2023 Tishomingo Arts Council announces writing competition

Emory D. Jones Awards for Short Narrative & Poetry Awards:

Adult Division

The Emory D. Jones Award (including $100 and publication in The View from Woodall) will be presented to the top winner in both a Short Narrative and a Poetry category.

Second and third places will be awarded and will be considered for publication based on merit. Non-placing entries of merit will also be considered for publication.

Student Division

Emory D. Jones Awards of $50 and publication in The View from Woodall will be awarded to the top winners in both a Short Narrative and a Poetry category.

Second and third places will be awarded and will be considered for publication based on merit. Non-placing entries of merit will also be considered.

Deadline: Entries must be postmarked or emailed by Nov. 30, 2023.

Entry fees: $10 per entry in the adult category; $5 per entry in the student category.

Competition Guidelines:

  1. Entrants grant permission to the Tishomingo Arts Council for readings and for one-time publication of the winning entries on our website and in our literary magazine. Afterwards, publication rights will revert to the writer.
  2. Adult entrants are considered those aged 18 and older and not enrolled in high school. Student entrants are those enrolled in K-12 level classes, including home-schooled students. College students will be considered adults.
  3. All entries must be original, previously unpublished in print or online media, and not accepted by any publisher at the time they are entered. Plagiarism will not be accepted. Multiple entries by a single contestant will be accepted with the applicable fee for each additional entry.

For Short Narrative: Entries may not exceed 7,500 words typed with 1” margins, in Times New Roman, 12-pt. font, double spaced in English. Email entries should be submitted as a Word document (.docx) or as a PDF. Mail-in entries should be submitted on 8 ½” x 11” white paper.

For Poetry: An entry may not exceed three pages. Entries must be typed in English with 1” margins, in Times New Roman, 12-pt. font. Poems may be single spaced. Email submissions should be sent as a Word document (.docx) and mail-in submissions should be typed on 8 ½” x 11” white paper.

  1. To enter: Each entry must include a cover page listing the division being entered (adult or student), the title of the work, author’s name, address, email, and phone number. The author’s name should not appear on the pages of the entry itself.

Online entries: Send your correctly formatted Word (.docx) or PDF file to tishcoarts@gmail.com. Include “Writing Competition” in the subject line. Send the appropriate fees through PayPal to tishcoarts@gmail.com. If the name on your PayPal is different from the name on your entry, please let us know with a note on your transaction.

Mail-in entries: Send two paper copies of each submission. If paying by check or money order, the fee for each entry should be attached to the top copy. Make checks or money orders (no cash) payable to Tishomingo Arts Council. If you prefer to send your entry by mail and pay the fees through PayPal, this is acceptable. Simply note that your entry is coming through mail on your transaction when you PayPal it to tishcoarts@gmail.com.

Mail entries and fees to:

Tishomingo Arts Council
P.O. Box 824
Iuka, MS 38852

  1. All entries are final. No revisions accepted.
  2. Content determined by the judges to be of an excessively violent, sexual, religiously extreme, or politically divisive nature will be disqualified.
  3. Entries are judged by qualified academia, and the judges’ decisions are final.
  4. Winners will be announced on December 11, 2023.