The Southern Arkansas University Department of English and Foreign Languages will host the 2015 Creative Writing Festival on Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 10, 2015. The deadline for submitting entries is March 18, 2015.
The submission process has changed this year, with students in grades 4-12 submitting their works at www.SAUmag.edu/CWF. Grades 1-3 may also use the online form, or may choose to submit hardcopy entries.
Students are free to select their own topics. Three writing categories include fiction, non-fiction, and poems. There will be four grade levels: 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Non-fiction should include the following: 75-100 words for grades 1-3; 150-200 words for grades 4-7; 300 words for grades 7-9; and 400 words for grades 10-12. Fiction should be limited to short stories. Entries should be free of mechanical errors. Students may submit one entry in each category, and each student is eligible for one monetary award. Winners will be announced at the festival.
The festival, which is held every spring, has grown from 345 entries in 1995 to 1,153 entries in 2013. Students from schools across south Arkansas submit poems, short stories, and creative non-fiction essays. Entries are then judged “good,” “excellent” or “superior.” Out of the entries judged “superior,” three are chosen in each category and grade level to receive special recognition. Cash prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, and a trophy is given to all 1st place winners.
The festival activities are designed so that students will gain more insight into the art of writing. In the morning, students and teachers will participate in a Creative Writing Workshop. In the afternoon, winners will read or have their selections read to their peers, teachers, and parents. Experienced teachers will coordinate these activities.
The annual festival developed from a summer writing class for public school teachers taught by the late Dr. Kathleen Mallory, former 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 the Peoples Bank of Magnolia, Waldo and Southwest Arkansas.
For more information, contact David Wingfield in the Department of English and Foreign Languages, (870) 235-4202, or by emailing dlwingfield@saumag.edu. Also visit www.SAUmag.edu/CWF.
