Here are a few opportunities for poets and writers looking for contests and conferences that end in October. Check out the James Hearst Poetry Prize and the North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference
North American Review’s James Hearst Poetry Prize
Judged by Major Jackson! Submit up to 5 poems for a chance at $1000 and publication in the spring. Second and third place runners up also receive publication and $100 and $50 respectively. It’s $20 to enter, but all submitters receive a year-long subscription to the mag. Here is a note from North American Review about the length of poems they are looking for: “We have noticed that long poems rarely do well—too much can go wrong in a large space. Poems that have reached the finalist stage in our competition in the past are typically one to two pages (often much shorter). Winning poems always balance interesting subject matter and consummate poetic craft. We value both free verse and formal poems in rhyme and meter—both open and closed forms.” Submit here! Submit by October 31.
North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference
The 2016 North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference will be held from November 4 to November 6 at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley in Raleigh, North Carolina. The conference features courses and master classes in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as lectures and panels on book marketing and finding an agent. The faculty includes poets Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar, and Lenard D. Moore; fiction writers Clare Beams, Kim Church, and Angela Davis-Gardner; and creative nonfiction writers Haven Kimmel, authors from the UNC Press “Savor the South” cookbook series, and members of the Triangle Association of Freelancers. Price varies; scholarships are available. Register at www.ncwriters.org. Register before October 28!