Category Archives: fiction

21

May. ’12

Enter the Texas Book Festival Fiction Contest

On October 27-28, 2012 the annual Texas Book Festival will occur at the State Capitol Building in Austin, TX.  This event features authors, readings, and plenty of literary fun. Students may submit work for the festival by clicking here. Here are the details from our Texas Book Festival friends about the 11th Annual Fiction Contest:

The Texas Book Festival, with support of the University Interscholastic League (UIL), announces the 11th Annual Fiction Writing Contest, sponsored by Read to Lead. The contest is open to all Texas 7th, 8th, and high school students. Prizes will be awarded to the first, second, and third place finishers per division. First place winners of the Contest will be invited to participate in a panel discussion on writing and the inspiration for their original compositions at the Texas Book Festival, October 27-28, 2012 at the State Capitol in Austin.

Entries must be original fiction, no more than 2,000 words in length, on this year’s theme “Out of the Blue.” There is no entry fee. Entries must be double-spaced and formatted as a Microsoft Word document, then submitted online no later than July 3, 2012.

Stories will be judged by Texas writers, some of whom have presented their work at the Texas Book Festival. Judges will look for excellence in use of dialogue, imagery, character development, setting, plot, conflict and resolution. Submitted entries will be considered in three divisions: Grades 7-8; Grades 9-10; Grades 11-12. Authors will enter the division for which they were a student during the 2011-12 academic year.

Read work by past student winners here.

Posted by . Categories: contest, fiction, homeschooling, student writing contest, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , . 1 Comment

27

Apr. ’12

Trenton Lee Stewart in Houston This Sunday

Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People
Trenton Lee Stewart
 
Meet the author!
TRENTON LEE STEWART
Sunday
April 29, 2012
3:00 pm (doors open at 2:30 pm)
Johnston Middle School Auditorium
10410 Manhattan Drive (77096) See map here

FREE!

For more information, click here.

To enter a drawing for a free signed book or poster by Trenton Lee Stewart click here.
To download an activity guide, click here.
Find the event on facebook.facebook

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas BenedictCool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People invites you to an afternoon of mystery and fun with Trenton Lee Stewart, New York Times bestselling author of The Mysterious Benedict Societyseries. He comes to Houston to read from his newest book in the series,The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, which, according to a starred Booklist review, “gives readers a reason to fall in love with the series all over again…[with] adventures, danger, cleverness, dry wit, and good-hearted characters at the center of the action. . . . Two hundred years after Dickens’ birth, this orphan story plays notes in a familiar key but creates its own memorable tune.”

The series, which includes The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and The Mysterious Benedict Society: Mr. Benedict’s Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums, has sold more than 1.5 million copies and has spent more than 85 combined weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The stories follow four gifted kids, Reynie, Katie, Sticky, and Constance, through page-turning mysteries, mindbending brain-teasers, and inventive journeys.
Posted by . Categories: books, event, fiction, Houston, Reading, writer, writers in the schools. Tags: , , . Leave a comment

25

Oct. ’11

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMO) for Kids!

It’s time for young writers (and their teachers!) to sign up for National Novel Writing Month, which begins Nov. 1, 2011.  In 2010, 41,000 young writers participated in this fun, free event.  They committed to writing an entire novel in one month. Visit the NaNoWriMo website to register, and you will find support, resources, curriculum guides, and plenty of encouragement to help you meet your daily word count goal.

Once you sign up, you will be able to visit with fellow writers on the young writers forum, receive pep talks to keep you motivated, and even post your novel-in-progress at Figment!  It’s a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors.

