Photogene: A visual impression remaining on the retina after the stimulus producing it has been withdrawn; an after-image.

Photogene is an ongoing contest that provides writers with an original piece of artwork or photography to use as a writing prompt. For each round, we will select one work of art/photography to post to our site and burn into the retinas of writers everywhere, who will then write and submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction inspired by this piece.

Submit Your Writing (The written portion of the contest is closed until we choose the next prompt. Check back later!)

Submitting your writing to our Photogene series includes the following steps:

Find our most recent inspiration piece. (The contest is currently closed. Check back later!)
Write no more than 500 words of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that have been inspired by this wonderful piece of art/photography. No need to mention it or say anything directly about it. Instead, let it rouse, ignite, awaken, electrify, spark, trigger, prompt, inspire, cause, and affect your writing.
Submit your wonderful piece of writing and a brief bio (no more than 60 words) as a Word or PDF attachment.

Email to: SDLphotogene@gmail.com

We will select and post one winner for each round. Multiple & simultaneous submissions are welcome.

The winner will be posted on the site and drink to their success from our new prize:

Submit Your Art & Photography

Submit your artwork or photography to be used in our Photogene series, an ongoing contest that provides writers with an original piece of artwork or photography to use as a writing prompt.

Photogene: A visual impression remaining on the retina after the stimulus producing it has been withdrawn; an after-image.

For each round, we will select one work of art/photography to post to our site and burn into the retinas of writers everywhere, who will then write and submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction inspired by this piece. This means the selected piece will be featured twice: once as a call for written submissions, and once alongside the winning writer.

Please email up to 10 previously unpublished .jpg or PDF documents at a time. Please be sure to include up to a 60-word bio and a link to your website. You may submit others as soon as we respond.