We’re pleased to share that the results of the American Writers Review 2025 Contest have now been published on the AWR website. It was a privilege for our group to serve as judges for this international literary event, and we extend our warm congratulations to the winners, finalists, and all who submitted work.
Regretting that you didn’t enter this year’s American Writers Review literary contest? Or that you didn’t quite make the deadline? Well, we have some good news: If you’ve visited the San Fedele Press submissions page recently you’ll have noticed that the deadline for contest entries has been extended to August 7. That’s right – there’s still time to send off that poem, short story, non-fiction, or dramatic monologue, photograph, or artwork. In short, written work and imagery is invited. Full details are available in our July blog post, linked here. Or if you want to head straight to the submissions page, do that by clicking here.
Contest deadline: 11:59 PM on August 7 (US Eastern Time)
A timely reminder from Margaret that the closing date for the American Writers Review literary contest is creeping up. The theme: Buyers’ Remorse. This year’s judges come from Elwood Writers – Margaret and Barry can’t wait to read your entries. The contest closes on 1 August.
You’ve a bit longer if you want to send a regular submission to the journal: they can be sent for the editorial team to consider right up to 1 September.
If you haven’t started on a submission or even thought about it yet, there’s still plenty of time remaining. All the relevant links are in Margaret’s blog post, above.
The anthology is simultaneously accepting regular submissions – the window for this closes a month later, on September 1, 2025. Again, please familiarise yourself with the guidelines before submitting your work. See here for details.
Editor Donna Ferrara is seeking contributions in a wide range of categories, including visual art and photography – and, for the first time, drama/monologues.
For our new issue, we are seeking written work and imagery that springs from the moment when the best-laid schemes have turned to dust. The crash can be obvious, subtle, even not yet realized. The piece’s point of view could be disappointed or triumphant or oblivious. The moment of remorse could be immediate, in the future, or long in the past.
We’ve established a very productive relationship with San Fedele Press over the years, with our fiction, memoir and poetry appearing in a variety of their publications. International literary connections such as this are so important, and well worth nurturing, especially in these troubled times.
If you decide to enter the contest, and we hope you do, we look forward to receiving your work.
We’re enjoying reading the stories in The Pearl Prize 2025 – An Anthology of Queer Writing from Across Australia. This year’s theme: Queerness beyond the ML and AI in (A) ARTificial space.
Barry was one of the fifteen finalists in this year’s prize, so his story ‘Who Was Avery Rottedean?’ is included in the book. He wrote a blog post about the prize in January – a wonderful start to the year, for him and the group.
We were taken with the softcover and hardback versions of the anthology, and really couldn’t decide between them, so chose to get both. And why not! They’re handsome additions to any bookshelf. If you’d like to get your mitts on a copy, follow these links to Readings, or Hares & Hyenas, or get it direct from the publisher.
Broken Rules and Other Stories (Transit Lounge, September 2020)
Here at Elwood Writers we enjoy a good old celebration and relish any chance to get dressed up to the nines, so we’re excited to have the opportunity to remotely attend the Queensland Literary Awards ceremony, which will be live-streamed from State Library of Queensland at 6–7:30pm on Thursday 9 September.
If you’d like to be a part of this year’s awards ceremony, click here and scroll down the page to register for the live stream. It only takes a few minutes. And you won’t have to dress up on the night, unless you want to. You can wear whatever you want. As far as we know.
Congratulations and good luck to all the finalists. Every one a winner.
The Queensland Literary Awards are supported by the Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland and State Library of Queensland. The Queensland Literary Awards also receive funding from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. The commitment of sponsors is critical: Griffith University, The University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland and The Courier-Mail. Philanthropic support through the Queensland Library Foundation is gratefully received from Jenny Summerson and Susan Hocking and Ian Mackie, and their family, through the Hocking Mackie Trust at APS Foundation.
The Queensland Literary Awards celebrate outstanding writers from Queensland and around Australia, across published and unpublished categories. The awards also offer fellowships and development awards for Queensland writers, and emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, Australia-wide.
State Library of Queensland
The winners’ announcements will be livestreamed on State Library’s website and Facebook Live at 6pm on Thursday 9 September 2021. You can register for the event here. We’ll be booking our ‘seats’ right away.
Well done, Barry. We’re thrilled for you, and hope you’re celebrating wildly, in whatever way you choose. This may well be a time to shun restraint and fully enjoy the moment! Safely, of course.
Congratulations and very best wishes to Barry and to all of this year’s finalists,
Elwood Writers 