Writing Contest

“Rehoboth Reads: One Book One Community” seeks submissions of short stories, essays and poems that touch on the theme of “Redemption and/or Justice.” The work should also have a coastal theme (this could be as simple as setting the story in a beach town or it could be as complex as using the ocean as a metaphor for redemption).
 
One winner in each category (short story, essay, poem) will have their work published in the May issue of Delaware Beach Life. Winners will also be invited to a May reception, where they will read their winning work. Deadline: January 31, 2019 

  1. No erotica, children’s literature, or violence.
  2. All work must be original, unpublished, and free from libelous material.
  3. Work must be submitted via email, preferably in Microsoft Word to rehobothreadscontest@gmail.com.
  4. Work should be publication-ready (free from grammatical, spelling, structural mistakes).
  5. Writers retain copyright but must grant first publication rights if their work is selected.
  6. Limit of three entries per person (each entry requires a separate $10 fee).
  7. Publisher reserves right to edit for grammar and spelling; writers will be given an opportunity to review changes before    publication.
  8. No entries will be accepted after the deadline
  9. Each entry must be accompanied by a $10 fee. This can be paid using credit card or Paypal online here, or sent as a check made out to the Rehoboth Beach Public Library (write Rehoboth Reads in memo of check) 226 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE
  10. Work will be judged on creativity, quality of writing, suitability for publication in Delaware Beach Life and fit with the theme.
  11. Work will not be passed onto judges until payment is received
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Format
  • Name must not appear anywhere on the actual manuscript.
  • Name, address, email and phone number as well as the genre (fiction, nonfiction, poetry) along with the title should appear in the body of the email.
  • Fiction and nonfiction (no more than 2,000 words) should be formatted space and a half. Please include page number.
  • Poetry submissions must be no longer than 30 lines. (Note that line breaks may be required for lines that are too wide for page layout.)​
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Fiction Judge

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"I have a common theme in a lot of my books, which is that people can change. You know, redemption." —George Pelecanos
George Pelecanos is a novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer, and the recipient of numerous international writing awards. He is the author of twenty-one novels set in and around Washington, D.C., and was a producer and writer on the HBO series The Wire, Treme, The Pacific, and The Deuce. Pelecanos' latest book, The Man Who Came Uptown, is in Pelecanos' words, "sort of a love letter to reading and the power of books." Pelecanos, has led book groups in DC jails for years.​

Poetry Judge

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I sign up at our women’s prison to teach the ladies how to use the extreme weapon, metaphor, to write a way out of their cold cells, into some truth they know but can’t yet say. —from the poem, "Election" by Jeanne Murray Walker
Jeanne Murray Walker is a writer, teacher, and lecturer. She has written eight volumes of award winning poetry, including her latest, Helping the Morning: New and Selected Poems. Her poetry and essays appear in leading journals. Her scripts have been performed in theaters across the United States and in London. Jeanne taught at The University of Delaware for 40 years, where she headed the Creative Writing Concentration. She also serves as a Mentor in the Seattle Pacific University Master of Fine Arts Program. An Atlantic Monthly Fellow at Bread Loaf School of English, Jeanne has been awarded many fellowships and prizes, among them, a Pew Fellowship in The Arts, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and eight Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowships. She currently serves on the Editorial Boards of Image and Shenandoah magazine.

Nonfiction Judge

Sam Calagione is the founder and president of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, one of the nation's fastest growing independent breweries; Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach; and the Dogfish Inn in Lewes. He is also the author of five books about beer and the beer business, including his first book, Brewing up a Business, which is as much about following and acting upon one’s dream—something he shares with Bryan Stevenson—as it is about beer. In fact, alongside beer, literature is one of Calagione’s major loves. The books in the library at the Dogfish Inn in Lewes are supplied by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's bookstore "City Lights" in San Francisco, and Sam is the founder and sponsor of the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize, started in 2002 and now in its 16th year.​​

Contest Sponsors

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