SUBMISSION DEADLINE: WRITINGS ARE TO BE SENT TO FR. RENNIER BY AUGUST 20th 2024 AT 11:59 PM.
Submission Guidelines:
The Catholic Art Festival invites all Catholic writers in the St. Louis, MO region to make one submission for our annual writing prize.
We are looking for original work that engages, explores, and illuminates the goodness and redemptive value of beauty. The desired work is to be in conversation with spiritual faith, particularly within the rich tradition of Catholicism, but we are not looking for devotional or catechetical writing. Suggested writings can include the honesty about the human condition, the difficulty of grace, and the conflicted nature of the human condition as we struggle with faith. The work need not be overtly religious, only serious and thoughtful, written in the context of a world that is subject to transcendent grace.
There is no minimum word count, but please keep the maximum word count for fiction submissions to 5000 words. We are accepting all forms of fiction- short stories, poetry, etc. Authors can only submit one work to the contest.
A collection of well established writers will judge the work. The jurors will complete the judging at least 1 week prior to the Catholic Art Festival.
A cash prize of $200 will be awarded to the first place winner and $100 will be awarded to the second place winner. You will be notified at least 2 weeks prior to the Festival and will be acknowledged as the winner on the stage at the event.
To apply for the prize, 2 steps must be completed: 1) Fill out this form in its entirety. 2) Email Fr. Rennier at michaelrennier@gmail.com with your work before the deadline AUGUST 20th 2024 AT 11:59 PM. Please title/subject your email “2023 St. Robert Southwell Literary Contest - First name Last name". Name your file of submitted work with this naming format, " First name Last name -Type of work"
Example of email subject:“2023 St. Robert Southwell Literary Contest - Bob Brown".
Example of file name: " Bob Brown - Poetry"
*About the name of the contest: Southwell was Shakespeare's cousin who wrote gorgeous poetry and was martyred by Queen Elizabeth.
