We welcome you to enter the Virginia Wildlife/VOWA Writing Contest—a joint effort between Virginia Wildlife magazine, published by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), and the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association (VOWA). We invite writers to submit an original, unpublished piece (essay, feature, poetry, etc.) that focuses on what they enjoy about the outdoors in Virginia. 

Winners from each category—Youth and Adult—will be published in the January/February 2027 issue of Virginia Wildlife, and the top three in each category will be published on the VOWA website and receive other prizes. All submissions will be judged by the following criteria: portrayal of the value of the outdoors, clarity, spelling and grammar, and creativity.