The Department of English and Foreign Languages of Southern Arkansas University will host the annual Creative Writing Festival on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Deadline for entries is February 8.
The festival, which has been held every spring since 1995, has grown from 345 entries to 1,153 entries last year. Students from schools across south Arkansas submit poems, short stories and creative non-fiction essays, which are then judged good, superior or excellent. Out of the entries judged excellent, three are chosen in each category and grade level to receive special recognition consisting of a cash prize for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners and a trophy for the 1st place winners.
The annual festival developed from a summer writing class for public school teachers taught by Dr. Kathleen Mallory, associate professor of English at SAU. 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 after the welcome address, students will separate into grade levels for model writing workshops, followed by peer reading sessions. The day is capped off with the awards ceremony.
Entry forms may be requested from David Wingfield in the Department of English and Foreign Languages by calling (870) 235-4202, or by emailing dlwingfield@saumag.edu. Forms also can be printed from the Creative Writing Festival 2013 link on the website http://www.saumag.edu/efl.
