Flying South Contest Winston-Salem Writers (Gold Star Program) Gold Star

Submissions are accepted March 1 to May 31 annually. Entry is $15 to members; $25 for nonmembers. Winston-Salem Writers Board members are ineligible for entry.

What We're Looking For

• Read a past issue or two to get a sense of what we like.
• Each entry must be original and previously unpublished. Any work discovered not to be in compliance with either of these requirements will be ineligible for the monetary prizes and will be excluded from the issue, time permitting. The author of such work will be banned from participation in future Flying South competitions for two years.
• Poetry – 3 poems, 10 pages max.
• Fiction – up to 5000 words; includes flash fiction, short stories, and novel excerpts.
  
• Non-Fiction – up to 3500 words; includes memoir, essay, journal entries, and other creative nonfiction. Use pseudonyms for identifiable names; you will have the opportunity to change those names prior to publication.
• Simultaneous submissions will be accepted, but you must notify us and withdraw from the contest if your work is accepted elsewhere. Submissions may not be withdrawn once contest winners are announced.

We cannot refund submission fees.

How to Submit

Use a standard font (Times New Roman preferred) in 12-pt. type with the title and page number on each page. For prose, double space. For poetry, single space; 3 poems count as one entry. Poems should be submitted in a single file with each poem clearly separated from the others.

In the cover letter for each entry, include your name, address, telephone, email address, category to which you’re submitting, word count, and title(s) of the submitted work. Your name and contact information should appear only in the cover letter — not in the manuscript, the title, or the file name. We disqualify entries that do not follow these instructions since submissions are read blind. (Entry fees are not refunded for disqualified entries.)

Name your file(s) with the title of the work. For example: An_Occurrence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge.docx.

Long titles may be shortened in the file name.

You can withdraw your submission prior to the announcement of the winners, but we cannot refund your entry fees.

Prizes and Rights

All entries will be considered for publication.

Winning submissions in each of the three categories (Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry) will be awarded prizes of $400 for First Place, $200 for Second Place, and $100 for a total of $2,100 in prizes. All finalists will be accepted for publication and will receive one copy of the current issue of Flying South.

Winners will be announced on or about July 1 and will be notified by email. Cash prizes will be paid no later than August 1.

Authors retain copyright to the work(s) entered and published; Flying South is granted a one-time right to publish the work(s) in the current issue. By entering the contest, writers give Flying South permission to publish the entered work(s) in the current issue and to list the author’s name in the publication, on the Winston-Salem Writers’ website, and in press releases and other attendant publicity. Submissions may not be withdrawn once contest winners are announced.

Judges

POETRY

Mary Hennessy (Poetry Editor): Mary was a registered nurse most of her adult life. She returned to school late and fell in with a community of generous, word-crazed people. Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies. She is a Pushcart nominee. Poetry is the only thing that makes sense to her anymore.

CREATIVE NONFICTION

Jennifer Stevenson Vincent (Creative Nonfiction Editor): Jennifer was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize with a speciality in Civil Rights issues. She has a distinguished career in print journalism, including senior staff writer at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. A founder and past President of Winston-Salem Writers, she's taught creative non-fiction at New York University, the University of South Florida and Salem College.

FICTION

Howard Pearre (Fiction Editor): Howard's stories have appeared in Daniel Boone Footsteps anthologies, Flying South, GreenPrints, and the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He writes articles promoting voting for the Winston-Salem Chronicle. Howard retired after a career as a counselor and manager with NC Vocational Rehabilitation and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Ray Morrison (Fiction Readerr): Ray is an award-winning writer whose stories have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including Ecotone, Carve, Beloit Fiction Journal, and Fiction Southeast. He is the author of the story collections, In a World of Small Truths (Press 53) and I Hear the Human Noise (Press 53). I Hear the Human Noise was awarded the 2020 IPPY Gold Medal for Southeast – Best Regional Fiction.

Joni Carter (Fiction Reader): Joni's fiction has been published in online and print journals Her nonfiction work has appeared in Our State and in the Greensboro News and Record (Rockingham County edition). She has won a number of local writing awards and is also an avid reader. When she's driving Joni loves listening to audiobooks. She enjoys character driven stories, especially the fun ones.

Steve Lindahl (Fiction Reader): Steve Lindahl is the author of eight novels, Motherless Soul (ATTMP), White Horse Regressions (ATTMP), Hopatcong Vision Quest (Solstice), Under a Warped Cross (Solstice), Living in a Star's Light (Self Published), Chasing Margie (Solstice), Woodstock to St. Joseph's (Solstice), and Ginger's Shoes (Self Published). His short fiction has appeared in The Alaska Quarterly, The Wisconsin Review, Eclipse and others. He served for five years on the staff of The Crescent Review and is the current Managing Editor of Flying South. (www.stevelindahl.com)