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Writing Contest

Need a nudge to jump-start your writing?

Enter the "Poem or a Page" Contest!

Jump to 2008 winners

Take the plunge! Have fun. We'll provide accolades and prizes…

Who may enter: Contest open ONLY to those attending the Writers' Institute, March 28-30, 2008. You may enroll in only one day and still be eligible for the contest.

What's our criteria for a winning poem or page? Hook us! We're looking for the same thing agents and editors look for when you submit material to them—that instant good impression showing attention to craft. But any agent or editor is also looking for that "something extra" and so are we. It might be a wondrous word choice or line of words, a great "voice" on the page, a piece of action that's riveting, a fact that wows the reader, a piece of imagery, or any number of things of your choosing. Give us something credible, yet original. Make us worry or wonder. Startle us.

Entrants may submit in the following 3 categories: Poetry—one poem/single-spaced; Fiction—the first page/double-spaced; Nonfiction—the first page/double-spaced.

Enter as many categories and as many times as you wish. Prizes will be awarded. Winners and runners-up will be announced at the conference and may have their material displayed at the conference or published in Creativity Connection newsletter, and online at our writer's website.

Submission rules: Please use 12-point Courier or Times New Roman typeface, with one-inch margins on all four sides. Please list your category on the entry, front or back. Put your name and address on the back side of the page; do not put your name on the front. Please follow correct format for your category; single-spaced book and article entries will be disqualified. For fiction and nonfiction entries, you may fill up the page, though please keep one-inch margins on all four sides.

Entry fee: $10 per entry. Please pay through our Registration Office, 608-262-7942.

Deadline and where to send entries: Entries must be postmarked by March 7, 2008. Send your entries to Writers' Institute Contest, 610 Langdon St., Room 621, Madison, WI 53703. If you wish to be notified that we've received your entry, enclose a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) or postcard.

Congratulations!

2008 Writers' Institute "Poem or Page Contest" results

Prizes: All finalists received certificates for framing. All first-place winners received a year's subscription to The Writer magazine. First-place, second-place and third-place winners received a year's subscription to Creativity Connection newsletter.

Kudos to 2007 winners:

Nonfiction—Carrie Kilman, Montgomery, Alabama.
Poetry—Gerald Gruen, Port Washington, Wis.
Fiction—Vicki Stewart, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Nonfiction winners

First Place, Maureen Blaney Flietner, Hilbert, WI
Second Place, Alyssa Severn, Madison, WI
Third Place, Pamela Fullerton, Athens, WI

Honorable Mentions:

Ann Aswegan, Monona, WI
Nancy Veder-Shults, Madison, WI

Poetry winners

1st Place: Sue Roupp, Evanston, IL
2nd Place: Sandy Mickelson, Fort Dodge, IA
3rd Place: Maureen Blaney Flietner, Hilbert WI

Fiction winners

First Place, Teri Woods, Madison, WI
Second Place: Joan Kremer, River Falls, WI
Third Place: Tena Russ, Riverwoods, IL

Honorable Mentions:

Patricia Eldred, Madison, WI
Kirsten Johnson, Madison, WI
Sue Roupp, Evanston, IL

Department of Liberal Studies & the Arts
610 Langdon Street, Rm. 715.....Madison WI 53703
Phone: 608-263-6320 or .....877-336-7836
Fax: 608-265-2475.....E-mail: liberalarts@dcs.wisc.edu

Liberal Studies & the Arts | UW Madison Continuing Studies