Summer Literary Seminars (SLS: www.sumlitsem.org) is announcing its annual 2009 unified (SLS-Italy, Lithuania, Kenya) literary contest, held this year in affiliation with Fence Magazine.
Contest winners in the categories of fiction and poetry will have their work published in Fence, as well as the participating literary journals in Canada, Russia, Kenya, Italy, and Lithuania. Additionally, they will have the choice of attending (airfare, tuition, and housing included) any one of the SLS-09 programs – in Vasto, Abruzzo, Italy (May 15-30); Vilnius-Nida, Lithuania (July 20-August 4); or Nairobi-Lamu, Kenya (December).
Contest Deadline: February 28, 2009.
Poetry Judge: Ann Lauterbach
Fiction Judge: Lynne Tillman.
Second-place winners will receive a full tuition waiver for the program of their choice, and third-place winners will receive a 50% tuition discount.
A number of select contest participants, based on the overall strength of their work, will be offered tuition scholarships, as well, applicable to the SLS-09 programs. Reading fee: $15 US.
The complete guidelines for the 2009 contests are as follows:

-One short story or novel excerpt, maximum 25 pages per entry.
-No more than three poems per entry.
-Only previously unpublished work can be submitted.
Entries can be submitted electronically, to:
 
SLS Fiction Poetry Contest sls.contest@gmail.com.
 

A $15 US reading fee must accompany each entry. Multiple entries are permissible, as long as they are accompanied by separate reading fees.
Fees can paid paid online, via Paypal. Go to: http://sumlitsem.org/kenya/payments.aspx
 
Online submissions and payments are much preferred, but if you would rather submit the hard copy and pay by check, the addresses are:

Entries from the US and other countries:
Summer Literary Seminars
Literary Contest
PO Box 16
Brooklyn, NY 11222

From Canada:
Summer Literary Seminars
Literary Contest
English Department
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8 Canada

-Include your complete contact information (address, telephone, email address) on the manuscript. Entries are not judged blind.
-All entrants will be notified of the winners in the spring by email.
-Cover letters are not required.
-Previous First-Place winners may not re-enter. 
Do not hesitate to contact SLS with any questions, by e-mail: sls@sumlitsem.org, or mike@sumlitsem.org – or by telephone: (514) 848-2424 x4632

Fence is very sad to hear of the passing of poet and critic Reginald Shepherd.

Lately this blog has been inundated with commenter(s) as never before.  Mind you, they’re all spam, but what the automated blog commenting machine doesn’t realize is the beauty of the spam delivered.  I can’t even figure out what they’re trying to sell!  It’s like reading the back of a shampoo bottle, in French, while lather stings your eyes. 

 Hopefully this post, into which I’ll paste some of their language, doesn’t attack the viewer (you) with a terrible insidious virus-like being.  (I’m thinking of Cloverfield, which since seeing on Sunday I can’t stop thinking of.)

This is a random selection of comment titles from a random selection of fake commentors.

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P.S. If you’re in NYC tonight, go to NYU’s Lilian Vernon House for a reading from the really incredible and important anthology State of the Union, fresh from Wave Books.  Readers will include Rebecca Wolff, Katy Lederer, Matthew Rohrer, Matthea Harvey, Noelle Kocot, Tao Lin, Eileen Myles, Tracy K. Smith, and Edwin Torres. I wish I could say I would be there too.