The Writer

Prize Offers and Awards

THE PEOPLE'S POPULAR MONTHLY Des Moines, Iowa, offers a prize of $5,000 for the first American serial rights of the best story, containing from 60,000 to 80,000 words, and ten prizes of $500 each for the first American rights of ten best short stories, containing from 6,000 to 10,000 words. All stories must be clean and wholesome, and authors should bear in mind that the circulation of the magazine is centered in the smaller cities and towns and in the rural districts. The competition will close October 1, and a copy of the magazine will be sent to any author on request.

THE UNIVERSAL PICTURES CORPORATION 730 Fifth avenue, New York, announces the establishment of the Laemmle award, consisting of $5,000 in prizes $2,500, $1,000, $500, $200, and eight awards of $100 eachfor the best practical, helpful, and constructive ideas and suggestions for the advancement of the quality and usefulness of moving pictures. There is no limitation as to the number or character of entries, which may have to do with production, mechanical appliances or methods in the studio, or in business procedure, or with stories. The contest is open to writers on newspapers, magazines, and trade journals, and the only requirement is that the idea or suggestion must first have appeared in a newspaper or a magazine. The clipping should be cut out, and sent, with an authentication of the fact that it was written by the contestant, with a letter, to Carl Laemmle, Laemmle Award, by December 31, 1927.

BOY'S LIFE-200 Fifth avenue, New York, offers prizes of $100, $50, and six prizes of $25 each, in addition to payment at regular rates, for the best stories written by boys under twenty. Stories must not exceed 4,000 words, and the upper right-hand corner of the first page of each manuscript should have

the name of the writer, his address, age, grade in school, and information as to whether or not he is a Troop or Lone Scout, while on the last page must appear a certification by parent, guardian, teacher, or scout-master that the story is original and entirely the work of the contestant. The contest will close September 1.

THE NATIONAL POSTER ART ALLIANCE — 65 East Fifty-sixth street, New York, and Voiture 220, La Societe des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux, of the American Legion, at Chicago, announce a contest for the 1928 poster of the American Legion, offering prizes of $1,000, $300, and $200. "The poster which will most completely and powerfully express the ideals and purposes of the Legion," says the announcement of Voiture 220, “must and will live for years," and all posters should depict the high place which the American Legion occupies in the life of the community. Designs may be rendered in any medium adaptable for reproduction in lithography. The contest will close August 15, and designs should be sent to the National Poster Art Alliance, from whom further information may be obtained.

THE MARK TWAIN SOCIETY 37 Gray avenue, Webster Groves, Missouri, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of "Tom Sawyer," is offering a prize of ten dollars for the best letter, not exceeding 300 words, on the subject: "My Opinion of Mark Twain." The contest will close August 1. Cyril Clemens is the president of the Society. THE POETRY SOCIETY-280 Madison avenue, New York, announces prizes of $100, $50, $25, and $15 for the best original poems about "Service," defining the value and character of the factor which is believed to represent the most stupendous of the ideals that have guided mankind throughout the ages.

Two additional prizes of five dollars each will be awarded to the best published poems on the subject of "Service" by past or contemporary poets. No restrictions are imposed as to the form of poems, or to the aspects of the subject. Poets can send as many poems as they wish. The contest will close June 15. THE CIRCLE 110 Morningside Drive, New York, announces the Francis Scott Key contest, offering a prize of $25 and three honorable mentions for the best patriotic songs not exceeding twenty-four lines. A contestant may submit three poems, which must be unsigned, and accompanied by a slip giving the title of the poem, and the name and address of the contestant. The contest will close August 1, and no poems will be returned.

THE BALTIMORE BRANCH OF THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN PENWOMEN - Academy of Sciences, 105 West Franklin street, Baltimore, Maryland, announces its annual short story contest, offering a prize of $25 for the best story submitted by any woman resident of Maryland. Stories must not exceed 5,000 words, and must be submitted anonymously, accompanied by a sealed envelope, containing name and address and return postage. The contest will close April 15.

THE ECHO 1840 California street, Denver, Colorado, is running a prize contest for all classes of material used in the magazine from December, 1926, to November, 1927. The prizes are as follows: For the best stories, $200 and $100; best pioneer material, $200, $150, and $100; best poems, $50, $35, and $15; and the best cover drawing, $100.

THE NATION has awarded its 1926 annual poetry prize of $100 to Thomas Hornsby Ferril, for his poem, "This Foreman." The second prize of $50 was given to Mary Austin, for "Puye," and the third prize of $25 to Clinch Calkins, for "I Was a Maiden." Hal Saunders White, Pierre Loving, Allen Tate, and Charles Wagner received honorable mention.

by Adventure Magazine for the best poem published in the magazine during 1926 has been awarded to Mrs. Helen von Kolnitz Hyer, for her poem, "The Loading Shed." A similar prize will be awarded for the best poem received during 1927.

