Swords down. Pens up. Get clacking. Go!
Those who love to write are being courted for the 2014 Tournament of Writers, a competition designed to support and showcase local talent across generations and genres, according to Deb Christiansen, president of the Schoolcraft Friends of the Library.
“We wanted to create something a little fun and exciting for the writers of the community. There are four age divisions: Junior (to age 10), Teen (age 11 to 17), Adult (age 18 to 49), and Senior (age 50+). There are three categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poem.
Fiction includes short stories, fan fiction, fantasy sports, chick lit, a creative turn on classic fairy tale, a made-up story, etc.
Non-Fiction includes articles, short subjects, essays, news articles, memoirs, and stories based in truth, etc.
Poetry can be rhyming or non-rhyming poems, sonnets, haiku, epic poems, etc. If you consider your tweet poetic, please submit it.
The maximum word count is 2,500. One entry per age division per category will be accepted. Group submissions will be accepted in a single age group. Entries may be illustrated, however, artwork won’t be judged.
Entries can be handwritten (legibly), typed, composed as an email, or created in a Word document or Google “gdoc”. Submissions can be delivered personally to the library, mailed in, emailed, submitted through an online form, or via shared Google gdoc. Call 269-718-3593 and leave your name and address if you wish to have this information mailed to you.
The Tournament of Writers is open to Schoolcraft Community Library card holders and reciprocal card holders. The Schoolcraft Community Library serves three service areas: the Village of Schoolcraft, Schoolcraft Township, and Prairie Ronde Township. Patrons second grade and older may be issued library cards. Patrons from the Village of Schoolcraft and Schoolcraft Township are eligible for reciprocal borrowing with both Kalamazoo Library and Portage District Library.
Entries will be accepted starting September 2nd until close of library at 5:00 pm on Friday, October 17th and become property of the Schoolcraft Community Library. The Library reserves the right to disqualify any entry deemed inappropriate or plagiarized. The spirit of the competition is to create, not to copy.
Prizes will include a Grand for overall—regardless of age division and category, with First, Second, and Third prizes for each age divisions and category. There will be Honorable Mentions for outstanding entries. Winning entries will be assembled and published in a book that will be available at the library. Writers of certain subjects may be invited to participate in other publications.
This competition is sponsored by Friends of the Schoolcraft Community Library and Books for Dessert. Find out more information at the Friends of the Schoolcraft Community Library website at folschoolcraft.org or booksfordessert.com. Visit the library on Facebook at facebook.com/TournamentofWriters. The phone number is 269-718-3593.