The Binnacle: Sixth International Ultra-Short Competition

The University of Maine at Machias (UMM) Literary& Arts Magazine, The Binnacle will sponsor its Sixth International Ultra-Short Competition in the 2008-2009 academic year.

No submission fee.

Deadline for submissions: February 15, 2009

Accepting submissions of prose work (150 words or less) & poetry (sixteen lines or less)
A minimum of $300 in cash prizes will be awarded, with a minimum prize of $50.

Complete submission guidelines are located at http://www.umm.maine.edu/ultra-short-competition.html

eric11210 said:

Could you tell me what kind of materials they usually look for, like what kind of genre? I have several drabbles I'd consider entering, but want to know what they would be more likely to enjoy.

Thanks for any info.

Eric

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Fact being that they are a university-based lit magazine, some writers might automatically assume that they are partial to "literary" content, but I would label the piece I received an honorable mention for as "mainstream". My story happened to have been all dialogue, which was risky, because if the story didn't work, it could easily have been dismissed as gimmicky.

And from what I remember from reading the entire anthology that year, it was a smart mix of lit and mainstream, and that's a good thing--means they were looking for solid story telling, over narrative tone and or a specific genre. So I'd say, no matter the genre, or style of your drabbles, if they are well-developed, go for it.

If you submit something and land in the winners circle, please let us know

eric11210 said:

For the record, the deadline has been extended to March 15th. I was about to submit last night when I noticed that and decided to wait and spend a little more time working on my submissions.

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Thank you, Eric, for bumping this up with the info about the extended deadline. I'm going to update the info on my blog today, as well.

Good luck to both of you

Prawn said:

According to Wiki, a binnacle is "a case or box on the deck of a ship, generally mounted in front of the helmsman, in which navigational instruments are placed for easy and quick reference as well as to protect the delicate instruments."

Does anyone else find this a strange name for a literary magazine?

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Considering the Binnacle is published in Machias, Maine--the the site of the first naval battle of the American Revolution--and the university's nautical-themed logo has a helm in it, it's not so strange, really