Z-Arts Writing Contest 2014

Posted onAuthorNilesRitter

(Deadline April 18!) Z-Arts is happy to announce the 6th annual Z-Arts Writing Contest, sponsored by the Zion Canyon Arts and Humanities Council. Professional, freelance and all other writers are invited to submit entries on a theme chosen by the “Figure of Speech” game described below. Almost everyone will have something different. Good luck and have fun !

The Figure of Speech Game

  1. To play the game you will need 3 jars (or hats) and some paper and scissors.

  2. You may also want to print out this Blank PDF Form to fill out the words you will need.

  3. For the first jar, write on a sheet of paper at least twenty adjectives such as “angry,” “red,” “howling,” “white,” etc. and then cut each word out into separate strips. You can use the words on the blank form for starters, or better yet, get an old magazine or newspaper and clip out words. Put all the adjective words into the first jar.

  4. For the second jar, write down at least twenty nouns; in other words, things you can see, such as “rabbit,” “pencil,” “lightning bolt,” etc. Cut them up into strips and put them into the second jar. Again, you can use the list provided here, write your own, or cut them out of a magazine or newspaper.

  5. For the third jar, write down at least twenty abstractions, such as “truth,” “winter,” “revenge,” “friendship,” and so on. Put these strips into the third jar.

  6. To play the game, pull one word at random out of each jar and write them down on a sheet of paper, along with the words THE and OF, to make a figure-of-speech that looks like this:

THE [Adjective] [Noun] OF [Abstraction]

        So for example, if you drew “angry,” “porcupine,” and “forgiveness,” then you would write:

THE Angry Porcupine OF Forgiveness

  1. You must use one of the phrases you draw as the title of your piece. If you don’t like the first one, keep drawing until something “speaks” to you. You do not have to use the phrase in the body of your piece, but the theme expressed by the title must somehow appear in the piece. The object (e.g. the porcupine) may appear in the piece, or it just be referred to. The phrase can either be the main subject, or said by somebody in passing as part of your story or essay. The adjective (e.g. “angry”) at the beginning is optional, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to, or if it sounds better without it. Do NOT use “the angry porcupine of forgiveness.” That was just an example, and it is very unlikely that you would draw it at random.

  2. If you are submitting poems, you may draw a different figure-of-speech for each poem, or you can use the same title for all of them.

If the very first phrase you draw seems strange or silly, don’t reject it immediately, but give it some thought. Consider our example “the angry porcupine of forgiveness.” It sounds strange, but ask yourself, how is forgiveness like a porcupine? Why would it be angry? Does forgiveness sometimes sting the person being forgiven? Does forgiveness have its quills? Porcupines are also shy, and forgiveness often takes courage. If the phrase sounds strange, then that may be a good thing, because it is interesting, and people like to read interesting things. The phrases that you should reject are the ones that are too obvious. “The White Horse of Justice” for example, is not very interesting because everybody would expect Justice to be a White Horse. “The Mysterious Rabbit of Justice,” however, would be a horse of a different color. 

Good Luck !

Contest Rules

  1. The contest is open to all residents of Washington County, UT.
  2. All entries must be previously unpublished and received via email no later than Friday, April 18, 2014.
  3. In order for submissions to be read anonymously, the name of the author must only appear on the cover pages. Should the name of the author appear in any part of the actual text, the submission will be excluded from the contest.
  4. This year there is a 1200 word limit for all submissions. Multiple poems may be submitted, but the total word count limit is 1200.
  5. All submissions will be judged on theme, composition, originality, and lyricism.
  6. See below for additional submission guidelines.

Divisions and Categories:

Adult Division  (ages 19 and above)

  • Adult Non-fiction Category: Essay, observation, journal excerpt, editorial, memoir
    or excerpt from a longer piece (no more than 1200 words)
  • Adult Fiction Category: Short story or excerpt from a longer novel
    (no more than 1200 words)
  • Adult Poetry Category: Poetic prose, free verse or traditional
    (1-5 poems totaling no more than 1200 words)

Junior Division (ages 13-18)

  • Junior Non-fiction Category: Essay, observation, journal excerpt, editorial, memoir
    or excerpt from a longer piece (no more than 1200 words)
  • Junior Fiction Category: Short story or excerpt from a longer novel (no more than 1200 words)
  • Junior Poetry Category: Poetic prose, free verse or traditional (1-5 poems totaling no more than 1200 words)

Elementary Division (ages 5-12)

  • Short story, poetry or non-fiction Category: 1-5 poems and/or no more than 1200 words.

Awards Ceremony

A Literary Event will be held on Friday, May 9 at the Canyon Community Center to celebrate the art and craft of writing, and to distribute the awards for First and Second Place in each of the categories.  Each First Place winner will receive a $75.00 cash prize and each Second Place winner will receive a $50.00 cash prize. Additional “Judge’s Choice” awards may also be given out for works deserving special recognition. If you are a winner you will be notified at the end of April.

Unless otherwise notified, acceptance of your award grants Z-Arts permission to post the entry in our newsletter, website, blog, facebook page or other online or printed form. Z-Arts does not retain the rights to the individual entry.

How to Submit

Please use this blank cover page as a template for your submission.

All entries should be submitted electronically as an RTF or Word formatted document. Scanned PDFs or printed hardcopy sent by US mail are no longer acceptable. Entries must be double spaced and begin with a cover page. Each poem submitted must include a separate and individual cover page. All cover pages must include the following information:

  • Name of the author
  • Phone number
  • Division and Category of submission
  • e-mail address and/or mailing address
  • For student submissions, also include the School contact information

Cover pages will be removed for judging in order for submissions to be read anonymously. Should the name of the author appear on any part of the actual text, the submission will be excluded from the contest. The title and page number must be included in the header of each text page submitted.

Send your submission as an attachment to: contest@zarts.org. Please use the Subject Line: “Writing Contest 2014”. You should receive an acknowledgment that your submission was received.

Feedback

For questions or comments regarding this contest, send email to: literary@zarts.org.