Essay Contest for Middle & High School Students
Do you know a middle school or high school student who has a passion for reading? Is the student able to translate that passion to the written word? If so, we have a summertime activity guaranteed to exercise a student’s literary skills.
Organizers of the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books are holding the 3rd annual Century Fence Essay Contest, with the topic centered on the 2013 Festival theme, To Books and Beyond – Literacy without Limits. There will be winners in both middle school and high school categories with cash prizes awarded to first, second, and third place winners.
As the theme implies, inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere, allowing readers and writers to travel to the end of the universe or as far as their backyard. The essays can provide echoes of the past, celebrate the present, or fantasize about the future.
They following should be addressed in the essay:
- What does the theme To Books and Beyond – Literacy without Limits mean to you?
- What does reading mean to you? Write about your reading experience. Describe how reading has taken you beyond your world. Provide specific detail about how your limits have been expanded through books.
The essay should be original, thoughtful, well-written, and previously unpublished. If an outside source is used, credit must be given by citing the author, title, and date from the source used. Plagiarism is cause for disqualification. High school students should provide a 600-750 word essay and middle school students a 400-500 word essay. Entries should be single-spaced and may be typed or legibly handwritten.
Due Date: Thursday, Aug. 15
A complete Essay Contest Application 2013 and the complete rules are available. First place winners will receive $250, second place winners $175, and third place winners $75. In addition to cash prizes, first place winners will be invited to the Festival to read their essays.
Completed essays and application forms should be sent to: Festival Essays Attn: Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books Coordinator UW-Waukesha Foundation, Inc. 1500 N. University Dr. Waukesha, WI 53188
The 2013 Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books will be held Friday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Sept. 22 on the UW-Waukesha campus. The free community event will have more than 100 authors on hand and presentations by one of the co-founders of the Little Free Library. For our younger readers, Kohl’s Wild Theater and animal ambassadors from the Wildlife in Need Center (WINC) will be in attendance. Check out the web site for the most current information.