Busy day today. I’ll give a keynote talk in Branson at the Ozark Writers League (OWL) Spring Conference from 10:30-11:30. Then SANDY and I will head back to Springfield so I can read several nature poems during the From Page to Park event in Jordon Valley Park in Springfield from 3:00-4:00. Here’s a link to one of the articles about that.
To prepare for the reading in the park, I made a file of twenty-five poems and sent it to our emcee for the event, Dr. KATHERINE (KATIE) GILBERT, from Drury University, and she chose the poems that work best with those of other readers. It should be a good event. Don’t forget, this event is free and open to the public. I hope to see some of you there.
I was unable to accept an invitation to speak at the fall conference of Ozark Writers League (OWL), which just concluded in Branson, Missouri, but I look forward to being on their program at the Spring conference on April 13. I became a member of the writers group earlier this year so I exercised a member benefit by entering the 2023 Writing Contest. It was the third time in my life that I entered my work in a contest.
The first was in 1966. I sent a children’s story to Indiana University Writers Conference. I won a $100 Bobbs-Merrill scholarship to a summer workshop on the campus of IU. That’s where I met workshop leaders KURT VONNEGUT, HARRY MARK PETRAKIS, and ANYA SEATON and had the thrill of sitting around a table with each of them as they discussed their work and offered tips on writing.
The second time I entered my work in a contest came two years later when, in 1968, I sent a story, “Tell Them They Can Stop Worrying,” to a Writers Digest Contest. I placed in the 11th-300th category and won a copy of the 1969 Writers Digest. Over time I changed the title to “The Gate,” shortened it to a short-short story format, and submitted it to sixteen magazines. No one wanted it. Eventually, I whittled the story down to 300 words and submitted it to the OWL contest this year. Granted, the original story was written 57 years ago, but I liked it then and I like it now. The main character, unseen in the narrative, is based on Ed Holden, a Native American who once lived in Quapaw, Oklahoma and was a longtime sheriff, known for being fair but tough. I never met him but but my parents did, and I heard stories about him from relatives of his who were friends of mine.The story is told through the sensibilities of three generations: a contemporary of Ed’s, the contemporary’s son, and his son’s son.
“The Gate” didn’t win anything in the OWL contest. Neither did the opening page of a story I’m working on (which I’ve trashed and rewritten since entering it so I agree with the judges). But I did win 1st place in the Humorous Short Piece category for a story called “Ten Simple Steps to Housebreaking Your Cow.” I wrote that one eight years ago and it has been turned down by five book publishers. It’s pure silliness and editors like it but say it’s just too far out of the box. I suspect that Housebreaking Your Cow and The Gate are destined to continue going through life with me, doomed and flawed, but dear friends and excellent company.
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 