Kids on a Camping Trip in a Field

Call for submissions: Summer Camp Stories

The NYS Writers Institute is excited to announce a new collaboration with the NYC-based Writers Read™ not-for-profit literary forum to co-host an event for writers at WAMC’s The Linda in June.

They invite you to submit summer camp stories. 650-word personal, true summer camp stories from talented writers in the Capital Region.

Remember the joy of the last day of school? “No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks!”

Did you head off to a pristine lake somewhere — as a camper,  counselor, or waiter — for a season of bugs and bug juice, friends and frenemies, cabins, and canoes?

Maybe you were the only kid in the neighborhood who didn’t attend summer camp?

Or perhaps you’re the parent, suddenly free of the kids for a few weeks?

Selected writers will read their stories for a live audience at WAMC’s The Linda Auditorium at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at The Linda, WAMC’s performing arts studio in Albany, and be published in the Trolley literary journal.

Submit your story by May 1.

Guidelines:

  • There is a $5 submission fee.
  • The contest is open to writers residing in Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, and Washington counties.
  • The maximum length of 650 words translates to a five-minute spoken word piece.
  • In 650 or fewer words, these narratives are powerful stories about meaningful life experiences, big or small. They can express our fears, hopes, and joys and can help us make sense of the world and our place in it.
  • The pieces can be original, excerpted, or adapted from your earlier work.
  • Submissions are evaluated by an editorial committee of professional writers/editors for presentation on stage, in podcasts, broadcasts, YouTube, and in printed anthologies.
  • The work remains yours to publish again elsewhere if you choose.

About Trolley

The Trolley literary journal began with an idea from our founder, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist William Kennedy, who envisioned an online literary journal published free of charge in which each issue’s words and images related to a single theme. Selected submissions from our Writers Read “Summer Camp” collaboration will be published in the seventh issue of Trolley in July.

About Writers Read

Writers Read is a 501(c)3 organization, a non-profit literary forum that creates performance opportunities for writers through curated events and podcasts celebrating the spoken word. It is a 100% volunteer organization.