Check out the below guidelines for the 2nd annual 1877 Society Writing Contest. I’m very happy to chair the 2016 awards committee along with fellow judges Liz Kay and Andrew Hilleman.

Last year my story “Violate the Leaves” (recently published in Boulevard and a part of my forthcoming-next-month collection Bad Faith) won the prize for best short story in the inaugural awards.

The contest is open to Omaha-area writers aged 49 and younger. The deadline is July 31. There are cash prizes and no entry fee. I’ll say that again: prizes, no fee. What’s not to love about that?

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Prose, Poetry Sought for 2016 Writing Contest

The 1877 Society invites Omaha-area writers in their forties and younger to submit unpublished prose and poetry to the second annual 1877 Society Writing Contest. Personal essays and short stories under 5,000 words may be submitted in the prose category. One single-spaced poem of under three pages may be submitted in the poetry category. Entrants may submit one entry in both categories if they so choose.
Submissions are due using the following form by 11:59 p.m. CST on Sunday, July 31, 2016.
Winners will be announced during a ceremony at the (downtown) Omaha Lit Fest in October.
The winning poem and prose entry will each receive a $500 cash prize. A third, $250 prize will be awarded to the best work (either poetry or prose). The winning works will also be featured in Omaha Public Library’s digital collection. All winners will be selected by the awards committee.

The 2016 awards committee is:
Theodore Wheeler, author of the short story collection Bad Faith (July 2016) and the forthcoming novel Kings of Broken Things (August 2017).
Liz Kay, author of the novel Monsters: a Love Story (June 2016) and a founding editor of Spark Wheel Press and burntdistrict poetry journal.
Andrew Hilleman, author of the forthcoming novel World, Chase Me Down (January 2017).

For more information, contact Theodore Wheeler (tedwheeler@gmail.com) or call the Omaha Public Library Foundation (402-444-4589).