Terrain.org 3rd Annual Contest

We are now accepting submissions for our 3rd annual contest, with the theme of "Ruin and Renewal."

• Submit now

Terrain.org is pleased to announce our third annual contests in:

• Poetry, judged by Suzanne Frischkorn
• Fiction, judged by Skip Horack
• Nonfiction, judged by Christopher Cokinos

Contest Details

Theme and Submission Period

The contest theme is "Ruin and Renewal", to match our 30th issue, which launches on October 1, 2012. Though the contest and issue have a theme, we have a very liberal interpretation of the theme and encourage you first and foremost to submit your best work.

The contest submission period is January 15 to August 1, 2012. Winners will be announced on or before October 1, 2012.

Prizes

A prize of $250 plus publication for the first-place winner will be awarded in each genre. Runners up in each genre will also receive publication.

Additionally, each first-place winner may receive special, dynamic publication treatment in Issue No. 30. The editors will work with the contest winners to determine the best layout treatment, which is likely to include additional graphics, audio, and enhanced HTML treatment. View the inaugural contest winners appearing in Issue No. 26 in fiction and poetry, and Issue No. 28 (2nd annual contest) for nonfiction, for examples.

Note that we reserve the right to reduce or cancel the contest if we do not receive enough submissions, though we haven't had to do that so far.

Selection Process

All submissions are considered for publication. Terrain.org's editors will read all entries, passing the top entries in each genre to the judges, who will choose the first-place winners. Decisions of the judges are final. Judges and editors do not know the identity of the contestants.

Judges

• Suzanne Frischkorn (Poetry)
  Suzanne Frischkorn is the author of Girl On A Bridge (2010), and Lit Windowpane (2008) both from Main Street Rag Publishing. In addition she is the author of five chapbooks, most recently American Flamingo (2008). Her honors include the Aldrich Poetry Award for her chapbook Spring Tide, selected by Mary Oliver, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, and an Emerging Writers Fellowship from The Writer's Center.
    
• Skip Horack (Fiction)
  Skip Horack is a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, where he was also a Wallace Stegner Fellow. His short story collection The Southern Cross won the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference 2008 Bakeless Fiction Prize and was published by Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin-Harcourt in August 2009. His novel The Eden Hunter was published by Counterpoint in August 2010 and was a New York Times Editors' Choice. His work has also appeared in Oxford American, The Southeast Review, New Delta Review, Louisiana Literature, The Southern Review, StoryQuarterly, Epoch, Narrative Magazine, and elsewhere. A native of Louisiana, and a graduate of Florida State University, he currently lives in San Francisco.
    
• Christopher Cokinos (Nonfiction)
  Christopher Cokinos is the author of two nonfiction books, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds and The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars, both from Tarcher/Penguin. He has completed a collection of lyric essays and is at work on a book about the history of our fascination with extraterrestrial intelligence. He teaches at the University of Arizona.

All contestants will be notified of the judges' decisions on or before October 1, 2012.

How to Submit

You are not eligible to enter this contest if you are family or close friends of, or have studied under any of Terrain.org's primary editors — Simmons Buntin, Patrick Burns, Joshua Foster, Andrew Gottlieb, and Jennifer McStotts — or the contest judges: Suzanne Frischkorn, Skip Horack, and Christopher Cokinos.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but previously published material in any format, including blogs, will not be considered. Submissions can be withdrawn through the submission system, though in that case contest entry fees will not be refunded.

Cost

The cost to submit is $10 per story, essay, or set of 3-5 poems.

What to Submit

You may submit up to three entries (at $10/entry) in any or all genres:

Poetry
Submit 3-5 poems, or one or long poem (5+ pages), per entry. Combine all poems into a single document. For poetry, we are seeking not just the best poem, but the best set of 3-5 poems or the best long poem, with the hopes of awarding our prizes to poetry sets rather than individual, shorter poems, when possible. No maximum lines per poem. Poems must contain only the poem title(s) and poem(s) without the author name or contact information.

Fiction
Submit one story, up to 7,000 words total, per entry. Stories must contain only the story title and story itself without the author name or contact information.

Nonfiction
Submit one essay, up to 7,000 words total, per entry. Essays must contain only the essay title and essay itself without the author name or contact information. We will consider all nonfiction, but are most interested in creative nonfiction, including personal essays, lyric essays, memoir, and other literary forms.

Cover Letter Required

Each submission must include a cover letter with the author's name and contact information — including email, telephone, and mailing address — and the name(s) of the poems, story, and/or essay.

The Submission Process

1. The submission period runs January 15 - August 1, 2012.
2. Please save your cover letter and submission for each entry as a single document — .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt, or .pdf only.
3. Submit online at http://sub.terrain.org. If you have submitted to Terrain.org before, log in to submit. If you have not submitted before, you must register.
4. Choose the "Contest" genre category and in the Comments area, type the genre of your submission: Poetry, Fiction, or Nonfiction
5. Once you confirm your submission, you will be directed to a page with payment instructions (via Paypal). Instructions for mailing a check in lieu of paying online are also provided.
6. No submission will be considered until payment has been received.
7. You will receive submission and payment confirmation via email.

Submit Now!

Ready to submit? Submit online now:

• Terrain.org Submission Manager

Thanks very much, and we look forward to reviewing your contest submission!

2nd Annual Contest Winners
Issue No. 28 : Image

Poetry
Rebecca Dunham : "Morning: Joplin, MO" with Audio
Judged by Alison Hawthorne Deming

Nonfiction
Julian Hoffman : "Faith in a Forgotten Place" with Audio and Image Gallery
Judged by Elizabeth Dodd

Fiction
GE Tallant : "Song of the Turkey Vulture" with Audio
Judged by Andrew Wingfield

Inaugural Contest Winners
Issue No. 26 : The Signal in the Noise

Poetry
Laura-Gray Street : "Goya's Dog" with Audio
Judged by Jessie Lendennie

Nonfiction
Elizabeth Dodd : "Sinuous"
Judged by David Rothenberg

Fiction
Andrew Wingfield : "Right of Way"
Judged by Aurelie Sheehan

Note that we reserve the right to reduce or cancel the contest if we do not receive enough submissions, though that hasn't happened so far.
 

For further information or assistance, please contact us.