The Department of English and Foreign Language at Southern Arkansas University will host the annual Youth Writing Festival on Saturday, March 13. The deadline for entries is Feb. 12.
The Youth Writing Festival is held each spring and has grown from 345 entries in 1995 to 1,153 entries last year. Students from schools across south Arkansas submit poems, short stories and essays. Judges rank the entries as good, excellent or superior. From the entries judged superior, three are chosen in each category and grade level to receive special recognition consisting of a cash prize for first, second and third place winners and a trophy for the first place winner.
The festival was developed from a summer writing class for public school teachers taught by Dr. Kathleen Mallory, associate professor of English. The event is co-sponsored by the Gerald F. and Betty Fincher Scott Academic Endowment, made available through the generosity of Harold and D.J. Fincher and Peoples Bank of Magnolia, Waldo, and southwest Arkansas.
On the day of the festival, a welcoming address will be given before students are divided into groups based on grade level. A model writing workshop will be held for each group, and peer reading sessions and an awards ceremony will follow.
Entry forms may be requested by contacting David Wingfield in the Department of English and Foreign Languages at (870) 235-4202 or by emailing dlwingfield@saumag.edu . They can also be printed from the Web site (http://www.saumag.edu/efl) after clicking on Youth Writing Festival 2010.
