Wordcraft – Writing contests and workshops now on tap

Just when we’re going crazy with NaNoWriMo’s demands, still more Texas literary events crowd into my inbox. I’m listing these in order of urgency, but who knows which of them may make use of those brand new manuscripts coming out of November’s writing challenge?

November 11: Prize-winning Indian author Amitav Ghosh will speak at the University of Texas at Dallas’s Jonsson Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are free; seating (as available) starts 30 minutes before Ghosh’s appearance. Ghosh will discuss his Ibis Trilogy, exploring events leading to the 1839 Opium War between Great Britain and China. See the UTD website details and get some NaNoWriMo inspiration!

November 14: Bestselling author Taylor Stevens is the featured speaker for the fall workshop of the Writers Guild of Texas, at the Richardson Civic Center, Richardson Room, 411 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson, Texas. The workshop runs from 9 a.m. to noon. Cost is $25 for WGT members, $35 for non-members. See the new WGT site for details.

November 19: Entries are due for the Writers Guild’s flash fiction contests. Cash prizes. Free for WGT members, $25 entry fee for non-members (which will include membership effective through December 2016). See the “contests” link at WGT for submission requirements.

Less urgent deadlines for contests now open include:

January 4, 2016: Literature + Medicine writing contest, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Cash prizes, no entry fee. Poems, essays or short stories on the theme, “The Healing Power of Literature in Medicine.” Writers do not need to be health care professionals to enter. Winners will be announced at the 6^th Annual Literature + Medicine Conference January 19, 2016, whose featured speaker will be Dr. Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone.

January 15, 2016: The Writers League of Texas manuscript contest. Writers do not need to be Texas residents or have a completed manuscript. Fee is $55 for WLT members, $65 for non-members. Winners will receive a professional critique and a meeting with a literary agent in their genre. See the WLT site for details.

February 29, 2016: Frisco Public Library’s flash fiction and first chapter contests. These are limited to residents of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. Some age limits apply. Winners will be featured at the library’s website. First chapter entries will be reviewed by Dallas-area Henery Press.

Also – DL Hammons announces that the 2016 version of his WRiTE Club will open in January 2016. This is the readers’ favorite series of 500-word anonymous writing samples. The winner of the final round of last year’s contest was chosen by a panel of publishing industry professionals and received free admission to the DFW Writers Conference. Who knows what will happen in 2016? Details will follow from Hammons.

And finally, I need readers’ help in a readers’ choice contest at Frontier Tales, where my Civil War Western story, “No Place to Run,” is duking it out for best story of December 2015 and a place in the publisher’s anthology. Thanks for your votes!