FEBRUARY 15 DEADLINE
On Monday, February 15, the final phase of our three phase contest, AN EXPERIMENT IN MODERN PARABLES, will conclude. Over the past seven months, the Presbyterian Writers Guild, www.presbyterianwritersguild.org, has been receiving entries.
THREE PHASES
The first phase was to select the best opening hook for a story. Every fiction writer must develop the skill to hook the reader in the first paragraph or so. Our particular focus was on stories that dealt with issues that the church faces, either within the community or in relating to society. We received seventeen entries. The winners were published in the Guild’s newsletter, The Writer.
The second phase was to write a piece of flash fiction of less than one thousand words that engaged the reader in reflecting on similar issues in church or society. In this phase we also received seventeen entries, a few of which were from those who were also in the first phase. The winners of this phase also were published in The Writer.
We are now closing in on the final phase that invites authors to submit a fictional short story; again a story that wrestles with real issues that people of faith confront. The winner of the Short Story phase will see the story published in The Presbyterian Outlook and receive a $100 gift certificate. Second, third, and fourth places will receive $50 gift certificates and second place will be placed on The Outlook webpage.
A NEW BOOK
All of the winners will be published in a book created by the Presbyterian Writers Guild and shared with people at the PWG luncheon at the 2016 General Assembly. You can see the cover of the book by clicking this link: Book Contest Cover-3
JOIN THE FUN AND THE GUILD
The purpose of the Presbyterian Writers Guild, www.presbyterianwritersguild.org is to nurture writers, provide exposure for their gifts, and encourage others to develop their own gifts of writing. Entry to the contest was only the cost of membership in PWG. Unique for this contest, we involved the writers in judging the contest. Their entries were sent to all participants who were asked to set aside their entry and pick their top three. Therefore, all of us got exposed to the talented writing of our colleagues.
Too often we have mimicked society in engaging in mind numbing debates about the hot issues that quickly divide up into camps. Our hope is that in a similar manner to the parables of Jesus, these stories about issues in our world can spark deeper thinking and perhaps some new insight. We would hope that this might be the beginning of a new way that the church can explore issues from a spiritual perspective.
We invite you to join the www.presbyterianwritersguild.org and share your gifts with the church.
