Please fill out this form to apply to be a vendor/exhibitor at the 2025 Red Clay Writers Conference. The conference will be held on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 at the Kennesaw State University Marietta Campus, Joe Mack Student Center, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each exhibitor will have one 6 ft. table, and two chairs. Please bring all other materials as you see fit. Applications must be received by Saturday April 12th, two weeks before the date of the conference.

Red Clay Writers Conference is the annual conference of Georgia Writers Association. Since 2009, Red Clay encourages and inspires writers through literary events that focus on the art and craft of writing. This year we are proud to announce the 14th Annual Red Clay Writers Conference! The in-person conference consists of workshops and panels with renowned writers and editors.

Saturday, April 26th, 9AM - 6PM: IN-PERSON 

In order to bring this conference to as many people as possible, we are opening up 10 scholarships to the conference. 

Requirements for scholarship application:

• C.V./Resume
• Cover Letter (details below)
• Portfolio (details below)

We Believe That Anyone Can Be a Storyteller.

About our Publication

• Waymark Literary Magazine is a fully online magazine in html format. We publish fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and art.
• Waymark accepts submissions from undergraduate students from North America (Canada, Mexico, North America, the Caribbean islands) and its affiliated territories. Work submitted by students residing outside of North America or work from non-undergraduate students will not be considered for publication.

About Our Issues

• Waymark publishes two issues every academic year, one per semester. Submissions for our Winter/Spring '25 issue open December 4, 2024 and close on April 18, 2025. 
• Due to the holiday season, Waymark's submission review process will be suspended until early January. No decisions on submitted pieces will be released until January.
• The theme for Waymark's Winter/Spring '25 issue will be released in early January 2025. While submitting to the theme is greatly encouraged, it is not required. 

Submission Guidelines

• All pieces should be submitted with adherence to MLA formatting: 12 pt. font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, page numbers in the top-left.
• Waymark does not publish erotica or fan fiction of any kind. We reject works with excessive violence, hate speech, and unnecessary gore.
• All submitted works should be self-contained stories that are not parts of larger works. Waymark does not publish chapters of books or book excerpts.
• To see our guidelines for specific genres, please check out our website: https://waymarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines/
   

The winner of The Headlight Review’s 2025 Poetry Chapbook Prize Contest will receive publication (a perfect bound book with a full color or black/white cover), an award of $500, and 25 copies of the book. 

Submissions will be open from October 1st to December 31st, 2024. 

A list of finalists will be announced sixty days after the close of submissions. All manuscripts will be judged blindly. 

The finalists who make it through the first round will be judged by esteemed poet Olatunde Osinaike. Originally from the West Side of Chicago, Olatunde Osinaike is a Nigerian-American poet, essayist, and software developer. Selected in 2024 as the Georgia Author of the Year in Poetry, he is the author of Tender Headed (Akashic Books), winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series, shortlisted for the Society of Midland Authors Award in Poetry and Nossrat Yassini Poetry Prize. He is also author of the limited edition chapbooks Speech Therapy (TAR) and The New Knew (Thirty West). Other honors include winner of the Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize and Frontier Industry Prize, semifinalist for the Discovery Poetry Prize, and honorable mention for the Ploughshares Emerging Writer's Award in Poetry. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Literary Hub, The Slowdown, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, Best New Poets, 20.35 Africa, New Poetry from the Midwest, Obsidian, Wildness, and elsewhere. He lives in Atlanta and would like to thank you.

The winning manuscript will be published within six months after the results of the competition are announced in April of 2025. Each judge’s favorite poem from their selected finalist will be highlighted at The Headlight Review. 

Guidelines: 

Eligibility: Employees and students at Kennesaw State University, both former and current, are not eligible to enter. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age or older. 

Electronic submissions: The $18 entry fee is payable by debit/credit card via the KSU submission system, which you may find at the “Submit Your Manuscript” button at the bottom of this page. 

Manuscript submission details: 

• Size: Manuscripts must be between 24-36 pages, including cover page, table of contents and any acknowledgements. 
• Format: 12 pt. standard typeface, PDF only. 
• Title page: Should include the title of the manuscript and nothing else. No. identifying name or address is permitted in the manuscript. 
• Poems: Poems that have been published elsewhere must be acknowledged. Overall, the manuscript should be original and previously unpublished. 
• Multiple submissions: Are acceptable. Each submission requires a separate entry fee. 
• Simultaneous submissions: Are acceptable. Please inform us immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Entry fees are nonrefundable. 
• Language: Entries must be written in the English language. 
• Illustrations: Are discouraged. 
• Translations: Are ineligible. 
• Comments: Will not be provided to non-winning entrants. 
• Editing: Will not be permitted once submitted. 

Kennesaw State’s MA in Professional Writing Program (MAPW) endorses and abides by the Ethical Guidelines of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). Our system for judging is transparent and blind. The first-round judges will receive and rate their choices in order, and this will create a list of finalists. The manuscript finalists will go to the finalist judge, who will then select the best among the finalists.