Arlington, TX Public Library Online

Arlington Reads 2008

Arlington Reads Mystery Short Story Contest

Contest Guidelines:

This contest is open to junior high and high school students (grades 7 to 12) living within the city of Arlington and students who live outside the city but attend an Arlington Independent School District school. This year, Arlington Reads a Mystery! In keeping with the theme, short stories entered into the contest should complete the mystery story on the following. The winning entry and “Honorable mentions” will be published in the March issue of the Library’s teen e-zine, The Gallery appearing on the Library’s web site.

Contest begins: February 1, 2008 - Entry Deadline: February 22, 2008

Rules:

  1. One entry per person may be entered in the contest.

  2. Short stories should be directed toward a general audience of all ages and should adhere to the contest theme stated above.

  3. Short stories should be no longer than 1000 words, not including the cover sheet.

  4. Entrants must live within the City of Arlington or attend an AISD school in order to enter the contest.

  5. Short stories must be original, not previously published.

  6. Submitted short stories must be typed and include a cover sheet containing the entrant’s name, parent/guardian’s name (if under 18), address, phone number, school and grade level. The author’s name should not appear on any page beyond the cover sheet. The title of the short story, but NOT the author’s name should appear at the top of the first page of the short story. Pages should be numbered consecutively.

  7. The beginning of the story on the attached page, must be the beginning of the entered story, with no changes allowed.

  8. Entries may be submitted in one of the following ways:
    a.    Hand-delivered to any Arlington Public Library location
    b.    Emailed as a Microsoft Word attachment to:
           Events@pub-lib.ci.arlington.tx.us
    c.    Mailed to the following address:
           Arlington Public Library, ATTN: Short Story Contest
           101 East Abram Street
            Arlington, TX  76010

  9. Entries must be received by 6 p.m. on Friday, February 22, 2008.

  10. Short stories will be judged by a panel of judges from UTA, AISD and the Arlington Public Library. The decision of the panel is final. Short stories will be judged on originality, writing style, organization or ideas, quality of work and adherence to the spirit of the contest and to contest rules.

  11. Submissions will not be returned or acknowledged. Entry in the contest constitutes permission to use the submitted short story and the name and identity of the participants.

Prize: $100 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble

The prize will be presented to the winner at the Author Panel at the Central Library on February 29. The prize winner, as well as short stories receiving “Honorable Mention” awards (certificates awarded, non-monetary value) will be published in the teen e-zine.

Click HERE to get started

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