There are people alive who swear it, people who know they've met a ghost. Some believe in angels. A witch is met, a pet speaks. A three day fast on a vision quest and a warrior's spirit animal is revealed. Or, it could be an other you, a different you found in an heirloom mirror. Or something emerges live from pages you're reading.
How do you separate out the monster when you romance the Beast? Will aliens finally introduce themselves? Does Mother Gaia find her voice at last? It's as easy as falling down a rabbit hole into startling new worlds, but how does it feel?
This year's theme, again, is a stretching exercise. It will need your imagination with the door left open. There are untold worlds waiting to be born, waiting for their maker, for someone with a writer's touch, the poet's magic ... there are worlds waiting for your words to create them.
This year's contest is about encountering something: else. It's about connecting with something from another source, of another breadth and aspect. The theme for the 2015 Wordgrove Prize is: The Being from another Dimension.
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Authors submitting for the Wordgrove Prize have the month of January to work on their entries. A table for each of the three categories (Poetry, Prose, Multimedia), will be brought out in early January with Tally signs providing basic contest information.
To ease the congestion of everyone dropping on the same day, drops may begin Sunday, 01/25/15, for the last week of January. Voting begins Sunday, February 1st, and ends Saturday the 14th, Valentine's Day, at midnight.
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Authors are responsible for renewing their drops each week for the duration of the contest This is less a chore than a chance to chat with other Authors and to meet the readers who will be voting.
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Any resident of There.com is welcome to enter the contest. As many writing clubs as possible will be invited to participate, but word of mouth works best. Tell your writing buddies about this. Everyone is encouraged to stop by Wordgrove, to enjoy the good reads, and vote.
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Voters are welcome to voice their approval by voting on the Tally Boards in Wordgrove, but the official tally will be held online @wordgrove.com (see at top).
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A separate Did It My Way table will be provided for those who like the creative challenge but don't care to challenge each other. Authors entering in other categories should not drop on this table unless the work is very strongly different in its address of the theme.
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Those Authors entering can submit in any or all of three categories in this year’s contest: Poetry, Prose, Multimedia. One suggestion and a spirited discussion later, it was decided to swap out the category of Journal and install Multimedia as our third category. Perhaps enough interest remains for the Journal grouping (any single day’s blog, diary or journal entry), for it to be resurrected. A mixed-bag universe sprang into being when multimedia entered this contest arena, but the same basic rules still apply.
Submissions will be limited in length to 1 Book or Script of 9,000 characters (spaces included). Longer works, or those entering in the category of Multimedia, can use either a Scroll or Rules book with links to their work online.
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Whatever combination of media is presented in this category, there are two things to keep in mind. One: This is a contest for writers. It is primarily about words (i.e. illustrated poem, lyrics of a song, etc). Two: All parts of the work must be original with the Author (tho a video may have more than one player).
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The Wordgrove Prize and its Awards:
A Silver Quill (T$25,000), will be awarded in each of three categories: Poetry, Prose, and Multimedia. Winners are chosen by popular vote, online, by fellow Thereins.
The Gold Torch Award (T$25,000), is the sponsor’s personal choice award, and is optional from year to year. Author drops on the Did It My Way table will be considered for the Gold Torch award unless the sponsor is otherwise notified.
Winners are asked to be in attendance at the award ceremony.
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The award ceremony is tentatively scheduled for the third or fourth week in February. Anyone interested in hosting or entertaining for this event is asked to contact BarTalk at their earliest convenience.
This is a chance to begin the new year with a writing project that makes you proud. Begin the new year with an early accomplishment in your pocket. You won’t be sorry.
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