Spilling Ink Short Story Contest

SPILLING INK CONTEST
 http://www.spillinginkthebook.com/creativity-blog/2011/11/29/new-spilling-ink-contest-for-ages-8-12.html
 
For ages 8-12 in US & Canada. Deadline February 15, 2012.

Send your best short story of any length up to 1,000 words.
 
 1st Prize $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble and a Skype visit to your classroom from Anne or Ellen
 
 2nd Prize $15 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble
 
 3rd Prize $10 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble
 
 All winners will be published on the Spilling Ink Creativity Blog.

Deadline: February 15, 2012

How to Enter Paste your story into the Message section of the Contact page e-mail. Remember to include your name, age, and story title. Also, write “Story Contest” in the Subject line.

Here’s the Contact page link: http://www.spillinginkthebook.com/contact/

Two Days left – 2011 Seventeen Magazine Fiction Contest!

Some girls just have a way with words. And a story to tell. And could definitely find a way to spend an extra $5,000.

If that sounds like you then you have to enter the Seventeen Magazine Fiction Contest.

Seventeen, Figment, and Scholastic are teaming up to bring you this year’s fiction contest! One lucky winner will get a $5,000 cash prize, the opportunity to have her story published on Seventeen.com, and a phone call with Maggie Stiefvater, author of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy – Shiver, Linger, and Forever.

To enter, all you need to do is write an amazing, completely original story about absolutely anything, of no more than 500 words. Sounds doable, right?

All entries must be submitted by December 31, 2011 (at 11:59:59, ET), so don’t procrastinate, and get your story in now! Then vote for your favorite stories by “hearting” them — you can heart as many stories as you like, and it’s your hearts that determine 50 of the 60 finalists. The top 50 hearted entries, plus 10 wildcards chosen by Seventeen, will be judged by the Editors from Seventeen magazine and Maggie Stiefvater. They’ll consider all 60 finalists, and announce one grand prize winner on or around April 1, 2012. Remember, your story can be on any topic you like, so be creative!

Sorry dudes, this contest is open to girls ages 13 to 21 only!

 

GULEN INSTITUTE YOUTH WRITING CONTEST

Open to all high school students, currently enrolled in 9th through 12th grades, attending public or private schools from the United States and abroad. Essays must be in English, be original, unpublished, and written entirely by student, contain student’s original opinions and recommendations based on research, be at least 1,500 words in length but no more than 2,000 (Citations and bibliography are not included in the word count).

Deadline January 31, 2012.
 
 1st place $3,000
 2nd place $2,000
 3rd place $1,000
 4th – 15th place $ 300 (Honorable mention)
 16th – 30th place $ 50 (Honorable mention)
 
 All students who rank from 1st place to 30th place will be awarded a 4-day trip to Washington, D.C. and New York for the award ceremony in May 2012 (tentative date). Students will also have the opportunity to meet honorable U.S. Congress members, visit U.S. Capitol, participate in discussions with their peers from around the world, visit local university and think-tank organizations, and enjoy tourist attractions.

Airfare, accommodations, meals, and transportation to Washington, D.C. & New York will all be sponsored by the
 Gulen Institute.

http://www.gulenyouthplatform.org/

Chance For K-8 Student to Get Published

This contest is open to students in grades K-8 in United States and U.S. International schools. Students must develop their entries in groups of three or more under the supervision of an adult who acts as the Project Coordinator. The Project Coordinator assures that the entry adheres to the rules and regulations and provides constructive criticism and general guidance. The story and illustrations must be the students’ work.

Each entry must fit into one of the following categories:
• Fiction 21-29 pages, in picture book format

• Nonfiction 21-29 pages, in picture book format

Text on illustration page equals one page. Text facing illustration equals two pages.

There will be one grand-prize winner selected from each category. A total of twenty-five Honorable Mentions will be named as well.

Idea Starters – Use questions to get your students thinking about ideas for their story.

Who? Discuss possible characters to include in the story.

Where? In what setting does the story take place? Are there a variety of settings involved?

When? What is the time period of your story: present day, the future, the past, or a combination?

What? What is going to happen in their story? What is the problem or conflict?

Why? What is the purpose of the story: to educate and inform, to entertain, or a combination? What response do you want from the reader: to make them laugh, cry, understand a different view point or opinion?

How? How is the problem or conflict resolved?

Deadline: Postmarked by March 15 2012

Entry Form: http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/contest/kaa/downloads/kaa_entryform.pdf

More Info: http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/contest/kaa_about.asp

Writing For Peace Contest

Writing for Peace is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating empathy through creative writing, and developing a foundation of compassion on which to build a more peaceful world. Through their annual creative writing contest, they invite writers to research a new culture, write a poem or short story in the voice of a character from that culture, and to reflect upon the lessons learned in the form of a short essay. While they encourage writers of all ages to accept this writing challenge and share their results with them, their writing contest is only open to students in grades 9 through 12.

