GCWA 2023 Writing Contest

by Admin - November 13, 2022

GCWA 2023 Writing Contest

The deadline has been extended!!!

Please submit your work before the new deadline of 5/31/23

Deadline: 11:59pm on May 31, 2023

Writing Contest is open to GCWA members and the public — adults 18 and over, youth 11 to 17. Winners will be announced at the GCWA meeting in June 2023.

Documentation for 2023 Contest (adults 18 and over)

Writing Contest Announcement 2023_LTD

WritingContest Guidelines 2023_LTD

Online Submission Form

Documentation for 2023 Youth Writing Contest (age 11 through 17)

Youth Writing Contest Announcement 2023_LTD

Youth Writing Contest Guidelines 2023_LTD

Online Submission Form

If you have questions please email specialprojects@gulfwriters.org

All submissions must include full payment made by check to GCWA.
DO NOT MAIL CASH. The Check should be for your entries only and not for other monies owed to GCWA. You can also pay below with PayPal.

Member Contest Entries

Non-Member Contest Entries

Thank you to our Sponsors

The Best of Luck @ The Alliance for the Arts

by Admin2 - February 21, 2023

THE BEST OF LUCK

STORYTELLERS BRING STORIES OF LUCK TO THE ALLIANCE FOR THE ARTS

By Mary Lou Williams

The storytelling series at the Alliance for the Arts began the 2023 season this January with stories of “New Beginnings.” The second program in the series was “Stories of Love” for the month of February and Valentine’s Day. The third and last program for this season will be performed on Friday, March 3^rd, 7 pm to 9 pm. The Storytellers of the Round Table and the Elephant Showcase Storytellers will take the stage to tell “Stories of Luck,” both good and bad.

The storytellers will be Lisa Leonhardt, Mary Lou Williams, Pamela Minton, and Dr. Joel Ying. Lisa will tell a personal story called “Sisterly Love” and a folk tale called “The Three Sisters.” Besides being about sisters, these stories are about luck, lucky sisters, and unlucky sisters. Mary Lou will tell a literary story called “The Chaser” and a fractured folk tale called “The Rumpelstiltskin Rap.” In each of these stories there is a character who looks suspiciously like a leprechaun. Pamela will tell two personal stories, “The Fishing Trip” and “The Worst Job I Ever Had,” in each of which the worst of luck turned out to be the best of luck. Dr. Joel will tell an Irish folk tale called “The Man with No Luck” and a Greek myth called “Pandora’s Box.” In these stories, luck is a matter of perception.

Experience the power of the spoken word. Captivating, spellbinding, and entertaining. The stories will be followed by a Talk Back, which is a Q&A session with the audience. Meet the storytellers. Discover the stories behind the stories. The Talk Back is an innovation that proved to be popular last season and continues to be popular this season, too.

The Alliance for the Arts is located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers. The ticket price is $18 for members and $20 for non-members. To purchase tickets visit www.artinlee.org or call 239-939-2787.

SWFL Reading Festival

by Admin2 - February 8, 2023

GREAT NEWS!!

Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA) is pleased to announce we will, once again, be participating in the upcoming Southwest Florida Reading Festival. The festival will take place outdoors on the Fort Myers Regional Library campus, located in downtown Fort Myers, on Saturday, March 4, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The festival has a first-rate reputation with a diverse line-up of nationally acclaimed, bestselling authors, and consistently receives rave reviews from authors and attendees. You can learn more about this year’s activities, authors, and other information at https://readfest.org.

GCWA is sponsoring a booth and offering our author members one of the following opportunities to sell your books at this well-attended event:

1. In Person [Half Day or Full Day]: Attend in person (with your books) either in the morning (10:00 am – 1:00 pm) OR afternoon (1:00 pm – 4:00 pm), for $20.00; or for the full day (10:00 am – 4:00 pm) for $35.00.

2. Book Sales Only – GCWA will display and sell up to 20 of your books if you cannot attend in person. You will need to bring your books to the GCWA general meeting on February 18, 2023 or drop them off at the festival no later than 9:00 am the morning of the festival. Other arrangements can be made by contacting Christie Zarria at specialprojects@gulfwriters.org. The cost for this service is $35.00, regardless of the number of books sold.

Based on our experience last year, display space will fill up quickly, so please contact Christie at specialprojects@gulfwriters.org to REGISTER SOON! This is strictly on a first come, first serve basis for the benefit of GCWA members. If you are not a member, but would like to participate, please consider joining GCWA. PLEASE NOTE: The Reading Festival is NOT accepting individual author applications, so you must sign up with GCWA if you would like to participate.

A few guidelines:

The booth is 10’ x 10’ and comes with one 8’ table and 2 chairs. We will provide another 6’ or 8’ table, a couple of smaller card tables, and some extra chairs in order to have more flexibility with our setup (#lessonslearnedlastyear). GCWA strongly suggests bringing your own chair just in case.
As you can imagine, space is very limited, so we ask that you please limit participation to just yourself or one other person.
Again, because of space, please do not bring anything other than books and a chair for yourself; we simply don’t have space for elaborate displays, posters, etc. Small easels and a small signage are ok.
This is an outdoor event, so please check the weather and dress accordingly. There are restrooms and food and drink concessions within a reasonable walking distance, but you may also bring a small cooler with food/drink. Please wear comfortable shoes.
Please refer to the Reading Festival Guidelines for other details or contact Christie with questions.
If you’d like to volunteer to help setup or man the booth, please contact Christie.

Hope to see you there!

Storm Stories – Hurricane Ian Anthology Submission

by Admin2 - January 27, 2023

Tell your Hurricane Ian Story

We are writers. We endured a life-changing event. We need to write about it.

Each of us was impacted by the disaster of September 28, 2022. Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA) is gathering Storm Stories from members and the public for a book to be published on the anniversary of that awful day.

Where were you? How did you fare? What have you learned? Who became your hero? Write the story of your experience and join the chorus of those who will never forget.

Submission is easy. Use the “Online Submission Form” link provided below to upload your story. A committee of our members will review and edit submissions, and the anthology will be printed in time for the September anniversary.

Deadline for submissions is May 15, 2023. Click the “Online Submission Form” link listed below to submit your story to GCWA. Also, please feel free to invite your friends and neighbors to share their storm stories. This project is for everyone who has a Hurricane Ian story to tell. There is no age limit or word limit. Submitters must agree to editing by GCWA and accept that not all stories will be published in the anthology. The GCWA website will publish the names of the stories chosen to be printed by August 1, 2023.

You can also submit your story to our partner in this project, The Alliance for the Arts (artinlee.org). The Alliance is planning a month-long event during September including a Hurricane Ian-inspired art installation by Florida artists, documentary-style photography by famed local artist Kinfay Moroti, listening booths to hear oral story submissions, and our book of Storm Stories.

Tell your storm story. It needs to be told and remembered.

Online Submission Form

If you have questions please email specialprojects@gulfwriters.org

Sponsored in partnership between GCWA and Alliance for the Arts