Posted by . Categories: education, event, fiction, story, student, writer, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , , . Leave a comment

19

Oct. ’11

How the Sea Got Its Salt

from the book Two Little Pirates by Ruth Paul

Si todos los rios son dulces/De donde saca sal el mar?  –Pablo Neruda

         Once there was a little pirate who lived on a ship in the ocean.  One morning he got two women to do a job for him.  He asked them to spin the salt in a bowl for a whole day and a whole night.  The women did a very good job, but they didn’t stop after one day and one night.  They kept spinning the salt.  When the salt was piled high, high, high, the pirate yelled, “Stop!”  But, the women still didn’t stop.  They kept spinning the salt until the boat started to tip.  Everything fell into the ocean—the pirate, the women, and the salt.  The salt kept spinning and made a whirlpool.  The pirate drowned.  The women turned into birds and flew back to the sweet rivers.  And the salt stayed in the sea.

By Jennifer, age 10

Posted by . Categories: creativity, fiction, student, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , . Leave a comment

25

Aug. ’11

Crashtest Magazine Seeks Submissions

Writer Wordart

Image by secretagent007 via Flickr

Call for Submissions—High School Writers

If you are a teenager currently enrolled in high school, grades 9-12, Crashtest, the new online literary magazine for high school writers, would like to hear from you!Crashtest publishes poetry, stories and creative non-fiction in the form of personal essays, imaginative investigation, experimental interviews, and more.

They are looking for writing that has both a perspective and a personality. They’re looking for authors who have something to say. Check them out at here.

Crashtest only accepts email submissions. Visit their site for sample work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Go to www.crashtestmag.com for complete guidelines.

Posted by . Categories: contest, essay, fiction, poetry, publishing, student, writers in the schools. Leave a comment

22

Jul. ’11

The Sword of Darrow Short Story Contest

sword

from the Sword of Darrow website:

The Sword of Darrow is a young adult fantasy novel written by a father and son team, Hal and Alex Malchow. At the time they began the book, Alex was eight years old, had undiagnosed learning disabilities, and could not read at all. Alex created a set of characters and plot line, and together over a two-year period they wrote this book. The book is being published by BenBella Books and was released on June 7, 2011 (www.swordofdarrow.com).  To celebrate the release and to encourage other families to undertake writing projects together, the authors are sponsoring a scholarship competition based upon short stories written by a parent-child team.

Here is the contest info, all found on the website (swordofdarrow.com/node/5):

Rules:

Who: Teams consisting of a parent and a child between the ages of 7 and 14

What: Amazing Kids! Short Story Contest, 2011 – Teams can submit a fictional short story to the Sword of Darrow Scholarship Contest. The short story can have no more than 7500 words.

When: July 20, 2011 until August 30, 2011

Where: All stories must be typed and double-spaced! Mail your stories via snail mail to:

The Sword of Darrow Scholarship Contest

2200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 102

PMB 290

Arlington, VA 22201

All entries must follow the following requirements:

Be a fictional short story

Be no more than 7500 words

Be typed and double-spaced

Entries will be judged by Alex and Hal Malchow, the authors of The Sword of Darrow.

Prizes:

First Prize: A gift of a $5,000 contribution to “College America”, a 529 College Savings plan. This plan allows for tax favored distributions for qualifying post-secondary education expenses for any accredited schools in the United States. Parent or legal guardian will be designated as account owner for the benefit of the contest winner. All distributions are subject to 529 plan rules.

Posted by . Categories: contest, fiction, writers in the schools. Tags: , , . Leave a comment

19

Jul. ’11

WITS is Hiring Creative Writing Teachers

Photo by Yvonne Feece

WITS is looking for 10-12 writers who can teach the joy of creative writing to young people. Employment is part-time, typically 2-6 hours of teaching one day a week from September – May. A yearlong commitment is required; however, writers who are selected to be on the WITS roster are not guaranteed immediate teaching opportunities.

The pay is $55 per teaching hour. In addition to teaching, the job duties include preparing lessons, responding to student work, and compiling anthologies of student writing at the end of the school year.

We are looking for writers and educators with teaching or mentoring experience who can convey their passion for the written word in ways that are relevant for Houston-area children. In particular, we are seeking bilingual writers, but others are encouraged to apply as well.

Visit our website for the full job description.

