Contests

Ruminate Magazine invites you to enter our annual poetry, short story, nonfiction, and visual art prizes–the Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize, the William Van Dyke Short Story Prize, the VanderMey Nonfiction Prize, and the Ruminate Visual Art Prize.

VanderMey Nonfiction Prize

Ruminate is thrilled to announce our second annual Ruminate Nonfiction Prize. We invite you to enter your work. The finalist judge is the award-winning author and editor, Leslie Leyland Fields. The entry deadline is February 1st, 2012.
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Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize

We invite you to enter the 2012 Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize. The entry deadline is May 1st, 2012.
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Ruminate Visual Art Prize

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting entries for our second annual Ruminate Visual Art Prize. The entry deadline is August 15th, 2012.
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William Van Dyke Short Story Prize

We invite you to enter the 2013 William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. The entry deadline is October 15th, 2012.
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Please Note: Ruminate adheres to the following Contest Code of Ethics, as adopted by the Council of Literary Presses and Magazines, of which Ruminate is a proud member: “CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.”

Ruminate Magazine sponsors four annual writing contests: our art contest, poetry contest, short story contest, and nonfiction contest. We are one of the only Christian-minded literary magazines to sponsor short story contests, poetry contests, and nonfiction contests, and art contests. And while our contests–just like our magazine–are not defined as Christian poetry contests or Christian fiction contests or Christian essay contests, we do strive to provide a forum for the conversation between art and faith to exist and continue. Past winners from the Ruminate Magazine writing contests have been recognized by Poets & Writers Magazine and have received notable mention awards in The Best American Short Stories anthology and Best American Essays anthology. Past finalist judges of our contests include Bret Lott, David James Duncan, Luci Shaw, Vito Aiuto, Greg Wolfe, Al Haley, Stephanie G’Schwind, and Leif Enger. It is our hope our writing contests provide a significant venue for our talented contributors to receive the support and recognition they deserve.