8th Annual Youth Literary Competition | Guidelines

C MPETITION

Guidelines 8 T H A N N UAL YOUTH LITE RA RY C OM PE T I T I O N

The 8th Annual Youth Literary Competition is open to artists enrolled in K-12 programs in York County. An online magazine will be created from the winning entries submitted to the competition for publication in November of 2019. All participants are invited to a public reading and awards ceremony held at the Center for the Arts on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 5:30 PM. The short story and poetry competitions are open to any subject. Artists must be 18 or younger and must be enrolled in a K-12 program. All submissions must be the unpublished, original work of the artist. Rights remain with the artist. Those over the age of 18 may submit to the 16th Annual Literary Competition.

GUIDELINES For all entries, whether in the poetry or short story category, artists must submit six (6) typed, formatted hard copies of each entry (including the title) for distribution to judges.

The Arts Council is unable to print copies of entries. No entries will be returned. Submissions must be double-spaced and in 12 point, Times New Roman font and must include auto-indents to paragraphs. (Spacing requirements do not apply to submissions classified as poetry, as the poet will retain creative license over formatting.) Each copy must be printed single-sided. If an entry is multiple pages, please staple or clip the pages of each entry together. The writer’s name and/or photo must not appear on the manuscript.

If you receive notification that your work has been selected for an award, an electronic copy of your work must be submitted for inclusion in the Cotton Alley Writers’ Review.

The submitted electronic copy must be a final, edited version of the selected work, as the Arts Council will not edit works prior to publishing. Electronic copies of selected works must be emailed in the form of a Microsoft Word document to jarmstrong@yorkcountyarts.org. Winners who do not submit an electronic copy will not be published in the online magazine.

POETRY Entries may not exceed 100 lines.

For poems of the stanza, haiku, or sonnet variety, please use 12 point, Times New Roman font. If visual formatting is important to your piece of poetry please submit in clearly readable font and size.

SHORT STORY Entries may not exceed 6,000 words.

Stories must be double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font, with auto-indented paragraphs.

FEES FREE! There is no entry fee for the 2019 Youth Literary Competition.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Postmark Deadline Friday | August 30, 2019 | 5 PM Public Reading & Awards Ceremony Thursday | November 7, 2019 | 5:30 PM Center for the Arts | 121 East Main Street | Rock Hill, SC 29730 AWARDS Certificates of Achievement will be issued to the winners of each category, poetry and short story.

Only one prize per artist, per category will be awarded. Authors are permitted to enter both categories and entries are eligible to win an award in each competition, however, there are no repeat prizewinners within the categories each year.

SUBMIT ENTRIES

BY MAIL: Arts Council of York County Literary Competition PO Box 2797 | Rock Hill, SC 29732 IN PERSON: Center for the Arts 121 E. Main St. | Rock Hill, SC 29730 Entries will NOT be accepted via email.

Please complete the attached registration form in order for your entry to be considered valid.

The Arts Council of York County reserves the right to withdraw an entry from the judging process that does not meet guidelines or is deemed inappropriate for any reason. The judges reserve the right to not award in any category.

REGISTRATION Complete the form below and submit it to the Arts Council along with entries. Please print clearly.

Entries will not be accepted without a completed form and signature.

AGREEMENT Submission of my application and literary entries shall constitute my agreement to comply with all conditions and terms set forth in this application. I understand that all decisions by the ACYC and the juror are final. I release and discharge the ACYC and its staff from any and all claims.

Youth Signature Date Parent Signature Date (If student is under 18)

CONTACT Youth Name

Parent Name

Address Contact Email Phone School Grade ENTRIES ENTRY 1: Title Line/Word Count ENTRY 2: Title Line/Word Count ENTRY 3: Title Line/Word Count ENTRY 4: Title Line/Word Count ENTRY 5: Title Line/Word Count For additional entries, use blank sheet of paper and include all above information for each entry.

Please include the line count for poems and word count for short stories.

QUESTIONS Please contact Jesslyn Armstrong | jarmstrong@yorkcountyarts.org or (803) 328-2787.