Member’s Contest
For current members of AWG only. No entry fees, and every entry may also be entered in the Annual Contest.
Most months carry a different theme or writing type. Members submit their work, a professional judges it, and cash prizes are handed out at the following meeting. The contests run February through August.
Member Flash Spotlight
At each meeting, members and guests are given five words and write a story or poem of fifty words or less using all of them. Be there to play — your piece might be published here or on our Facebook page.
This is for anyone to enter and has no cash prizes. Just bragging rights and exposure on our website. Send to AWGWrite@gmail.com
This year’s themes
| Month | Theme | Category |
|---|---|---|
| January | No contest this month | Extra writing time for February |
| February | Declaring It Moves Us Forward — a past event or a future dream | Poetry, 50 lines or less · Non-fiction, 1,000 words or less |
| March | Flash — prompt words: blink, cooperate, lacerate, trust, roar | Fiction or poetry, 100 words max, using all five words |
| April | National Poetry Month — no theme | Rhymed or unrhymed poetry, 50 lines or less |
| May | National Short Story Month — no theme | Fiction, 1,000 words or less |
| June | AWG Non-Fiction Month — no theme | Non-fiction, 1,000 words or less |
| July | Two Word Contrast — e.g. lost and found, dark and light | Poetry, 50 lines or less · Fiction, 1,000 words or less |
| August | Flash — prompt words: surpass, thirsty, wire, relent, hum | Fiction or poetry, 100 words max, using all five words |
Rules
Enter by email only
Subject line: AWG Contest and the month — e.g. “AWG Contest August”. Send the cover sheet and the entry as two separate Word attachments.
Deadline
Submissions are accepted after the 12th of the previous month and are due by the 12th of the contest month.
Prizes
$20 first prize, $15 second. Come to the meeting to collect your check, or it will be mailed to the address on your cover sheet.
Mix & match
Up to three entries a month — poetry, prose, or both, and blended themes are fine. Work must be original and unpublished at the deadline, including internet posts.
Judging
Judges are professionals and may or may not critique entries; their choice of winners is final. Six entries a month are required for judging, and thin categories in double months are combined.
Cover sheet
Top left: name, physical address, telephone, email. Top right: month of entry and the word count for prose or line count for poetry, title excluded. Center the title midway down the page.
Entry format
No author name anywhere in the entry. One-inch margins minimum; prose double spaced, poetry single or double. Title centred at the top of page one; number the pages after that.