Two Announcements from Knee Jerk Magazine

Knee-Jerk is excited to announce its first annual essay contest! What do we mean by essay? Something that tickles us in strange places; that depicts a person, place, thing or idea in a unique light and colorful language; that makes us even happier to be alive. We’ll consider lyric, experimental, traditional, humorous, travel, personal, and heavily researched essays, or any combination of the above. We may even consider profile pieces, so long as you don’t try to profile your cat or your lawyer during a typical workday.

What do we not mean by essay? We are not looking for straight-up journalism, academic or technical reports, reviews, or anything that tickles us in the usual places, which, personally, we tend to find irritating.

Knee-Jerk’s editors will judge the 2011 contest, awarding one contestant publication in our annual print edition, Knee-Jerk Offline, Vol. 2, and $500. Two runners-up will receive $100 and publication in one of Knee-Jerk’s monthly issues online.

GUIDELINES:

Visit Submishmash, our online submissions manager, and select the Submit button in the “Essay Contest” box

Upload one previously unpublished essay of no more than 5,000 words. Make sure to double-space your work and include your name and contact information at the top of the first page. Simultaneous submissions are fine by us, so long as you let us know if the essay is selected elsewhere by withdrawing it via your Submishmash account.

Every contestant must submit a $15 entry fee, which also gets you a copy of Knee-Jerk Offline, Vol. 1 (or we can send you a copy of Vol. 2 if you already own or intend to purchase Vol. 1). We will contact you if there are any problems with your payment. Please do not email us to confirm whether payment was received, or to check on the status of your submission. The latter may be done by checking your Submishmash account.

We will begin accepting submissions for the contest on May 1, 2011. The contest ends at midnight on June 30, 2011. Any essays submitted after midnight on the final day will be disqualified. Contestants will be notified of our decisions by the fall, when the winner and runners-up will also be announced.

Knee-Jerk‘s 2011 Chapbook Contest

Knee-Jerk is also excited to announce its first annual chapbook contest!

The winning collection of short shorts, flash fiction, miniatures, brief narratives, and/or small wonders will receive publication byKnee-Jerk‘s new chapbook imprint, AutoGraft, plus 25 contributor copies and a 5-song digital release of music inspired by your chapbook, written and recorded by the Knee-Jerk editorial staff.

GUIDELINES:

Visit Submishmash, our online submissions manager, and select the Submit button in the “Chapbook Contest” box.

Upload your previously unpublished chapbook of 25-60 double-spaced manuscript pages. If your stories have appeared separately in other publications, you’re still eligible for consideration.

Simultaneous submissions are fine by us, so long as you let us know if the chapbook is selected elsewhere by withdrawing it via your Submishmash account.

Every contestant must submit a $15 entry fee, which also gets you a copy of the prize-winning chapbook. We will contact you if there are any problems with your payment. Please do not email us to confirm whether payment was received, or to check on the status of your submission. The latter may be done by checking your Submishmash account.

We will begin accepting submissions for the contest on May 1, 2011. The contest ends at midnight on June 30, 2011. Any chapbooks submitted after midnight on the final day will not be considered. Contestants will be notified of our decisions by the fall, when the winner will also be announced.

Finalists will be chosen by the Knee-Jerk editorial staff. Guest judges Mary Hamilton and Lindsay Hunter will select the winner from those finalists.

Mary Hamilton lives in Chicago, where she is the co-host and co-founder of the Quickies! reading series. Her chapbook, We Know What We Are, won the 4th Annual Rose Metal Press Short Short Chapbook Contest. Her work has been published bySmokelong Quarterly, Storyglossia, Pindeldyboz, Eclectica, and Thieves Jargon, among other lovely places

Lindsay Hunter is a writer living in Chicago, where she co-hosts the flash fiction reading series, Quickies! Her collection of slim fictions, Daddy’s, is out now from Featherproof Books