[UPDATED] March 2025 News
Military Anthology, a new Sage challenge, and more.
Message from the Prez
If you were thinking about submitting to the military and veterans anthology Completing the Circle, now is the time! Submissions close the end of March, so please don’t delay. Find more information here.
While summer may feel far off, the submission period for the annual writing contest in June will be here way too soon. Now is the time to be polishing your work so that it shines for the judges. You don’t want to be disqualified because of simple fixes like formatting. Check out our contest sneak peek below and watch for the complete details in future newsletters and on the SWW website!
Remember all of our events and meetings are listed on our website. We try to keep announcements short during meetings to give the speakers more time. You can always get more information about speakers and topics here.
Enjoy our windy spring. May it give you good vibes—
Judy
Upcoming SWW Events
You can find information about upcoming events on the SWW website here. Here’s what’s on tap in the coming weeks.
Saturday, March 8: Meeting presentation (in-person or Zoom) from 10:00 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. Learn to Love Marketing & Sales will be presented by Mary Lou Dobbs. More information here.
Saturday, March 8: Workshop (in-person or Zoom) from 12:00-2:00pm. How to Speak in Public and Live to Tell the Tale will be presented by Brenda Cole. More information here and register here.
UPDATED: Saturday, March 22: Workshop (in-person or Zoom) from 10:00-12:00pm. NOTE: This workshop will take place at the SWW Office. Writing a Publishable Novel will be presented by Lisa C Taylor. More information here and register here.
Wednesday, March 26: Meeting presentation (Zoom only) from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Film Adaptation will be presented by Christopher Upham. More information here.
2025 SWW Contest - Sneak Peek
We’ll be sharing all the details soon, but here are a few to whet your whistle and help you plan.
Submissions open June 1 and close July 8.
There will be $50/$25/$15 awards in each category.
Categories include: opening chapter unpublished fiction/nonfiction, flash fiction, short fiction (general, science fiction/fantasy, speculative/horror/paranormal, young reader/middle grade, YA, short nonfiction (memoir, essay), and poetry (free verse, haiku, limerick).
February’s Writing Challenge - The Results
Last month we challenged you to send us a piece about LUCK. See contributions from George Kent Kedl and Mike Whelan on the SWW Website here.
March’s Writing Challenge for SWW Members
The monthly challenge is a terrific opportunity to write and submit short pieces based on a prompt. Entries we select for publication will appear on the SouthWest Writers Sage Challenge webpage and will be eligible for inclusion in upcoming anthologies. For more information and our submission guidelines, click here. Email your entry in MS Word or TXT format to info@swwriters.com by March 20, 2025.
March’s writing challenge: Share your poem!
Write a poem in any style about anything. We’d like to see how you can cleverly compose words and phrases so the reader laughs, cries, sighs, growls, jumps in surprise, or feels wonderment.
Show the world you truly are a poet in 800 words or less!
Let’s Learn From Each Other
A couple of months ago, we shared the sad news that the New Mexico Book Awards would be shutting down. We have happy follow-up news - New Mexico Writers has agreed to take over the NM Book Awards and keep them going. Here’s the announcement from their website:
The New Mexico Book Awards, a nearly two-decades-old book competition which was slated to cease this year, will continue under new management by New Mexico Writers. Paul Rhetts, co-founder of the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, is “proud and most pleased that the New Mexico Writers organization has announced that they will carry the awards program into the future. I am throwing all my efforts behind theirs and look forward to the future of literary efforts in our region.” Under the new plan, Arizona will now run its own book competition.
Authors, designers, publishers, and publicists from New Mexico will be able to enter their books in the 2025 New Mexico Book Awards program. New Mexico Writers will continue the mission “to uncover and honor the best in New Mexico books.”
New Mexico Writers will soon announce rules, deadlines, entry fees, and the judging schedule for the 2025 award cycle. Check back here for details on the submission process, coming soon.
Have you checked out the SWW blog lately? There you’ll find posts and interviews we’ve conducted with SWW authors. See our recent interviews with Rinita Mazumdar and Mike Gerrard. Find all our blog posts here.
If you’ve recently written about writing craft or publishing tips on your blog, website, Facebook Page, or other social media platform that fits this section, email Lisa a link to the piece along with a two-sentence introduction to sage@swwriters.com.
We have resources for writers across our platforms and additional content in our members-only section of the website. Visit our website, ask to join our Facebook Group, check out our blog, check out the session recordings on our YouTube channel, or find our page on Goodreads.