2012 National Writing Contest in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry
$15 Entry Fee
*** $1,000 First-Place Prize ***
Postmark Deadline: October 1, 2011
Our annual contest awards $1,000 plus publication for the first-place winner in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Finalists will be noted as such in our journal, selected for publication, and paid in copies. $15 entry fee, checks or money orders payable to Alligator Juniper. Every entrant receives one copy of the 2012 issue, a $10 value. The issue will come out in late spring 2012. There is no theme for the 2012 issue. Work is selected upon artistic merit. By entering our contest you agree to allow us to select your work for publication even if it does not place first. We encourage submissions from writers of all levels, especially emerging or early-career writers. We accept simultaneous submissions; please inform us in your cover letter and contact us immediately if your work is selected elsewhere.
Submission Guidelines
- Submissions accepted August 15 through October 1, 2011 (postmark deadline)
- --NO EARLIER OR LATER SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED, nor will they be returned.
- Include a brief cover letter, including the statement below (see "Important").
- Include S.A.S.E for response only; manuscripts are recycled, not returned.
- Include a $15 entry fee payable to Alligator Juniper for each story or essay (30-page limit per entry), or up to five poems.
- Additional entries require additional fee.
- Indicate category with a large F, NF, or P on cover letter and mailing envelope.
- Manuscripts must be typed with numbered pages. Prose double-spaced.
- Double-sided copies encouraged.
- No email submissions.
- Send to: Alligator Juniper, Prescott College, 220 Grove Ave., Prescott, AZ 86301.
IMPORTANT: Unfortunately, due to recent problems with misinformed entrants and withdrawals, we ask that you include the following statement in your signed cover letter: “My work may be considered for publication, even if it doesn’t win the contest. This signed statement constitutes permission for publication if it is selected.”
Selection Process
All entries are read and discussed by Prescott College students in the Alligator Juniper practicum class. This class is overseen each fall by two faculty members, both of whom are published writers, one a poet and one a prose writer.
All entrants receive a personal letter from one of our staff regarding the status of their submission. We usually inform in late January. The individual attention we devote to each manuscript takes time. We appreciate your patience.