If you are interested in teaching with WITS, please submit a cover letter, résumé, and 10-page writing sample to mail@witshouston.org or mail to:

Jack McBride, Program Director
1523 West Main
Houston, TX 77006

To be considered for the 2011-2012 school year, applications must be received by August 5, 2011.  Applicants who are selected to teach with WITS must attend mandatory WITS orientation and training on Friday, August 26, and Saturday, August 27, 2011.

Please feel free to e-mail or call 713-523-3877 with any questions.

Posted by . Categories: education, fiction, Houston, poetry, teaching, writer, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

14

Jun. ’11

Cheez-It + Goldfish

A Ryukin goldfish from The 6th "Pramong N...

Image via Wikipedia

Want to have some fun?  Choose 2 items that are the same color and write a story or poem using both of them.  If you need a jump start, read Joe’s story inspired by yellow.

Cheez-It and Goldfish

Once there was a Cheez-It that met a goldfish.  He winked and said, “Hi, good looking.”  She said, “Hi, how’s it going, Handsome?”

 Cheez-It was floating like a square yellow flower on top of the tank.  He wanted to marry Goldfish but he had to sink down to get to her.  He decided to catch a ride in a water bottle submarine.

When Goldfish saw Cheez-It inside the bottle, she was amazed at how strange he looked.  Cheese-It was inside the bottle waving at her.

Then suddenly the water bottle cap exploded off, and he got sucked out into the tank.  Cheez-It got very mushy and soaked through with water.  He started to dissolve into little bits of cheese.  Goldfish cried out, “Oh, no!!!!  My love is gone forever.”  And then she jumped out of the tank and dried to death.

By Joe, 4th grade

by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools

Posted by . Categories: creativity, fiction, humor, Lesson plan, story, writers in the schools. Tags: , . 1 Comment

10

Jun. ’11

Writing Contest Based Vincent van Gogh’s Paintings

Wheatfield with Crows (1890), Van Gogh Museum,...

Image via Wikipedia

At Writers in the Schools (WITS), we encourage students to use art as inspiration for their writing.  Here is a wonderful contest where young people, ages 9-14, choose their favorite Vincent van Gogh painting and write a creative story based on it.  Carol Sabbeth, author of several lovely art history books for children, is sponsoring this special contest for young writers.

Here is some information from the website:

Prize
A personally dedicated copy of Van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists for Kids for each winner in addition to a copy for his or her school library. Winning stories will be published on CarolBooks.net.

Format
Your entry should be in the form of a short story and contain 1000 words or less. Be as descriptive and imaginative as you can.

Rules
The contest is open to children ages 9 to 11 and 12 to 14. Each age group will have a winner. All contest entries must be your own, original work.

Deadline
All contest entries must be submitted by midnight EST on Saturday, October 1st, 2011.

How winners will be picked
Carol Sabbeth, along with select judges, will choose one entry in each age group that they feel best meets the topic of the contest. Winning entries will be clever, well-written, and insightful.

To see the complete guidelines, click here.

by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools

Posted by . Categories: art, contest, fiction, student writing contest, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , . Leave a comment

08

Jun. ’11

Mr. Messy

Dirty blue dumpster

Image via Wikipedia

One popular WITS writing activity for elementary school students is based on Ruth Gendler’s The Book of Qualities.  Gendler got the idea for her book when she was a young girl.  She made up a story about a store where they sell qualities such as courage, excitement, and joy instead of products such as milk, bread, and jam.  She imagined the store as a trading post where customers could visit and try out different qualities, including ones such as anger, terror, and despair.

The Book of Qualities introduces 74 qualities as everyday characters who live among us.  Gendler says that she wanted to penetrate through the layers and stereotypes of each quality, not just assume it was “good” or “bad.”  She wanted to explore what it could teach us.  The best way to do this, she thought, was to imagine that they were real characters who inhabit a town.

Here is a character description of the word “messy” by a third grader.  He imagines where Messy lives, what he was like as kid, and how he died.

