February 2025 Memoir Stories Contest
February 2025 Memoir Stories Contest
First place - $100
Second place - $50
Third place - $25
Honorary Runner Up - Certificate
Winners' stories will published on our website (with permission).
Submissions are accepted between February 1 and 28.
Submission fee: $11 for CWC members, $17 for non-members.
Open to the public.
Memoir story, any theme. A good memoir story is a short, essay length work, characterized by a compelling personal (and true) story that is told with vivid details, emotional depth, and a clear narrative arc. Effective memoir stories connect a specific life experience to broader themes or insights, while engaging the reader through vulnerability and authenticity.
Maximum of 1,500 words per submission.
Limited to 2 submissions per person. (Fee is per submission.)
Format: Microsoft Word document, Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced, 1" margins.
Each piece must be titled.
Author name or other identifying information cannot appear in the Word document (work will be judged blind).
Submitter must verify authorship and copyright ownership and that the work is not created in part or in whole by artificial intelligence.
Note: Submissions that do not adhere to the submission guidelines may be disqualified, and submission fees will not be refunded.
Amber Lea Starfire, MFA is an author, editor, and journaling expert whose passion is helping others tell their stories. She has authored two memoirs, Accidental Jesus Freak and Not the Mother I Remember, as well as several books on journaling, including Journaling for Dummies, released in Nov. 2022. Amber has been a member of the California Writers Club since 2010 and joined Napa Valley Writers when it began in 2013.
Paul Moser has authored four books, the first three reflecting his tragic fascination with satire: The New Revised Catechlysm, T-Bull and the Lost Men, Inside the Flavor League. The fourth is a memoir, Seeking. To escape work on a current manuscript, he blogs at thisunholymess.com.
Dr Rebecca Levy-Gantt is a Board Certified ObGyn and a certified menopause practitioner who has been practicing for the last 15 years in Napa, California. She is originally from New York City, where she grew up and went to medical school. She owns a solo private practice which has been growing for the past 10 years, She spends her free time teaching, traveling, running and writing. She has written two self published books about her life as a physician, and also Perimenopause For Dummies, a handbook for mid-life women.
For questions, contact napavalleywriters@gmail.com.