MWSA Mil-Writers Can Submit to Anthology, Contests

Members of the Military Writers Society of America (M.W.S.A.) are invited to submit short stories, poetry, essays, illustrations, and photographs to its 4th annual anthology. Entries should reflect this year's theme is "Our Voices." Deadline is July 31, 2013. For more information on the anthology, click here.

According to the association's website:

This is your opportunity to be heard and to further the MWSA’s three-part mission of writing for healing, preservation of history, or education of others. Share something about yourself, be published, and earn buckaroo bucks. The anthology is open to all who are members, so if you have been thinking about joining MWSA, now is the time to do it.

Membership in the association is open to "anyone interested in books, movies, and other works about military issues and the experiences of men and women in uniform." Annual dues are $40 for a one-year membership; $65 for a two-year membership; $90 for a three-year membership.

Send anthology submissions, along with a high-resolution mugshot and short biography, to Betsy Beard via e-mail: eabeard AT nc.rr.com

The anthology, which also includes reviews of the year's MWSA book award-winners, is distributed as a souvenir at the association's annual conference. Participants in the anthology receive $1,000 in association "buckaroo bucks" scrip, which can be spent at the conference. The next MWSA conference is scheduled for Sept. 26-29, 2013 near Dayton, Ohio.

The association also conducts a monthly writing contest, 12 winners of which are considered for an annual "William E. Mayer Award" (W.E.M.) award. Deadline for submission to the first such contest for the 2013-2014 calendar is Aug. 15, 2013. This year's theme is "Writing to Heal." Entries must be no more than 500 words and relate to the theme. Subsequent monthly deadlines are the 15th of each month.

Monthly winners receive $250 worth of "buckaroos" scrip and be entered into the finals. The first-, second-, and third-prize winners of the finals are respectively awarded $1,500, $1,000 and $500. The works of the winners and monthly finalists will also appear in the association's annual anthology.

The award is named in memory of William "Bud" Mayer, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist, Korean War veteran, and assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Mayer also authored a number of books, including "Beyond the Call, Vol. I"; "Beyond the Call, Vol. II"; "Brainwashing, Drunks & Madness: Memoirs of a Medical Icon"; and, with his wife Heidi, "Waltzing with Death."

For more information regarding the contest, see page 19 of the association's Summer 2013 "Dispatches" newsletter here.

Send WEM contest submissions to Jim Greenwald via e-mail: LeansToFar AT aol.com