Writing in the Dark,, an apt metaphor for anyone who has ever tried to tap out words on a backlit screen. This book, a collection of essays gathered by Max van Manen, shows how "different kinds of human experience may be explored, the methods for investigating phenomena contributing to human experience…the process of inquiry, reflection and writing…a valuable and rich resource". That is to say, writing is an attempt to reflect what goes on inside us. Inside us is where "story" occurs.Scott Popjes maintains a busy schedule, writing, producing and editing major theatrical trailers, promos and EPK's and developing and producing TV series and films, such as "The Remarkably 20th Century" and "The Long Ride Home". Born and raised in suburban New Jersey, this everyman director/editor loves making movies.Ernest Hemingway - The man who ran with the bulls. His literary sparseness and compression, well-worn and well-earned, captured the attention of critics and public in a volatile age. In 1952, he received the Pulitzer for The Old Man and the Sea. In 1954, he received the Nobel Prize for his "powerful style-making mastery of the modern art of narration." He wrote from life. Until his life subdued and rescued him.Will Shakespeare - Aka "The bard". Arguably the best English writer to ever glide pen to page, populist hero as well as aristocratic raconteur, though we wish he had used all women instead of all men to populate his plays. (Not a prejudice, just a fact.) His sonnets remain divine. Rare is the writer who can scribble successfully in one genre, let alone two. Some postulate this poet and playwright was, in fact, more than one man…or woman. What would he have done with film, we wonder?Though he produced fewer than 40 paintings, Dutch painter Jan Vermeer is one of the most respected artists of the European tradition. He is known for his serene, luminous interiors populated by one or two figures. Vermeer grew up in Delft, Holland, joined the painters' guild in 1653, and worked as an art dealer to support his wife and 11 children. In 1672, war with France ruined Holland’s economy and Vermeer's business failed. Soon after, he died of a stroke at age 42, leaving his family bankrupt. Vermeer's paintings were largely forgotten for nearly 200 years, until 1858 when a French critic began to write admiringly about his work. Interest in Vermeer surged again recently with his work exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Contemporary writers have also been inspired by him, including Tracy Chevalier whose novel Girl with a Pearl Earring imagines the life of the girl in Vermeer's painting of the same name. L.Ron Hubbard - Whatever you may think of his other worldly beliefs, the full body of L. Ron Hubbard's work includes more than 5,000 writings and 3,000 tape-recorded lectures, spanning five, highly productive decades. A humanitarian and adventurer, he believes, "There are only two tests of a life well lived: Did one do as one intended? And were people glad one lived?" We add, "And can one write about it, anyhow?"Johannes Vermeer's "Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid" records a prior chivalrous age where class decorum reigned. (Oh, well, you can't have everything.) One of the most talented painters in the Dutch Golden Age, that's the 1600's, Vermeer's work was forgotten for centuries. The most brilliant artists of any century are probably never discovered, their paintings hidden till ruin, their pages dropping to dust in unfound attics. We find this oddly comforting. No martyr of time, this particular masterpiece hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland. Definitely worth a gaze.Jules Verne - Ode to childhood and the player within us. Verne was born, aptly, in Nates, France in 1828. He promptly ran off to become cabin boy on a merchant ship but was caught and sent back to his parents. Thus constrained, his imagination wandered. He wrote story after story, became very rich, bought a yacht and resumed his initial intent - to sail around the world. Or Europe anyhow. Our favorite remains Twenty Thousand Leagues.

The Writers Place Past Screenplay, Short Story, Poetry & Anthology Contest Winners

Screenplays Contests Short Story Contests
Poetry Contests Anthology Contests

Screenplay Contests

November 2008 - April 2009
Full-Length

First Place is Muhammad Ali Hasan – Benazir
Second Place is Mike Bencivenga – Running Gun
Third Place is Steven Schoen & James Loose – Dazzle Land
Honorable Mention goes to Gregg Greenberg – Friends and Romans

Teleplay/Short

First Place is Steven Karageanes – Want
Second Place is Adam Perrotta – The Office: Going Green
Third Place is Katarzyna Kochany – Dragon Tales: A Special Job
Honorable Mention goes to Juli Lasselle – The Wait of Our Discontent

May - October 2008
Full-length
First Place is Deana W. Costner – Kissin’ Kuzins
Second Place is Ben Krapf – The Line
Third Place is Jane Rosen – Alice

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Barry Kelly – Rocket Surgery
Second Place is Jay M. Biederman – South Park: Celebrititus
Third Place is Donna Lisa – Toucan You Can

November 2007 – April 2008
Full-length
First Place is Craig Rosenthal – The Shanghailanders
Second Place is Alexis & Rudy Croyle – Good Intentions
Third Place is Caitlin McCarthy - Vera
Honorable Mention to Jacqueline Johnston – Amor? Amor! Amor.
Honorable Mention to Elizabeth Berger & Christopher Littler – Target 26

Teleplay/Short
 First Place is Andrew Ferguson – The Office: The Morning After
Second Place is Frederick Weller – Tommy and the Beast
Third Place is Elizabeth Hamlett – Please Shred
Honorable Mention to Brian Wright - Regret

May - October 2007
Full-length
First Place is Phil Ferriere - Silent Killer
Second Place is Kevin Kalmes - Vengeance
Third Place is Paul McComas - Unplugged
Honorable Mention to Colin Costello - Bridezilla vs. Deer
Honorable Mention to Frank Brady - Sweeps

Teleplay/Short
 First Place is Kimberly Coleman - Kiyala
Second Place is Leo Vasilevskiy - My Epiphany Closet
Third Place is Greg Gibson - Gus and Chloe
Honorable Mention to Anthony Amenta - Dial H For Happiness
Honorable Mention to John Uth - Down the Shore

