Expectations and Submission Guidelines

20^th Annual Scissortail Festival, April 3-5, 2025

Expectations: The Scissortail Festival is a shared experience, and all involved contribute to the success of the event. In the words of poet Major Jackson, who graced the festival in 2022, authors are expected to be “Citizens” of the festival. Authors selected for the program are expected to be a good citizen by attending sessions of fellow authors, and interacting positively with fellow authors, guests and students – the varied audience members of the festival. In short, Scissortail is a Festival celebrating creative writing, not a platform for individual egos, so put your ego in your back pocket, and come share a positive, generative experience. Thank you for contributing to the festive, inspiring, positive vibe, uplifting all who attend.

To be considered for a spot on the program, please send your best work, while considering the following guidelines. Please follow exactly.

* Authors will have not more than 20 minutes to present their material – this is the total time at the mic, including any comments you make in addition to the presented material.

* Scissortail is a reading festival. No workshops, how-to, propaganda or pre-arranged panels are acceptable. Reading sessions feature a mixture of authors and genre.

* Fiction and creative nonfiction writers are encouraged to Excerpt their submission to fit into the time restraints (The appeal of a narrative may, in fact, be heightened by presenting a carefully selected excerpt, rather than speed-reading).

* Due to the number of participants, it is not possible to accommodate scheduling requests.

* Please understand that Ada, Oklahoma is a small town with very limited public transportation and has a limited number of hotel rooms. Ada is a two-hour drive from the Oklahoma City airport, three hours from DFW (in good traffic) and two and half hours from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Scissortail Festival is unable to provide shuttle service to and from these airports, so please consider these factors before submitting.

* Sessions usually consist of 3 or 4 readers per session. Authors may NOT exceed 20 minutes total time at the mic – including prose, including commentary. Please respect your audience and fellow readers by diligently adhering to time restraints.

Submit by email: 1) complete contact information 2) the title of your program and the work to be considered – please consider the time restraints per reader. 3) a paragraph-length biographical narrative summarizing publications and significant accomplishments (please write bios in 3^rd person).

Deadline for submission is December 15, 2024. The schedule will be announced as early as possible, in January, and certainly by early February at the latest.

Send email submissions to: scissortailfestival@gmail.com. Identify “Scissortail Submission” in the subject line.

Please check your calendar before submitting. Participants are not charged registration fees, nor are authors compensated. Ecuscissortail.blogspot.com is the official location for information, schedules, bios, etc. Please check that site regularly for information and updates.

COVID DISCLAIMER:  By submitting your work to be included as a participant and/or audience member of the 2025 Scissortail Festival, you voluntarily acknowledge that you have been vaccinated for COVID and/or you fully accept all responsibility for any potential health risk when gathering in these public events. By submitting work to be included on the festival program, applicants further agree to hold harmless the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival and East Central University. You also recognize that plans to hold an in-person festival, could be changed at the last minute, as necessary, due to unforeseen circumstances associated with Covid, and/or the festival could be canceled at the discretion of East Central University.