Delmarva Review Pushcart Prize Nominations

Delmarva Review Pushcart Prize Nominations

The Delmarva Review has nominated the writing of six authors for Pushcart Prizes in poetry, short fiction, and essay categories. The review is invited annually to honor original prose and poetry with nominations for the prestigious annual literary awards.

Poetry nominations include “After Phillis Wheatley Sailed to England,” by E. Ethelbert Miller, of Washington, D.C., “A Whaler’s Journal: Scrimshaw,” by Kyle Laws, of Pueblo, CO, and “The Photo Album,” by Wendy Elizabeth Ingersoll, of Newark, DE.

Short fiction nominations include “The Guildemeister,” by Iain S. Baird, of Annapolis, MD and New Orleans, LA, and “Mrs. Morrisette,” by Margaret Rosenberg, of Reston, VA.

In the essay category, “Nursing 101,” by Margaret Adams, was nominated. Ms. Adams is from Baltimore, MD.

All six selections were published in the 2011 issue of The Delmarva Review. Final selections in the national competition will be published in the late fall, in Pushcart Prize XXXVII, Best of the Small Presses.

The Pushcart Prize nomination process has honored the outstanding work of authors annually since 1976. The first edition featured a short story by a young Ray Carver. Since then, Pushcart has discovered many talented new voices in literature.

The Delmarva Review is published by the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association (ESWA), a nonprofit organization supporting writers and the literary arts. Its website is www.easternshorewriters.org.

The submission period for the 2012 edition of the Review is open now through February 28. Writers of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry are encouraged to submit their best work. All writers are welcome, regardless of geographic residence. Submission guidelines are posted on the website www.delmarvareview.com.

Subscriptions and individual orders of The Delmarva Review are available on its website. A digital edition can be purchased from Kindle on Amazon.com for download to electronic reading devices.

The Review’s editorial board includes Wilson Wyatt, chairman, from Bozman, Mala Burt, managing editor, from St. Michaels, John Elsberg, from Henderson, George Merrill, of St. Michaels, Margot Miller, of Easton, Amanda Newell, of Henderson, and Harold Wilson, of Chester. The copy editor is Jeanne Pinault, of Cambridge. Laura Ambler , of Easton, is design editor.

TWC Members Contribute to The Delmarva Review

The Eastern Shore Writers’ Association released the fourth edition of The Delmarva Review on Sept. 26, 2011. Several instructors and members of The Writer’s Center, including Poet Lore editor E. Ethelbert Miller, have contributed to the new edition. The Review highlights original poetry, short stories, and nonfiction from writers in the Chesapeake region, although work from writers outside the region is also eligible. The new edition is expanded from previous editions, including five short stories, 28 poems, three essays, and five reviews of recent notable books.

Featured work by TWC contributors includes Ken Ackerman (book review), Kate Blackwell (book review), J. Wesley Clark, Nan Fry, E. Ethelbert Miller, Richard Peabody, and Sue Ellen Thompson.

The 2011 issue is for sale at The Writer’s Center as well as regional bookstores, including the News Center in Easton, Mystery Loves Company in Oxford, Creative Xpressions, in St. Michaels. Single issues are $10 each. Two-year subscriptions are $18. An order form can be downloaded from the website: www.delmarvareview.com.

On Sunday Dec. 4 at 5 pm, The Delmarva Review will hold a reading at TWC.

Fiction writers are also encouraged to enter the Delmarva Review Short Story Prize Contest, which concludes on Nov. 1. Details can be found at www.delmarvareview.com

The Delmarva Review Short Story Prize

The Delmarva Review Short Story Prize
September 1 to November 1
First Place - $500 cash and publication
Second Place - $200 cash
Third Place - $100 cash

Attention all writers!  A new short story contest, with three cash prizes, seeks your best new writing. First place wins a cash prize of $500 and publication in the literary journal The Delmarva Review in 2012. Second place wins $200, and third place wins $100.

The contest seeks evocative, powerful, literary fiction that exemplifies great story telling and appeals to a wide literary audience. New, previously unpublished stories, from 2,500 to 5,000 words, will be considered. The judge, to remain anonymous until the contest concludes, is an award winning author and writing instructor.

The submission period runs from September 1 through November 1, 2011. Winners will be announced in January 2012. An administrative fee of $15 must be received for each entry. All interested writers should see the guidelines, under “Contest,” on The Delmarva Review website: www.delmarvareview.com.

The contest is made possible by an anonymous gift, matched by the Review’s sponsor, the Eastern Shore Writers Association (ESWA), to encourage new and exciting literary fiction.

The Delmarva Review, now in its fourth year, has published original prose and poetry from 69 authors from 16 states, the District of Columbia, and several other countries. Twelve have been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. The next issue will be published on October 1.

See the website for additional information on the “Contest,” or send an email to: Contest@delmarvareview.com; or write: Contest, The Delmarva Review, P.O. Box 544, St. Michaels, MD 21663.

The Delmarva Review

Today we feature The Delmarva Review. Wilson Wyatt (also a brand new board member of The Writer's Center) is the founder of the journal and also chairman of its editorial board.

Can you tell us a little about The Delmarva Review?

The Delmarva Review publishes an annual selection of the best new prose and poetry by emerging and established writers in the region. However, we welcome all writers, everywhere. Good writing should have no boundaries.

Of the 52 authors we have published in the first two issues, most are from the Chesapeake and Delmarva region, but they have come from 10 states, the District of Columbia and four foreign countries, thanks to the Internet. We are pleased that several of our writers are among the instructors at The Writer’s Center.

When several of us founded the Review, just over two years ago, we wanted to create a new, quality print venue to publish distinctive, excellent writing from the region. Our focus was to expand publishing opportunities for writers at a time when other print publications were diminishing. There are more writers today than ever, with fewer opportunities to be published in print.

The publisher and primary sponsor of the Review is the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association, a nonprofit organization of writers from across the tri-state Delmarva Peninsula. The publication has also been supported by public literary arts grants.

What makes Delmarva Unique?

The region, its culture and people are unique. Many fine writers have found a home here. Some area known and many are aspiring to be heard. They represent the talented new voices of the region. The Delmarva Review hopes to discover these voices and showcase their work.

This large geographic region contains the Chesapeake Bay, the historic Eastern Shore, the rural countryside of the Delmarva Peninsula, the coastal beaches of Atlantic Ocean, and the strong influence of the populous area from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and Wilmington.

We publish the work of authors outside of these boundaries, with the hope that their writing will inspire the work of new regional writers. We also select at least one featured writer in each issue, and we publish short reviews of selected regional books.

Another unique feature is that we are relatively new, now entering our third edition. While the submission process is increasingly competitive for quality work, we maintain respect for all writers. If a submission has excellence but may need some minor editing, we will work with the author.

Tell us more about how the Review selects work.

A small, hands-on editorial board develops each issue. As the chairman, I oversee the overall operations, but each board member participates equally in the publication process.

The editor is Linda Fritz, a former editor with Sunset publications. She selects the final fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to complete each issue. We have a number of experienced readers who see all submissions and recommend work to the editor. The editorial board agrees to all final content.

Melanie Rigney, former editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, is copyeditor for the next issue. John Elsberg, editor of Bogg literary journal, is responsible for overseeing poetry submissions. Dr. Margot Miller oversees the fiction readers. Author Kate Blackwell, a former instructor at The Writer’s Center, advises the board on both fiction and nonfiction. Essayist George Merrill oversees nonfiction submissions. Novelist Mala Burt is our managing editor. Our design editor is artist Laura Ambler. All are passionate, dedicated volunteers. All of us have experience as published writers.