THE HARP Larned, Kansas, has awarded its prize of $25 for the best poem printed in the magazine during 1926 to George Sterling, for his poem, "Counsel."

THE WALTER CLARE MARTIN 1926 poetry award of $1,000 has been given to Frances Beebe for a poem of sixty stanzas, entitled "The Woman and the Serpent." The prize will be offered again for 1927, and all correspondence should be addressed to Box 8, Vanderveer Park Station, Brooklyn, N. Y.

PRIZE OFFERS STILL OPEN:

Prizes in Letters offered by the Columbia University School of Journalism: For the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life and the highest standard of American manners and manhood, $1,000; for the original American play, performed in New York, which shall best represent the educational value and power of the stage in raising the standard of good morals, good taste, and good manners, $1,000; for the best book of the year on the history of the United States, $2,000; for the best American biography teaching patriotic and unselfish service to the people, illustrated by an eminent example, $1,000; for the best volume of verse published during the year by an American author, $1,000. Also, Prizes in Journalism, amounting to $3,000 and a $500 medal, and three traveling scholarships having a value of $1,500 each. All offered annually under the terms of the will of Joseph Pulitzer. Nominations of candidates must be made in writing on or before February 1 of each year, addressed to the Secretary of Columbia University, New York, on forms that may be obtained on application to the Secretary of the University.

Two prizes of $25,000 each offered by the Woman's Home Companion and the John Day Company, Inc., for the two most interesting novels best adapted to serial and book publication, one by a man and one by a woman, competition closing July 1, 1927. Particulars in September WRITER, or from the John Day Company, Inc., 25 West Forty-fifth street, New York.

Hart, Schaffner, and Marx prizes of $1,000, $500, The first annual poetry prize of $100 given $300, and $200 for the four best studies in the

economic field submitted by June 1, 1927. Particulars in October WRITER.

Four national contests in play-writing conducted by the Drama League of America and Longmans, Green, & Company, closing May 1. Particulars in December WRITER.

Two prizes of $25,000 each offered by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to the young man and young woman submitting the best articles in "What Woodrow Wilson Means to Me," contest closing October 1. Particulars in February WRITER.

Prizes of $500, $200, and $100 offered by the Youth's Companion for the best original short stories written by boys or girls between the ages of fifteen and twenty, contest closing April 15. Particulars in February WRITER.

Prize of $1,000 for the best novel of negro life written by a man or woman of negro descent, offered by Albert & Charles Boni, contest extended to July 1. Particulars in April WRITER.

Prizes of $100 each offered by the American Arbitration Crusade for the best letter, editorial, or article, the best cartoon, the best slogan, the best public demonstration, and the best sermon advocating the outlawing of war by negotiating treaties between the United States and every other nation, competition closing July 4. Particulars in March WRITER.

Prizes of $25, $15, $10, and two of $5 each offered by Rays from the Cross for the best manuscripts of mystical stories, competition closing May 1. Particulars in March WRITER.

Monthly definition contests conducted by the Forum, payment being made at the rate of five dollars each for all printed. Particulars in June WRITER.

Prize of $1,000, offered by the Chamber of Com

merce, Hot Springs, Arkansas, for the best scenario for a historical pageant depicting the history of Hot Springs. Particulars in October WRITER.

Witter Bynner Undergraduate poetry prize of $150 for the best poems printed in Palms during 1927, open to undergraduates in any American university or college. Particulars in November WRITER.

Prizes of the Poetry Society of South Carolina: Southern prize of $100; Caroline Sinkler prize of $50; Society's prize of $25; Harmon prize of $25; Skylark prize of $10; and the Ellen M. Carroll prize of $15-all offered annually. Particulars from the Poetry Society of South Carolina, 62 Broad street, Charleston, S. C., or in July WRITER.

Annual prizes awarded by Poetry (232 East Erie street, Chicago, Ill.) in November of each year: Helen Haire Levinson prize of $200, John Reed Memorial prize of $100, and the Young Poets' prize of $100, for poems published in the magazine during the current year.

Mrs. Simon Baruch University prize of $1,000, to be awarded biennially by the United Daughters of the Confederacy for the best unpublished monograph or essay in the field of Southern history, first competition closing September 1, 1927. Particulars in October WRITER.

Walker prizes for the best memoirs on National History, offered annually by the Boston Society of Natural History, closing March 1 of each calendar year. Particulars in June WRITER.

Annual poetry prize of $100 offered by the Nation, poems to be submitted between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day of each year. Particulars in February, 1923, WRITER.

Monthly prizes offered by the Photo-Era Magazine (Wolfeboro, N. H.) for photographs, in an advanced competition and a beginners' competition.

