Autumn Writing Prize 2022

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Image by Etta/Girl With Red Hat

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Dear writers, readers and friends,

We are thrilled to launch our second ever Autumn Writing Prize, giving us a chance to unearth talent we might not otherwise spot. This is also an opportunity for you to flex your writing ambitions with our fast-paced writing challenge.

How to Enter
Visit the Visual Verse website (https://visualverse.org/submit/) and submit a piece of writing in response to the image prompt above. This prompt comes from Mexico-based artist ETTA, also known as Girl With Red Hat, and we are very excited to see what you find within it. Your submission must be strictly between 50-500 words, be new writing and be written specifically in response to this image. Please also ensure you read our submission guidelines (https://visualverse.org/submission-guidelines/) to see what we won’t publish.

Deadline
Submissions are open for a maximum of 24 hours. We will close submissions at midday UK time on Sunday 2nd October or when we reach 150 submissions, whichever comes first.

The Prizes
Our judges will select four winners who will be published as our featured writers for October. Each winner will receive £50 in prize money. Winner will be announced and published on Thursday 6th October.

The Judges
We are thrilled to have our inimitable co-founder, Professor Preti Taneja (https://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/people/profile/pretitaneja.html) , back as our head judge. Preti is supported by: deputy editor Isabel Brookes; Victoria Gosling (https://www.thereaderberlin.com/victoria-gosling/) , author of the brilliant novel Before the Ruins; the hugely talented US-based writer, storyteller, and performer Jay Délise (https://www.jaydelise.com/bio) ; and Visual Verse publisher and co-founder Kristen Harrison.

Eligibility
The prize is open to any writer, anywhere in the world except those who have been a lead/featured writer for us in the past. If you have been published by Visual Verse but not as a featured writer you are eligible for the prize – please do enter!

Got questions? Please Tweet us @visual_verse with any questions or email visualverse@thecurvedhouse.com. We will endeavour to reply quickly but please remember we are on multiple timezones so there may be a delay.
Good luck, writers!

Volume 09, Chapter 08 | June 2022

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Image by Reed Geiger

Dear writers, readers and friends,

Thank you for your patience as we find our feet with our new trans-continental team constellation. The Visual Verse home is now Melbourne, Australia, while our chief editors are in Sydney (Lucie Stevens) and London (Isabel Brookes). We will shortly put a call out for new editorial volunteers, who can be based anywhere in the world, so stay tuned if you are interested in joining our team.

For June we present a small, perfectly formed issue that takes us back to our roots. Our image, which comes to us from 20-year-old US photographer/designer Reed Geiger (https://reedgeiger23.wixsite.com/my-site) , is intriguing and somewhat quirky, just as we like them. And our two lead writers have produced a perfect duet of poems in response.

On page one, we are thrilled to showcase Giovanna MacKenna (http://www.giovannamackenna.com) who celebrates the launch of her first poetry collection this month. Giovanna grew up on Scotland’s west coast and has built her life around words. She is a published and commissioned poet and her first full collection, How the Heart can Falter, is now out with The Museum of Loss and Renewal Publishing (http://themuseumoflossandrenewal.life/publications-and-editions/) . Join her at the launch event, along with Christina Thatcher (see below) and Claire Askew, from 7p.m. UK time on Wednesday, June 8th. Tickets are available from Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/giovanna-mackenna-book-launch-and-poetry-readings-tickets-344035337957) . For more information on Giovanna’s work and past publications visit her website (http://www.giovannamackenna.com) or follow her on twitter/insta @giovmacpoet.

On page two we present the wonderful words of Christina Thatcher (http://christinathatcher.com) , a Creative Writing Lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her poetry and short stories have featured in over 50 publications including Ambit, Magma, Poetry Wales, The London Magazine and more. She has published two poetry collections with Parthian Books: More than you were (2017) and How to Carry Fire (2020). As mentioned above, Christina will be joining Giovanna at the launch event on June 8th and we encourage you all to sign up and attend to hear these hugely talented writers read their work.

Speaking of talented writers, we are delighted to see many new writers coming to Visual Verse in recent months. We thought it might be a good moment to refresh you all on how we work, and how to get the most out of Visual Verse.

Before you submit… remember that the challenge is to write between 50-500 words in response to our image prompt, within one hour. Only new work that demonstrates a connection to the image will be accepted. You can check the guidelines on our website (https://visualverse.org/submission-guidelines/) to ensure your piece doesn’t break any of our rules. Pieces must be submitted by the 15th of each month.

After you submit… check visualverse.org regularly to see if your piece is published. We will publish up to a maximum of 100 pieces throughout the month. We cannot notify individual writers as we get so many submissions, so you may find it helpful to set up a Google Alert to get an automatic notification.

If you are published… you will see your piece appear at visualverse.org. This will be visible on the homepage until the next issue is published, after which it will go into the Archive (https://visualverse.org/images/) . In the Archive, you can find your work any time by either clicking on the image for the issue, or by clicking your name in the Author list on the left-hand side (alphabetical by first name).

You can also find your work using the following address in your browser:
https://visualverse.org/writers/your-name/
Example: https://visualverse.org/writers/giovanna-mackenna/
(use a hyphen to separate names)

Work published at Visual Verse remains copyright of the writer (you), therefore you are free to publish your pieces elsewhere, re-develop them into longer or different works, or submit them to anthologies.

