GCWA Writing Contest 2022

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Read entries from previous winners:
2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |  2010 through 2014 |

Best Writing Contests of 2022, recommended by ReedsyGCWA 2023 Writing Contest has been extended to May 31, 2023

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

Other Documentation for 2023 GCWA Writing Contest

JudgingCriteria-Fiction
JudgingCriteria-Nonfiction
Judging criteria-Poetry
JudgingCriteria-Children’s Stories

Formatting Tips for Writing Contest entries [doc]
Formatting Tips for Writing Contest entries [pdf]

If you have questions please email specialprojects@gulfwriters.org

GCWA 2015 through 2022 Writing Contest winners are posted below!
Read winning submissions here.

Sponsor or Donate to keep this contest Free for Youth entrants. Contact specialprojects@gulfwriters.org


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

paypal
Member Contest Entries Non-Member Contest Entries

Entries




Entries



Thank you to our Sponsors

Ft. Myers Magazine

 

 

2022 Winners

Fiction/Children’s Stories (these categories were combined and judged together according to our guidelines, due to the low number of entries in each.
1st — Leah Miller — Terror in December (Children’s Stories)
2nd — Mary Charles — Counterculture ( Fiction)
3rd — Nancy Leake — Susie Spider Looks for a Friend (Children’s Stories)

Nonfiction:
1st — Deborah Burghardt — Dream Your Ink
2nd — Diane Parnell — A Slip of the Scalpel
3rd — Sally Basmajian — The Field

Poetry:
1st — Megan Dalziel — Maritime Muse
2nd — Debbie Watz — Bayou Sunset
3rd — Paul Anthony — Minimum Wage-Brianna

Youth:
1st — Nishini Fernando — Life is for the Living
2nd — Ryan Lee — A Soldier During the Great War
3rd — Keven Lacayo — Death

2021 Winners

Children’s Stories
1st — K.J. (Kathy) Boyd — Too Many Kids
2nd — Mariah Julio — Where is Everything?
3rd — Nancy Leake — Sammy Snail’s Wild Ride
Fiction
1st — Vic Larson — Drafted
2nd — Carol Light — A Tough Nut to Crack
3rd — Pat McAnulty — The White Side of Aurora
Nonfiction
1st — Jeanne Meeks — Ode to Otis
2nd — Geneva Kelly — Ready or Not
3rd — Alina Steele — Mrs. Murphy
Poetry
1st — Jeannette Batko — Critique-Mystique
2nd — Maya Fleischmann — Patience Stillwater’s Sestina
3rd — Teresa Falsani — A Single Dolphin
Youth Category Winners
Poetry — Christopher Kozlowski — Silencing the Star of David
Fiction — Samadhi Salazar — The Mother of All Natures
Nonfiction — Nishini Fernando — The Wicked Wall of Water
Other Youth Category Entries
Poetry
Addisyn Nadwodny — My Feathered Friend
Callie Sousa — Home Connect
Carolina Solomon — Sense and Uniform
Claire Hong — The Death Lake
Claire Hong — ghost
Claire Hong — divided
Euelin Rienzo — Our Patchworked Skeleton
Georgiana Muresan — The Unknown
Jaansi Parsa — The Magic of Music
Nishini Fernando — Blindfold
Peyton Sidweil — Political Climate
Samandhi Salazar — Nourishment With a Side of Horror
Fiction
Alexis Davis — Shadows of Stonewall Inn
Jonathan Hong — The Limousine Driver Saves the Day
Katherine Short —The Mirror
Nishini Fernando — Unite
Nonfiction
Addisyn Nadwodny — Farewell Pearl Bing Bing

2020 Winners!

GCWA contest winners

[L to R] Melissa Panneton, Maya Fleischman, Andrew Conlyn, Nancy Leake, Mary Lou Williams, Christie Zarria

