The Easton Arts Council’s seventh annual Young Writers Competition is now accepting submissions from students in Easton and its neighboring towns of Redding, Newtown, Monroe, Trumbull, Fairfield, Westport and Weston.
All entries must be submitted to YWC@eastonartscouncil.org no later than Sunday, Feb. 26. Entries will be judged in three categories: Elementary school, grades three through five; middle school, grades six through eight; high school, grades nine through 12.
Three $25 prizes will be awarded.
The topic for the competition is “Your most memorable hometown experience,” real or imagined. Entries can be prose, poetry, play or screenplay; each entry will be evaluated on originality, quality of writing and interpretation of theme.
Manuscripts must be typed, five pages maximum.
The judges will be award-winning Easton writers Elise Broach, Verne Gay and Karen Thorsen. Prize-winning entries will be announced on Tuesday, March 7, and read aloud at the Easton Arts Council’s Youth Art and Talent Show on Sunday, March 12.
A $5 entry fee plus an Easton Arts Council membership — family $30 or youth $10 — is required for all entrants. Family membership includes a professional-quality DVD of the Talent Show and Young Writers Award Ceremony.
Submission forms are available at: eastonartscouncil.org / Upcoming Events. Submission forms, entry and membership fees should be mailed to EAC, PO Box 142. Easton CT 06612. For questions, call Karen Thorsen, 203-261-4747.
Last year’s award winners
First-place winners of last spring’s 2016 Young Writers Competition were Justin Juliano, then a fourth grader at Greens Farms Elementary School in Westport; Meghan Ogrinz, then a seventh grader at Helen Keller Middle School in Easton; and Sara Mende, then an eighth grader at Easton Country Day in Easton.