Press Release: Deadline Nearing for SELC Nature Writing Contest

Writers and journalists have just over a week to send submissions for SELC’s 17th annual Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment.  Submissions must be received by Friday, January 13, in our Charlottesville headquarters.

>> Contest requirements are below, and more information can be found on our website.

SELC welcomes three new judges panel this year. Silas House, an award-winning author of The Coal Tattoo and co-author of Something’s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal, Bruz Clark, president and treasurer of the Chattanooga-based Lyndhurst Foundation, and Paul Sloan, former Deputy Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

SELC’s writing contest two categories: Book, for non-fiction books (not self-published), and Journalism, for newspaper, magazine writing, and online writing that is published by a recognized institution (e.g., newspaper, university or non-profit organization) and is journalistic in nature.  Prizes of $1,000 are awarded to the winner in each category.

* Submissions must have been published during calendar year 2011, be at least 3,000 words, and relate to the natural environment in at least one of SELC’s six states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia.
* Send 16 copies to Reed Award, SELC, 201 W. Main Street, Ste. 14, Charlottesville, VA  22902. Include at least one copy in original format; Journalism entries must include a CD or email (dmoore@selcva.org) with text to verify word length. Submissions cannot be returned.

This year’s judges include:
Joel K. Bourne, Jr.-Contributing writer and former Senior Editor for the Environment at National Geographic.
Bruz Clark-President and treasurer of the Chattanooga-based Lyndhurst Foundation.
Jim Detjen-Director, Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, Michigan State University.
Hannah Fries-Associate Editor and Poetry Editor of Orion magazine.
Nikki Giovanni-Grammy-nominated poet, University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech.
Silas House-Award-winning author Interim Director, Loyal Jones Appalachian Center; Berea College.
Janet Lembke-Author of Because the Cat Purrs  and almost 20 other nature books.
Bill McKibben-Author and journalist, co-founder “350.org,” scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College.
Deaderick Montague-Civic leader, teacher and writer, Vice President of SELC Board of Trustees.
Janisse Ray-Poet, activist, teacher and award-winning author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood.
Charles Seabrook-Former environmental reporter for Atlanta Journal-Constitution; book author.
Paul Sloan-Former Deputy Commissioner Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Donovan Webster-Author and journalist, Deputy Editor of award-winning Virginia Quarterly Review.

Related articles

• SELC announces 17th Annual Nature Writing Contest (cvillewords.com)

The Southern Environmental Law Center is now accepting submissions for the annual Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment.  The award seeks to enhance public awareness of the value and vulnerability of the region’s natural heritage by giving special recognition to writers who most effectively tell the stories about the South’s environment.

SELC is delighted to welcome three outstanding conservationists to the judges panel this year. Bruz Clark is president and treasurer of the Chattanooga-based Lyndhurst Foundation and has been a leading environmental philanthropist in the South for many years.  Silas House is an award-winning author of such books as The Coal Tattoo and co-author of Something’s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal, and is associate professor of Appalachian Studies at Berea College. Paul Sloan is former Deputy Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and a  founding board member of Cumberland Region Tomorrow.

SELC’s annual Reed Environmental Writing Award has two categories: Book, for non-fiction books (not self-published), and Journalism, for newspaper, magazine, and online writing that is published by a recognized institution (e.g., newspaper, university or non-profit organization) and is journalistic in nature.  Prizes of $1,000 are awarded to the winner in each category; winners will be publicly announced at SELC’s special event during the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 24, 2012.

• All submissions must have been published during calendar year 2011, and must be received by January 13, 2012.  Nominations can be made by anyone, including the author or publisher.
• Submissions must relate to the natural environment in at least one of the following states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia.
• Send 16 copies to Reed Award, SELC, 201 W. Main Street, Ste. 14, Charlottesville, VA  22902. Submissions cannot be returned.  Include at least one copy in original format for proof of publication. Journalism entries must be at least 3,000 words; please provide a CD or email the text to dmoore@selcva.org to verify word length.
• Click here for more information.

At WriterHouse:

508 Dale Avenue, Charlottesville

Thursday, May 12, 2011, 7-9pm

Join us for a celebration of WriterHouse member Kathryn Erskine’s National Book Award for “Mockingbird.” (This was postponed due to snowstorms in December.)

Meet Kathy, meet other writers and fans. Refreshments, books available for purchase and signing. Free and open to the public.

Related articles

• May events at WriterHouse (cvillewords.com)

Farewell to 2010 (Almost)

2010 has been an amazing year for WriterHouse, thanks to our nearly 180 members and dozens of volunteers. Over the past year, with no paid staff and a bare-bones budget, we:

• Held 30 public and member events, including book launches, readings, literary salons, panel discussions, and celebrations of all kinds.
• Taught 175 students in 25 eight-week classes and 5 weekend seminars.
• Provided full-time writing space access for 13 writers and dozens more during open hours.
• Logged 2000+ volunteer hours for open hours, Pavilion fundraising, event planning, and administration of the organization at all levels.
• Hosted NaNoWriMo, in which the 191 Charlottesville region participants wrote 4,771,991 words in 30 days
• Threw our first-ever Words & Wine fundraiser which netted nearly $2000
• Partnered with The Bridge, Piedmont Council of the Arts, Olio, Secretly Y’all, Southwood Community Center, and The Virginia Festival of the Book
• Received a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts

We have much more planned for 2011, but classes, memberships, and other fundraisers provide only about two thirds of the money we need to keep the doors open, leaving about $20,000 to be made up in donations. If you’ve already made a contribution, thank you. If you haven’t, please make one now. In an organization our size, you don’t need a fat checkbook to be a major donor. For $200, we’ll put you on the major donors list and send you a free book of your choice from THIS LIST. Even $5 or $10—the price of a few coffees or a Bodo’s lunch—makes a difference.