OK folks, that’s it! We hope you are inspired by our image and writing this month as it’s now your turn. The image is the starting point, the text is up to you.

The VV team

Follow us on Twitter
@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/visual_verse)
@giovmacpoet (https://twitter.com/giovmacpoet)
@writetoempower (https://twitter.com/writetoempower)

Volume 09, Chapter 06 | April 2022

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Image by Vony Razom

Dear writers, readers and friends,

This month sees the publication of Aftermath (https://www.andotherstories.org/aftermath/) , by Visual Verse co-founder Preti Taneja. Written in the literal aftermath of the killing of Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt, by Usman Khan, this exceptional work is an exploration of grief, guilt, trauma, politics and deeply-rooted injustice. Nikesh Shukla calls it a “masterclass in literary brilliance” while Max Porter calls it “a major landmark in British narrative non-fiction… a vitally important as well as deeply moving book”.

Those who have followed Visual Verse from the beginning will know that we have deliberately evolved our platform to provide literary space to underrepresented writers, and to encourage brave and challenging work. We are extremely privileged to have benefited from Preti’s rigorous intellect, literary expertise and her commitment to human rights and social justice. And now with her latest book she shows us the true power of words.

This month I chose to honour this commitment to brave, inclusive work by featuring an image by artist Vony Razom who is currently producing art from a bomb shelter in Ukraine. This image is complimented by three writers who have had to flee their homes, or whose families have had to flee. We are so grateful to each of them for bringing their completely unique voices to Visual Verse and sharing a piece of themselves in their work. Content warning: Please be aware that this issue contains reference to sexual abuse and violence that some readers may find upsetting.

On page one, we kick off with a beautiful homage to birth and rebirth by Daniela Suleymanova. With Russian, Armenian and Malagasy origins, Daniela explores the dimensions of multiculturalism, and the complexities and the beauty of métissage through visual arts, photography and writing.

On page two, we present Emmanuella Dekonor (https://twitter.com/kenkeyandfish) , a native of Ghana who spent her early years in the UK where she sought refuge in 1982, following the ‘June 4th Revolution’ staged by junior military officers. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University. You can read more by Emmanuella in our archive (https://visualverse.org/writers/emmanuella-dekonor/) .

And on page three, we welcome Najwa Ahmed (https://najwaahmed.com/) (1989), a Palestinian writer and visual artist based in Berlin. In their short films “when we were already made”, “silence” and “Zehra on the roof” they worked with queer identity politics and the consumption culture of bodies. In their writing and performance such as “the watermelon resistance”, “how dance moves my gender euphoria” they tackle topics of displacement and migration stereotypes, sometimes only to reflect and sometimes to deconstruct. Connect with them on Instagram @purplekarmel (https://www.instagram.com/purplekarmel/) .
For every piece submitted before midnight today, 1st April, we will donate £1 to Poets for Ukraine (https://gofund.me/80ab4dec) and £1 to the Vony Razom (https://vonyrazom.com/) , the Ukrainian artist whose work we feature. Please consider chipping in (https://gofund.me/80ab4dec) to help Poets for Ukraine reach their funding target.
Donate to Poets for Ukraine (https://gofund.me/80ab4dec)

Before I sign off I’d like to say another huge thank you to our most recent cohort of volunteer editors and curators who have valiantly kept Visual Verse running these past few months: Tam Eastley, Anna Mace, Nahda Tahsin and Jordan Fleming and of course our two utterly brilliant editors: Lucie Stevens and Isabel Brookes. Thank you all for your time and commitment.

Now it’s over to you, dear writers. As always, we invite you to be brave with your writing and/or to use Visual Verse as a moment of blissful escapism. The image is the starting point, the text is up to you.
Kristen (She/Her)
and the VV Team

Follow us on Twitter

@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/visual_verse)
@kenkeyandfish (https://twitter.com/kenkeyandfish)
@PretiTaneja (https://twitter.com/PretiTaneja)

Autumn Writing Prize 2021

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Visual Verse Autumn Writing Prize

OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS

Image by Nickhil Jain

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Dear writers,

The Visual Verse Autumn Writing Prize is now open for submissions.

This is your writing prompt courtesy of photographer and developer, Nick Jain. Your task is to write 50-500 words and submit here (https://visualverse.org/submit/) by 10am Uk time (GMT) today, 30th September.

Please ensure you start the submission process at least 10 minutes early as the site will close promptly at 10am. We cannot accept submissions by email. Please also read the submission guidelines (https://visualverse.org/submission-guidelines/) to ensure your piece complies. The word count is strict.

Please proofread your work before submitting.

If you are a disabled writer and need additional support to submit your work, please let us know. Email visualverse@thecurvedhouse.com asap to let us know how we can support you.

You can write in any style or form and we encourage you to be brave and innovative.

We will announce the winners at 9am GMT tomorrow. All winners will receive a £50 prize and a one-to-one mentoring session with our publisher, Kristen Harrison.

The prize is judged by Dr Preti Taneja, publisher Kristen Harrison and deputy editor Isabel Brookes, with assistance from Tam Eastley, Nahda Tahsin and Jordan Fleming.

Good luck!
Start Timer (https://vclock.com/timer/#countdown=01:00:00&enabled=0&seconds=3600&title=Visual+Verse%3A+One+image.+One+Hour.+50-500+Words.+)
Submit (https://visualverse.org/submit/)

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