NCWN

NORTH CAROLINA--The North Carolina Writers' Network is still accepting submissions for its 2012 Doris Betts Fiction Prize. This competition honors acclaimed author and North Carolina native Doris Betts, three-time winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award and recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature, among many other honors.

The Doris Betts Fiction Prize awards the first-prize winner $250 and publication in the North Carolina Literary Review. Finalists will also be considered for publication in NCLR.

Thomas Wolf of Chapel Hill won the 2011 Doris Betts Fiction Prize for his story "Boundaries." This was Mr. Wolf's second award, having also won in 2007 for his story, "Distance." "Boundaries" will be published in the 2012 issue of NCLR, along with the second-place story, "The Honey Wagon," by Joseph Cavano.

The 2011 competition drew nearly 100 entries. The Doris Betts Fiction Prize is sponsored by the Network and managed by the editorial staff of the North Carolina Literary Review. Published since 1992 by East Carolina University and the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, NCLR has won numerous awards and citations.

The Doris Betts Fiction Prize
Postmark deadline: February 15 (annual)
Submissions accepted: January 1 – February 15

Eligibility and Guidelines:

• The competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of NC or a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. NCLR subscribers with NC connections (who live or have lived in NC) are also eligible.
• The competition is for unpublished short stories up to 6,000 words. One entry per writer. No novel excerpts. No simultaneous submissions.
• Submit story electronically via the NCLR’s online submission process. For electronic submission instructions and to start the online submission process, go to: www.nclr.ecu.edu/submissions/submit-online.html.
• Author's name should not appear on the manuscript. Author will register with the NCLR’s online submission system, which will collect contact information and connect it to the author's submission.
• An entry fee must be mailed to the NCLR office (address below) by the postmark deadline (February 15).
• You may pay the Network member/ NCLR subscriber entry fee if you join the NCWN or subscribe to the NCLR with your submission: $10 (NCWN members, NCLR subscribers) or $20 (nonmembers/ nonsubscribers--must be a NC resident).
• Checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Writers’ Network. (Separate checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Literary Review only if purchasing a subscription to the NCLR.)
• Mail checks or money orders to:

North Carolina Literary Review
ECU Mailstop 555 English
Greenville, NC 27858-4353

• The winner and finalists will be announced in May.
• Questions may be directed to the NCLR at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.