Children’s Stories

1st place — Paper, the Airplane by Lynne Blackburn
2nd place — The Lonely Bear by Andrew Conlyn
3rd place — The Picnic by Nancy Leake

Fiction

1st place — Neighborhood Watch by Maya Fleischmann
2nd place — Conquer Your Fears by Kristen Taylor
3rd place — When the Bough Breaks by Pauline Hayton
Honorable Mention (Youth) — Circus Man by Arnav Adi

Nonfiction:

1st place — Missing Neil by Lorraine McCann
2nd place — The Lesson I Learned in Sister Regina’s Class by Mary Lou Williams
3rd place — Lucy, You’ve Got Some ‘Splaining To Do by Christie Zarria

Poetry:

1st place — The Concert by Melissa Panneton
2nd place — The Downfall of Cousin Leaf by Lynne Blackburn
3rd place — Morning  by J. Bradley Burt

Children’s Stories

1st place — Oliver Goes Exploring by Nancy Leake
2nd place — Pointless, The Misfit Star by Mariah Julio
3rd place — Three Cheers for Emilio by Elizabeth Weiss Volstadt

Fiction

1st place — Thirteen by F.J. Talley
2nd place — The Trophy by K.J. Boyd
3rd place — Sweet taste of Success by Pauline Hayton

Nonfiction:

1st place — Unvarnished Truth by Bob Nelson
2nd place — Kay’s Eternal Garden by Geri McArdle
3rd place — Jus’ a Bus Ride by Michael Boyd

Poetry:

1st place — Decent/Desent by Nick Sweet
2nd place — Child of the Sea by Megan Dalziel
3rd place — She Walks the Decks Alone by Lona Haskins

Children’s Stories

1st place — Lola BaJola and The Fly by Laura Marske
2nd place — The Curious Gray Mouse and The Christmas Tree by Martha Jeffers
3rd place — Pixel, the Filthy-Footed Feline by Mariah Julio

Fiction

1st place — Marked For Life by Sandy Dahlhofer
2nd place — Good Night, Have a Nice Sleep by Jan Nieman
3rd place — Pick Me by Wendy Halloren

Nonfiction:

1st place — Where the Action Is by David Aiken
2nd place — Swinging Back to Life by Geneva Kelly
3rd place — The Apartment by Rick Urban

Poetry:

1st place — Hurricane by Sharon Whitehill
2nd place — Caloosahatchee by Gary McLouth
3rd place — The River by Carmine Lombardo

2017 Winners!

Poetry

1st place — When We Came Home by Mary Beth Lundgren
2nd place — Sowing Seeds by Joan Heller Winokur
3rd place — Psyche’s Rhumba by Dan Reed England

Fiction

1st place — So This Guy Walks into a Bar by Judy Marksteiner
2nd place — City Lawyer by Bill Wilson
3rd place — To Name the Name of Your Father by Martin Nakell

Nonfiction:

1st place — China’s Big Balancing Act by Rose Giro
2nd place — Courage With a Small c by Patricia Sheehy
3rd place — The Riverview Melting Pot by Jan Nieman

Children’s Fiction:

1st place — A Day at the Circus by Martha Jeffers

2016 Winners!

Poetry

1st place — “Year End Giving” by Teresa B. Falsani
2nd place — “Acceptance” by Richard H. Fox
3rd place — “Silence” by Lori Izral

Fiction

1st place — “Disappointed” by Jan Nieman
2nd place — “Single Black Roses” by Richard Rimrodt
3rd place — “Crows” by Judy Loose
Honorable Mention — Terry Wright “A Time . . .”

