At Johnson County Library we love local authors. In support of our home-grown talent, we invite submissions of poetry, fiction, and essays.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

• Writers must be residents of the Kansas City Metro Area
• Poetry limit: 60 lines or fewer (special project excepted)
• Prose limit: 1000 words (special projects excepted)
• Submissions must be in English and previously unpublished
• Submission limit: one submission per category (one poem, one short story, one essay, one open)
• Please do not include identifying information on your submission. We're serious about this! No name in the document or even the file name. NO IDENTIFYING INFORMATION!
• One short story, one essay, one poem, and one entry from an open category will be selected for publication on our Staff Picks blog
• Runners up may be posted on the Staff Picks blog
• Authors of selected works must be available for a reading in the Kansas City Metro Area
• Authors who read will receive a $200 honorarium, provided in part by The Johnson County Library Foundation and the Joan Berkley Writers Fund
• Johnson County Library staff are ineligible
• The committee selecting works is comprised of Johnson County Library Staff and community volunteers
• We reserve the right not to present an award
• Looking for feedback before you submit? Try the Writing Lab at Brainfuse. It's free with your Johnson County Library card and PIN!

Check For Writers | Johnson County Library (jocolibrary.org) for more information

Our contest prompt for September - December is Humanity.

Our fall writing contest is all about Humanity and is lovingly borrowed from our teen literary magazine, elementia.

Across generations, distances and cultures, our humanity connects us. Despite this seemingly infinite connection, one of the most fundamental parts of being human is being unique. This dichotomy is at the crux of the human experience and something we have all shared. 

Tell us your stories: those of your unique human experience. Share with us the joys and pains that have been a part of your humanity. Speak on your relationships: those with family, friends, significant others. When have you felt most connected to other humans? Most distant? What makes you feel close to your own humanity? Tell us about the times you felt less than human, and when others convinced you that you were. Has humanity changed? Or will it? We seek expressions of your culture, traditions, mannerisms. Share your innermost thoughts and your outermost traits. What makes you unique? What makes you human?

Poetry: 60 line limit
Prose: 1000 word limit 

Our contest prompt for January - April is Family.

This spring Kansas City Repertory Theatre will be bringing Broke-ology to Johnson County Library as a part of their KC Rep for All community tour. Inspired by The Old Globe’s Globe for All program in San Diego, the program breaks down economic and geographic barriers and makes KC Rep more accessible as we travel across Kansas City to meet people where they are.   

Broke-ology is a play that explores the complexities of family, sacrifice, and resilience. Whether you get to see the play at KC Rep, at Johnson County Library, or aren’t able to engage with either, we want to hear your story.  

How is your family complex? What sacrifices have you or your family members made, and what does resilience look like to you?  

Resilience. Do you have it? Where did it come from? How will you build it if you don’t?

Poetry: 60 line limit

Prose: 1000 word limit 

Disclaimer

All submissions must be original work. By submitting, writers warrant and represent that the work is their own. Writers will retain copyright of their submissions. By providing original work, writers agree to allow and permit Johnson County Library the right to print, publish, showcase, reproduce and distribute the submissions. By submitting, writers agree to any and all editorial alterations and abridgments including, but not limited to, re-formatting, grammatical correction, and cropping. Johnson County Library reserves the right to incorporate and/or disseminate the submission in any form, including, but not limited to, in other publications, marketing, promotions, and other material both internal and external. (12/22/2020)