Messy was born in a garbage can in a dump. It smelled worse than anything. He went to school at Trash Elementary, which was a really dirty, messed up place. When he was in middle school, he got a pet pig, and he named it Dumpster. Dumpster messed up the house and yard and never behaved. In high school Messy always wore the same clothes, overalls with worms in the pockets. He was not very popular. He loved to go to the movies, and his favorite one was “My Trashcan Talks.” When he grew up, Mr. Messy’s best friend was Mr. Dirty. They loved to tackle and run in the mud. They didn’t care what they looked like. One time Mr. Messy got a special award from the city called “Most Trashy Award.” He was happy about that. When Mr. Messy was old, he moved to Not Clean Street, where he lived the rest of his life. When Mr. Messy died, he had a trash funeral.

By Jacob, age 9

by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools

Posted by . Categories: fiction, homeschooling, imagination, Lesson plan, writers in the schools, writing prompts. Tags: , , . Leave a comment

07

Jun. ’11

Free Creative Writing Workshop This Saturday

Writing Circle Prompt 1

Image by juliejordanscott via Flickr

This weekend a free writing workshop will be held at HCC, and former WITS luminaries Victoria Jones, Randy Watson, and Tony Diaz will be leading sessions. Here’s the scoop:

The Johnny Harris Writers Group Writing Workshop
What: Fiction and Poetry workshops
Where: HCC Central Campus (rooms TBA)
When: Saturday, June 11, 2011, from 8 am – 4 pm
Costs: Free and open to the public. Limited space; instructors will add seats if necessary.
Additional info: Later at 7 pm, join workshop leaders for a reading at Foelber Pottery Studio, 706 Richmond Ave., 4 blocks east of Montrose.

Contact: Sharon Klander at sharon.klander@hccs.edu

Writing bug bitten you yet? The Johnny Harris Writers Group hosts a free writing workshop in fiction and poetry this Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm at the HCC Central Campus. Spaces are limited for both workshops, and participants should email their manuscripts to Sharon Klander at sharon.klander@hccs.edu by Thursday, June 9th, following these guidelines:

  • no more than 5 pages of poetry, single spaced
  • no more than 10 pages of fiction, double-spaced
  • ALL manuscripts should have the following header on the title page: name and address in upper left corner, phone and email in upper right corner. Subsequent pages should bear the usual MS header.

A Snapshot of the Schedule:

8 – 9 am: Breakfast (provided)
9 – 10: Keynote Address by Selena Villareal, “Poets Writing in Oppressive Regimes”
10 – 12: Fiction workshop with Cliff Hudder* OR Q&A session with Victoria Jones RE: Life After an MFA
12 – 2: Lunch (provided); Tony Diaz will read from his book Children of the Locust Tree during this time
2 – 4: Poetry workshops with Dave Parsons and Randy Watson* OR Lecture with SueAnna Davis, “Who’s the Hero, and How Do We Know?”

Posted by . Categories: art, event, fiction, poetry, Reading, writer, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

18

May. ’11

Ryan Dilbert’s Book Tour Starts at Kaboom Books

WITS Writer Ryan Dilbert will launch the tour for his book, Time Crumbling Like a Wet             Cracker (No Record Press), on Thursday, May 19, 2011, 7:30 PM at Kaboom Books, located in the Heights at 3116 Houston Ave.

In a review of Ryan’s book, Jillian Lauren,  author of N.Y. Times bestselling memoir Some  Girls: My Life in a Harem, writes:

Audrey, a failed tattoo artist with a worthless  history degree, just fled an abusive marriage and  lost the footrace to the joint bank account.  Wallowing in self-pity, and hard up for cash, she hasn’t noticed that things are a little out of sync lately.

Was Benjamin Franklin really hit by a car outside a Taco Bell? Did Segway-riding Huns overrun the East Coast? How did Chevy Chase escape human sacrifice at the hands of the Aztecs, and why are archeologists unearthing Green Bay Packers helmets alongside the bones of neanderthal hunters?

