Winners Receive Cash Prize, Featured at The Nature of Words Open Mike Event

With the school year just getting underway, The Nature of Words, Central Oregon’s premier literary event, has extended the submission deadline for its Rising Star creative writing competition to September 30. The extended deadline will allow emerging writers more time to prepare and submit their entries. The competition is a new feature of the annual literary festival, scheduled for 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 and a trophy provided by Rising Star Futons of Bend.

“We are thrilled about the enthusiastic response to the Rising Star competition, but want to ensure as many emerging writers as possible have an opportunity to participate,” said Ellen Waterston, Director of The Nature of Words. “The new deadline will give them more time to adjust to the start of the school year, while preparing their submissions.”

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 Ramsey, 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 Poets may submit two unpublished poems (4 single-spaced pages, total); prose writers may submit an unpublished double-spaced piece of no more than 2500 words.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 30, 2006 (new deadline!) and mailed to Rising Star, The Nature of Words,

The Nature of Words is co-sponsored by the High Desert Museum and Oregon State University/Cascades Campus. Additional support is provided by the Writing Ranch, Sun Forest Construction, The Bulletin, The Source Weekly, Cascades East, KLRR 101.7 FM, Brooks Resources, Oregon Council for the Humanities, Cascade Publications, Deschutes County Commissioners, Oregon Cultural Trust and the Deschutes Public Library Foundation.

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Oregon Council for the Humanities, a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OCH’s grant program.

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.