With funding from Peter’s estate, and this year additional contributions from family members, Writer’s Relief is deeply honored to offer the Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award for Creative Writers.
WHAT THE AWARD ENTAILS
Please read all guidelines carefully before emailing us with your questions and comments.
Winners of the Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award will be given over $1,800 in Writer’s Relief submission services free of charge.
Our Full Service includes cover or query letter creation, targeting, proofreading, tracking, and much more. We hope to make Peter proud in our commitment to his artistic ideals and dreams.
Winners will be selected by the Writer’s Relief Review Board based on 1) strength of writing sample and 2) strength of personal statement and financial (or other) need.
NOTIFICATION: Winners will be notified by phone; other applicants will be notified of their status via email.
Winners’ first and last names will be publicly announced online on the Writer’s Relief homepage, blog, and other websites. Writer’s Relief will NOT be publishing the winning texts in any way (in print or online). Winners retain all copyrights to their work. Winners are not required to continue as Writer’s Relief clients after their awards have been received.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY
All writers eighteen or older are welcome, but early- to mid-career writers with financial or other need are especially encouraged to apply. To honor Peter’s too brief career in creative writing, preference will be given to writers who have not necessarily been widely published but who demonstrate exceptional technique, voice, and perspective.
Writer’s Relief clients past or present, employees past or present, and previous winners are not eligible.
No preference will be given to applicants who identify themselves as friends or family of Peter K. Hixson.
Writers from all nations and backgrounds are welcome! Submissions must be in English (for targeting primarily to American literary journals or American literary agencies).
Applicants must be at least eighteen years old. Applicants warrant that all writing is their original creation and has not been published in any form in print or online.
Writers are welcome to apply to both this award and to our Review Board (for admission to our Full Service client list) if they choose to.
GENRES FOR THE 2012 PETER K. HIXSON AWARD
The award will be open for the following genres:
- Poetry
- Short stories and personal essays (creative nonfiction)
- Novels and memoirs
HOW TO APPLY – SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Read all submission guidelines before submitting your application or contacting us about this opportunity. No phone calls, please.
To apply to The Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award, use our online form to send us a sample of your writing (directions are on the form) and a personal statement of no more than two paragraphs.
Applicants who are not already receiving our free, informative e-publication, Submit Write Now!, will be automatically subscribed. Submit Write Now! offers free publishing leads, guidelines, calls for submissions, and articles about submission techniques and etiquette. You are welcome to unsubscribe at any time; however, if you unsubscribe, anti-spammer precautions used by our email management system will prohibit us from contacting you to notify you about your award status.
We are anticipating a large turnout for this competition. For that reason, candidates will NOT be personally notified if their applications fail to meet requirements; in other words, applications that don’t meet guidelines may be disqualified without notification or opportunity for resubmission.
Be sure to follow all instructions.
FOR ALL GENRES:
- IMPORTANT: *Your file name must include both your last name and the title of at least one of your pieces in some manner.* To minimize the risk of a mix-up, do NOT call your file anything like “poetry.doc” or “mysubmission.rtf.”
- Acceptable file types are .DOC or .RTF only.
- Applicants must use our online form (no snail mail, no email).
- One application per writer. Duplicates will result in disqualification.
- Simultaneous submissions are acceptable.
- Applicants must include a personal statement (1,000 characters MAX). See tips below. Personal statement must be pasted into our online form.
- Applicants must include a bio detailing publication credits and experience (1,000 characters MAX). Bio must be pasted into our online form.
- There is no fee to apply.
- Submissions that fail to meet any of these guidelines may be disqualified.
- Deadline: July 12, 2012. Midnight, Eastern Daylight Time.
POETRY
- Upload all poems in one .DOC or .RTF file.
- No previously published work will be considered. Poems may not have appeared anywhere online or in print.
- No children’s poetry.
- Format: one-inch margins (minimum), 12 pt Times New Roman or other standard font, single-spaced. One poem per page, please.
- Send 5 previously unpublished poems. Applications with more or less than five poems will be disqualified. Sorry! No exceptions. NOTE: If you win, you’ll need to have ten poems ready for submission.
- Include all contact information in some manner on the first page of your submission.
SHORT PROSE (SHORT STORIES, FLASH FICTION, AND CREATIVE NONFICTION)
- Upload two short pieces in two different files.
- Each piece must be fewer than 3,500 words.
- No previously published work will be considered. Fiction should not have appeared anywhere online or in print.
- Format: Double-spaced, 12 pt font, one-inch margins.
- Include all contact information in some manner on the first page of your submission.
BOOKS (NOVELS AND MEMOIRS)
- Novels and memoirs only. No self-help, how-to, or children’s books. Young adult books are welcome only if they have some crossover appeal to adult markets.
- Upload a sample query letter using our form. Single-spaced, 12 pt font, standard margins. OR upload a 1-3 page synopsis using our form. Double-spaced, 12 pt font, one-inch margins.
- Upload the FIRST ten pages of your book. Double-spaced, 12 pt font, one-inch margins.
- Submissions that contain more or less than the first ten manuscript pages or that do not include a synopsis or sample query letter will be disqualified.
- Writers must hold all rights to their books, but self-published books are welcome.
- Include all contact information in some manner on the first page of your submission.
ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT
In your personal statement, please tell us (in first person) a little about yourself and any personal circumstances (financial or other hardships) that would make this award especially meaningful/helpful for you. How would this award improve your career/life? The personal statement may not exceed two paragraphs (1,000 characters MAX).
Have a question about this award? We may have already answered it on this page. Be sure you read carefully. We cannot make exceptions to the rules.
If after rereading this page you still have questions, email info@wrelief.com. Do not send applications or writing samples via email (all applications sent via email will be disqualified and deleted).
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For queries: info@wrelief.com
For submissions: via the online contest form
Website: http://www.writersrelief.com
READ NEXT:
