Announcing the
The 2012 Third Coast
Fiction & Poetry Contests
Postmark Deadline: January 15, 2012
2012 Jaimy Gordon Prize in Fiction: $1,000 & Publication
2012 Third Coast Poetry Prize : $1,000 & Publication
Final Judges
Fiction: Jaimy Gordon Poetry: Major Jackson
Complete Contest Guidelines for Online Submissions
1. Submit one previously unpublished story of up to 9,000 words or three (3) previously unpublished poems under the proper heading (Fiction Contest or Poetry Contest). Multiple contest entries in one or more genres are permitted, but you must submit each piece separately.
2. There is a $16 reading fee for each entry, and each entry fee entitles entrant to a 1-year subscription to Third Coast, an extension of an existing subscription, or a gift subscription. Please indicate your choice in the "cover letter" box and include a complete address for subscription.
3. All manuscripts should be typed (fiction entries should be double-spaced). Please include entry title(s) and page numbers on all manuscript pages. Since the judging is blind, the author's name and identifying information (including address, telephone, and email) should appear only in the "cover letter" box; identifying information must not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself.
4. Simultaneous submissions are permitted; if accepted elsewhere, we ask that work be withdrawn from the contest immediately. If a poem or story is chosen as a finalist, Third Coast requires that it be withdrawn from any other publication considerations until the winner is selected. If the poem or story is scheduled to be published elsewhere before September 2012, please do not submit it.
5. Winners will be announced in April 2012 and published in the Fall 2012 issue of Third Coast. All contest entries will be considered for regular inclusion in Third Coast.
6. Writers associated with the judges or Third Coast are not eligible to submit work to the contest.
7. No money will be refunded. Submissions will not be returned.
To submit to the contest online, please click HERE.
Complete Guidelines for Mailed Contest Submissions
1. Submit one previously unpublished story of up to 9,000 words or three (3) previously unpublished poems with a $16 reading fee payable to Third Coast. Please clearly mark whether it is a poetry or fiction entry. Multiple contest entries in one or more genres are permitted, but you must submit each entry separately and include a $16 reading fee for each submission.
Send entries to:
Third Coast 2012 Fiction or Poetry Contest Department of English Western Michigan University 1903 W. Michigan Ave. Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5331
2. Each $16 entry fee entitles entrant to a 1-year subscription to Third Coast, an extension of an existing subscription, or a gift subscription. Please indicate your choice and enclose a complete address for subscription.
3. All manuscripts should be typed (fiction entries should be double-spaced), and accompanied by a cover letter with the author's name, contact information (address, telephone, and email address), and entry title(s). Please include entry title(s) and page numbers on all manuscript pages. Since the judging is blind, the author's name and identifying information should only appear on the cover letter; identifying information must not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself.
4. Simultaneous submissions are permitted; if accepted elsewhere, we ask that work be withdrawn from the contest immediately. If a poem or story is chosen as a finalist, Third Coast requires that it be withdrawn from any other publication considerations until the winner is selected. If the poem or story is scheduled to be published elsewhere before September 2012, please do not submit it.
5. Winners will be announced in April 2012 and published in the Fall 2012 issue of Third Coast. All contest entries will be considered for regular inclusion in Third Coast.
6. Writers associated with the judges or Third Coast are not eligible to submit work to the contest.
7. No money will be refunded. Submissions will not be returned. Send SASE for results only.
About the Judges
Jaimy Gordon's fourth novel, Lord of Misrule, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2010, and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award; it also won the Tony Ryan Award for the year’s best book about horse racing. Gordon’s previous novels include Bogeywoman, a Los Angeles Times Best Book for 2000, and She Drove Without Stopping, which brought her an Academy-Institute Award from the American Institute of Arts and Letters. Among her other books are Shamp of the City-Solo and Circumspections from an Equestrian Statue. Born in Baltimore, Gordon teaches at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and in the Prague Summer Program for Writers. .
Major Jackson is the author of three collections of poetry. His first collection, Leaving Saturn (University of Georgia: 2002), was the winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Hoops (Norton: 2006) was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literature-Poetry. Jackson's most recent collection is Holding Company (Norton: 2010).
Congrats to last year's contest winners!
Poetry Winner: Jennifer Perrine
for her poem "On Fallibility"
-Selected by Poetry Judge Natasha Trethewey
Fiction Winner: Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
for her story "Cut-Out"
-Selected by Fiction Judge Brad Watson