DEADLINE AUGUST 5, 2019
Adult Writing Contest Rules
Join us for another exciting year of award-winning writing. OWL members may enter any and all of the adult categories for a flat fee of only $15!
You must be an OWL member to enter the contest. A sincere thanks to our generous sponsors and judges!
Please read and follow rules carefully! Entries not following ALL of them will be DISQUALIFIED! All submissions are FINAL. No revised versions later accepted.
Submit entries to: OWL.Contests@gmail.com. The only exceptions to online submissions are that books, of course, must be shipped to the Contest Facilitator and John prefers the Crawford Poetry entries to be typed and mailed.
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Must have two copies of book submissions and poetry submissions. Mail hard copy submissions to:
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John Daleske - OWL Contest Facilitator
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7011 State Hwy DD
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Branson West, MO 65737
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All other entries must be submitted online to the above email address with the standard submission format and rules. Nothing identifying the author may appear on the submission.
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The submission email must include the author’s name, address, email address, and phone number.
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Only one entry per category and cannot enter same manuscript in more than one category.
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All entries must be UNPUBLISHED and the original work of the writer. (If your entry has appeared in a blog, website, or other electronic outlet, it IS considered published and cannot be entered in any OWL contest.)
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DO NOT put your name on any part of the entry. (Except Best Book Award)
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Entries must be emailed or postmarked no later than August 5, 2019. Contest Chair is not responsible for misdirected or lost in mail entries.
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No gratuitous or graphic violence or sex. Let’s keep it clean.
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No manuscripts returned and all will be destroyed after judging is final. Those submitting books for Best Book Award may have them returned if sufficient postage is sent with the entry. Otherwise, they will be donated.
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Qualified judges will conduct blind judging. Judges and sponsors, if OWL members, may not enter the category they judge or sponsor, but may enter other categories.
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If only two or three entries received in a category, those will still be judged. If only one entry received in a category, it will receive First Place.
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First Place winners may not enter that manuscript in any subsequent OWL writing contest.
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Winners will be announced on Friday evening of September OWL meeting. For those winners not present, certificates and checks will be mailed.
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Send your best work. Good luck to all who enter! Questions may be submitted to the OWL Contests email, as well.
Use our handy PayPal button or mail $15.00 submission fee to:
John Daleske - OWL Contest Facilitator
7011 State Hwy DD
Branson West, MO 65737
2019 Adult CONTEST CATEGORIES
Unpublished Manuscripts:
Awards are $50 First Prize - $30 Second Prize - $20 Third Prize unless otherwise indicated.
P1 – POETRY – HAIKU
Insightful statement
In seventeen syllables
Authentic Haiku
Sponsor: Jan Morrill Vanek
P2 – POETRY - Crawford Poetry Prize.
Subject: Famous Houses or Sites in the Ozarks. (North Arkansas and all of Missouri) Any form. Limit 40 lines.
$100 First Prize - $50 Second Prize - $25 Third - 3 Honorable Mentions $10 each
Sponsor: John W. “Doc” Crawford
S1 – SHORT-STORY – PARANORMAL / FANTASY FICTION
All FICTITIOUS flights of fantasy, travels through time, ghostly encounters and more are welcome in this category. Word limit is 5,000 words.
Sponsor: Ronda Del Boccio
S2 – SHORT-STORY – ROMANCE
Love is in bloom in this heartfelt category. Keep it PG, no erotica, please. Limit 2,000 words.
Sponsor: Ozark Romance Authors
S3 – SHORT-STORY – WESTERN ROMANCE
Love with spurs and ten-gallon hats is in bloom in this heartfelt, rootin’-tootin’ category. Keep it PG, no erotica, please. Limit 3,000 words.
Sponsor: Bud Hanks
S4 – SHORT-STORY – O. Henry Style Story.
Write a story that concludes with a “wow I didn’t see that coming” ending. Limit: 1,200 words.
Sponsor: Bud Hanks
S5 – SHORT-STORY – HUMOROUS
Go ahead! Make me laugh. Limit 3,500 words.
Sponsor: Russell Gayer
S6 – WIP FIRST PAGE
The first page of your work-in-progress. Any genre.
Sponsor: The Prose Sisters – April Brock, Margarite R. Stever, Bonnie Tesh
S7 – UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
The first ten pages, the last ten pages, and the best ten pages, plus an annotated table of contents, chapter-by-chapter, one sentence each.
Sponsor: Robert Laurence
S8 – MEMOIR & CREATIVE NON-FICTION
In Memory of Black & Kiddo. Draw the judge into reliving that experience with you. Limit 3,000 words.
Sponsor: Brenda Black
S9 – WILSHIRE SHORT STORY
Any genre, limit of 3,000 words
$100 First Prize - $60 Second Prize - $40 Third Prize
Sponsor: Dr. Gil Wilshire – in memory of his parents, Professor Bruce and Donna Wilshire
S10 – SHORT STORY – UNDERDOG
$50.00 First Prize - $30.00 Second Prize - $20.00 Third Prize
Everyone knows an underdog. Someone who cannot seem to win.
Tell us about yours. Whether they win or lose, we want to read their story. 2500 words or less, no super heroes please.
Sponsor: Richard and Bonnie Tesh in memory of their daughter Jackie, who always rooted for the least favored.
Published Manuscripts:
B1 – BEST BOOK AWARD
Hardback or paperback published in 2018. No electronic books.
$100 First Place only.
Sponsor: Diane Yates
PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Recognizes the best of the best of all this year’s First Place winners
$100 First Place only.
Sponsor: Ozarks Writers League President, Margarite R. Stever
Youth Writing Contest Rules
Deadline December 15, 2019
Win gift card prizes in the Ozarks Writers League Writing Contest.
