Jeff points to a new fiction writing contest that I was about to ignore (because, really, I somehow doubt contest judge Richard Ford will want to pick up the sort of thing I am likely to put down, but then, who knows) but then I noticed that beyond publication and cash, the prize also includes a pass to the literary festival sponsoring the prize (!), airfare to get there (!!), accommodations while you're there (!!!), and a public reading of your work (!!!!). I'm not sure if that means the winning writer reads their own winning work or if they bring in someone famous to do it, but either way--pretty cool. I'm not aware of any other contests that offer such things.

But then, I haven't looked, either. I tend to not submit to contests because all those entry fees quickly add up to a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but this would be the second contest this year that has snagged my attention.