By the time you hear this who knows where I might be?
This week's batch of NaPoWriMo prompts for paying subscribers
Hiya! Have you written something today? No? Don’t worry, we’re here to inspire you!
This week’s newsletter title is borrowed from Poetry by Dead Men by Sara Bareilles
Week three of NaPoWriMo is upon us!
We’re halfway through April, and I hope you’re having a brilliant time playing, experimenting, and showing yourself that you can write as much as you want.
It’s not easy writing daily, but if you’re in that space and you’ve hit your stride, well done! If you’re more like me and are writing sporadically, don’t worry; you’re doing great, too. We have to pace ourselves and work in the best way we know how.
The finish line might be in sight, but there’s plenty more time in April to get words on pages and to get out to some open mics - check out the April events newsletter for more!
You can also join me and Orémi tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15, at August_21 in Newington, Edinburgh, for the next Words and Friends. This month, we’re holding a collaborative poetry session where you’ll be working together to write poems before we also take some time to write your own poems.
If you’re editing and working on things instead of creating magnificent first drafts, here are a few submission opportunities to keep you going.
Open calls for writers & writing
Coin-Operated Press invites your submissions all about wildlife for their latest zine! To celebrate Earth Day this year, they’ve chosen to highlight the wondrous world of wildlife. They want to see both the beauty of the natural world and your honest accounts of the toll human encroachment is having on the wild spaces in your areas. They’re also accepting your wildlife photography, your poetical ode to the frogs in your local pond, a snippet from your nature journal, a collage of all the lichen you spotted on a nature walk, your song-bird watercolour, an essay about all the work your local wildlife charity is doing, your recipes for feeding the ducks, your botanical illustration, your spotter's guide to the bats in your local woodlands, your urban fox lino-print, your tips for foraging, and so much more. If it fits in a zine, submit it! The deadline for submissions is Sunday, April 27.
Submit your work with this Google form
Tendrils: Ecopoetics of Community and Justice
Spiral House Editions x fieldnotes collective present a new anthology — Tendrils: Ecopoetics of Community and Justice — edited by Pratyusha, Jessica J. Lee, Alycia Pirmohamed, and Nina Mingya Powles. The anthology will explore ecological futures, justice, collaboration, and community. They are open to poems that incorporate other literary forms or push the boundaries of the poetry genre in some way. They also accept collaborative and/or multilingual submissions, though poems must be primarily in English. The deadline for submissions is Friday, May 2.
Get the guidelines on the Spiral House Editions website
Scotland's Stories is an annual writing project by the Scottish Book Trust, which aims to encourage all types of people to share their experiences. Every year, SBT uses a different theme to help people write about their lives, their way. The theme for 2025 is Friendship.
This project is for everyone. Even if you’ve never written before, SBT wants to hear from you. SBT believes everyone has a story to tell and that telling that story can be a powerful experience. Your entry can be in any form you like – a story, poem, comic strip, play, or letter. They also accept video and audio entries and entries in Gaelic, Scots, and English. The only requirement is that your story is true and based on your own experiences. The deadline for submissions is Friday, June 6.
Find out more about this year’s Scotland’s Stories on the Scottish Book Trust’s website
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