The Guelph Public Library and Vocamus Writers Community are partnering once again to offer teens in grades 7 through 12, living in Guelph and Wellington County, the chance to be published in their 2024 Teen ETCH Anthology this June!
Interested participants can enter the 2024 Teen ETCH Creative Writing contest by submitting a short story and/or poetry piece in 1,500 words or less on the theme of “Eras.”
There is no entry fee required but all submissions must be electronically received by 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 31, 2024 to [email protected]. Short story and poetry entries must be your own original writing, 1,500 words or less, typed and single spaced. Please do not submit your stories as a PDF. Your submission must include the title of your story and/or poetry, your full name, school, grade, phone number and guardian’s name.
All submissions will be judged by Librarians and local industry professionals. Finalists will then be paired with a local author mentor in early April 2024, who will share creative writing techniques to help polish their submission for final judging. Winners shall be chosen based upon creativity, originality, style, grammar and spelling. The decision of the judges is final. All participants who enter a submission will be contacted about whether or not they are a finalist by the end of April 2024.
Prizes will be awarded for both short story and poetry submissions. The top three short story entries in each of the following categories: Grades 7 to 8, Grades 9 to 10 and Grades 11 to 12 will receive prizes along with the top three poetry selections over all grade categories. Prize values are $40 for first, $30 for second and $20 for third place. The chances of winning are dependent on the number of completed entries received. Winners will be announced during our Teen ETCH Anthology Book Launch on June 1, 2024.