Well, now that you’ve made your reading resolutions, dust off one of your favorite books and, if you’re in 11th or 12th grade, give this essay contest a try:

The Sylvia K. Burack Writing Award is a writing contest for high school students in grades 11 and 12 in the U.S. and Canada. The award is made in memory of Sylvia K. Burack, longtime editor and publisher of The Writer magazine. Burack was known for her dedication to helping writers and editors.

Contest

Submit a previously unpublished 600- to 800-word personal essay in English on the following topic: “Select a work of fiction, poem or play that has influenced you. Discuss the work and explain how it affected you.” No song lyrics.

Eligibility

You must be a student in grade 11 or 12 attending a U.S. or Canadian high school at the time you submit the essay. The winner will be asked to provide proof of enrollment in grade 11 or 12 in a U.S. or Canadian high school. Employees of The Writer, Kalmbach Publishing Co. and Gotham Writers’ Workshop and their families are not eligible to participate.

Prizes

• $500
• Publication in The Writer magazine and on WriterMag.com
• A one-year subscription to The Writer
• A copy of the Gotham Writers’ Workshop anthology Fiction Gallery

For the complete rules, hop on over to The Writer website.

Hey, it’s time to start the new year “write.” (Sorry. I should resolve not to pun this year.)

Below are two writing contests for girls 7-12 (chixLITtle) and 13-17 (chixLIT).

chixLIT and chixLITtle, literary ‘zines by and for girls, are looking for the good things that come in small packages. Our motto is, “Words are powerful, and they can make you powerful too.”

Each ‘zine will publish winners plus a selection of finalists. The winning story in each category will receive a cash prize! Additional prizes may be awarded at judges’ discretion. Decision of judges is final.

Submission Guidelines:

• Stories must be 100 words or fewer. Title does not count toward total.
• You can submit as many stories as you want, but each entry must be submitted separately via US mail. NO EMAIL ENTRIES.
• Include writer’s name, age, and postal mailing address plus email address if available.
• $5 entry fee required. Entries without fee will not be considered.

Include:

• SASE for reply.
• Entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2011.
• Every entry will get a FREE issue.
• Send to: chixLIT story contest, PO Box 12051, Orange CA 92859

Visit chixLIT for information.

FOGG (Friends of Geek Girls) Marianne and Judy have a “new” review site included in their already huge romance review site. It’s Aurora and to get the word out about the site, they’re hosting a very cool (and easy to enter) contest: 

We’re having an Aurora Reviews Awareness Promotion – win an Aurora Reviews tote bag and a $25 Amazon/BN.com GC!!

Did you know that The Long and the Short of it now does reviews for Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction?  Did you know we interview a new published author every week?  Did you know we’re actively seeking short (1000 word) juvenile fiction short stories?   

We don’t want you to miss another review or interview or author chat, so we’re holding a contest from now through July 31, 2010 to raise awareness of this new site.  What’s the prize?

A huge Aurora Reviews canvas tote bag “stuffed” with your choice of either a $25 Amazon or BN.com gift certificate!

It’s easy to enter!  Get on entry for each of the following:

• Follow our reviews blog – http://aurorareviews.blogspot.com/
• Follow our interviews/story blog – http://aurorareviewsarchives.blogspot.com/
• Join Aurora Reviews Yahoo group & post a message – http://tinyurl.com/36hupob
• Like us on Facebook -  http://tinyurl.com/yj644or
• Tweet the contest info (and send us the link).
• Blog about the contest and send us the link.

How much easier can we make this for you?

Drawing will be held on August 1, 2010 and the winner notified via email (so make sure you have an email account associated with your entries!).

Questions?  Email us at lasreviews AT gmail DOT com

Marianne and Judy

http://www.longandshortreviews.com

So … what are you waiting for? A little something for everyone. Looking for something to read? Check out the reviews. Looking to break into print? I know they’re looking for story submissions.

Another one of those contests with a very specific demographic, but hey, if you’re in St. Louis and in high school, you should totally go for it.

River Styx presents The Founders Award Original Poetry Contest for St. Louis Area High School Students

Winner will receive $150 and the opportunity to participate in a public reading at River Styx’s Annual Literary Feast and Fundraiser on May 3 at Duff’s in the Central West End.

Submissions should be mailed to:

River Styx Founders Award
3547 Olive Street, Suite 107
St. Louis MO 63103

Deadline to receive submissions is April 23, 2010.

Entrants may include up to five original poems on separate pieces of paper. Poems should be titled and should not include the student’s name on the poem itself. On a separate cover sheet, please include student poet’s name and title(s) of submissions, the poet’s age, grade, school, address, phone number, and e-mail.

Winners will be announced in the last week of April.

As always, see the website for all the submission details. Read the fine print and good luck!

For juniors and seniors in high school.

Sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis.

This competition is open to juniors and seniors currently enrolled in high school. Three prizes of $250 each will be awarded both in fiction and in poetry. Students may send a single entry in each genre (one poem and/or one short story or novel chapter).

All entries must be typed, with the student’s name, home address, telephone number, high school name and address, and the genre (poetry or fiction) of the work on the first page.

Entries must be postmarked by March 15, 2010. Awards will be announced May 15, 2010. Please keep a copy, as entries cannot be returned.

