QuillsEdge Press 2015 Chapbook Competition

Theme: To Inhabit
Judge: Mary Ann McFadden
Dates: 11/01/2015 – 01/31/2016 – EXTENDED TO 03/01/2016

Welcome to the QuillsEdge Press – Indispensable Poetry by Women Over 50. Our 2nd annual chapbook competition opens November 1st, 2105, judged by Mary Ann McFadden

Our 2015 theme is To Inhabit– a body, a landscape, an ecosystem, a dream, a time, a nightmare, a fantasy, a place, a past, a future. Write an embodied, em-placed life and bring us with you!

We are looking for poetic voices that challenge us, stun us, give us pause and palpitations. We are open to any style: lyrical, narrative, form, prose poem or experimental innovations and new mixes. We want to read, hear and be moved to wonder, laugh and cry as we discover your individual threshold. We applaud both the sensitive and the strident.

We are Pro-Diversity!
Because we actively support diversity in poetry and publishing, and value the lives and perspectives of Women of Color, we are offering a contest fee of $5.00 for self-identified Women of Color, including Black, Latina, Asian/Pacific Rim, Indigenous women, and others. We will ask you to share your identity/ethnicity if you like, but you aren’t required to.

Submission Guidelines
Submissions open November 1st, 2015. This year we’re using Submittable. Our page goes live on November 1st.

Eligibility:
You are eligible to enter if:
1. You are a woman (We respect gender self-definition. See our website for more information.)
2. You are, as of the entry date, aged 50 or older
3. You either may or may not have published any other book or chapbook – either is okay. We’ll get every manuscript a thorough reading, and we welcome writers who are, like us, late bloomers.

 

Manuscript Requirements
1. Your manuscript should not have been published previously. Individual poems may be previously published.
2. Your manuscript should be 16-30 pages.
3. Multiple submissions are accepted, with a separate reading fee.
4. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. We really mean this – every manuscript will be read by at least two readers, all volunteers, who take every work seriously. If your manuscript is out of the running we need to know.

Contest Fees
1. The fee to enter the competition is $15.00
2. Because we actively support diversity in poetry and publishing, we are offering a contest fee of $5.00 for self-identified Women of Color, including Black, Latina, Asian/Pacific Rim, Indigenous women, and others.
3. For an extra $10 you can choose to receive either a winning chapbook from the 2015 contest OR one of the chapbooks we just published from our 2014 “On the Edge” contest
4. For an additional $25.00 you can receive a personal one page to two page review of your manuscript from one of our QuillsEdge staff, Board Members, or authors.

Winning
The winner will receive 10 copies of the chapbook free, and will be able to buy additional copies at a 50% discount. Books will be staple bound with full color covers, premium paper, and careful attention to detail.

Winners will become part of the QuillsEdge Press community, and will be asked to participate as a reader for future competitions and to contribute short chapbook reviews of other women poets to our website. Our goal is to build a community for women writers over 50.

If the winner is able to travel at her own expense, readings can be set up in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, or Colorado. Finalists who can travel at their own expense to these locations may also be invited.

Our judging process:

We Subscribe to the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP)Contest Code of Ethics

CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

1st Round of Judging: Manuscripts with names attached will be read by QuillsEdge Press authors and Board members. 8-10 finalists will then be forwarded to the contest judge, Mary Ann McFadden, for final determination.

2nd Round of Judging: Anonymous read and final determination by the contest judge.

Conflicts of Interest: Current or former students, faculty, staff, or administrators affiliated with the Drew University MFA in Poetry and Poetry in Translation are ineligible. Close friends, relatives, students, and former students of any of the Judge and QuillsEdge Press staff and board members are ineligible. Initial readers for the contest will include QuillsEdge authors; readers will not be assigned work by any poet they know.

Formatting Guidelines

This year we will only be accepting online submissions.
1. Include two cover sheets, one with your name and contact information and one without.
2. The manuscript itself must NOT contain any identifying information.
3. Do NOT include acknowledgments.
4. Manuscripts must be paginated and have a table of contents.
5. Please include a short bio in the “cover letter” field.
6. If you encounter any problems, please email us at quillsedgepress@gmail.com.

The Submittable link goes live on 11/01/2015. Click the button below to go to our submission page.

If you have questions, contact us using the form below!