Every year, Radical Arts for Women (RAW) sponsors the Nicole Blizzard Short Story Contest open to all women living in Alaska. This year’s submission deadline is April 1, 2012. Winners will be announced at at Celebration of Change on April 21, 2012.

The contest is named in honor of Nicole Blizzard, a local lesbian writer and creator, publisher, and editor of the local LGBT literary journal Naked Ptarmigan, who passed away in December 2009.

To enter, you must be a woman living in Alaska as of February 2012. Stories must be fiction of between 250 and 5,000 words and contain some lesbian content. Per the contest website, “The fiction and lesbian stipulations may be interpreted by the author, but we are not seeking poetry or non-fiction. Erotica is acceptable.” Submissions must not have been previously published.

How to enter the contest: For the first time this year, entries must be submitted by email (instead of snail mail). Email your story as a Word or RTF attachment to info@radicalartsforwomen.org by 5 PM on Sunday, April 1. Do not put your name in the story attachment, but include your name, address, phone number, email address, story title, and word count in the body of the email proper.

And if you win?  Generous cash prizes: first place $500, second place $300, and third place $100.  The first place winner’s story will also be published on RAW’s website.  New this year: Radical Arts for Women may also publish winning entries (including honorable mentions) in a professionally designed printed and electronic book collection. By submitting your story to the contest, you will granting Radical Arts for Women First Use license for first use publication rights (including electronic rights) for this publication of your story.  You will retain all other copyright in your work. If you do not wish your story to be included in this publication, let RAW know in your submission email. (This is especially important if you hope to submit your work for publication elsewhere, since some publications will not accept previously published work.)

(Bent Alaska would also love to publish any works by winners/honorable mentions, at your discretion; unfortunately, however, by editorial policy we cannot post any work that is sexually explicit.)

Winners will be announced at the Anchorage annual women’s show Celebration of Change, which will take place this year on Saturday, April 21, at the Wendy Williamson Theatre on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus.

There are formatting and other issues to be addressed in submitting any writing for contests, so check out the complete submission guidelines on the RAW website.  And while you’re there, enjoy the writings of past years’ winners, too!