Radical Arts for Women encourages writers to write and sponsors the Nicole Blizzard Short Story Contest, open to all women living in Alaska. The fiction pieces must be between 250 and 5,000 words and contain some lesbian content. The grand prize is $500. Entries come from all over Alaska and we encourage you to enter!
Nicole Blizzard was a local lesbian writer and editor who passed away in December 2009. She created, published and edited the Alaska LGBT literary journal Naked Ptarmigan (which published winners of the RAW short story contest).
2013 Guidelines:
- Email the short story to radicalartsforwomen@gmail.com by March 15.
- Attach story to email as a Word or rtf document.
- Include in body of email author’s name, address, phone number, email, story title, and word count.
- The short story must be between 250 and 5,000 words and contain some lesbian content. Do not put author’s name on the story; include the author’s name in the body of the email with the story title. The fiction and lesbian stipulations may be interpreted by the author, but we are not seeking poetry or non-fiction. Erotica is acceptable. Unpublished submissions only.
- Author must be a woman living in Alaska as of March 2013.
- There is no entry fee.
- Deadline is March 15, 2013.
- Winner receives $500 and the winning short story will appear on www.radicalartsforwomen.org.
- Honorable mentions will be given at the judges’ discretion.
- Winners will be announced at Celebration of Change on March 30, 2013. Winners will be posted on the website.
2012 Short Story Contest Winners
1st Place ($500): Leslie Kimiko Wood – “Totem”
2nd Place ($300): Heather Teel – “Kay Baby”
3rd Place (tie, $50 each):
Teresa Sundmark – “People Like Us”
Wendy Withrow – “Ms. Connection”Honorable Mentions:
“Objects are Closer Than They Appear” by Susan M. Stade Bergstrom
“Fairbanks in January” by Martha Amore
“A World for Girls” by Karen Rasmussen
“Ianthe” by Dorothy Spees
“Sleeping Beauty” by Rosalie Loewen
“The Difference” by Sheila Sine
“The Rendezvous” by Alix Layton
Radical Arts for Women is a non-profit, lesbian and feminist funding organization. RAW provides small grants to Alaska women for a variety of art projects, including theater, music and visual arts. RAW also sponsors an annual short story contest, art show, and performing arts event, Celebration of Change.
