Join Us!
Download a membership application form here.
Members are eligible to compete in monthly writing contests. Other benefits include: e-newsletter, e-yearbook, and a link on our Bookshelf page. (To be included on the Bookshelf, please fill out and submit this form). Members can the president to receive their copy of the e-newsletter and e-yearbook.
Membership Contest Rules
September through April contests will be held for dues-paying members. Includes unpublished poetry and unpublished prose, fiction or non-fiction. Only one submission in each category per month. Entries must relate to the monthly prompts (listed below). Prose is limited to 500 words, double spaced; poetry is limited to two typed pages, single-spaced with double spacing between stanzas.
Entries are judged blind by the month’s guest speaker. Submit two documents. First is the entry with no author information. Second is a one-page cover sheet with author’s name, category noted as poetry or prose, title, first two lines, and word count for prose. NOTE: prose entry cannot be judged if the word count is not on the cover sheet or exceeds 500 words. Prizes awarded for both poetry and prose: $10 for first place, $5 for second place, no cash prize for Honorable Mention. All winners are asked to read their winning entry.
Three ways to submit entries:
1. Bring entry to the meeting and give to Barbara Lassiter, Contest Chair, before the meeting starts.
2 or 3. Do this only if you do not intend to be at the meeting. Barbara must receive the entry by the Friday before the meeting via mail to P. O. Box 397, Daphne, AL, 36526 or email at
NOTE: The Pensters and the Contest Chair assume no responsibility for lost, late, undelivered or misaddressed entries. Late entries will not be judged.
2020-2021 Monthly Contest Prompts
| Due Date | Prompt | Judge |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 12, 2020 | You're gonna make it after all | |
| Oct. 10, 2020 | A cool autumn evening on the dock of Mobile Bay | |
| Nov. 14, 2020 | There was blood and a single gunshot | |
| Dec. 12, 2020 | No contest | No speaker |
| Jan. 9 2021 | It happened around 5 in the afternoon | |
| Feb. 13, 2021 | Right place, right time | |
| Mar. 13, 2021 | The strange looking house on the corner | |
| April 10, 2021 | Hearing the sound of a train in the distance | |
| May 8, 2021 | No contest | No speaker |