2022 Rules

Exclusive: For current members of AWG only. All entries eligible for Annual Contest. No fees!

Judging: Judges are professionals who may or may not choose to critique entries. Judge’s decisions are final. If there are fewer than four entries per category in double category months, categories will be combined. Six entries per month are required for judging.

Prizes: $20 first prize and $15 second prize. You are encouraged to attend the meetings to pick up your check. Otherwise, they will be mailed to the physical address provided.

Pay careful attention to all guidelines

Deadline: Submissions may be sent any time after the 12th of the previous month, but no later than the 12th of the contest month.

Enter by Email Only: Send documents as attachments and in Word format only. Subject Line should state: AWG Contest and “Month” (e.g. January). Entries will be returned to the email on coversheet. Warning: some devices may not transmit document correctly, thus disqualifying entry. AWG will respond within five days. It is entrant’s responsibility to verify and resend.

Send to:   awg.entry@yahoo.com                      Linda Gordon, Contest Coordinator

Mix & Match: Submit up to 3 entries per month. Enter poetry, prose, or both. Blended themes are acceptable. Must be original work unpublished at deadline (includes Internet posts).

** You may send up to 3 entries and accompanying cover sheets in the same email, but all cover sheets and entries must be separate attachments.**

Cover Sheet Format:  Top left: author’s name, physical address (to mail prize check), telephone number, and email. Top right: Chosen month of entry, word count for Prose and Flash entries or line count for poetry. (Do not count the title when determining line or word counts.) Title of entry should be centered midway down the page.

Entry Format:  Do not include author name on any page. Minimum one-inch margins; prose double spaced; poetry single or double spaced. First page: center title at top, double space then start text. Number subsequent pages at the top center or top right.

​​                                                                          2022

MONTH                          THEME                                         CATEGORY

JANUARY          No contest this month             Extra writing time for February

FEBRUARY       Winter, Nature, Milestones      Poetry – 50 lines or less 

                                                                                  Non-Fiction – 1,000 words or less

MARCH            Mandatory prompt words:         Flash entry: Fiction or Poetry
                           tear, color, wind, sort, drift         100 max using 5 prompt words

APRIL               National Poetry Month                Rhymed or Unrhymed Poetry

                                  NO THEME                                       50 lines or less

MAY                  National Short Story Month         Fiction - 1,000 words or less
                                   NO THEME

JUNE                 AWG Non-Fiction Month             Non-Fiction - 1,000 words or less
                                    NO THEME

JULY                  Home, Travel                                  Poetry – 50 lines or less
                                                                                     Fiction – 1,000 words or less

AUGUST           Mandatory prompt words:           Flash entry: Fiction or Poetry
                            project, double, shine, top, way   100 max using 5 prompt words

Flash Fiction/Poetry use 5 mandatory prompt words, or close form and meaning, like: Oil = oiled, oils, oiling, oiler, oily not spoil or foil; boat = lifeboat; speak = unspeakable, not spoken; place = placement; defect = defection or defective.

March contest winners:

Flash Fiction:

1st Place:  Chuck Webber, "Splash Crash"

2nd Place: Sharon Ellison, "An Ah-Hah Moment"

HM: Mary Berry, "May Freedom Live"

Flash Poetry:

1st Place: Mary Berry, "Summer Storm"

​2nd Place: "Mary Berry, "Dreams to Ashes"

April contest winners:

Non-rhyming poetry:

1st Place:  Chuck Anderson, "Tick, Tick, Tick"

2nd Place:  Debi Fairchild, "Love vs Chocolate"

HM:  Debi Fairchild "A Road Leading Nowhere"

Rhyming poetry:

1st Place:  Chuck Webber, "Guests Nonetheless"

2nd Place:  Coy Roper, "It's Time to Write"

Type your paragraph here.

​

AWG Members Only Monthly Contest

                        Welcome

Objectives:   To study methods of writing and research,
      To develop our talents as writers,
          To promote interest in writing, and
                       To encourage our fellow writers at all times