Erika Dreifus

Attention, North Carolina poets! Information on the 2006 NC State Poetry Contest (sponsored by the NC State Creative Writing Program and the Brenda L. Smart Fund for Creative Writing) is now available.

The Brenda L. Smart Grand Prize for Poetry will award $500 and is open to all NC residents except tenured faculty in the UNC system, poets who have previously published a book, and previous winners. “Winner must be available to read the poem and receive the prize at the NC State Poetry Festival on Wednesday, March 29th.”

This year’s guest judge is Kathryn Stripling Byer, NC Poet Laureate.

Deadline for submission is March 1, 2006. There is no entry fee.

For more information, including submission instructions, click here.

(This opportunity I learned about via CRWROPPS.)

Collision Literary Magazine, a publication of the University Honors College of the University of Pittsburgh, is accepting nonfiction, art, and photography for its next issue. “Send us your best personal essays and narratives, travel pieces, profiles, and poems. Or, send us your favorite art and photography.” The top three submissions will win cash awards: $150 (first prize); $100 (second prize); $50 (third prize). “All published writers will receive a copy of Collision’s Spring 2006 issue and an invitation to read at our April release party.”

There’s no submission fee. The only “major stipulation” is that writers must be current undergraduate or graduate students. Students need not be U.S. residents to submit.

For full information and submission instructions, click here.

From the announcement:

“Did things not go as planned on your Big Day? Did your Dad trip over your wedding dress while walking down the aisle? Perhaps a bumblebee took up residence in your wedding bouquet? Maybe a cousin of the groom enjoyed the open bar a little too much or there was a fender bender on the way to the reception. Tell us about it; we’re here for you. At Love to Know Weddings, we understand. In fact, rather than lamenting those unfortunate events, we’re choosing to celebrate your wedding catastrophes with a contest.”

There does not appear to be any entry fee for this contest, although you must log in/register for an account on the website. “The Contributor with the most interesting wedding mishap as voted by the Love to Know editors will win $150 cash for his or her trouble. Runner up will receive an Amazon gift certificate worth $25.”

Stories should run 200-500 words, and the deadline is February 28, 2006.

For more information, click here.