John Berendt

JUDGE: Bestsellling author John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The City of Falling Angels)

The Saints and Sinners GLBT Literary Festivals Second Annual Short Fiction Contest is soliciting original, unpublished short stories between 5,000 and 7,000 words with GLBT content on the broad theme of Saints and Sinners. The contest is open to authors at all stages of their careers and to stories in all genres.

The entry fee is $15 per story. There is no limit on the number of stories each author may enter. One grand prize of $250 and two second place prizes of $50 will be awarded. In addition, the top stories will be published in an anthology from QueerMojo, an imprint of Rebel Satori Press. There will also be a book release party held during the 9th annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans May 12-15, 2011. The deadline for the receipt of manuscripts is November 1, 2010.

Registration: There is a $15 fee for every play submitted. Participants can enter more then once. Click here to open and print the registration form in your browser. Note: you cannot complete this form online; you must print it and return the completed paper form with each of your submissions. This requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or above.

Prizes: The winning entry will receive complimentary registration to the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival and a stipend of $250. The winning play from our fifth annual contest will also be produced by the Marigny Theatre Corporation and will premiere the weekend of the 9th annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in May 12-15, 2011.

Finalists: The finalists’ names and titles will be announced on the Saints and Sinners website.

Dates: Deadline for submission is December 31st yearly. (Entries postmarked later than December 31st will not be considered) The winner will be announced in March of the following year.

Entry Fees: Participants can make more than one submission. There is a $15 entry fee per submission to cover administrative costs such as copying, postage, judging, etc.

Contest Guidelines: Previously produced full-length plays will be considered as long as they have not been produced in the greater New Orleans area. Characters should be kept to a minimum—preferably 5 or under. Staging should be simple or adaptable to a small stage.

Correspondence: If you would like to verify that your submission was received, please consider using the tracking service that is offered by the U.S. postal service, or send a self-addressed postcard with your submission. Postcards will take longer to process. DO NOT send manuscripts certified mail or signature required.

Judging: Judges come from all over the country, and all entries are judged anonymously. Please send two title pages with the text: one with the play’s title only, another with all author information unattached. Plays must be typed. Please do not append professional resumes or biographies to your entry: the judges only consider manuscript quality. We regret that we are unable to return manuscripts. Please make sure to keep a copy of your entry for future use.

Contact: For questions or further information concerning the full-length play contest, contact Saints and Sinners Literary Festival at saintandsinnola@aol.com

Please Note: The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival reserves the right to publish all winning contest entries in special edition Festival anthologies and/or collections if appropriate. Mail your entry, check, and registration form to:

Saints and Sinners Play Contest
938 Lafayette St.
Suite 514
New Orleans, LA 70113

All submissions requiring an entry fee should have checks payable to:
The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

The winner of the First Annual Short Fiction Contest is Wayne Lee Gay of Denton, Texas for his story “Ondine.”

• Wayne Lee Gay recently completed the Ph.D. in creative writing / fiction at the University of North Texas. He also holds degrees in music history and musicology from Baylor and the University of Iowa. During an earlier career as a journalist and classical music critic, he was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. His fiction has appeared in Swell and SN Review, and his poetry appears in The Weight of Addition: An Anthology of Texas Poets.

Our two runners-up are Danny Bracco of San Francisco for “Dancing Pink Roses” and James Driggers of Asheville, NC for “Jesus Is My BFF.”

The winning stories, along with new stories by a few of the best names in GLBT literature, have been collected into an anthology, Saints & Sinners 2010: New Fiction from the Festival, by QueerMojo, an imprint of Rebel Satori Press. A book release party featuring readings by the winners and others will be held on Thursday, May 13 as a fundraiser for the festival. A copy of the anthology is included with the event ticket. Order at www.sasfest.com

The winner of the FOURTH ANNUAL FULL-LENGTH PLAYWRITING CONTEST is St. Louisian Jerry Rabushka for his play Brushup Ten.

• Jerry Rabushka is a writer, actor, musician, and composer. He is a co-founder of Ragged Blade Productions, where he gained experience writing and producing plays, and in 2006 received the Director’s Award at the Columbus Gay & Lesbian Theater Festival for its efforts in bringing GLBT theater to St. Louis. Many of his scripts, ranging from 3 minutes to full length, have been published by Brooklyn Publishers, and some are also available from Heuer Publishing. His band, The Ragged Blade Band, plays his original tunes in St. Louis and on the road. Rabushka has toured two of his plays to New Orleans; his play “He’s a Real Boy Now” was a Saints and Sinners finalist in 2007.

  Brushup Ten
  will premiere at the Marigny Theatre during the Saints and Sinners weekend. Tickets are available through the Marigny Theatre. Stay tuned for our next e-newsletter for further information on our theatre events.

Congratulations to all our winners and finalists!

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in association with the Marigny Theatre Corporation and the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival announces a playwright’s competition. The winning play from our fourth annual contest will be produced by the Marigny Theatre Corporation and will premier the weekend of the 8th annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, May 13-16, 2010.

Registration: There is a $10 fee for every play submitted. Participants can enter more then once. Click here to open and print the registration form in your browser. Note: you cannot complete this form online; you must print it and return the completed paper form with each of your submissions. This requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or above.

Prizes: The winning entry will receive complimentary registration to the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival and a stipend of $250.

Finalists: The finalists’ names and titles will be announced on the Saints and Sinners website.

Dates: Deadline for submission is December 31st yearly. (Entries postmarked later than December 31st will not be c onsidered) The winner will be announced in March of the following year.

Entry Fees: Participants can make more then one submission. There is a $10 entry fee per submission to cover administrative costs such as copying, postage, judging, etc.

Contest Guidelines: Previously produced plays will be considered as long as they have not been produced in the greater New Orleans area. Characters should be kept to a minimum? preferably 5 or under. Staging should be simple or adaptable to a small stage.

Correspondence: If you would like to verify that your submission was received, please consider using the tracking service that is offered by the U.S. postal service, or send a self addressed postcard with your submission. Postcards will take longer to process. DO NOT send manuscripts certified mail, or signature required.

Judging: Judges come from all over the country, and all entries are judged anonymously. Please send two title pages with the text: one with the play’s title only, another with all author information unattached. Plays must be typed. Please do not append professional resumes or biographies to your entry: the judges only consider manuscript quality. We regret that we are unable to return manuscripts. Please make sure to keep a copy of your entry for future use.

Contact: For questions or further information concerning the play contest, contact Saints and Sinners Literary Festival at saintandsinnola@aol.com

Please Note: The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival reserves the right to publish all winning contest entries in special edition Festival anthologies and/or collections if appropriate.Mail your entry, check, and registration form to:

Saints and Sinners Play Contest
938 Lafayette St.
Suite 514
New Orleans, LA 70113

All submissions requiring an entry fee should have checks payable to:
The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.