GORDON SQUARE REVIEW INAUGURAL CONTEST FOR NORTHEAST OHIO WRITERS
INAUGURAL CONTEST GUIDELINES
- To be eligible, writers must reside in Northeast Ohio -- that includes the Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Youngstown, Kent, and Lorain areas -- or must have a strong previous tie Northeast Ohio. Please note your location (or an explanation of your connection to Northeast Ohio -- that you lived or studied here previously, etc.) in your cover letter.
- Contest entries will be read blind. Please do not include your name or any identifying information anywhere on the document or in the document file name. (It is acceptable to include your name/personal information in your cover letter.)
- The fee for each entry is $6. All entries will be considered for publication.
- Contest entries must be previously unpublished in either print or online venues, including personal blogs.
- Prose entries must consist of a single short story, personal essay, or hybrid prose piece of no more than 5,000 words OR up to three flash prose pieces, each of which must be under 1,000 words and attached in a single document. Entries that exceed the word limit will be disqualified. Writers may submit more than one piece of prose (or packet of flash pieces), but a separate fee is required for each entry. Please indicate the genre (fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid) in the document.
- Poetry entries may include up to three poems per contest entry. Writers may submit more than one packet of poems, but a separate fee is required for each entry.
- Writers are welcome to make a separate general submission in addition to a contest entry. Please note, however, that there is no need to submit the same writing to both the contest and the general submission pool, as all contest entries will be considered for publication.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but we ask that you withdraw your work immediately if it is accepted elsewhere. Entry fees will not be refunded in the event of a withdrawal.
- The contest deadline is October 15, 2017. Gordon Square Review editors will judge. Results will be announced in November 2017.
- All entries must be submitted via Submittable. Print or emailed entries will not be accepted. Entry fees are nonrefundable.
- Literary Cleveland members and/or students enrolled in Literary Cleveland workshops are eligible. Due to the nature of Gordon Square Review's connection to Literary Cleveland, some conflicts regarding writer-judge relationships may be inevitable, even with blind judging. Regardless, the judges strive to be fair and objective. If a judge recognizes a submission, he or she will disclose that connection and pass the submission on to another editor. All entries will receive serious consideration, and all Northeast Ohio writers, whether Literary Cleveland students or not, are welcome to enter.
- The prose and poetry winner will each receive $250, publication in Gordon Square Review, promotion through Literary Cleveland’s channels, and a voucher for one free single-session Literary Cleveland class. Vouchers are non-transferable, must be used within one year, and are limited to a value of $50.
