Free contest, Union League Arts Foundation Creative Writing Competition, top prize: $800 (Illinois)

Deadline: 1 June 2011

UNION LEAGUE CIVIC & ARTS FOUNDATION CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION 2011 RULES

The Union League Civic & Arts Foundation supports the creative writing efforts of young people by granting a total of up to $5,200 in awards.

High School Division, POETRY, SHORT STORY, CREATIVE NONFICTION OR NOVEL EXCERPT – Class of 2011 or younger: First Place - $500, Second Place - $300, Third Place - $200

College Division, SHORT STORY, CREATIVE NONFICTION OR NOVEL EXCERPT, Ages 18-24 as of June 1, 2011: First Place - $1,000, Second Place - $500, Third Place- $300

Young Adult Division, SHORT STORY, CREATIVE NONFICTION OR NOVEL EXCERPT, Ages 25-30 as of June 1, 2011: First Place - $1,200, Second Place - $800, Third Place- $400

1. The submission must be an original work of creative writing– a poem, a short story, novel excerpt, or work of creative nonfiction. Novel excerpts should stand alone as self-contained fictional movements.
2. Each entrant is limited to and may not submit more than one piece.
3. Entrants must be legal residents of Illinois living within a one hundred-mile radius of the Chicago Loop or students registered in an Illinois school within one hundred-mile radius of the Chicago Loop.
4. The submission should be typed in Word format, in English in Times New Roman 12-point font, have reasonable margins and be double-spaced. Poems must be no less than 5 and no more than 25 lines, not counting title and spaces between stanzas. Poetry entries may be in any verse form, without restrictions on theme or style. Stories, novel excerpts and works of creative non-fiction should not exceed 6,000 words. Submissions that exceed the line, word or page limit will be disqualified.
5. The submission should be labeled as a poem, short story, novel excerpt, or work of creative non-fiction. Please include this on the manuscript itself.
6. Pages should be numbered consecutively in the upper right-hand corner. The title should appear on the top of each page. The author’s name and birth date should not appear anywhere on the manuscript.
7. We encourage applicants to submit their work online at www.civicandarts.org.
8. If necessary, applicants may mail their application and submission. Mailed submissions should include the following materials: five hard copies of the submission, a CD or flash drive with the submission in Word format, and an entry form.

Submissions will not be returned.

The author of any winning entry grants the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation a royalty-free right of electronic and printed publication on our website and any future anthologies. The author will retain full copyright to the work. Should we publish this material, we will provide each awardee with a copy of the publication either in print or electronically. Additional copies will be available for purchase.

The work of the winners may be published at our discretion. The Union League Civic & Arts Foundation reserves the right to edit entries that will be published. Entries that are extensively edited will be submitted to the author who may elect not to print the work in edited form.

Deadline (drop off, postmark, or electronic submission) for an entry is June 1, 2011. Materials can be sent or delivered to Katie Hurley, Union League Civic & Arts Foundation, 65 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604-3598.

Competition results will be released (via email or letter) by October 2011.

You can complete a competition application online or you can download an application and mail it to our offices.

More information here.