Upcoming Events Calendar

Annual Southwest Florida Writers Conference
March 3-4, 2000
Radisson Inn
Ft. Myers, Florida
Website: http://www.gulfwriters.org/.

Houston Writers Conference 2000
March 16-19, 2000
Houston Marriot Westside
Houston, Texas

Left Coast Crime 10
March 17-19, 2000
Holiday Inn City Center
Tucson, Arizona
Website: http://www.leftcoastcrime.com.

Malice Domestic XII
May 5-7, 2000
Washington, DC

Contests

Amazon.com has launched the PEN/Amazon.com Short Story Award. A collaboration between Amazon.com and PEN American Center, an organization of American writers and editors, the contest invites unpublished writers to submit original short story manuscripts. Each manuscript will compete for a $10,000 cash grant and publication at Amazon.com and in The Boston Book Review. Dealine is March 24, 2000.

The USA Songwriting Competition has announced the launch of the Year 2000 songwriting event. Entrants have a chance to win a grand prize of over US$50,000 in cash and merchandise. Songs may be entered in 15 different categories including Pop, Rock, Country, R&B, World, Hip-Hop/Rap, Folk, Jazz, Latin and others.

The Southwest Writers Workshop is sponsoring a contest in conjunction with its annual conference. The Grand Prize is the $1000 Storyteller Awards. There are also smaller prizes in each category.

The deadline for the NCWA 2000 competition, which has a $15,000 cash purse, has been extended to March 18, 2000. Screenplays, stageplays, fiction in all genres are accepted. The competition is supported by Anthony Michael Hall, Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope All Story and others. Entry Fee: $30.

The Santa Fe Writers Project is offering a new content with cash awards, including a first prize of $7,500 in both prose (fiction/nonfiction) and screenwriting categories. Judges include novelists Kate Horsley and Ray Robertson, and the final judge is award-winning author Richard Currey. Entry Fee: $45. Visit the website for more information.