Deadline
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Categories
Entry Fees
$15 for members of the National Federation of the Blind Writer's division--$20 for non-members
Prizes
Youth contest winners will receive cash prizes equal to
• $30 for 1st place,
• $20 for 2nd place, and
• $10 for 3rd place.
Adult contest winners will receive cash prizes equal to
• $75 for 1st place,
• $50 for 2nd place, and
• $25 for 3rd place.
Description
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 are:
• short Fiction,
• nonfiction, including personal essay and memoir, and
• poetry.
Youth contest categories are short fiction and poetry. The youth contest is divided into three groups, determined by grade level;
• elementary, 1st through 4th grade,
• middle, 5th through 8th grade, and
• high school 9th through 12th grade.
In both adult and youth contests, there may be up to three prize winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd), In addition, one or more entries may receive honorable mention. Prize winning entries may be published within the Writers’ Division’s magazine, Slate & Style.
All contest winners will be announced during the 2022 national convention. Stay tuned for the 2022 location.
PRIZES
Youth contest winners will receive cash prizes equal to
• $30 for 1st place,
• $20 for 2nd place, and
• $10 for 3rd place.
Adult contest winners will receive cash prizes equal to
• $75 for 1st place,
• $50 for 2nd place, and
• $25 for 3rd place.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
YOUTH CONTESTS
If you are 18 years old, or older, you must enter the adult contest.
This is a contest for students who use Braille. Entries must be submitted in hand embossed Braille, either with a slate and stylus or 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. Let us know if you “know” or are “learning” contracted Braille. Additionally, let us know if you have chosen to use UEB, or not. Send your hardcopy Braille and cover letter to:
• 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 Shelley Alongi, [email protected].
COVER LETTER—each entry must be accompanied by a cover letter containing the following information:
• Your name
• mailing address
• phone number,
• e-mail address.
• ist the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they are being entered, and
• school and grade level.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
• We will consider only unpublished original entries. Please do not submit entries that have been previously submitted on a web site or blog.
• Youth short fiction stories submissions cannot be more than 1,000 words
• poetry of no more than 50 lines.
Authors of either poetry or fiction are encouraged to submit multiple pieces.
Youth ENTRY FEES – None
Are you the best Brailler in the contest? Be sure to double check your work for spelling and grammatical errors. Remember to use Braille paper so the Braille is easy to read. Good luck!
ADULT CONTEST
This contest is for everyone 18 years old, 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 main stream genre, and cannot exceed 3,000 words.
• Poetry: We will accept poetry of any length
• Adults are required to submit all poetry, fiction and nonfiction as attachments to an E-mail message.
• The attachments must be in either Microsoft Word (doc) or Rich Text Format (rtf).
Authors are encouraged to submit multiple pieces.
Fiction and nonfiction should be written in a normal prose style, with paragraphs being left justified, lines being single spaced, and having a 14 point font of Aerial, regular. Be sure to double check your work 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:
• Your name,
• mailing address,
• phone number,
• e-mail address.
• List the 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 along with your submissions. E-mail submissions should be sent to Shelley Alongi [email protected].
CONTEST ENTRY FEES PAYMENT AND METHODS
Adult Fees:
• The fee for each short story is $15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.
• The fee for each nonfiction entry is $15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.
• *The base fee for poetry will cover up to three poems, if 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
You may use PayPal from the Writers’ Division website, http://writers.nfb.org
Alternatively, you may mail a check made out to NFB Writers’ Division, with a note in the memo line relating to the contest. Send to:
• Shawn Jacobson
• 19541 Olney Mill Rd.
• Olney, MD 20832.
Contact Information
Contact Shawn Jacobson, [email protected] for questions.