Writing Contest in Second Life: 'An Offer You Can't Refuse'

By: Alas Zerbino - TLE Official Blogger

Remember the day Bonnie and Clyde were killed? You probably don't, since it was 75 years ago, on May 23, 1934. But the 75th anniversary of this event is an auspicious date to mark the historical era that gave us not just Prohibition, bootleggers and other gangsters, but also the the Roaring '20s, jazz, and speakeasies -- those ubiquitous illegal saloons that sprung up during Prohibition and nurtured the flow of liquor, jazz and blues, and the literature of the Jazz Age.

Thus, May 23, 2009, is the date for the speakeasy-themed "An Offer You Can't Refuse" cocktail party, poetry slam, and all things literary at the TLE Creative Showcase for Writers in Second Life, starting at 7 p.m. SLT (Pacific time).

Speakeasies became synonymous with the literature and literati of the Jazz Age. Writers such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and John Steinbeck gathered at speakeasies, wrote about them, and helped expand interest in jazz/blues music and both the written and spoken word. Creative writers are among the SL residents showcased by the free virtual education organization in SL, TLE Educational Network, whose Creative Showcase for Writers will host the speakeasy party on Saturday.

As part of this celebration, the TLE Educational Network is offering cash prizes (Linden dollars) and publication to authors who enter the TLE "An Offer You Can't Refuse" 2009 Flash Fiction Contest, which ends a minute before midnight (SLT) on Wednesday, May 27.

The rules and guidelines are pretty simple:

• Write a flash fiction piece (aka short-short story, sudden fiction) of up to 500 words.
• Write on a theme at lease loosely related to the era of speakeasies, Prohibition, gangsters, the Jazz Age, the Roaring '20s, etc.
• Submit your story to TLE on a notecard that you drop off in the black mailbox inside the TLE Creative Showcase for Writers in Second Life no later than 11:59 p.m. SLT May 27.
• Be sure to put the title of the story and your SL avatar name, as well as the text of the story, in the body of your notecard.
• Then wait for the panel of judges to decide the top three stories, which will be announced in June, followed by the publication of all stories submitted.

A few more of the "fine print" details:

• Any story you submit must be your original work.
• Previously published stories are fine, as long as you retain publication rights to it.
• You can submit more than one story, but each story must be submitted on its own notecard.

Why is this contest "an offer you can't refuse"?

• Authors of the stories judged to be of the highest quality on the contest theme will receive prizes of L$1000, L$500, and L$250, respectively, for first, second, and third place.
• All stories submitted (unless the author opts out) will be published in a book in SL by the TLE Publishing House, which will be made available throughout the multi-sim virtual education campus operated by the TLE Educational Network in Second Life.

So, let your creative juices flow, unleash your muse -- do whatever it takes -- and write up a wild or funny or poignant or dramatic story for the "An Offer You Can't Refuse" Flash Fiction Contest.

But also take a break on Saturday, May 23, at 7 p.m., and come to the TLE Speakeasy Cocktail Party and Poetry Slam at the Creative Showcase for Writers (shown in photo above). Dress up in your favorite Roaring '20s or gangster outfit and join the party. Here are a few of the other things going on at this event:

• Live music from the speakeasy era
• A poetry slam featuring two of Second Life's great spoken word poets House Ragu and Stosh Quartz
• Presentation of the winning poems from the TLE 2009 VE Day Poetry Contest
• Cocktails, dancing, and schmoozing with writers, readers, and other literary minds of SL
• Updated and expanded displays of showcased writers (partially shown in photo below)