Donate online using PayPal, leave your donation at the front desk during open hours, or mail your check to:

WriterHouse
PO Box 222
Charlottesville, VA 22902

WriterHouse is a 501(c)3 organization, so your donations are tax-deductible.

Best wishes for the New Year,

The Board of WriterHouse

Christy Strick, Rachel Unkefer, Elizabeth McCullough, Catherine Crittenden, Gale Martin, Kristen-Paige Madonia, Diana Strickler, and Hope Mills Voelkel.

Meet Kathy and congratulate her, enjoy conversation and refreshments. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Free and open to the public. WriterHouse, 508 Dale Avenue, behind the Preston Avenue Bodo’s. 434-296-1922.

Related Articles

• National Book Award Winners Announced (recordedbooks.wordpress.com)
• “Kathryn Erskine’s Mockingbird Wins 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature” and related posts (booksforkidsblog.blogspot.com)
• “The Sunday Salon… A Look at The National Book Awards” and related posts (chickwithbooks.blogspot.com)
• Rocker Patti Smith wins national book award (cbc.ca)
• Patti Smith wins National Book Award with Robert Mapplethorpe story (guardian.co.uk)

Click to enlarge

Mark your calendar: The 5th Annual First Amendment Writes finalists’ performance will be November 8, at the Jefferson Theater. Doors open at 6:30, performances begin at 7pm. All ages welcome, and the $5 entry fee goes towards prizes.

Celebrity judges this year are: Ginger Barber (Editor Grove/Atlantic Publisher), Gregory Orr (Poet & Writer), Gary Johnson (2009 Poetry Winner), Patrick Jordan (Red Light Management), Andy Waldeck (Singer, Songwriter, Producer), and Carleigh Nesbit (2009 Songwriting Winner). This year, in addition to the first place judges’ winner for each category, there will be an audience favorite winner per category as well.

Kathryn Erskine’s second novel, Mockingbird, catches the emotional highs and lows of Asperger’s Syndrome from a kid’s point of view in the understated way of poetry. Caitlin struggles with her brother’s murder during a school shooting, her father’s grief, and her own frustration with the world as it is, a world distant and complicated even for children who don’t suffer the distinction of being different. “It’s easier when things are black and white,” Caitlin says in her journey to understand the give and take of friendship. As the teachers and other students interact with Caitlin after she loses her older brother as her protector and interpreter, she must decipher their intent and learn acceptable behavior which challenges her more direct view of life. Erskine’s simple story is so much more than a story of one little girl. It’s an insightful and moving discovery of how to live and grow in an imperfect world.

–Sarah Collins Honenberger, author of award-winning Waltzing Cowboys and forthcoming novel Catcher, Caught (AE, Dec. 28, 2010)

The Poetry Foundation is pleased to announce that poet Eleanor Ross Taylor has won the 2010 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Presented annually to a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is one of the most prestigious awards given to American poets. At $100,000, it is also one of the nation’s largest literary prizes. Established in 1986, the prize is sponsored and administered by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. Over the last 25 years, the Lilly Prize has awarded more than $1,800,000. The prize will be presented at the Pegasus Awards ceremony at the Arts Club of Chicago on Tuesday, May 18.

In making the announcement, Christian Wiman, editor of Poetry magazine, cited the strong reserve in Taylor’s poems and praised their “sober and clear-eyed serenity” and authority.

Eleanor Ross Taylor has published six collections of poetry: Wilderness of Ladies (1960), Welcome Eumenides (1972), New and Selected Poems (1983), Days Going/Days Coming Back (1991), Late Leisure (1999), and Captive Voices: New and Selected Poems (2009).

A mother of four grown children and a grandmother, Taylor now resides in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has received the Poetry Society of America’s Shelley Memorial Prize (1997–98), a fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1998), the Library of Virginia’s Literary Award for Poetry (2000), and the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern Poetry (2001). She was elected to the Fellowship of Southern Writers in 2009.

“Polaroid,” written by Kristen-Paige Madonia, has taken top honors in the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival’s second annual fiction-writing contest, announced executive director Paul Willis.  The contest, open to short fiction works no longer than 7.000 words, was judged by celebrated novelist and short story author Jill McCorkle.

“Essentially it’s a story about family, about assimilation, and about loss, loss of love and loss of cultural heritage, but also loss of connection between a mother and daughter,” said Madonia about the award-winning work.

McCorkle, deemed the “guardian angel of American short fiction” by short story master Jayne Anne Phillips, commented, ”’Polaroid’ is a beautifully written story about grief…..[It] is very moving, easily earning the reader’s respect and sympathy for all characters involved.”

Madonia, who holds an MFA from California State University, Long Beach, currently teaches creative writing at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Is this man the patron saint of new authors?
FILE PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

You’ve read stories by John Grisham, but now he wants to read your story. Even though the world-renowned author of The Firm and A Time to Kill has just released a short story collection of his own called Ford County, he has again accepted the challenge of wielding a gavel in the literary world by judging the Hook’s annual short story contest.

Prizes and such
The idea that one of the world’s top-selling authors wants to read your work should be incentive enough to enter, but wait, there’s also the $1,000 in cash prizes.

The grand-prize winner receives $550, second place $250, and third place $150.

Next comes the fame. The grand prize-winning story will be published in the Hook in late March when lots of literary types are in town for the Virginia Festival of the Book.