Reminder: Sharlet Contest Closes May 31, 2020

The Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards contest administered by Line of Advance journal isn't the only hot writing opportunity for veterans this month. Submissions window for the latest iteration of the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans also closes May 31, 2020.

The latter event, administered by The Iowa Review approximately every other year, is open to any service member or veteran writing in any genre, about any subject matter. (Current students, faculty, or staff of the University of Iowa, however, are not eligible to enter the contest.)

Winners of the 2018 contest were announced last fall. Selections of their work appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of the The Iowa Review.

The contest is made possible by the family of Jeff Sharlet (1942–1969), a Vietnam veteran and anti-war writer and activist.

Unlike the first two iterations of the contest, there is no longer an entry fee for the contest.

Prize is $1,000 and publication in The Iowa Review. Second place is $750. Up to three runners-up will receive $500 each.

Entrants should submit an original double-spaced manuscript in any genre (poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction) of up to 20 pages. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, although the editors request timely notification if the work is later accepted elsewhere.

Submissions may be made either on-line or via postal mail.

A webpage with full details and specifications for the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans can be found here. A Submittable page for on-line submissions is here.

Historically, this is an extremely competitive contest. The Aiming Circle strongly recommends that potential participants review examples of works previously recognized through this contest. Materials from previous iterations of the Jeff Sharlet Memorial contest have been collected on-line here. Or read the previous issues containing Jeff Sharlet contest awardees:
Finalists will be selected by the editors of The Iowa Review. A winner will be selected by the guest judge.

The 2020 guest judge is short-story writer, novelist, and anthologist Reginald McKnight. He is a past recipient of the O. Henry Award and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, among other recognitions. He is a currently a professor of creative writing and literature at the University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.

A Facebook page for The Iowa Review is here.

*****

Want to receive exclusive early-bird notice of military-themed writing opportunities, events, and markets? Want to view insider ratings and recommendations on prospective journals, anthologies, and contests? Want to gain members-only access to an on-line Facebook forum of enthusiastic, motivated, and focused practitioners, just like you?

Join our Aiming Circle community of practice for as little as $1 a month! Details here: www.patreon.com/aimingcircle.

Join us also:

Comments