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Writers in the Attic

About

While some authors write for themselves (we’re looking at you, Emily Dickinson), many hope to reach an audience outside themselves. Writers in the Attic can offer the first step towards that goal.

An annual publication by The Cabin, Writers in the Attic is a contest designed for Idaho writers, both emerging and established, to publish work related to a one-word theme. (Past years’ themes have included song, game, and rupture.) With submissions blind-judged by a local writer of acclaim, selected poems and fiction are published in a yearly anthology. Selected writers are also invited to a book launch party and reading celebration in late August each year.

2025 Theme - Knot

The Cabin is now accepting submissions for the 14th annual Writers in the Attic writing competition. Writers are encouraged to send their work on the one-word theme, "KNOT," in any creative format they wish for example poetry, fiction, nonfiction, etc.

About this year’s theme:

Knots mark a coming together or a pulling apart. Sailors, like storytellers, use knots to navigate, set pace, and keep lines—whether of rope or relationships—from slipping away. Knots bind and create something new, serving as both tools and decorations. They can be a tangled mess or a source of great strength. Knots in our muscles tighten, capturing our attention and crying for a friend’s touch, while knots in our stomachs constrict, holding our emotions and demanding courage. This contest invites you to explore the knots in your own story. Write about the knots that keep your world together, or those that tether you to the past. Discover the beauty in tension, the significance in binding, and let your words weave something strong enough to hold.

What is KNOT to you?

Submissions are due by Sunday, March 16, 2025, by 11:59 PM.

Submit here

2025 Submission Guidelines

Writing should apply, abstractly or literally, to the theme “Knot” Work unrelated to the theme will be disqualified.

Keep entries under 1,500 words, please!
Although we love that you're inspired, no photos, illustrations, or artwork.
Submissions must be typed, Times New Roman, 12pt font, and double-spaced (if prose).
To allow for blind judging, leave personal information off the submission itself.
The entry fee is subject to your interpretation.
Send us your piece(s) by 11:59 PM on Sunday, March 16, 2025.
Writers will be emailed in the spring as to whether or not their work was selected by the judge for publication!
Submissions will be blind-judged by Kerri Webster, Idaho’s Writer-in-Residence.