[NFBNJ] NFB WRITERS’ DIVISION 2022 WRITING CONTEST

Mon Nov 15 18:51:58 UTC 2021

NFB WRITERS’ DIVISION

2022 WRITING CONTEST GUIDELINES

Thank The annual Youth and Adult Writing Contests, sponsored by the NFB
Writers’ Division, will open January 1st, 2022,and close April 30th, 2022.
This contest is open to all aspiring writers, whether blind, sighted or
visually impaired.

***

Adult Contest Categories
• Short Fiction
• Nonfiction, including personal essay and memoir
• Poetry

***

Youth Contest Categories

Youth Contest categories are Short Fiction and Poetry.The Youth Contest is
divided into groups by grade level:
• Elementary (1st through 4th grade)
• Middle School (5th through 8th grade)
• High School (9th through 12th grade)

***

Winners

In both the Adult and Youth contests, there may be up to three prize
winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd). In addition, one or more entries may receive an
Honorable Mention.

Prize winning entries may be published in the Writers’ Division’s
magazine, Slate
& Style.

All contest winners will be announced during the 2022national convention,
location to be determined.

***

Prizes

Youth Contest winners will receive cash prizes of:
• 1st place - $30.00
• 2nd place - $20.00
• 3rd place - $10.00

***

Adult Contest winners will receive cash prizes of:
• 1st place - $75.00
• 2nd place - $50.00
• 3rd place - $25.00

***

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

YOUTH CONTESTS

Youth Contest Braille Requirement
• This is a contest for students up to age 18 who use Braille.
• Entries must be submitted in hand-embossed Braille, either with a slate
and stylus or a Perkins Braille writer; there are no exceptions.
• Submissions must be Brailled by the entrant.
• All submissions, no matter the grade level, must be in contracted
Braille.
• Indicate whether you already know contracted Braille or are still in the
process of learning it.
• Indicate if you have chosen to use UEB or not.

***

Youth Contest Entry Information

Hard-copy Brailled Entry and Cover Letter may be sent to:

Ms. Chelsea Cook

901 Englewood Parkway, Apt. J304

Englewood, CO 80110

Each entrant must provide an identical electronic copy of the cover letter
and contest entry as a Microsoft Word file [.doc] or as a Rich Text Format
(.rtf file). Attach the electronic copies to an email and send them to Ms.
Shelley Alongi at Queenofbells at outlook.com.

***

Youth Contest Cover Letter

Each entry must be accompanied by a cover letter containing the following
information:
• Name
• Mailing address
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are being
entered
• School and grade level

***

Youth Contest Requirements
• We will consider only unpublished original entries. Please do not submit
entries that have been previously submitted to a web site or blog.
• Youth short fiction stories submissions cannot exceed1,000 words.
• Poetry should not exceed 50 lines.
• Please review entries for spelling and grammatical errors.
• Use Braille paper so the Braille is easy to read.

***

Youth Contest Multiple Submissions

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

***

Youth Contest Entry Fees

None.

***

ADULT CONTEST

This contest is for everyone 18 years of age 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 mainstream genre and may not
exceed 3,000 words.
• Poetry may be any kind of poetry and of any length.
• Submit all poetry, fiction, and nonfiction entries as attachments to
an e-mail
message in either

Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf).

***

Adult Contest Multiple Submissions

Authors are encouraged to submit multiple pieces.

***

Contest Requirements
• Fiction and nonfiction should be written in a normal prose style, with
paragraphs being left justified, lines being single-spaced, and in Arial
regular 14-point font.
• Be sure to double-check all entries 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:
• Name
• Mailing address
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are being
entered
• Method of payment for the entry fee (check or PayPal)

The cover letter could be your e-mail message, or a separate document
attached to your submissions. E-mail submissions should be sent to Shelley
Alongi, President of the NFB Writers’ Division at: Queenofbells at outlook.com.

CONTEST ENTRY FEES PAYMENT AND METHODS

Adult Contest Fees
• Short story entry fee: $15.00 for members, $20.00 for non-members.
• Non-fiction entry fee: $15.00 for members, $20.00 for non-members.
• The base fee for poetry will cover up to three poems, provided that 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 METHODS

PayPal

You may use PayPal from the Writers’ Division website,
http://writers.nfb.org

Check

A check made payable to the NFB Writers’ Division, with a note in the
memo referring
to the contest, may be mailed to:

Mr. Shawn Jacobson

19541 Olney Mill Road

Olney, MD 20832

Questions

Any additional questions may be sent via email to the NFB Writers’ Division
President, Ms. Shelley Alongi, at Queenofbells at outlook.com.

Best of luck to all applicants!

Make your voices heard!

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-- 

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National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
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Email: president at nfbnj.org
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