Winners Receive Cash Prize And Featured at November Open Mike Event

The Nature of Words, Central Oregon’s premier literary event, announces the Rising Star creative writing competition in association with the annual literary festival November 2 – 5, 2006 in Bend, Oregon. Prizes will be awarded in fiction, literary non-fiction and poetry in two age categories, 15-18 and 19-25. Winning writers will be featured at The Nature of Words Open Mike event on Sunday, November 5^th, and will receive a cash prize of $50.

“The Rising Star competition is a natural extension of our interest in supporting emerging Northwest writers,” said Ellen Waterston, Director of The Nature of Words. “We want to encourage the next generation of writers by providing a forum for their work and giving them an opportunity to compete with their peers.”

Entries will be judged by a panel of well-known Northwest writers including: Fiction: Jane Kirkpatrick, author of A Clearing in the Wild and Hold Tight the Thread; Non-fiction: Jarold Ramsay, author of New Era, Reflections on the Human and Natural History of Central Oregon and Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country; and Poetry: Judith Montgomery, author of Passion and Red Jess.

Submission Guidelines

·                     The competition is open to writers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

·                     Writers must be a member of one of the eligible age categories: ages 15-18 or ages 19-25.

·                     Submitting writers may not have published a first book or chapbook, but may have had individual stories, essays or poems in print.

·                     Submit two copies of each entry. Poets may submit two unpublished poems (4 single-spaced pages, total); prose writers may submit an unpublished double-spaced piece of no more than 2500 words. “Publication” includes appearance on any Internet source except a blog.  Use 8-1/2x 11 paper, and 12-pt. type.  Entries will not be returned.  Writers should not send their only copy of submitted work.

·                     The author’s name, address, phone number, and email should appear in the upper right-hand corner of every page.  The first page should contain the word count (prose only).

·                     Entrants should include a brief cover letter with a paragraph of information about themselves and their interest in/experience in writing.

·                     Include a check for $5 (submission fee), payable to the High Desert Museum, and earmarked for The Nature of Words.

·                     Entries must be postmarked by September 15, 2006 and mailed to Rising Star, The Nature of Words, P.O. Box 644, Bend, Oregon 97709. Entries postmarked after this date will not be read.

The Nature of Words is co-sponsored by the High Desert Museum, Oregon State University/Cascades Campus and the Writing Ranch.

For more information about the Rising Star creative writing competition and The Nature of Words, visit www.thenatureofwords.org, email info@thenatureofwords.org or call 541.385.7025.