1st $50 -- 2nd $30 -- 3rd $20
Fictional short story. Any genre. Any topic. Limit 2,000 words.
Sponsor: Robert Laurence
Poetry. Any form. 26-line limit.
Sponsor: Anonymous
Youth Writing Contest Rules
You must be in grades 7 - 12 at the time you submit your entry. There is no entry fee.
Mail TWO copies of EACH entry in a large flat envelope postmarked by December 15, 2019 to:
April Brock, Contest Chair
1625 G St NW
Miami, Ok 74354
Only one entry per category. All entries must be UNPUBLISHED and the original work of the writer. (If your entry has appeared in a blog, website, or other electronic outlet, it IS considered published and cannot be entered.)
Entries may be typed or hand-written. Double-space entries for fiction and single-spaced for poetry. Use black ink on 8 ½” x 11” white paper.
Attach a 3”x5” index card with a paperclip to the top copy of each category entry with the number and name of the category, title of your entry, and your name, address, phone, email, current grade, and school attending or home-schooled.
DO NOT put your name on any part of the entry. Staple multiple pages together.
Winners will be announced in February. Good luck to all who enter!
OWL Youth Writing Contest
Congratulations to the 2019 OWL Writing Contest Winners!
OWL Writing Contest
Francis Mathews, 1st Place, Short Story
2019 Writing contest winners
Presidents Award
Brenda Clem Black for Black and Kiddo
Haiku
1st Place - Annie Lisenby for Puerto Rico
2nd Place - Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for Pernicious
3rd Place - April Brock for Worth It
Honorable Mention - Ronda Del Boccio for Torment
Romance
1st Place - April Brock for Love Conquers Fear
2nd Place - Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for Dearly Beloved
3rd Place - Karen Williamson for Gypsy
O. Henry Style
1st Place - Larry Wood for Blacklist
2nd Place - Joy Keeney for Desperate Call
3rd Place - Rhonda Harvey for Blind Fate
Humorous Short Story
1st Place - Sasha Ball-Rives for Harebrained Christmas
2nd Place - Larry Wood for Bowled Over
3rd Place - Annie Lisenby for Wasps!
Wilshire Short Story
1st Place - Billie Holladay Skelley for One-Two-Three
2nd Place - Sasha Ball-Rives for Riding the Waves
3rd Place - Annie Lisenby for The Listener
Crawford Poetry Prize
1st Place - Jennifer Johnson Conner for Wild Ozark Song
2nd Place - Bonnie Tesh for Belle Starr and Richey Mansion
3rd Place - Ronda Del Boccio for Branson's Haunted Railway
1st Honorable Mention - Billie Holladay Skelley for Honoring the Plant Doctor
2nd Honorable Mention - Diana West for Ozark Spook Light
3rd Honorable Mention - Larry Wood for Triolet at Carver National Park
Paranormal/Fantasy Fiction
1st Place - Joy Keeney for Hartsville Asylum
2nd Place - Jessica Carrick for Shadowland
3rd Place - Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for Day of Atonement
Honorable Mention - Jennifer Johnson Connor for Final Flight
Unpublished Manuscript
1st Place - Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for What the Heart Wants
2nd Place - Annie Lisenby for Contributing Members
3rd Place - Larry Wood for Wild in His Sorrow
WIP First Page
1st Place - Ronda Del Boccio for Hypnotic Deception
2nd Place - Rhonda Harvey for Liquid Silver
3rd Place - Billie Holladay Skelley for Manumission
1st Honorable Mention - Gary R. Hoffman for Highway 50
2nd Honrable Mention Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for Last Dance with Annie
Underdog Short Story
1st Place - Larry Wood for A Grave Situation
2nd Place - Gary R. Hoffman for Saul and Mordecai
3rd Place - Joy Keeney for Struggles of the Heart
Honorable Mention - Sasha Ball-Rives for Why We Don't Tell
Western Romance
1st Place - Billie Holladay Skelley for A Ruse for Romance
2nd Place - Rhonda Harvey for Between Sisters
3rd Place - April Brock for Bradford's Mare
Honorable Mention - Annie Lisenby for Falling Hard and Running Wild
Memoir/Creative Nonfiction
1st Place - Gary R. Hoffman for Traveling Picture Show
2nd Place - Bonnie Tesh for The Wino Goose
3rd Place - Larry Wood for Decoration Day
Honorable Mention - Jennifer Johnson Conner for The Soul of Wild Places
Best Book Award
1st Place - Brenda Clem Black for Black and Kiddo
2nd Place - Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for A Stone for the Journey
3rd Place - Ronda Del Boccio for The All Died Smiling
Honorable Mention - Larry Wood for Show-Me Atrocities
2018 Youth Contest Winners
Short Story:
Francis Mathews, 1st Place, "Our Time"
Daniel Miller, 2nd Place, "Many Fateful Encounters"
Ciarra Reed, 3rd Place, "The Sun and the Moon"
Hannah Carter, Honorable Mention, "Curiosities Demise"
Courtney Scobee, Honorable Mention, "The Four Seasons Find Destiny"
Poetry:
Lily Martin, 1st Place, "Curtains on the Sun"
Cristina Hernandez, 2nd Place, "It's Just a Game"
Kylah Burkleo, 3rd Place, "Dreams"
Trenton Bryant, Honorable Mention, "The Jacket"
Kaylah Goodman, Honorable Mention, "Winter Days"
Penelope Duran, Honorable Mention, "Louder than Words"
Ciarra Reed, 3rd Place, Short Story
Lily Martin, 1st Place, Poetry
