Get Involved->Creative Writing Contest

Library Accepting Entries for 2008 Young People’s Creative Writing Contest, May 1-June 7

Use your creativity, sharpen your writing skills and earn recognition for your hard work by entering Tulsa City-County Library’s 2008 Young People’s Creative Writing Contest. The library is accepting entries May 1 through June 7. Cash prizes are awarded.

You may enter the contest if you are between the ages of 10 and 18 by June 7, and live in Tulsa County, attend school in Tulsa County or have a nonexpired TCCL nonresident library card.
The Tulsa Library Trust, the Friends of the Tulsa City-County Libraries, KWGS Public Radio 89.5 and the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust co-sponsor the Young People’s Creative Writing Contest.

The contest has four age divisions: 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16-18. Within each age division, there are four categories:

Short Story – each entry no more than 1,500 words.
Informal Essay – a short composition on a topic or issue giving your opinion or recounting a personal experience. No term papers, reports or research papers are considered. Limited to 1,500 words.
Poetry – one poem, no more than 300 words.
One-Act Play – no more than six characters, no more than three locations. Limited to five to 60 minutes in length.

Within each age division and category, cash prizes are awarded in the following amounts: $100 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place.

Louis Sachar, winner of the Tulsa Library Trust’s 2008 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature, will present awards to contest winners at a special ceremony at 10 a.m. on Aug. 23 at Central Library. Also, he will give tips on how to write creatively, and give life to words and voices to characters.

KWGS Public Radio 89.5 will invite some of the poetry and essay winners to record their works, and, at the discretion of the station, will broadcast some of them.

The Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust will present some of the award-winning plays at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center in the Charles E. Norman Theatre. The playwrights will be invited to attend rehearsals and will be honored at a reception following the performance.

Entry forms with rules and regulations are available at all TCCL locations or on the library’s teen Web site at http://teens.tulsalibrary.org. For more details, contact your neighborhood library or call 596-1638.