WEST TRADE REVIEW
West Trade Review Prize for Poetry Contest Now in Progress
Submit Now and Receive an Expedited Response and Personalized Feedback
If you are one of the first 100 writers to submit a poem to our West Trade Review Prize for Poetry contest by end of day on on Saturday, May 28 , 2022, we will read your submission and provide feedback by end of day June 5, 2022. Each entry also includes a copy of the spring 2022 print edition.
The grand prize is $500 and publication in West Trade Review.
The contest will be judged by Kemi Alabi, author of AGAINST HEAVEN (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the 2021 Academy of American Poets First Book Award.
See link for details:
GENERAL SUBMISSIONS:
Are you a writer or artist that wants to be published and recognized? West Trade Review wants to hear from you! We are looking for original and unpublished works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry by both new and established writers/artists. We also accept novel excerpt submissions.
A writer bio is required with each submission.
Please submit your work to the appropriate genre folder and follow all established guidelines found on our website:
https://www.westtradereview.com/submissionguidelines20.html
We look forward to reviewing your work.
Our reading period is April 1 through August 1 & August 15 through December 15. Some genres, however, could close early if submission caps are reached prior to the end of a reading period.
Submit only once per reading period.
While we always offer free submissions, you may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $7, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $15. The response time for both fee related options is approximately 2 weeks.
Subscribe to our Newsletter and Stay Connected to Our Literary Community
Our monthly newsletter highlights some of our recent fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction and also includes book reviews of upcoming and recently released titles. If you're looking for something new to read, you won't want to miss these carefully curated titles and recommendations. You'll also have access to interviews with exciting emerging writers. Don't miss these important conversations and all our best contemporary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
Sign up for our newsletter now at the link below to learn about West Trade Review events, readings, and contests before anyone else.
https://mailchi.mp/99ebb2b99e87/west-trade-review-newsletter
Thank you for your sponsorship, your friendship, and your invaluable commitment to literature.
Please take a moment to follow us on social media:
Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.
NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered.
We are interested in personal essays, memoir, literary journalism, and lyric essays of up to 6000 words that blend style with substance and reach beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world.
We want creative nonfiction that make the reader think and feel, work that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief, or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something important to teach us--something that readers really need to know, but might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.
Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.
NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:
- All submissions must be previously unpublished and are limited to one entry per submission period.
- While we have no hard limit regarding CNF length, most pieces we accept are typically less than 5,000 words.
- work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file. - include a clear title of the work
- include a cover letter and a short biography no more than 150 words. Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.
- Please mention your social media handles in your cover letter. If you have a personal website for your writing, please provide the link in your cover letter as well.
While we always offer free submissions, you may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $7, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $15. The response time for both fee related options is approximately 2 weeks.
Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.
Please send us your best, unpublished extracts from novel-length works (8000-12000 words).
We seek excellent writing, first and foremost. We prioritize work that places an emphasis on character, language, and psychological depth; no genre pieces, please.
We look for compelling stories with something important to say about the world in which they are made; work peopled by dynamic, complex characters; rendered in fearless writing that is unafraid to innovate and experiment in form, style, and technique; that takes risks at the sentence level in language and perspective; and that challenges conventional ways of seeing the world. A work should not be so experimental, however, that it sacrifices clarity. It should illuminate a facet of the human condition while being bold in its presentation and construction.
Submissions in no way need to stand alone; we are not looking for long short stories. We hope that West Trade Review’s excerpt page can be a place where writers simply take the very best sections of their manuscript without worrying about and/or trying to retrofit into the project or section any type of neat narrative bow, or (artificial) sense of conclusion. In short, we simply want the best excerpts of the best novels currently in progress.
Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.
NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:
-Include a clear title of the work.
-Please adhere to conventional style and formatting rules. Times New Roman or similar, 12 point font, double or 1.5 line spacing, paginated. If you are including a synopsis please place it alone on page one, with the body of the excerpt then beginning on page two.
-A cover letter is required and should include a third person bio and may include a brief note as to the history, genesis, and literary ancestry of the excerpted novel, as we like to know a bit about the pieces we consider. Please note, however, that cover letters are only read after the submission themselves and their existence or content will in no way affect the decision to accept or deny.
--Please include social media handles. If you have a personal website dedicated to your writing, please include the link in your letter as well.
-If your work is a simultaneous submission, please let us know immediately if it is published elsewhere.
-Writers may not submit more than once per reading period.
We try to respond to most submissions as quickly as possible, and final decisions typically do not take more than 3 months at most.
