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Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, Inc.
17th Annual High School (Grades 9-12) Writing Competition 2009-10
The Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, Inc. (VOWA) announces its 17th Annual High School (Grades 9-12) Writing Competition for 2009-10. The goal of the competition is to reward high school students for excellence in communicating their personal experiences in the outdoors.
The competition is open to all Virginia students in grades 9 through 12. Home-schooled students are welcome to enter. The theme of this year's contest is based on a memorable outdoor experience. Any experience by the writer with hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, birding or other outdoor activity should be the predominant subject matter. No athletic event or competition is an eligible subject matter.
Submissions can be submitted in a Microsoft Word or text file, since the three top winners will be published on the VOWA Web site, and may be in other publications or on web sites. E-mail submissions are encouraged. The article should be written in WORD format and attached to an e-mail. The submissions can be made between now and the January 31, 2010, deadline.
Awards will consist of gift certificates and gear from outdoor sports businesses and Supporting Members of VOWA. Over $500 in prizes will be awarded. Winners will be announced and awards presented at the VOWA's Annual Meeting scheduled for March 17, 2010, at the Double Tree Hotel, Route 29 North of Charlottesville. The winner's parents (or mentor/teacher/friend) will be guests of VOWA for the presentation event. The winning entries will be read by the students at the awards program during the Annual Meeting.
General Competition Guidelines for 2009-10:
1. Open to all Virginia students in grades 9-12, including those students home schooled.
2. Nonfiction only, with the theme "A Memorable Outdoor Experience." Writers will create their
own title for the article--other than using the words of the theme listed above. Students name,
grade/school, and home town must be printed in three lines at the top right hand corner on each
page of the entry.
3. Length: a firm 500-750 words which must be typed, double- spaced.
4. Electronic submissions are encouraged; send as a Microsoft Word or plain text attachment to the
competition coordinator listed below.
5. Include the attached submission form--age, grade, and school or specify if home schooled.
6. By submitting the article to the competition, permission is granted by the parent(s) and student
for VOWA to post or publish the article in publications or web sites as deemed appropriate by the
VOWA Competition judges with compensation being limited to writer credit to the student author in
order to reward and recognize writing excellence, and to promote the competition throughout the
year.
7. Complete mailing address and evening telephone number; include e-mail address, if available, for
correspondence purposes only.
8. Submissions not meeting the competition guidelines and criteria will be disqualified.
9. Submission can be made from now to the deadline of January 31, 2010.
Please follow this link for Required Competition Submission Form.
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