consumers & survivors

Northern Initiative for Social Action and Open Minds Quarterly are pleased to announce the opening of our 13th Annual BrainStorm Poetry Contest. The contest is open to poets worldwide who have personally experienced mental health issues or mental illness (‘consumer/survivors’ or ‘people with lived experience’). The entry fee is $15 for up to three poems, and only $12 if you submit them online. All poems must arrive by 4 p.m. Friday, March 13, 2015 to be considered by the judges.  Winning poems and honourable mentions will be published in Open Minds Quarterly in 2015, and the top three poems are awarded as follows: First Place, $250; Second Place, $150; and Third Place, $75.

Deadline: March 13, 2015. Guidelines here.

Open Minds also accepts regular submissions and encourage first time writers. The magazine is looking for:

First-Person Accounts: True stories about living with, surviving, or overcoming a mental illness. 1,000-3,000 words. Published in Open Minds’ Face to Face section. Send 1 story per submission.

Essays: New perspectives on living with mental illness. 1,000-3,000 words. Published in Open Minds’ Perspectives section. Send 1 per submission.

Poetry & Short Fiction: Literary explorations of life. Short stories: 1,000-3,000 words. Both published in Open Minds’ Emanations section. Send up to 4 poems and 1 short story per submission.

Book & Movie Reviews: Reviews of books and movies, from the perspective of a mental health consumer/survivor. 350-750 words. Books & movies should be widely available. Published in Open Minds Quarterly. Send up to 2 reviews per submission.

Open Letters: Letters to someone, about an issue that you desperately feel you need to address and relating to mental illness. Should be relatable to the general public. 550 words. Published in the Open Letters section of Open Minds Quarterly. Send up to 2 open letters per submission. For an example of an open letter, read Hannah Baggot’s letter published in our summer 2014 issue here.

Full submission guidelines here.

Writing wanted for an international print collection and mix tape dedicated to our universe: Art / Poetry / Sounds From the Milky Way. Seeking sound pieces (4-5 minutes max.), poetry (4 max.) and art (comics/zines/doodles welcome). “Looking for things that are kinda weird; kinda remixed; definitely underground. Collaborations encouraged. 

Deadline: March 31, 2015. Guidelines here.  

Monthly online journal Pithead Chapel (US) seeks gutsy narratives (literary fiction and nonfiction). Length: 4000 words max. Particularly interested in essays (personal, memoir, lyric, travel, experimental, etc.). Reads year-round.

Deadline: Ongoing. Guidelines here.   

Collaborative publisher Elephantine Publishing (US) is accepting manuscript submissions for the following genres: YA and NA paranormal urban fantasy, and contemporary. Likes commercial women’s fiction, ecolit, sci-fi, romance, erotica, and particularly, coming of age stories.

Query first. Guidelines here.

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