While we always offer free submissions, you may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $10, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $20. The response time for both fee related options is approximately 2 weeks.
Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.
Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.
We are looking for poems that perform Olympic feats with language that leave a reader in wonder while still referring back to the basic things that make us human. We want powerful imagery and enjoy the juxtaposition of images in interesting and unexpected ways.
We want poems that make the reader think and feel, work that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief, or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something important to teach us--something that readers really need to know, but might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.
NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:
- All submissions must be previously unpublished and are limited to five poems per reading period and must be accompanied by a cover letter and a biography of no more than 150 words. Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.
- In your cover letter, please mention your social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). If you have a website dedicated to your writing, please include the link in your letter.
- Include a clear title for each poem.
- Submit poems as one reading packet and place what you consider your stronger work at the front of the group.
- Enter the title of each poem as your packet's submission title.
- Work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file. Include a clear title of each poem.
Submit only once per reading period.
While we always offer free submissions, you may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $7, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $15. The response time for both fee related options is approximately 2 weeks.
Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.
We look for fiction with a literary focus and prioritize characterization and psychological depth. No genre pieces considered.
We want stories that make the reader think and feel, work that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief, or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something important to teach us--something that readers really need to know, but might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.
Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.
NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:
- All submissions must be previously unpublished and are limited to one entry per submission period.
- While we have no hard limit regarding story length, most pieces we accept are typically less than 5,000 words.
- Work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file and include a clear title of the work
- Submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter and a biography of no more than 150 words. Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.
- In your cover letter, please mention your social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). If you have a website dedicated to your writing, please include the link in your cover letter as well.
While we always offer free submissions, you may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $7, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $15. The response time for both fee related options is approximately 2 weeks.
Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.
The West Trade Review Prize for Poetry
Submit Now and Receive an Expedited Response and Personalized Feedback
If you are one of the first 100 writers to submit a poem to our West Trade Review Prize for Poetry contest by end of day on on Saturday, May 28 , 2022, we will read your submission and provide feedback by end of day June 5, 2022. Each entry also includes a copy of the spring 2022 print edition.
The grand prize is $500 and publication in West Trade Review.
The contest is judged by Kemi Alabi, author of AGAINST HEAVEN (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the 2021 Academy of American Poets First Book Award.
See link for details:
Eligibility
• This contest is open only to emerging writers who have not yet published a book of poetry with a print run over 1500. Published books include any book with an ISBN, including self-published. Those who have published books in other genres besides poetry remain eligible.
• Only previously unpublished poems will be accepted.
• Poems that have won and/or placed in any other writing contest are ineligible.
• Unlimited entries allowed. One poem per submission.
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but previously accepted or work published in West Trade Review is ineligible.
• Please withdraw your submission, and notify West Trade Review, if it is accepted elsewhere.
• No one editorially or financially affiliated with West Trade Review can enter the contest.
Guidelines
• Entry fee is $10 for each individual poem, with no limit per author, and includes a copy of our spring 2023 print edition.
• Submission is one original poem.
• The author’s name must not appear on the manuscript or in the file name.
• Please use a standard font, either Times New Roman or Arial in 12 point font size.
• Do not include a cover page. Include a title with each poem.
• Please do not include professional resumes or biographies with your entry. Entries are judged anonymously; the judge will only consider manuscript quality.
• Please take the judge of the contest into consideration. If you know them personally, or have ever attended classes or workshops they have instructed, please use manuscripts that they would not have seen before.
• Revisions or edits will not be accepted once submitted for judging.
Entries that do no meet guidelines or eligibility requirements will not be considered.
$500 and publication in West Trade Review will be awarded to the winning poem. Other entries of merit may be considered for publication. The winning poem will be first announced on our website and social media platforms mid-June 2022 and then published in the 2023 spring print issue of West Trade Review.
Subscribe to our Newsletter and Stay Connected to Our Literary Community
Our monthly newsletter highlights some of our recent fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction and also includes book reviews of upcoming and recently released titles. If you're looking for something new to read, you won't want to miss these carefully curated titles and recommendations. You'll also have access to interviews with exciting emerging writers. Don't miss these important conversations and all our best contemporary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
Sign up for our newsletter now at the link below to learn about West Trade Review events, readings, and contests before anyone else.
https://mailchi.mp/99ebb2b99e87/west-trade-review-newsletter
Thank you for your sponsorship, your friendship, and your invaluable commitment to literature.
Please take a moment to follow us on social media: