/// DANA AWARDS ///
ANNUALLY SINCE 1996
We offer our three $1,000 awards annually in the Novel, Short Fiction, and Poetry, our traditional awards since we began in 1996. A fourth award, the $3,000 PORTFOLIO AWARD, offered from 2003-2007, HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. OTHER SOURCES WHICH LIST THE PORTFOLIO AWARD ARE NOT CORRECT (UNAVOIDABLE, NOT THEIR ERROR) SINCE THEY WERE PUBLISHED BEFORE WE SUSPENDED THE AWARD (SOME SOURCES MUST GATHER INFORMATION AND PRINT 2-3 YEARS IN ADVANCE).
For GUIDELINES for our 3 current awards and more information about us, click on our LINKS ON THE LEFT BORDER OF THIS PAGE.
THE PURPOSE OF THE DANA AWARDS is monetary encouragement for work that has not yet been recognized.
So all work should be unawarded (honorable mention and finalist recognition okay, but no monetary awards), unpublished in print or online (except copies for family and friends) and not under promise of award or publication AT THE TIME IT'S SUBMITTED TO US.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSION IS FINE WITH US. Because we can’t promise publication, once you submit to us you may then market that work simultaneously to other competitions, journals, and publishers during the time we are considering it and still be eligible for Dana Awards.
Especially if you become one of our winners, we would like to know if another source has accepted the work during that time, so we can say another source agreed with our good judgment.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FOR THE DANA AWARDS:
Whether fiction or
poetry, it must be work that is original yet not merely sensational for
the sake of sensation. It must contain clear, well-developed themes and be
written in a style that exhibits love of language and mastery of craft.
If fiction, whether literary/mainstream or genre fiction, the characters
must be fully drawn, not stereotypes, and must be engaged in conflicts
(either internal or external) that are compelling and show forward
momentum.
In both poetry and fiction, if it's a universal story (love, death, loss,
coming of age, moral responsiveness or failure to respond), it must be
told in a fresh way.
And poetry, whether formal or free-verse, must exhibit rhythm and
"music" in its use of language, syntax, line breaks, and
structure. A group of words carelessly slung lengthwise down a page is not
a free-verse poem; it's a group of words that needs to be made into a
poem.
Furthermore, a
group of words that ‘plays’ with language without attempting meaning
or message is not a poem, it’s an exercise.
HOW WE STARTED
As a writer who entered competitions myself, I was often mystified when I read winners' work--often I disagreed with the judges' choices.
Then I realized that as first reader for my own competition, I could steer toward reward what I deemed good work.
I also knew
that by starting my own competition and casting my editor's net into the
wide pool of work out there, I could see how my own writing measured up to
other hopefuls'.
I've learned a heartening but frightening thing in managing the Dana
Awards: that there are thousands of excellent writers out there.
Which is
heartening for the sake of literature, but frightening because of the
sheer numbers of good writers looking for recognition--so much competition
for each one of us, and so many people who deserve notice but aren't
getting it.
Writing is a profession for talented, imaginative, sensitive Gila monsters
(I say this because good writers don't give up, and legend claims that
when a Gila monster clamps its jaws on something it won't let go.)
CENTER: A Journal of the Literary Arts
from University of Missouri-Columbia
(the same creative writing program that produces the award-winning MISSOURI REVIEW edited by Speer Morgan)
in Spring 2002 released Volume 1, Issue 2 of CENTER, highlighting the Dana Awards on the cover and on their Web site and including a 60-page center section showcasing in its entirety the winning work of our YEAR 2000 AWARD RECIPIENTS
(A typo on the issue’s cover says 2001 awards, but those weren’t even decided until after the issue went to press.)
But because of editorial board/policy changes and their decision to focus on their students' work, CENTER Magazine can no longer publish Dana Awards winners.
To receive a copy of the 2000 Dana Awards issue, email the Center for Literary Arts at CLA@missouri.edu. Response may be slower during summer months.
PUBLICATION IS ALWAYS A COURTESY, NOT PART OF OUR CONTRACT.
We affiliated with CENTER as our publisher that year as a courtesy to our winners, not as a part of a promised contract. We promise only monetary awards each year.
This courtesy arrangement will also be true if/when we find another journal to publish any future winners.
Our contract with our winners ends with us paying them the monetary Dana Awards. Any publication or further payment is between the winners and the literary journal.
Also, it is our winners’ choice, not a requirement, to publish with any journal with which we form an affiliation.
Furthermore, since our contract with winning authors ends when we pay them their award money, we can not be held responsible if a journal promises and then fails to publish.
FOR QUESTIONS ONLY, E-MAIL AT THIS ADDRESS danaawards@pipeline.com