Postscripts

Details on how to enter the Ninth Annual Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest and more Texas Writers Month events.

By Clay Smith, Fri., May 19, 2000

Ninth Annual Short Story Contest

Send us your best unpublished, typewritten, 2,500-word-or-less short story by June 12 and if it's one of the five greatest stories sent to us, we'll publish it and give you money! $1,500 is up for grabs, to be divided among the five winners. All entries need to have a cover letter that states your name, address, and phone number and the title of your story. Don't put your name anywhere in the manuscript itself and please only send us one entry. Send your story to: Short Story Contest, PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765 or submit it electronically to [email protected]. Winners will be notified by September 11.

Texas Writers Month

The following Texas Writers Month events are all free and open to the public:

May 20

Aaron Allston, Neal Barrett Jr., Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Elizabeth Moon, Carrie Richerson, William Browning Spencer, Bruce Sterling, and Martha Wells will be at Adventures in Crime and Space from 1-5pm signing books in celebration of the Nebula Awards, bestowed each year to outstanding works of speculative fiction in the following categories: best novel, best novella, best novelette, and best short story. Spencer's short fiction piece "Taklamakan," which originally appeared in Asimov's, is up for best novelette. Call the store at 473-2665 for more information.

May 23

Susie Flatau, author of Counter Culture: A Taste of Texas, a book about diners in small Texas towns, will be at BookPeople at 7pm.

"Texas: The Mythic Frontier," a panel discussion sponsored by the Austin Writers' League and Barnes & Noble at Barnes & Noble Homestead (44010 Hwy. 183) at 7:30pm with writers Elizabeth Crook, Elmer Kelton, and David Marion Wilkinson.

May 24

Elmer Kelton at BookPeople, at 7pm.

May 25

"The Life of a Writer: From Concept to Paycheck," a panel discussion at BookPeople at 7pm, with authors Nancy Bell, Karen Stolz, Don Webb, and Austin Writers' League executive director Jim Bob McMillan moderating.

May 27

Audio Book Contest Award Ceremony at the new Earful of Books, which will open on May 25 at Fifth & Lamar, presented by the Austin Writers' League, the Texas Library Association, the Austin Public Library, and Earful of Books. The contest works like this: Austin students who are currently in seventh, eighth, or ninth grades can enter by producing an original audio essay on audio cassette that is no longer than 10 minutes in length. The topic is "Texas of Tomorrow." Entries are accepted until May 22 and can be turned into any branch of the Austin Public Library. Librarians from the Austin Public Library will review and judge the finalists. Finalists will be notified by May 25 and must be present at the award ceremony on Saturday, May 27 at 3pm. Author Francis Nail (God, Cars, and Souvenirs: Essays, Crow in the House, Wolf at the Door) will host the event. There will also be a program about how the audio book process works -- how books are edited, how talent is selected, and what say a writer has in the entire process. Call 472-5266 for more info.