There is no fee and all contest contributors will receive a certificate of participation. Submit an original unpublished short story of 800-1,000 words, or one to three poems totaling no more than 100 lines in the voice of a character from another country or culture.

First, second, and third place prizes will be awarded in both short fiction and poetry categories.

First place winners will receive a $100 Amazon gift card and a $100 donation will be made to their charity of choice.

Second and third place winners will receive a $50 Amazon gift cad and a $50 donation will be made to their charity of choice.

Winners and honorable mentions will be published online. Deadline postmark March 1, 2012.

http://writingforpeace.org/

Bennington College Young Writers’ Competition

Each year, Bennington invites students in the 10th, 11th, or 12th grade to submit their original writing for the Bennington Young Writers Competition. The annual deadline is November 1. First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $500; second-place winners receive $250.

STUDENTS SUBMIT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING

• poetry (a group of three poems)
• fiction (a short story or one-act play),
• nonfiction (a personal or academic essay)

More information here.

First Freedom Essay and Video Contest for 9th-12th Graders

Sponsored by First Freedem Center.

The First Freedom Student Competition is a first-semester national essay and video contest. It offers high-school students an opportunity to compete for $2,500 awards as they examine the history and current-day relevance of religious freedom, and then, by written essay or video production, present their evaluation.  The competition is open to students in the United States and U.S. territories, and to American schools and American home-schooled students worldwide.  We invite 9th – 12th grade students at all levels of academic placement to participate.

Registration Deadline is November 14,2011.

Details are here. 

Veterans of Foreign War Essay Contest for Children

WHO CAN ENTER:
The Patriot’s Pen program is open to students in grades 6-8, who are enrolled in a public, private or parochial high school or home study program in the United States and its territories.

HOW TO ENTER:
Students should first ask a teacher or youth group leader to supervise their progress in the competition. Then the student should contact a local participating VFW Post and establish a contact person who is a member of that Post or its Ladies Auxiliary.

Next, it’s time to start drafting considering the 2011-2012 theme: “Are You Proud of Your Country?” Essays must be no less than 300 words and should not exceed 400 words and should be submitted to the Post, along with the completed Patriot’s Pen entry form no later than November 1, 2011.

More information is here.

The Charles Dickens 2012 Writing Challenge for Young People

This contest takes place in 2012. I’m mentioning it now because the sponsors hope to get schools, libraries, and authors involved.

From their website:

In 2012 young people will be invited to write a story in the spirit of the work of Charles Dickens highlighting the plight of young people less privileged than most in the world today.

The Challenge will be made through the media, schools, and/or libraries for young people aged 11-14 years. Stories should be a maximum of 500 words. A certificate will be awarded to each young person taking part in the competition and book tokens awarded to outstanding stories. It is hoped to get high profile personalities involved in the Challenge.

By taking part in the Challenge in the bicentenary year of Charles Dickens’ birth young people will be able to compare the social injustices written about by Dickens and the social injustices occurring today and look at what is being done to address these injustices. Young people will also be able to compare ideals found in Dickens’ works with ideals in the Olympic movement.

A Resource/Education Pack will be produced to comply with relevant Key Stages of the National Curriculum.

Young People will have the opportunity to broaden and use imaginative vocabulary by drawing on their own experience of reading. They will learn to choose a structure and language to achieve particular effects and organize material to convey ideas, themes, and characters. They will learn the importance of writing with commitment, developing their own style and evaluate the way in which language is used. Reading classical texts, in addition to contemporary text, will enable them to explore social and moral issues.

The challenge will introduce young people, and all those who will inevitably get involved, to the extraordinary work of Charles Dickens. They may even be tempted to ask for more!

 

Earth Science Writing Contest for Kids

For Grades 6-9.

American Geological Institute is sponsoring an essay contest to celebrate Earth Science Week 2011. The essay theme for this year is: “How Change Shapes Our Planet.”

The essay contest is open to any interested person in grades 6-9. You must be a resident of the United States to enter.

What is the subject of the essay?

Your essay should focus on the topic “How Change Shapes Our Planet.”

Write a brief essay explaining how interactions among Earth systems – geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere – change our planet over time. How do people gather evidence of change and study its effects? How are humans’ lives affected by these changes? What role do people play in the processes of change on our planet?

How long should the essay be?

The essay must be no more than 300 words. Longer essays will be rejected unread.

Deadline is October 14.