[NFB-Idaho] writers division contest

Tue Jan 11 15:46:28 UTC 2022

I know we have some aspiring writers in our chapters, and last year, we had
two scholarship winners who wanted to be writers. If you enjoy writing,
please join this contest. It would be fun to have Idaho represented as a
winner at our national convention and in the magazine. 2022 Writers'
Division Contest guidelines 

Once again in the year 2022 we will be holding our annual Writers' Division
contest for youth and adults. Do you know a VI teacher? Distribute these
guidelines to any teachers or those in the blindness field especially anyone
who works with youth who are learning or are proficient in Braille. Please
consult the guidelines below for age groups and ways of payment. Feel free
to contact us using our email or phone above with questions. 

Note that adults need not submit contest entries in Braille. In fact, we
encourage only electronic copies of entries submitted by adults. Please
include a cover letter with your entries. See guidelines for cover letter
requirements. 

***

2022 Writers' Division Contest guidelines 

The annual youth and adult writing contests sponsored by the NFB Writers'
Division will open January 1st and close April 30th for all aspiring writers
whether blind, sighted or visually impaired. 

Adult contest categories are: short Fiction, nonfiction including personal
essay and memoir, and poetry.

Youth contest categories are: Short fiction and poetry. The youth contest is
divided into three groups, determined by grade level - elementary, 1st
through 4th grade, middle, 5th through 8th grade, and high school 9th
through 12th grade. 

As always, in both adult and youth contests, there may be up to three prize
winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and one or more receiving honorable mention.
Additionally, a prize winning entry may be published within the Writers'
Division's magazine, Slate & Style. 

All contest winners will be announced during the 2021 national convention.
Stay tuned for the 2021 location. 

PRIZES 

*Youth contest winners will receive cash and prizes up to $30 for 1st place,
$20 for 2nd place, and $10 for 3rd place. 

*Adult contest winners will receive cash and prizes up to $75 for 1st place,
$50 for 2nd place, and $25 for 3rd place. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

YOUTH CONTESTS

This is a contest for students who use Braille. 

If you are 18 years old, or older, you must enter the adult contest.

Entries must be submitted in hand embossed Braille, either with a slate and
stylus or Perkins Braille writer, and there are no exceptions.

Submissions must be Brailled by the entrant. 

All submissions, no matter the grade level, must be in contracted Braille.
Let us know if you "know" or are "learning" contracted Braille.
Additionally, let us know if you have chosen to use UEB, or not.

Each entrant must provide an identical electronic copy of the cover letter
and contest entry as a Microsoft Word file [doc or dox] or as a Rich Text
Format [rtf] file).

*Attach the electronic copies to an email and send them to Shelley Alongi,
Queenofbells at outlook.com. 

*Send your hardcopy Braille and cover letter to:

Chelsea Cook

901 Englewood Parkway, Apt. J304, Englewood, CO  80110 

COVER LETTER 

Entries must be accompanied by a cover letter containing the following
information for each entrant: Your name, mailing address, phone number, and
e-mail address. 

List the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are
being entered.

List your school and grade level.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

*We will consider only unpublished original entries. Please do not submit
entries that have been previously submitted on a web site or blog. 

*Youth short fiction stories submissions cannot be more than 1,000 words,
and poetry of no more than 50 lines. 

*Authors of either poetry or fiction are encouraged to submit multiple
pieces.

Youth ENTRY FEES - None

Are you the best Brailler in the contest? Be sure to double check your work
for spelling and grammatical errors. Remember to use Braille paper so the
Braille is easy to read. Good luck!

ADULT CONTEST

This contest is for everyone 18 years old, or older. One need not be blind
to enter.

We will consider only unpublished original entries. Please do not submit
entries that have been published on a website or blog.  

Fiction and nonfiction categories can be of any main stream genre, and
cannot exceed 3,000 words. 

Poetry: We will accept poetry of any length 

Authors of either poetry and/or prose are encouraged to submit multiple
pieces.

Adults are required to submit all poetry, fiction and nonfiction as
attachments to an E-mail message. 

The attachments must be in either Microsoft Word (doc) or Rich Text Format
(rtf). 

Fiction and nonfiction should be written in a normal prose style, with
paragraphs being left justified, lines being single spaced, and having a 14
point font of Aerial, regular. 

 Be sure to double check your work for spelling and grammatical errors

No hard copy submissions will be accepted.

COVER LETTER 

Along with your entry or entries, include a cover letter providing the
following information: 

Your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. 

List the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are
being entered.

State your method of payment for the entry fee (check or PayPal). 

*Finally, the cover letter could be your e-mail message, or a separate
document attached along with your submissions.

CONTEST ENTRY FEES PAYMENT AND METHODS

Adult Fees: 

The fee for each short story is $15.00 for members and $20.00 for
non-members.

The fee for each nonfiction entry is $15.00 for members and $20.00 for
non-members.   

The base fee for poetry will cover up to three poems, if the combined
line-count of all three pieces does not exceed 108 lines - additional poems
require a second fee, following the same fee payment scheme. Base fees are
$15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.

PAYMENT

*You may use PayPal from the Writers' Division website,
http://writers.nfb.org <http://writers.nfb.org/> 

*Alternatively, you may mail a check made out to NFB Writers' Division, with
a note in the memo line relating to the contest. Send to:

Shawn Jacobson

19541 Olney Mill Rd.

Olney, MD 20832.

*E-mail submissiT

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