July | 2016 | Freedom in Words

It’s hot. It’s muggy. You’re trying to keep your cool, but the hotter it gets, the crankier you get. We’ve all been there. Trust me, I am one of the worst offenders of this pattern. I don’t like heat. Anything over a breezy seventy-two degrees outside is a hard and angry ‘No’ for me. It’s probably why I’ve taken so well to living in the Pacific Northwest. For the most part, our summers are mild, until it hits July, and then it’s like someone turned on the damn oven.

What does any of this have to do with cookies, let alone Godiva? Well, kids, listen up because I’m about to share my best kept #Lifehack secret with you.

When you order a treat from Godiva.com, between February and November, you get a free prize in the box. What’s that, you ask? Ice packs. That’s right, I said ice packs. You see, when Godiva ships you something they want to make sure it doesn’t melt while it’s waiting for you to retrieve it. So, as part of the shipping materials, they pack a Styrofoam cooler with anywhere from one to three ice packs depending on what time of year it is. The closer to summer, the more ice packs. And, as an added bonus, you can take everything out of that cooler inside the cardboard box it all comes in, and keep it as a mini cooler to store in the car with ice and a few drinks.

Those ice packs are not only reusable, but they are large and durable. What exactly is my summer Lifehack for those ice packs? You know how disgustingly hot the inside of your car gets in the summer? I mean, it just makes you angry, and unless you’ve got an auto start for your car, you’re going to be miserably hot while you wait for the interior to cool down. You know those ice packs I was talking about? As any logical person would do, I keep them in my freezer. During the summer, I grab one on my way out the door, and tuck it between the small of my back and the car seat. It helps to keep me cool, and those ice packs last a long time.

No joke. I take them shopping with me, or when I go to the movies. I leave them in the hot car while I’m in the store, or at the movies, and when I come out that same ice pack still has a huge chunk of icy goodness inside of it. I tuck it right back in its place between me and the car when I first get in, and move it once I no longer need it. And when I get home, right back in the freezer it goes. It’s perfect! And, if you’re as accident prone as I am, you’ve got an ice pack on hand year round for those miscellaneous injuries you find yourself with.

Ok, so we’ve talked about the ice packs. But what does any of this have to do with cookies? Well, my darlings, the cookies are the best part. Specifically, these cookies. You get a collection of milk and dark chocolate cookies that are bite sized and individually wrapped. So, for those of you trying to keep that beautiful bikini body, or doing your best to get in shape with programs like P90x, Fit In 10, Weight Watchers, and the like; those little individually wrapped cookies are the perfect little treat. You can pack them in your lunch, pop one in your purse, keep a few in your desk at work, and you’ve got an easy reward on hand for all your hard work.

But, you don’t have to take my word for it. Stop by Godiva.com today and order yourself a tin of those cookies. Keep the box and cooler they come in, pop those ice packs in your freezer, and enjoy those cookies. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Information care of Poet’s & Writer’s Magazine

