For our first print issue of 2021, a summer offering, we’re expanding our pages a bit to include longform creative nonfiction (essays of 6,000 to 10,000 words) and a featured poet (with half a dozen poems). Congratulations to Dave Fromm for his winning essay, “Tool Town Left to Its Own Devices.” Glenn Stowell will be our featured poet. Thanks to everyone who entered. And special thanks to Frank Van Zant and Ben Giamo, our judges.
Stay tuned for future contests.
Frank Van Zant, our poetry editor, will judge the anonymous poetry finalists, selected by our other editors. Ben Giamo, a Sport Literate veteran and one of our “Best Americans,” will serve as a our guest judge for the essays. Ben is an Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Notre Dame University. He is the author of several books: On the Bowery: Confronting Homelessness in American Society; Beyond Homelessness: Frames of Reference; The Homeless of Ironweed; Kerouac, the Word and the Way: Prose Artist as Spiritual Quester; Notes from the Bowery; and Homeless Come Home: An Advocate, the Riverbank, and Murder in Topeka, Kansas.
In general, here are some rules to live and submit by:
- We think the $21 pot builder is reasonable (we usually break even), and the cost of a standard subscription is $20.
- Previously published work is acceptable. Just let us know who had it first so we can give them credit should you win or we publish it.
- Poets should send six poems per entry. No more, no less. Please put them all in one Word document.
- Writers can send one essay per entry. Enter as many times as you like.
- We’ll consider a chapter or some part of a book-length project, though your essay should read as a standalone piece.
- All entries will be considered for standard publication.
- Should you need to resubmit your entry for whatever reason (from typos to life-changing perspectives), simply email the editor (billsportliterate@gmail.com). You can send something anew.
- Submissions should come through Submittable.
- Don’t forget to tell us the two back issues you’d like to receive. We’d even send them to a friend, noting your thoughtfulness.
- We can send back issues to U.S. domestic issues only. So if you live abroad, maybe you’ve got a cousin in the States.
Back-Issue Bonanza:
“Another Issue of the Big Shoulders”: This special Chicago issue features a photo essay on yesteryear women in sports from the Chicago History Museum. Michael W. Cox shares an unexpected encounter on a basketball court. And William Meiners, SL editor, attempts his best George Plimpton as a hamstrung tight end for the semi-pro Lafayette Lions.
“Our Football Best 2008”: Contest winner Robert Reichle’s “Football Heaven” highlights this special football collective. Ken Rodgers interviews Steve Sabol of “NFL Films.” Plus, Benedict Giamo’s Best American Essay noteworthy “Played Out” makes much out of pigskin. Yes, that’s the same Ben judging this contest!
- “Fallout 2018”: This issue features two particularly good football essays from our contest winner Todd Davis and Virginia Ottley Craighill. “The Lost Cause,” Virginia’s essay, was anthologized in Best American Sports Writing 2019.
- “25th Anniversary Issue”: Our 2020 issue, which you can also sample a bit online, is full of great essays and poetry, including three contest winners: Hal Ackerman, Jack Bedell, and Sage Marshall.