Geist contest pays tribute to the smoking life (and draws in subscriptions, too)

Geist magazine of Vancouver is well-known (and regarded) for its eclectic and fearless literary content but also for its quirky and off-the-wall competitions,such as the postcard story contest and the erasure contest. It may have come up with the off-beatest of all with its Tobacco Lit Writing Contest, for which the extended deadline is now September 15. 

It calms, soothes, relaxs, smells great, tastes better; loosens muscles, heightens focus; makes you look older, makes you look cooler; dulls taste buds, shortens your breath; yellows teeth, blackens lungs; cripples your heart, fries your brain, and of course, it kills you. To the cigarette, for all that it does, it is time we pay tribute. 

Entrants are asked to send $20 ($5 for each additional entry) and to write 500 tobacco related words (or fewer) in any genre, so long as it's original. First prize is $500, second $250, 3rd $150 and honourable mentions $100. All winning entries will be published in Geist and on geist.com. Every entry includes a one-year subscription to Geist, (which, we suspect, is half the reason for doing this.)