Writing Contests and Meetings, Scholarship, Poetry Society, Christian Writers

At the Penster's meeting yesterday, several contests and upcoming meetings were announced, and I wanted to share them with you. Mary Bird, a longtime Penster's member, left a fund to the group, which was used to fund a scholarship. It is open to graduating Baldwin County, public high school seniors.

Students must have a grade point average of 3.0 or better, be accepted at an accredited university, and have a recommendation from their English teacher. Students applying must submit a letter with their application that details their career goals. A member of the Pensters will be contacting each of the seven public high schools in Baldwin County. Additional information can be obtained through the students' schools or contact Barbara Lassiter, the Chair of the Scholarship Committee, at blass9698@bellsouth.net.

Avocet, A Journal of Nature Poems dedicated to poets who find meaning in the nature,

accepts poems that have a vivid, concrete, descriptive imagery and insight. Contact them at www.avocetreview.com for guidelines and submission criteria.

On April 27 and 28, the Alabama State Poetry Society's Poetry Fest 2012 will be held in Fairhope. Contact www.alabamapoets.org for fees and presentation information. Dr. Sue Walker, Alabama's Poet Laureate, will speak on "Uncreative Writing." Atlanta performance poet, Ayodele Heath, is the guest speaker.

Baldwin Writers Group will host their second conference in the "Write Tight" series on June 23, 2012 in Fairhope. Go to www.baldwinwritersgroup.com for registration information. The anthology will be accepting additional poetry submissions for the current contest through the end of April. Funds from the sale of the anthology go to help Nolan White and his family who lost their home and all their possessions at Christmas last year.

The Central Baldwin Christian Writers meets the first and third Mondays of each month. The May 7 feature speaker is Richard Schmidt, who will talk about "Writing: For Fun, For Ministry, and For Selling." For more information, contact Joy Sterling at 251-945-5957.

Submissions for the April MAC Contest are rolling in. Jump on the bandwagon and win a good writing book.

Football and holidays

Well, if you’re an Alabama or Auburn football fan, you are either weeping or rejoicing at the outcome of the Iron Bowl. Until I moved to Mobile, I didn’t follow those teams . . . actually still “almost” don’t, but in the State of Alabama, a marvelous rivalry exists. Virtually, no one can escape being drawn into it, except, maybe, this Yankee-fied Texan (born in Texas, spent most of my life in Detroit). Whatever the football team is, college or professional, I generally pick some player to empathize with and that’s the team I root for. This year I liked Alabama’s Coach Sabin so I wasn’t celebrating when the Auburn Tigers squeaked by the Alabama Tide 28-27. Sigh.

Because of a flurry of family health issues . . . and a huge dose of ennui . . . I’ve taken a writing hiatus for the Holidays (I started in September). Still, I continue to go on-line and scour agent and author blogsites for info to collect or review a book for little tidbits I can incorporate into my writing. Nothing goes to waste, and I’ve got the files to prove it! Every once in a while I decide I’m going to enter a contest or respond to a call for submissions—which I recently did for the Excalibur Press call. The requirements for that one ought to inspire all aspiring writers to submit. (See Mahala’s blog of Nov. 14 or go to our “Check it Out” sidebar.)

Okay, time to go Christmas shopping. You keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Jeff Johnston’s tiger picture is for all you Auburn fans out there.