Richard Boes Memorial Award – call for entries

Richard Boes Memorial Award

The award is a $100 cash prize for best debut book by a veteran (fiction or memoir) and is sponsored by Modern History Press. The contest is administered by Reader Views Inc., which includes a general book award contest as well.

Richard enlisted into the US Army and served in Vietnam in 1969 – 1970 with the First Air Cav. He is the author of two books, The Last Dead Soldier Left Alive (2007)  a firsthand inquiry into why thousands of Vietnam veterans have committed suicide  and Last Train Out (2008). Right up to his death Richard was writing a third, In the Valley of Dry Bones.  He passed away on Feb 21st, 2009 at the VA Hospital
in Albany, NY.

Entry Fee

$65.00 per title (for the initial category) if postmarked before October 31, 2009, $75.00 if postmarked November 1, 2009 or later. $20.00 for each additional category or regional/global entry. Entry fee must be in USD via U.S. check or international money order payable to: Reader Views.

Submission for more than one category or area is acceptable. Submit two copies of the book for the first category, and an additional book for each other category to be considered. For example, if you enter your book in the “Fiction – Historical” category as well as “Young Adult” and “SW Region” you must send in four books.

All books entered will become the property of Reader Views and donated to local charities after the awards program is completed. Submissions received without the entry fee will not be considered.  Entry fee is non-refundable.

Registration Deadline

Authors are encouraged to submit their entries as soon as possible but postmarked no later than December 15, 2009. Any submission postmarked after this date will not be accepted. (Help us prevent judge burn-out and submit your book early! Hint: our judges read the book in its entirety – give them plenty of time to read the book.) We will confirm your entry via e-mail so print your email address clearly.

Registration

Registration form may be downloaded here.  Be sure one form is included with each title submitted.  If submitting more than one title or in more than one category, one check or money order may be included for all submissions.

Be sure to send appropriate number for books. (Two for the first category, one for each additional category.) Registration form must accompany each title and sent to:

Reader Views Literary Awards 2009
7101 Hwy 71 W #200
Austin, TX 78735

Richard Boes – Above The Line

Richard Boes (R.I.P.)

This just in from Marc Levy:

Regret to inform you that Richard Boes, whose work opens More Than A Memory: Reflections of Vietnam passed away on 21 Feb 09.
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Richard Boes died yesterday at the VA Hospital in Albany NY. Richard enlisted into the US Army and served in Vietnam in 1969 – 1970 with the First Air Cav. He is the author of two books, The Last Dead Soldier Left Alive (2007) a first hand inquiry into why thousands of Vietnam Veterans have committed suicide and Last Train Out (2008). Right up to his death Richard was writing a third, In the Valley of Dry Bones.

You can read Richard’s recollection “POW Remembered” which was published in the VVAW publication The Veteran in Fall 2004 (Vol. 34, No. 2)

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“Above the line I know enough to know I know nothing. Less is missing, no greater than the whole, hole I’m in, bullets, buttons, and apart from. I’m dumber than a stone like a crumpled page, blood for ink at the price of fleshy gooseflesh. It’s a beautiful day, yeah, but I only want out. A simple song, a clear view to the bottom, out from the glass. The water’s deep, wiggles and divides, I’m a stick in the mud, a new-found mind set. And the gold finch in a feeding frenzy smacks up against itself. All vanity is glass. There’s no one I’m looking for, but most likely Myles is dead like all us good soldiers.”
                                                                                     –Richard Boes, Last Train Out

Press Release

The Press Release has been posted on PRWeb for general distribution. A copy of the body text is below.

Veterans Recall Viet Nam in Diverse Poetry and Prose Anthology

Viet Nam shaped a generation, yet decades later, the soldiers’ experience remains difficult to grasp. Now fifteen veterans have collaborated in recalling, through poetry, fiction, and personal essays, their war experiences in “More Than a Memory.”

Ann Arbor, MI (PRWEB) February 23, 2009 — No book on Viet Nam has ever completely captured the experience of that war because no one can speak for every soldier. A new anthology resolves that limited viewpoint by capturing the diverse experiences of veterans in “More Than a Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam” (ISBN 9781932690644, Modern History Press, 2008). (more…)

More than a paperback!

We’re proud to announce the hardcover edition is finally completed.  Click on the image below to purchase on Amazon.com

More Than A Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam Book Trailer

More Than A Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam Book Trailer by Rich Raitano