Subscriber News: November 2017
Recent Honors
Congratulations to Berwyn Moore. Her poetry collection Sweet Herbaceous Miracle won the 2017 John Ciardi Prize for Poetry, judged by Enid Shomer. It will be published in 2018 by BkMK Press, an imprint of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The 2018 contest, with a prize of $1,000 and publication, is open now through January 15. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Her poetry collection Imperfect Echoes won an honorable mention in the 2017 Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards. This competition gives a top prize of $8,000 and $1,000 category prizes for books in various genres that were self-published in the past five years; the most recent deadline was May 1. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to Sandra Hunter. Her short story collection Trip Wires won the 2017 Leapfrog Press Fiction Prize and will be published in June 2018. The next submission period for this manuscript contest will be January 15-May 1. She also placed second in the 2017 Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction with her story "Finger Popping". This prize, part of the Nimrod Literary Awards from the University of Tulsa's literary journal, gives prizes up to $2,000 and publication; the next submission period is January 1-April 30. Sandra presented her story at the awards ceremony in Tulsa in October.
Congratulations to Adrianne Aron. Her essay collection Human Rights and Wrongs won a 2017 Sunshot Finalist Prize and will be published by New Millennium Writings in 2018. NMW's Sunshots Prize Series gives awards up to $1,500 and publication for poetry and prose manuscripts; the most recent deadline was May 30. Her book features true accounts of her work as a psychologist working in the court system to help refugees seeking asylum and immigrant defendants who deserve special consideration due to past trauma. Adrianne writes, "Many thanks to Winning Writers for publicizing New Millennium Writings and the Sunshot competitions. I believe it was through my subscription to Winning Writers that I first learned of NMW. In 2016 I entered NMW's Flash Fiction competition, and won first prize for my story 'The Envelope Trick'."
Congratulations to Valerie Collins. Her short story "Hotel Catatonia" was a runner-up in the 2017 Victoria Literary Festival Short Story Contest and will be published in the Victoria Review in spring 2018. The submission period was July 19-August 27 for this free contest with prizes up to C$350.
Congratulations to Linda Sonna. Her book Tortillas & Peanut Butter: True Confessions of an American Mom Turned Mexican Smuggler was named the 2017 Multicultural Nonfiction Finalist for the National Indie Excellence Awards. This award series for self-published and indie books is currently open to submissions through March 31. Written by a professor of multicultural counseling and her "contraband mom," Lois Sonna Mark, the book has been an Amazon Top 10 Bestseller in Humor, Biography/Memoir, Mexican Travel, Crimes & Criminals, Solo Travel, Single Parenting, and Teen & Young Adult Biography.
Congratulations to Irvin Schonfeld. His book Occupational Health Psychology: Work, Stress, and Health was published by Springer Publishing Company, a press specializing in books for the health care and helping professions. Sample chapters are available on their website. Read more about his work here.
Congratulations to Mary M. Sesso. Her poetry chapbook The Open Window will be published by Finishing Line Press in January and can be preordered from their website. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to William Ellis. He won a 2017 Sunshot Finalist Prize for his poetry manuscript Geographies of Loss, which will be published in 2018.
Recent Publications
Shirani Rajapakse's debut poetry collection Chant of a Million Women is now available in print and e-book formats. From the book description: "Rajapakse explores identity, values and women's role in society... She also looks at the concepts of beauty and the standards imposed on women to conform. Some of the poems are hard hitting and take on subjects that are uncomfortable to talk about like rape, female genital mutilation, abuse and male dominance. She talks about power and the quiet force that keeps half the world moving even when there is no hope." Visit her website for more information on her award-winning poetry and fiction. She interviews, promotes and reviews books by indie authors on The Writer's Space.
L.B. Gschwandtner's novel The Other New Girl is available from She Writes Press. It is a coming-of-age story about conflicts of loyalty at a Quaker prep school when a student mysteriously disappears. Bestselling novelist Wally Lamb calls it "compulsively readable" and says "The ingredients of this dark and disturbing coming-of-age novel include adolescent cruelty, religious hypocrisy, and the sadder-but-wiser perspective of the adult who dares to look back... Like me, other readers may ponder that question for themselves as they race through this harrowing and heartbreaking tale of the after-effects of power misused. I was riveted." Visit the author's Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.
Thelma T. Reyna's poetry and prose collection Reading Tea Leaves After Trump is available for pre-order from Golden Foothills Press at a discounted price of $10 through November 30 (normally $14). Send a check to Golden Foothills Press, 1443 E. Washington Blvd. #232, Pasadena, CA 91104, or use the Donate button on their website to pay via Paypal. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Alberta Nassi's essay "Side Effects" was published in The London Reader (Autumn 2017). The theme of this issue was "Words from Within: Stories of Mental Disturbance".
Ndaba Sibanda's short story "Friendly Wars" was published in the journal The Song Is, which also nominated the story for the 2017 Best of the Net Awards from Sundress Publications. Sibanda is a writer from Zimbabwe who is now based in Saudi Arabia. His poem "If I Had a Way..." was published on the website of Silver Birch Press, an independent literary publisher in Los Angeles, in their IF I Poetry and Prose Series. His poems "Invitation for Confiscation", "Rising to the Challenges of Today", "What She Said", "Unswayed Folly", and "Blustery Tendencies" were published in Scarlet Leaf Review.
Published: November 7, 2017
