ELORA – For the seventh year, local writers are encouraged to submit their stories and poems to the Elora Writers’ Festival open writing competition or the new young writers contest.
Both are features of the annual Elora Writers’ Festival, which takes place on June 6 at 1pm at Heritage River in Elora.
The festival’s open writing competition presents an opportunity for writers of any age or experience to win prizes for their unpublished short stories (up to 2,000 words) and poetry (up to three poems, 75 lines maximum). The winners will be announced by competition chairman Julia Browne during the intermission of the festival.
For the first time, teen and junior writers have their own event: the Young Writers Contest, chaired by Guelph author Jean Mills. With the support of the Elora Arts Council and the Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington, young poets and short story writers can win cash prizes of $100, $75, and $50 (teens) and $75, $50, and $25 (junior). Judges include Kitchener-Waterloo writer Heather Wright, whose book Writing Fiction: A Hands-On Guide for Teens, will be published this spring.
Last year’s competition attracted almost 300 entries from across Canada.
With local sponsors, Mills hopes to attract more young writers from area schools. She will announce the winners of the Young Writers Contest at a special pre-festival celebration at Heritage River at 11am on June 6, before the festival readings get underway.
The entry deadline is May 3, so writers are encouraged to visit the Elora Arts Council website at www.artscouncil.elora.on.ca for contest details and entry forms.
For more information, contact Browne (for the open competition) at juliacbrowne@netscape.net or write to Mills (Young Writers Contest) at jrmills@rogers.com.
