[Ned Balbo]

Please consider sending work to the Sweet Corn Prize (April 16th deadline) for which I'll serve as final judge in the poetry category (all submissions will be anonymized in advance so there's no chance of recognizing finalists). Novelist Daniel Wallace (author of Big Fish and The Watermelon King) will serve as judge in fiction.

The editors of Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment ask for work that focuses "on the intersection of human experience and the environment—works that examine place, natural and built environments, landscapes and cityscapes, and the ways that people transverse them. We’re happy to read work that explores environmental issues, but also seek writing that interprets environment more broadly—the places people live and work, travel to and from, inhabit and transcend."

Here's the link--good luck!

http://flyway.org/blog/2015-sweet-co...r-submissions/

[Ned Balbo]

PS I thought posting guidelines here might help.

There is a $12 fee that is used to support the journal Flyway.

Submissions may take place through Submittable.

Due date: April 16

Poems: "The winner will be awarded $500, publication in Flyway, and a box of Iowa sweet corn shipped to their residence (in the lower 48). The runner-up will receive $50 and publication in Flyway.
This contest is open to all styles of poetry, as long as it surprises, shocks, moves or affects the reader. We interpret work about 'the environment' broadly, so surprise us!
Submit up to three poems. Please combine all poems into one document. Submissions are considered blind; names should not appear within the body of your submission."

Fiction: "This contest is open to all styles and genres of fiction, as long as it surprises, shocks, moves or affects the reader. We interpret work about 'the environment' broadly, so surprise us!
Submissions should be no longer than 5,000 words. Submissions are considered blind; names should not appear within the body of your submission.
The winner will be awarded $500, publication in Flyway, and a box of Iowa sweet corn shipped to their residence (in the lower 48). The runner-up will receive $50 and publication in Flyway."

[Martin Elster]

Thanks for posting this, Ned.

There’s no mention in the guidelines about whether the poem(s) must be previously unpublished. Is there anything we should know about that? Also, is there a line limit?

[Ned Balbo]

Hi, Martin. You're not the first to ask. From the site:

2 Responses to “2015 Sweet Corn Prizes in Fiction and Poetry: Now Open”

24 Mar 2015 at 5:21 am
Do you accept previously published work?

25 Mar 2015 at 4:43 pm
Blog Editor says:
Thanks for your question. We do not. Keep writing and send us your fresh work!

Line limit: I'm not aware of any & think you should use your judgment. If I hear anything different, I'll post it here. Thanks!

[Ned Balbo]

I thought I'd post this update with news about the Flyway contest for which I recently judged poetry entries.

Here's the link & a condensed version of the material you'll find at the page, announced by Flyway staff who are also grad students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment at Iowa State University. Thanks!

https://flyway.org/blog/

"Out of a competitive field of short fiction, guest judge Daniel Wallace chose Rachel Richardson’s poignant story 'What’s It Like Outside' as winner, and John Yunker’s dystopian 'Free Range' as runner-up.

[For more on the fiction winners' fine work, please visit the link ~NB]

Meanwhile, poetry judge Ned Balbo chose Mark Jay Brewin Jr.’s 'The Weems Storm Glass Mysterious Weather Predictor' as winner and Lesley Wheeler’s 'A Million Violins' as runner-up.
...

Brewin’s winning poem [is about] a weather prediction device used by Admiral Robert FitzRoy on his 1831 voyage to the Galapagos Islands aboard the HMS Beagle with a young Charles Darwin. Balbo wrote, 'A perceptive, witty exploration of science and mysticism through a device that predicts the weather—sudden shifts not only of climate but in time’s passage and history’s whims. We are all ‘wayfarers’ who seek connection to the cosmos, and we accept guidance wherever we find it—even if what we thought was the magic of belief turns out to be only ‘seawater and cloud-smoke.’ Richly inventive and resonant.'

Meanwhile, Balbo described Wheeler’s piece as 'a powerful poem that intertwines the grief of sisters facing decisions about a father’s terminal illness. Through a cell phone call that connects them across the miles—from the faraway concert one has left temporarily, to the back deck of a home where the other takes the dreaded call—the poem convincingly examines the complexity of farewells we hope to never make.'
...
Look for the winning stories and poems in the fall edition of Flyway."