This competition will be judged by faculty in the Writing Program at Washington University, including fiction writers Kathryn Davis, Marshall Klimasewiski and Kellie Wells, and poets Mary Jo Bang and Carl Phillips.

See the website for complete rules and mailing address. Good luck!

Cool contest with a very cool judge. Deadline April 30th, so you have plenty of time to pull something together.

Hunger Mountain Prize for Young Writers

The Hunger Mountain Prize for Young Writers is an annual contest for high school students. A chance for your fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction to be read by Hunger Mountain editors and guest judges!

Three first place winners receives $250 and publication!
Three runners-up receive $100 each.

There will be a first place winner and runner up in each category: fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

Any high school student with a piece of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction may enter.

The 2010 judge is M.T. Anderson, National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; Burger Wuss; and Feed.

The postmark deadline is April 30.

See the website for all the details on entering the contest.

Another one of those contests that has some specific requirements, but hey, all you 11th grade poets should totally go for it.

Good luck!

Leonard Milberg ’53 Secondary School Poetry Prize

The Program in Creative Writing is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the Leonard Milberg ’53 Secondary School Poetry Prize.

Eligibility is limited to students in the eleventh grade during the 2009-10 academic year.

Applicants may submit up to three poems with name, address, email address, telephone number and name of high school on each poem. The jury will consist of members of the Princeton University Creative Writing faculty.

Submissions must be postmarked by March 29, 2010.

First Prize: $500
Second Prize: $250
Third Prize: $100

See the website for complete details and mailing address.

See the NPR website for all the details, but here you go! This one looks like fun!

NPR CHALLENGES AUDIENCES TO WRITE “THREE MINUTE FICTION”

 ALL THINGS CONSIDERED WEEKEND CONTEST ACCEPTING

ORIGINAL SHORT STORY SUBMISSIONS UNTIL FEBRUARY 28 AT NPR.ORG

Many people aspire to write the great American novel, and NPR is offering an opportunity to take a giant baby step toward that goal by asking audiences to type an epic 600 words. NPR News’ weekend version of the newsmagazine All Things Considered appeals to listeners’ inner authors with a third round of “Three Minute Fiction” – a contest seeking original short stories that can be read in three minutes or less. Entries will be accepted beginning this weekend.

The popular “Three Minute Fiction” contest returns with a new twist after receiving thousands of entries in previous rounds. This time, All Things Considered challenges writers to come up with a story inspired by a photograph selected by the show’s staff. Prospective entrants can kickstart their imaginations by viewing the image at the “Three Minute Fiction” site: www.npr.org/threeminutefiction  Stories can be submitted now until February 28 using the site’s online form.

The winning story will be read on-air during All Things Consideredweekend and the author will also be interviewed by host Guy Raz. Preliminary judging will be conducted by students at the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, and the winner will be selected from the finalists by NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse. Complete contest rules are available at npr.org.

By tapping listeners’ creativity and talent, “Three Minute Fiction” continues All Things Considered weekend’s effort to bring listeners into the conversation. The competition’s two previous rounds featured judging by The New Yorkerliterary critic James Wood and received more than 8,000 entries in total. A fourth round will begin shortly after the current one wraps, with judging by Ann Patchett, bestselling author of Bel Canto, The Magician’s Assistant and What Now?.

From the Alpha website, the science fiction, fantasy and horror workshop for young writers:

The ALPHA SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers (ages 14 – 19) will be held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg Campus July 14 – 23, 2010 in conjunction with Pittsburgh’s science fiction convention, Confluence, July 23 – 25th.

We’re looking for enthusiastic, talented young writers who have a strong interest in science fiction, fantasy and/or horror and a passion for writing.

Come spend ten days working with professional authors, each of whom will spend two days at the workshop: Holly Black, Timothy Zahn, Tamora Pierce, and Mike Arnzen.

Wow! That’s quite the lineup. If you’re interested, check out the website for all the details. Application deadline is March 1^st.

No, really. These opportunities are geographically specific. But if you meet the requirements, give it a go!

Keep in mind that a lot of opportunities are annual events, whether it’s a call for submissions, a contest, a grant, or workshop. So if you miss this year’s deadline, think of it as getting a jump start on next year. I’ve done this and it can work out very well.

Good luck!

For high school students living within 100 miles of St. Louis:

2010 Beverly Hopkins Memorial Poetry Contest for High School Students

First prize, $50. Second prize, $35.

First, second, third prize and honorable mention winners will be invited to perform their poems at The Annual Poetry Concert, May 16, 2010. Winning poems will be published in a chapbook available at the concert.

No entry fee. Eligible poets must be high school students living within 100 miles of St. Louis.

ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY March 1, 2010.

For complete submission information, see the St. Louis Poetry Center web site.

For high school/college students in Georgia

Pegasus, the literary journal at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, invites submissions of poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and artwork for the upcoming spring 2010 issue. The submission deadline is January 31, 2010.

Pegasus is a regional journal, focused only on Georgia writers who are of high school age or who are freshman or sophomores in Georgia colleges. All other writers should query the editor, Jeff Newberry <jnewberry(at)abac.edu> (replace (at) with @), before sending any submissions. Past issues have included invited features by Mark Leidner, Janisee Ray, Patrick Phillips, and Amy Blackmarr.

Pegasus accepts electronic submissions only.

Please see the Pegasus site for full submission guidelines.