Link to Poet’s and Writer’s Magazine

Sponsor and Award	Entry Fee	Genre	Cash Prize	Prize includes	Application Deadline
New Millennium Writings New Millennium Awards Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in New Millennium Writings and on the journal’s website are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay that have…	$20	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	7/31/16
Journal of Experimental Fiction Kenneth Patchen Award A prize of $1,000 and publication by Journal of Experimental Fiction/Depth Charge Publishing is given annually for an innovative novel. Dominic Ward will judge. Submit a manuscript of any length…	$25	Fiction	$1,000	Publication	7/31/16
Narrative Spring Story Contest A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place…	$24	Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$2,500	Publication	7/31/16
Press 53 Award for Poetry A prize of $1,000 and publication by Press 53 is given annually for a poetry collection. Tom Lombardo will judge. Submit a manuscript of 60 to 120 pages with a $30 entry fee by July 31. Visit the website…	$30	Poetry	$1,000	Publication	7/31/16
Munster Literature Centre Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,260) and publication in Southword, an online literary journal published in Cork, Ireland, is given annually for a short story. The winner also receives a…	$17	Fiction	$2,260	Publication	7/31/16
Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships Established Professional Fellowships of $6,000 each and Emerging Artist Fellowships of $3,000 each are given annually to Delaware poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who have lived in…	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$6,000		8/1/16
Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grants Project grants of up to $2,500 each are given twice yearly by the Leeway Foundation to women and transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, or otherwise gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and…	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$2,500		8/1/16
PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellowships Five fellowships of $1,000 each are given annually to emerging poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The fellowships are given to writers who are “isolated from the literary…	$10	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000		8/1/16
Malahat Review Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize A prize of $1,000 Canadian (approximately $780) and publication in Malahat Review is given annually for an essay. Submit an essay of 2,000 to 3,000 words with a $40 entry fee, which includes a…	$40	Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	8/1/16
StoryQuarterly Nonfiction Prize A prize of $1,000 and publication in StoryQuarterly is given annually for a work of creative nonfiction. Using the online submission system, submit an essay of up to 6,250 words with a $15 entry…	$15	Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	8/1/16
Gival Press Short Story Award A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Gival Press website is given annually for a short story. Submit a story of 5,000 to 15,000 words with a $25 entry fee by August 8. Send an SASE, call, e-mail, or…	$25	Fiction	$1,000	Publication	8/8/16
Indiana Review “1/2 K” Prize A prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review is given annually for a poem or a work of flash fiction or nonfiction of up to 500 words. Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge. Submit up to three…	$20	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	8/15/16
Baton Rouge Area Foundation Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence A prize of $10,000 is given annually to an emerging African American writer for a short story collection or novel published in the current year. The winner will also receive travel and lodging expenses…	$0	Fiction	$10,000		8/15/16
New Guard Poetry and Fiction Contest Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication in New Guard are given annually for a poem and a short story or novel excerpt. Stephen Dunn will judge the Knightville Poetry Contest; Sarah Braunstein…	$20	Poetry, Fiction	$1,500	Publication	8/15/16
Grayson Books Poetry Prize A prize of $1,000 and publication by Grayson Books is given annually for a poetry collection. Benjamin S. Grossberg will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 15….	$25	Poetry	$1,000	Publication	8/15/16
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales Poetry Prize A prize of $500, publication by Broadkill River Press, ten author copies, and two cases of Dogfish Head craft beer are given annually for a poetry collection written by a poet living in Delaware,…	$0	Poetry	$500	Reading, Publication	8/15/16
Glimmer Train Press Fiction Open A prize of $3,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of the prize issue is given twice yearly for a short story. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also given. Using the online…	$21	Fiction	$3,000	Publication	8/31/16
Glimmer Train Press Very Short Fiction Award A prize of $2,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of the prize issue is given twice yearly for a short short story. Using the online submission system, submit a story of 300…	$16	Fiction	$2,000	Publication	8/31/16
Gemini Magazine Flash Fiction Contest A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a short short story. The editors will judge. Submit a story of up to 1,000 words with a $5 entry fee ($4 for each…	$5	Fiction	$1,000	Publication	8/31/16
Utica College Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a resident of upstate New York. The winner will also give a reading and teach a master class at Utica College in April 2017. Submit two…	$0	Poetry	$2,000	Reading	8/31/16
Snake Nation Press Serena McDonald Kennedy Award A prize of $1,000 and publication by Snake Nation Press is given annually for a short story collection or a novella. Submit a story collection of up to 200 pages or a novella of up to 50,000 words with a…	$25	Fiction	$1,000	Publication	8/31/16
Snake Nation Press Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry A prize of $1,000 and publication by Snake Nation Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Submit a manuscript of 75 to 100 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 31. E-mail or visit the website…	$25	Poetry	$1,000	Publication	8/31/16
Gulf Coast Barthelme Prize for Short Prose A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given annually for a piece of short prose. Jim Shepard will judge. Submit a prose poem, a piece of flash fiction, or a micro-essay of up to 500…	$18	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	8/31/16
Gulf Coast Prize in Translation A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given in alternating years for a group of poems or a prose excerpt translated from any language into English. The 2016 prize will be given for…	$18	Poetry	$1,000	Publication	8/31/16
Black Lawrence Press St. Lawrence Book Award A prize of $1,000 and publication by Black Lawrence Press is given annually for a debut collection of poems or short stories. The editors will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a poetry…	$25	Poetry, Fiction	$1,000	Publication	8/31/16
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center Poetry Contest A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poem. Winners and finalists will be invited to read at Beyond Baroque in Venice, California, in April 2017. Submit up to four poems of no more than 40 lines each…	$20	Poetry	$1,000		9/1/16
Black Warrior Review Writing Contests Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Black Warrior Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Hoa Nguyen will judge in poetry, Sofia Samatar will judge in…	$20	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	9/1/16
Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award A prize of $3,000, publication by Red Hen Press, and a four-week residency at PLAYA in Summer Lake, Oregon, is given annually for a poetry collection. Afaa Michael Weaver will judge. Submit a manuscript…	$25	Poetry	$3,000	Publication, Residency	9/1/16
phren-Z Morton Marcus Poetry Contest Sponsored in collaboration with Santa Cruz Writes, a prize of $1,000 and publication in phren-Z is given annually for a poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at the seventh annual…	$15	Poetry	$1,000	Reading, Publication	9/1/16
Red Hen Press Fiction and Nonfiction Awards Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Red Hen Press are given annually for a short story collection or novel and an essay collection or memoir. Steve Almond will judge in fiction; Pope Brock will…	$20	Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	9/1/16
Slippery Elm Prizes in Poetry and Prose Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Slippery Elm are given annually for a poem and a short story or essay. Using the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any length or…	$15	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	9/1/16
Sustainable Arts Foundation Writing Awards Up to five awards of $6,000 each and up to five Promise Awards of $2,000 each are given twice yearly to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers with children. Writers with at least one…	$15	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$6,000		9/2/16
Dogwood Literary Prize A prize of $1,000 and publication in Dogwood is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 22 pages of prose with a $…	$10	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000	Publication	9/5/16
Farmingdale State College Paumanok Poetry Award A prize of $1,500 and travel and lodging expenses to give a reading at Farmingdale State College is given annually for a group of poems. Submit three to five published or unpublished poems totaling no…	$25	Poetry	$1,500	Reading	9/15/16
Red Mountain Press Poetry Prize A prize of $1,000 and publication by Red Mountain Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Sarah Sousa will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 72 pages with a $30 entry fee ($28 for electronic…	$30	Poetry	$1,000	Publication	9/15/16
Red Hen Press Graphic Novel Award A prize of $1,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a graphic novel. Kate Gale will judge. Submit a manuscript of 75 to 200 pages with a $25 entry fee by October 31, 2016. Call or…	$25	Fiction	$1,000	Publication	10/31/16
A Room of Her Own Foundation Gift of Freedom Award A prize of $50,000 is given biennially to a female poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer to complete a project for publication over a two-year period. The top finalist in each of the two…	$45	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$50,000	Publication	11/2/16

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Monthly Archives: July 2016

How Ordering Cookies From Godiva Will Save Your Summer

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