News and Notes

The House of Representatives has passed the Vestal bill amending and consolidating the copyright acts, but no action can be taken on it by the Senate until December.

Small, Maynard, & Co. (Boston) have filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy, showing liabilities of $524,581, and assets amounting to $127,000.

To prevent "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" from being pirated in this country, its author, Col. Thomas Edward Lawrence, is having an edition of twentytwo copies, of which ten are available for sale at $20,000 each, brought out in a copyright edition by the George H. Doran Company.

The Westminster Gazette says that it is reported that Rudyard Kipling is to prepare his book, "Puck of Pook's Hill," for the moving pictures.

Henry James, a son of the late William James and a nephew of Henry James, has been selected by the literary executors of Dr. Charles W. Eliot to prepare the only authorized biography of the great educator.

A wall-tablet, with an inscription to the effect that Francis Thompson, poet and author, was born there in 1859, has been placed on the house at No. 7 Winkley street, Preston, England.

Formation of a new corporation, Hearst Magazines, Inc., which will acquire control of International Magazine Company, Inc., is announced by William Randolph Hearst. The magazine company is the publisher of five of the principal Hearst organization magazines: Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazar, Motor and Motor Boating. This move marks a definite step in the segregation of the magazine and newspaper properties of one of the units of the Hearst organizations. The magazine company, together with the Los Angeles Examiner, the Los Angeles Evening Herald, the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Call and Post, and the Oakland Post Enquirer, formerly comprised the Hearst Publications, Inc. Under the new arrangement, the latter organization will control only the newspaper properties.

According to the Publishers' Circular there were 9,989 new books published in England in 1926, and 2,801 new editions of old books. There were 1,501 new novels and 1,455 new editions. There were 448 new works of poetry and drama, while according to the Publishers' Weekly, there were 6,883 books published in the United States during the same time, by 173 publishing houses. The largest number of books published by any one firm was 614 by the Macmillan Company.

The petition of Charles Chaplin for an injunction to restrain the Pictorial Review from printing a series of articles about him, and asking damages of $500,000, has been denied.

The American Museum of Natural History has awarded the John Burroughs memorial medal to Ernest Thompson Seton, for his recent work on animal life.

Rider Haggard's first big success, "King Solomon's Mines," was written on a bet of a shilling, which bet was never paid. Haggard had previously written three dismal failures and was on the point of abandoning literature for the law when a friend offered to bet him a shilling he had n't another story in him. It was meant as a joke, but Haggard took it seriously. "King Solomon's Mines" was the result.

I am told by publishers that the books of our leading novelists today last about six months. Alfred Noyes.

Examination of the estate of James Whitcomb Riley indicated that he received five hundred dollars a word royalties on his poem "An Old Sweetheart of Mine."

Sir Edmund Gosse said that Pope is the most quoted of all the English poets. Another authority places Shakspere first, Milton second, and Pope a good third, with Burns not far behind, perhaps highest of all in Scotland.

The late Bert Leston Taylor, a most skilful writer of light verse, used to say that if you could write a 99 percent line in three minutes and a 100 percent line in nine hours, or nine days, there should be no problem of conduct; that though maybe nobody would know the difference, you were writing for yourself, and nothing short of your uttermost was thinkable.

There's a lesson for writers in the story that a long-winded advertisement writer, working on copy for a soap campaign, produced this:

The alkaline elements and vegetable fats in this product are blended in such a way as to secure the highest quality of saponification along with a specific gravity which keeps it on top of the water, relieving the bather of the trouble and annoyance of fishing around for it in the bottom during his ablutions.

When the advertising manager revised this copy, he made it read:

It floats.

"I'll never again write a book which is just a story of a triangle or a tale for lazy people to read," says Willa Cather. "If I can't do something different from that I'll never write another line and I'll go and be a cashier in my brother's bank."

May Sutherland, an English clerk, wrote a novel in the evenings after her daily work was over. She knew that she knew nothing about novel writing but she kept doggedly at the book until she had finished it, writing and rewriting. After it was done, she read it and did not like it. She thought it was not good enough to be published so she put it aside. Some time later she happened to see an advertisement of a literary agent and she sent the manuscript off. The publishers to whom it was offered not only accepted it but asked for an option on her next three stories.

Autographing books for charity, the author of "Quality Street" wrote on the fly-leaf:

At six 'twas thus I wrote my name:
J. Barrie.

At twelve it was not quite the same:
James M. Barrie.

At twenty, thus, with a caress:
James Matthew Barrie.
At thirty I admired it less:
J. M. Barrie.

At forty-five it became so:
J. M. B.
And soon I think the M. will go:

J. B.

One tear for twenty's youthful swank, And then the name becomes a blank.