Whether you're a writer or a reader, beginner or experienced, member or not, you are invited to attend Open Mic via Zoom on the first Tuesday of each month. Join us on Tuesday, March 2, beginning at 6:45 p.m. to sign up to read and 7 p.m. for readings, and enjoy listening to the many talented writers in our midst. From poetry to fiction to sci-fi to nonfiction to personal essays, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Come share your work or just support local writers at Open Mic! 

The Word is Out Open Mic Poetry

Join us online via Zoom on the last Tuesday of the month for The Word Is Out Open Mic Poetry aka TWIO. Our next event is Tuesday, March 30 from 6:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. This month features Solomon Caldwell and the optional theme is “Angels of Friendship.” Lovers of poetry, spoken word, whatever can be spoken or written are welcome to share 3-5 minutes of original or others’ work following the featured reading. Audience enthusiastically welcomed. The event is co-sponsored by the Forsyth County Public Library and Winston-Salem Writers. Those wishing to attend should email thewordisoutopenmic@gmail.com by March 29 to receive the passcode for the Zoom meeting. 

Winston-Salem Writers Script Group will be meeting by zoom at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 13. We welcome new members, including those who don’t usually write plays or screenplays. If you want to receive an invitation to our zoom meeting, contact Grace Ellis at gracewinnellis9@gmail.com. 

The Winston-Salem Writers Script Group is in discussion with a local theater group to produce virtual performances of several plays that the writers have worked on the past few months.  Tentative plans for performances are in June. Stay tuned for more details. If you have a short play that you would like to be considered, please contact Grace Ellis or David Ratcliffe for details of the next Writers Script meeting to be held via Zoom March 13.

The timeline for The 10 Minute Play Contest, which has traditionally accepted submissions early in the year, has been moved in hopes to accommodate a live performance this year.  Details for submissions and performance plans will be released in next month's newsletter. 
 

Click HERE to view our current list of groups, or to review guidelines and requirements. Contact groups@wswriters.org regarding openings or more information.
Also seeking experienced critiquers interested in establishing new groups.
 

Open Calls for Submissions!

Every year The Masters Review opens submissions to produce our anthology, a collection of ten stories and essays written by the best emerging authors. Our aim is to showcase ten writers who we believe will continue to produce great work. The ten winners are nationally distributed in a printed book with their stories and essays exposed to top agents, editors, and authors across the country. Our third volume was awarded the Silver Medal for Best Short Story Collection through the INDIEFAB Awards in 2015, and our fourth volume was an honorable mention for best anthology. This year’s guest judge is Diane Cook. In honor of our tenth anniversary, this year’s prize pool has DOUBLED. $10,000 will be awarded between the winning writers!

 TEN PUBLISHED AUTHORS WILL RECEIVE:

• $1000 award.

• Publication in our nationally distributed journal.

• Exposure to over 50 literary agencies.

• Contributor’s copy.

• A book from word west

• All writers are part of an exclusive mailing. We send our anthology to editors, writers, and literary institutions across the country.

We don’t have any preferences topically or in terms of style. We’re simply looking for the best. We don’t define, nor are we interested in, stories identified by their genre. We do, however, consider ourselves a publication that focuses on literary fiction. Dazzle us, take chances, and be bold. DEADLINE: March 28th, 2021 at midnight PST. 

Luck and Opportunity now available; and “Trouble” is coming soon.
Members of WSW and some of those who have attended WSW workshops join with others from across North Carolina and beyond in exploring the turns of “Luck and Opportunity,” all in the fourth and newest release from the Personal Story Publishing Project. Luck and Opportunity includes 45 personal stories of up to 800 words divining the lessons, cautions, and laughs of life falling between “if” and “if only.”

WSW members are invited to consider responding to the fifth Call for Personal Stories by June 30 on the theme of “Trouble—causing, avoiding, getting in, and getting out—with you in the middle.” Visit RandellJones.com to learn more about submitting to the Personal Story Publishing Project. 

WSW member Randell Jones, editor and publisher of the PSPP, says, “These stories, showcasing great writing and superb storytelling, join with the 135 stories in our three previous volumes to feed into our “6-minute Stories” podcast.” Find the books and hear the podcast at RandellJones.com.

The Fictional Café seeks distinctive, cutting-edge short stories, and poetry. Visit our site to read recent works. Your short story or novel excerpt should be extremely well written with engaging characters and a unique, avant-garde, or unconventional plot. We welcome bold, sophisticated poetry collections of all types. Please join our Coffee Club, then review our submissions guidelines. We reply in 30 days.  The Fictional Café is a highly regarded online ‘zine, nine years old with 900 Coffee Club members in 47 countries'.
 

For details and benefits, see WSWriters Membership. Join online or by mail.

Grace Ellis's 10-minute play"Herbal Medicine" will be performed virtually by the Greensboro Playwrights Forum on March 5th and 6th at 8 PM. More information and tickets available here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2268803293253094/?event_time_id=2268803293253094

She will also be reading her poem selected for this year's Poetry in Plain Sight at the meeting of the North Carolina Writers' Network on Saturday, March 13, between 10 and 11 AM. Zoom link will be provided in the March 1 edition of eMuse, available at www.ncpoetrysociety.org.