Announcement re American Writers Review from San Fedele Press:
Due to several requests, we are extending the deadline for regular submissions to August 8, 2026.
You’ll find the guidelines and requirements for submissions at the link here.
Best of luck,
EW
San Fedele Press is pleased to announce the Winner of the American Writers Review 2026 Contest.
After months of reading and considering, the deliberations are complete, and you can read all about the outcome at the link below:
https://www.americanwritersreview.com
Congratulations to this year’s winner and shortlisted entrants, and a huge thank you as always to everyone who submitted work.
Margaret represented Elwood Writers on this year’s judging panel, and we’re very grateful for all her hard work on our behalf.
A reminder that there’s still a few days left till the window for general submissions closes for another year, so if you’re still polishing your piece, good luck. And if you haven’t started writing that poetry, short story, non-fiction essay, or drama or monologue, then now’s the time to start work. Don’t forget art and photography are welcome too. Grab a coffee and have a think about it. Maybe you could pen a short poem, just a few lines or a single stanza – or a very short piece of fiction? The fiction limit is 2,500 words, but there’s no lower limit. Flash it up, if that’s your thing. Or flesh it out. Perhaps inspiration will descend today. If you need to, you could pull an all-nighter to get something ready. Or you could just wait for opportunity to rise again next year. Many options, so that’s all good.
The theme, once again, is: The Truth Will Set You Free and the deadline is 1st August 2026 now extended to 8th August 2026.
However you choose to approach the next few days, happy writing and reading and listening.
Have a peaceful day,
EW
Margaret McCaffrey’s website provides the source for this month’s content — for the second month in a row. It seems like we’re bingeing Margaret’s content! And why not.
In this latest post, Margaret talks about her experience of judging the American Writers Review literary contest last year on behalf of Elwood Writers. Click inside the post, above, to read all about it. You’ll also find details of this year’s AWR contest, whose theme is ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’.
Happy reading and writing. And if you do choose to take part in this year’s contest or submit to the anthology, break a leg! Or as they say in Australian theatrical circles, ‘Chookas!’
EW
We’ve always had it in mind that a good rule of thumb is to create one blog post per month, at least. Of course we waver sometimes — often in January, that quieter month when the dust gently settles around us after the festive season. For March, though, there is no such dusty excuse. And so, with that in mind, on the last day of this month, by the skin of our teeth, we present our March despatch: a progress update, as it were.
I got in touch with the group members individually to see what they’ve been up to. Helen says she’s been writing new poetry, and was up on the mic at Chamber Poets earlier this month, reading new work aloud. Margaret is happy to report that she has been sticking to her 15 minutes of writing per day, as outlined in her blog post here. Onya, Margaret. Barry continues to work on his novel and says he’s enjoying catching up on his reading. He might also have used the word recalibrating — but he was in a busy sandwich shop, and it was tricky to hear, so what he meant is anyone’s guess!
And what of the group as a whole? Well, Elwood Writers remains busy with its work on the panel of editorial assistants for American Writers Review. Reminder: the anthology’s contest closes 1 July, general submissions a month later on 1 August. So there’s still bags of time to throw your hat in the ring.
The recent March equinox marked a subtle moment of transition. Whether you’re celebrating Easter, another tradition, or simply enjoying the season itself, we wish you all the very best.
Happy reading and writing — and recalibrating!
EW
Last year, Elwood Writers was honoured to judge the American Writers Review (San Fedele Press) literary contest. The contest is open again and, continuing our intercontinental connection, Margaret McCaffrey and Barry Lee Thompson have joined the journal’s team, providing editorial support and assistance for this year’s issue of the publication.
The theme: The Truth Will Set You Free. Contest entries may be submitted until 1 July, and the window for general submissions closes a month later, on 1 August. Details may be found on the AWR submissions page — just click here.
2026 is off to a flying start! Margaret and Barry are once again excited to be on the AWR team, and really looking forward to reading the work submitted.
Happy writing, and best of luck!
EW
Elwood Writers recently had its last meeting of the year: last Tuesday, 9 December — coincidentally five years to the day since our anthology Every Second Tuesday was launched by Lee Kofman at Readings. Half a decade’s worth of water has passed under the literary bridge since that glittering night. And how quickly the stream has flowed. Happy fifth birthday, Every Second Tuesday.
But let’s look back at the year just gone. A busy year, 2025, and one of some notable firsts and lasts.
Our first ever writing retreat occurred in February, at beautiful Daylesford and Hepburn Springs in Victoria’s spa country, on the land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. This was very much a week of intense focus, and we loved it so much that we followed up with a second retreat in July!
We were invited to judge the 2025 American Writers Review literary contest, with its theme “Buyers’ Remorse”. And we were blown away by the quality of work submitted.
We turned 18 in June. Yes, Elwood Writers has been around for an entire generation. Was there cake? You bet there was!
In October, we recorded our twelfth edition of Cover to Cover for Vision Australia Radio. ‘Stories of Change and Place’ was broadcast on Friday 14 November, repeated Sunday 16 November. Check out the podcast if you didn’t catch the original airing.
Which brings us back to Tuesday 9 December, and our last fortnightly meeting of the year. Nothing remarkable there. Except this was Barry’s last formal meeting. After co-founding Elwood Writers with Jennifer Bryce in 2007, Barry is bidding a fond farewell to the group. Everything must change, it’s often said. Very best of luck to you, Barry. We’ll miss you in too many ways to name. Thank you so much for your camaraderie and invaluable contributions over the years. We can’t begin to say how much we appreciate the work you’ve put into this website — now I guess we’ll finally have to start reading the operating manual.
But, Barry’s not getting away quite that easily — he’ll remain ‘on the books’ as an Honorary Member of Elwood Writers. And who knows, there might be a radio collaboration in the works for the not-too-distant future.
So we begin to cast our thoughts towards 2026: a new chapter for all of us. What lies in store for this changed writing group, we wonder. Whatever happens, we think it’ll be well worth reading about. So make sure to keep watching this space.
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Wishing everyone a peaceful festive season. All the best for 2026.
EW
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.
You can read the official announcement here:
https://www.americanwritersreview.com
We’ll be back soon with some reflections on the judging process, the entries, and what made the winning pieces stand out.
EW
The shortlist of this year’s American Writers Review literary contest is now up at the publisher’s website:
https://www.americanwritersreview.com
The overall winner will be announced soon, so watch this space.
Congratulations to the finalists!
EW
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)
This year’s competition judges are Margaret and Barry, on behalf of Elwood Writers. The theme: Buyers’ Remorse. Interpret that any way you wish.
Happy writing, and good luck!
EW
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.
Happy writing, and good luck!
EW
Elwood Writers 