Deep in Wisconsin woods, a deranged scientist is slipping back through time, in a quest to purge recorded history of evil. But this experiment has gone terribly wrong, and somehow it’s now up to Audrey to put things right before the world descends into chaos.

In Time Crumbling like a Wet Cracker, Ryan Dilbert deftly negotiates the surreal twists and turns of a unique time travel adventure.  Dilbert is as witty as he is poignant.  He exposes the complexities often embedded in our seemingly simple good intentions and allows us to look at the world with a radically titled and thought provoking perspective.

Join Ryan for an evening of fun at Kaboom Books!

by Marcia Chamberlain, WITS writer

Posted by . Categories: books, event, fiction, Houston, story, writers in the schools. Tags: , . Leave a comment

17

May. ’11

Mother/Daughter Writing Duo

Yesterday we looked at books written by a father and a son, so today I thought I would inspire you with a mother-daughter duo. Unlike Paul and Sid Fleischman, who achieved individual fame in their writing lives, Traci & P.J. Lambrecht are a mother-daughter team that publishes jointly under the pseudonym P.J. Tracy. The two have written over 25 books and sold more than a million copies.

P.J., the mom, explains that she and her daughter have been collaborating on storytelling since Traci was a child. At bedtime they would create stories together, each of them contributing a paragraph. As adults, they work in tandem with little effort. They are so in synch with each other that neither says they can remember who wrote which parts of the finished novels.

Try this:
Create a tale tonight with a child. Take turns moving the story along!

by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools (WITS)

Posted by . Categories: creativity, fiction, mother, writer, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment

28

Apr. ’11

Summer Writing Program Scholarships for High School Students

Target by Jasper Johns

What:  2011 Younkin-Rivera Prizes for Young Writers

When: Due April 30, 2011

Cost: $5

A nationwide competition for creative writers aged 15-18. Entries accepted during the month of April in the genres of poetry and prose.

Prize in each category: $250 and a full tuition scholarship to the 2011 Young Writers Workshop at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

To enter in poetry: send no more than 2 poems (limit of 25 lines each) per entrant, along with an entry fee of $5.

To enter in prose (fiction or essay): send one story or essay (no more 1000 words) per entrant, along with an entry fee of $5.

To enter in both poetry and prose: send no more than 2 poems (limit of 25 lines each) and one essay or story (of no more than 1000 words) per entrant, along with an entry fee of $10. Entries longer than the limits listed above will be returned, along with their entry fees.

Entrants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

All entries must be typed on white 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. Do not put your name on your entries. Include a separate cover sheet with the following information on it: your name, home address, phone number, e-mail address, date of birth, titles of your entries, and the name and address of your high school. Checks or money orders to cover the entry fee should be made out to SIUC, with “Young Writers Workshop” written in the check’s memo line. Please do not send cash. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for contest results. No entries will be returned, so please keep copies of the work you send. No e-mail or faxed submissions will be accepted. Winners will be contacted via e-mail, so please make sure your current, working e-mail address is clearly typed on your cover sheet.

Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony during the annual Young Writers Workshop at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a five-day, coed, residential creative writing workshop for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors interested in developing their skills in the writing of poetry and prose. If a prizewinner cannot attend the Workshop, the prize will not be awarded to that winner. Travel costs to and from the Workshop are the responsibility of the winner. Previous award winners cannot enter again.

The Young Writers Workshop will be held in 2011 from June 21 to June 25, 2011.

To enter, send your submissions, postmarked from April 1 to April 30, 2011, to:

The Younkin-Rivera Prizes for Young Writers

Allison Joseph, Director

The Young Writers Workshop

Department of English

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Faner Hall 2380–Mail Code 4503

1000 Faner Drive

Carbondale, IL 62901

Questions? Email Allison at <aljoseph(at)siu.edu> (replace (at) with @ in sending e-mail)

Posted by . Categories: contest, essay, fiction, poetry, student, student writing contest, writers in the schools. Leave a comment