Nonfiction:

1st place — “Life Lessons” by Patricia Sheehy
2nd place — “Teeth” by Judy Loose
3rd place — “Bathing an Elephant is a Big Job” by Gillian Birch

2015 Winners!

Fiction:

First Place – “Billy Hurts” by Jim Marcotte
Second Place – “The Shaman” by Frankie Patman Maguire
Third Place – “Boy with One Shoe” by Richard Rimrodt

Non-fiction:

First Place – “Smoke and Fire” by Eva Romanczak

Poetry:

First Place – “The Final Journey” by Barbara Rohde
Second Place –“It’s a Boy” by Dan Reed England
Third Place – “Thanksgiving” by Joyce Berrian Ferrari

Children’s:

First Place – “Tommy the Leaf” by Nancy Leake

The winners will be published in the Ft. Myers Magazine summer edition.

 

FAPA Con 2022

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FAPAconFAPAcon2022 will be held on July 29 & 30, 2022

FAPAcon 2022

Conference + All Five Saturday Sessions + Breakfast & Lunch

We’ve listened to our members and are making this year’s destination more flexible and affordable for you, and more profitable for your business. The main conference will be held on Saturday, July 30, and the Book Awards Celebration that evening. On Friday, July 29, six (6) optional small-group workshops are being scheduled, offering attendees options a more intimate setting to learn about specific topics related to the publishing industry.  These focused workshops will be offered a la carte and are scheduled so that you may register for up to three (3). This new, flexible approach will let you customize your conference experience to focus on the topics most important to you and your business.

To view itinerary and speaker information, click here.

Join us at the FAPA Book Awards Celebration!

GCWA members will save 15% on their registration. For registration code email website@gulfwriters.org.

GCWA April 2021 Meeting

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April 2021 Zoom only meeting

April 24, 2021, 10:00 a.m. to noon

GCWA Writing Contest Winners

Winners list

Winners of the writing contest will be announced and authors will read their winning submissions.

writing contest

 

More Speakers

GCWA March 2021 Meeting

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March Zoom Meeting 

D.L. Havlin

Speaker: D. L. Havlin
Topic: Building a Platform for Both Non-fiction and Fiction Authors

March 20, 2021, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Zoom meeting

What’s a writing platform? It’s not built on the top of telephone poles, but it is a requisite for non-fiction authors and a valuable addition to the fiction writers marketing arsenal. This class deals with the way to build one, a legitimate one, in the field which you wish to write. Is a doctorate necessary? No, but a real, thorough, and defensible knowledge of your subject matter is critical. Ways to construct that “pulpit to preach from” are offered in this class.

DL Havlin is an unretired businessman who has traveled a large portion of the world, having visited over 100 countries.  He managed offices in places like London, Singapore, Frankfort, Acala Spain and many more.  He has visited the jungles on the Sepic River in New Guinea, the Buddhist temples in Bangkok and the Babi Yar Monument in Kiev. In his travels he has discovered that humans have very similar appearances but their cultures make them as distinct as visitors from another planet.

He’s been writing 30+ years. DL writes historical, literary, women’s mainstream, and suspense/mystery novels.  He has ten books published. The latest is Escaping Skeletons, a mystery/suspense series.

www.DLHavlin.com

Past Speakers

GCWA February 2021 Meeting

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February Zoom Meeting 

 

author panel

Bob McCarthy, Rick Pullen, Marty Ambrose, Carol Kennedy, Judy Loose

Subject:
A panel of authors will discuss the pitfalls of publishing (the good, the bad, and the ugly).

February 20, 2021, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Zoom meeting

Bob McCarthy: All publishers are not created equal. Some homework tips before you sign a contract.

Rick Pullen: The ups and downs of the writing life. You’re on top one minute and plunge to the depths the next thanks to the vagaries of the book publishing business.

Marty Ambrose: Dodging the Pitfalls of Publishing Today:Finding an agent, Working with an editor, and Marketing a book.

Carol Kennedy: Don’t Forget Who Your Readers Are And Don’t Forget Who Will Actually Be Purchasing Your Book

Judy Loose: Lessons learned while working with an agent. Do your research before signing any contracts.

Handout from Eric Simmons January 2021 Presentation–
Getting Your Book Into Libraries

Past Speakers