Virginia Outdoor Writers Association

The Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, Inc. (VOWA) and Bass Pro Shops are sponsoring the 19th Annual High School (Grades 9-12) Writing Competition for 2011-12. 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 February 13th, 2012, deadline.

This year Bass Pro Shops has agreed to cosponsor the contest, and is providing gift cards of $150, $100, and $50 for purchasing any merchandise at Bass Pro Shops. There will also be gear from outdoor sports businesses and Supporting Members of VOWA. Winners will be announced and awards presented at the VOWA's Annual Meeting in late March at a location to be decided. The winner's parents, a mentor, or a teacher may 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 2011-12:

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 February 13, 2012.

Click here to download and print the Required Competition Submission Form.