November 2006 - April 2007
Full-length
First Place is Jonathan Harnisch---Freak
Second Place is Erick Biskamp---Peace 101
Third Place is Christopher Schultz---Fingers
Honorable Mention to Jacqueline Frazier---Best of the Second Raters

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Greg Rebman---Burt's Used Cars
Second Place is Mara Lesemann---Getting In
Third Place is Adam Moser---T.T.I.M. Thank God It's Michael
Honorable Mention to Christopher Hlas---Lo Scrittore

May – October 2006
Full-length
First Place is Anita Skibski-Mine
Second Place is Bruce Dundore—Bye Bye Moon
Third Place is Rebecca Fulgoney—Strange Meeting

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Diana Kemp-Jones-Urchin
Second Place is Carrie Certa—Maggie
Third Place is Robert Heske—Her First Day Alone

November 2005 - April 2006
Full-length
First Place is Danny Howell- Visions
Second Place is Robyn Jackson- The Church
Third Place is James Frazier- Blue Ground

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Amardeep Singh Kaleka- Arrow to the Moon
Second Place is Alan Baxter- Alone In A Crowd
Third Place is David Holstein- Mr. Monk Goes To Prom

May - October 2005
Full-Length
First Place is Jeff Seeman- In Your Dreams
Second Place is Jason Nunes- Business Men
Third Place is Don Rosenblit- Rod Weiller, Private Eye Dog in PLAY DEAD

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Jasmin B. Tekiner- Picture Day
Second Place is Robert Collie- A Date With Death
Third Place is Dru E. Vratil- Dog Dreams

November 2004 - April 2005
Full-Length
First Place is Laura E. Grabowski- Dating Santa's Daughter
Second Place is David Farmer & Richard J. Farmer- Stringers
Third Place is Jean Hunter- Lady Jazz

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Herbert C. Higginbotham- Fifteen Miles
Second Place is James D. Tuverson- Hours Before Dawn
Third Place is Parker L. Briscoe- Folklore

May - October 2004
Full-Length
First Place is Vaughan Risher & David Tish—Riders of the Strike
Second Place is David B. Gittlin—Love Will Find You
Third Place is Timothy W. McGivney—Good, Clean, Fun

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Ian F. Day—Visibility Zero
 Second Place is Matt Dallmann—Control Me
Third Place is Marc D. Wasserman—Commute

November 2003 – April 2004
 Full-length
First Place is John G. Culton - The Jewel of Africa
Second Place is Maya L. Christobel - A Necessary Betrayal
Third Place is Pablo F. Proenza - Black Hat

Teleplay/Short
First Place is Randi Barnes - Date-by-Number
Second Place is Pamela L. Turner - Cemetery
Third Place is Peter J. Phelan - Homie Makes The World Go 'Round

May - October 2003
Full-Length
First Place is George M. Ferris – The Aviator
Second Place is Dennis Johnson & Mark J. Stouffer – Tiger, Tiger
Third Place is Erna Mueller – It’s a Dog’s Life

Teleplay/Short
 First Place is Scott A. McConnell – Confess
Second Place is Steve N. Cooper – Grey Linen
Third Place is BethAnn Galiardi – Lucy Makes Room

Short Story Contests

July 2006 - June 2007
Short Story
First place is Jacob M. Apple - Before the Storm
Second Place is I. Cori Bail - Omens

July 2005 – June 2006
Short Story
First Place is Jacob Appel— The Ataturk of the Outer Boroughs
Second Place is Billy Maddox— Fear Is a Powerful Motivator

July 2004 - June 2005
Short Story
First Place is Michael L. Gray- Little Man
Second Place is Pamela J. Schoenewaldt- The Blessed Virgin, Here and Gone

July 2003 - June 2004
Short Story
First Place is Linda Boroff- Everything I Have Is Yours
 Second Place is Laura Loomis- Revenge of the Mercy Date

Poetry Contests

Poetry Competition
February 2007 – January 2008
See author bio and verse by clicking on below links.
First Place is Connie Tonsgard—Tapestry
Second Place is Dove*—The Radio
Third Place is Lisa H. Leary—Asking
Honorable Mention is Kelsey A. Barksdale—9/11
Honorable Mention is Cornelius Jones Jr.—Momma Said… (A Hard Life)

February 2006 - January 2007
Poetry Competition
See author bio and verse by clicking on below links.
First Place is Linda L. Johnson—Thin Ice
Second Place is Joseph P. Hart—White Hole
Third Place is Edward L. Mendoza—As the Peaches Come
Honorable Mention is Diane Y. Uniman—Bellini Lullaby

Anthology Contests

March – June 2007
Anthology
First Place is Bonnie Jo Campbell – Bringing Home the Bones
Second Place is Phyllis F. Witte – The Book of Esther
Third Place is Diana Anhalt – Chichen Itza

Honorable Mentions go to:
I. Cori Baill – Omens
Joan C. Livingston – The Best-Looking Mile
MariJo Moore – Why I Haven’t Dyed My Hair, Yet
Andrea R. Rosenhaft – Sharp Edges

July 2006 - March 2007
Anthology
First Place is Melita C. Schaum – Restraints
Second Place is Jacob M. Apple – The Butcher’s Music
Third Place is Thea K. Scott – Chloe

Honorable Mentions go to:
Peter Nash – The Garden
Leda Siskind – Isotope
Lorraine D. Merkl – Little Boss
Christina Lovin – A Stirring in the Dark