Category — Student Contest

Start Date      February 1, 2009
End Date      May 1, 2009
Eligibility      Students in grades 6-12, and homeschoolers, in all countries

PERSONAL NARRATIVES are welcome. (Nonfiction only: no poetry, no fiction.) First place essay in each division — middle and high school — receives $100.00 and a four volume set of Merlyn’s Pen: Fiction, Essays, and Poems by America’s Teens.  The winning school also wins a prize, to be announced.

WRITING FROM MEMORY empowers us. Because we live with our memories, the rich and detailed information they harbor is available to us as writers. We get to work with material that is close-at-hand and relevant. We care about our memories: that’s why we remember them! When we choose a specific memory and write about it, we can unlock its secrets: memories teach us, reveal truths about who we are. That information is empowering.

Editors love to advise, “write what you know” because when writers do that, they write as experts, calling forth the concrete details, inside information, and wisdom that only expertise brings. So your writing gets more exciting, more attention. It gets better. That’s empowering.

THE CHALLENGE: Choose a memory — funny, hilarious, confusing, sad, exciting, quiet, simple, or complex. It may be an event you experienced, but it may also be a vaguely remembered feeling, a smell, a sound or sensation, a small echo of something that has no borders. But it’s there in recollection. Write about it over several drafts, with time for thinking in between drafts. Your drafts should be imperfect, messy, experimental. Throw everything in. Describe the memory in detail, explore its many parts. Write much more material than your final draft will need. Ask yourself: of all the things I have experienced and forgotten, why does this memory remain? What makes this memory so me?

SHAPE YOUR ESSAY INTO A NARRATIVE: After all the recollection and drafting, when your memory begins to tell you something important, try to shape it into a narrative, a story with some tension or conflict that you finally resolve or clarify.  Imagine an audience listening to your narrative. Imagine keeping them in suspense. Imagine them knowing you better when your essay is done. Share your drafts with other writers. Get feedback; write more drafts. SEND ONLY YOUR FINAL DRAFT TO MERLYN’S PEN. That is your contest entry.

WORD LIMIT: No more than 1500 words.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY: Entering the contest is free. Go to Submit Your Writing, on the home page at www.merlynspen.org. Only online entries are welcome. Every writer receives a response.

TRACK YOUR SUBMISSION: You’ll receive online acknowledgment that Merlyn’s Pen has your entry. You’ll get a “tracking number,” too, to follow the progress of your submission as it moves among Merlyn’s Pen editors.

AWARD NOTIFICATION: Contest winners and honorable mentions will be publicized at www.merlynspen.org beginning June 15, 2009. Winners will be announced in each division: middle school (6-8) and high school (9-12). Merlyn’s Pen will place entries from home-schooled writers in the division appropriate to the writer’s age.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS: Spend more time in the exploration and drafting process than on the final draft. Successful memoir writing requires time –to remember, to move memories around, to question their meaning, to connect them, and to solve narrative challenges. If you allow yourself time for immersion in the drafting process, the final draft — your contest entry — will flow more easily and quickly. Another tip? Have fun!

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTEST: Please email the editor at merlyn@melynspen.org. Or call 1-800-247-2027.  Good luck!

Awards
FIRST PRIZE: $100.00 and a four volume set of Merlyn’s Pen: Fiction, Essays, and Poems by America’s Teens. A First Prize will be awarded to one entry in each division: middle school and high school. A prize to the school attended by the First Place writer will be announced.

SECOND PRIZE: $25.00 and a copy of the Merlyn’s Pen hardback License to Write: New Writing from Today’s Authors Under 20. A Second Prize will be awarded to one entry in each division: middle school and high school.

Illustrations from the New Library of Young Adult Writing. Copyright Merlyn’s Pen, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-800-247-2027.

More information click here

Computer Security Video Contest 2009

The EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Computer and Network Security Task Force, in cooperation with the ResearchChannel, is conducting its third annual contest in search of posters and short computer security awareness videos developed by college students, for college students. The contest is sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and CyberWATCH.

Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners in each of the four categories: posters, training videos, 30-second public service announcements, and combined poster and video entry.
4 gold winners     The gold winners will receive $1,000
4 silver winners     The silver winners will receive $800
4 bronze winners     The bronze winners will receive $400

The posters and videos will be featured on the Security Task Force website and may be used in campus security awareness campaigns.

Deadline for submission: April 30, 2009

To enter the contest, you will need to complete and submit the online entry submission form. (Please note: The online submission form will be available on the ResearchChannel’s website starting in January 2009.)

For more information: http://www.educause.edu/15674 or contact cdelaney@purdue.edu.