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Valuable Resources
There are many classes, workshops, and programs available for creative writing teachers. If you have any particular favorites, we'd like to know. For now here a just a few of our favorites.
An opportunity for teacher/writers is New Scriptor, a magazine published by teachers at Adali Stevenson High School. Its mission is to “provide a forum by educators to exhibit their, fiction, poetry, drama, art, and expository writing.”
You can submit pieces online to Jim Barnabee at jbarnabee@d125.org
The September/October 2010 edition of Poets & Writers features their second annual ranking of The Top 50 MFA Programs. Go to their website for more details.
Dates/Contests
The Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Contest.
Being an American Essay Contest.
Bennington College Young Writers Award - for grades 10-12; categories in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Always a November 1st deadline.
Canary - an environmental zone that focuses on the natural world and threats to that world. Accepts poetry, short fiction, and essays.
Dylan Days Creative Writing Contests. Entry rules for next year will be posted shortly.
Hanging Loose Magazine - for high school age students; poetry and short stories.
Iowa Young Writers' Studio - A two-week intensive seminar and workshop for poetry, fiction, or creative writing. 10th-12th grade, and the rare brilliant 9th-grader.
John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest for high school students. All submissions must adhere to contest requirements.
Launch Pad- for ages 6-14; fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
Maggie's Drawers - for middle school students; poetry, short fiction, and visual art.
Manningham Student Poetry Awards - for grades 6-12.
Medulla Publishing Chapbook Contest. Open to submissions from July 1, 2010 until September 30, 2010. Free-verse, non-rhyming poetry with surrealistic edge is preferred.
National Peace Essay Contest. The topic is Governance, Corruption, and Conflict. To participate, students are asked to answer the question: For those who hope to prevent violent conflict, how can their efforts to reduce, if not eliminate, corruption best contribute to building sustainable peace using two cases of countries in transition from war to peace?
A Near Miss for grades 9-12; poetry, short fiction, and visual art.
Norman Mailer High School and College Writing Awards for Creative nonfiction. Info and entry rules to be posted soon.
Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers - for grades 10-11; Submit during the month of November.
Poetry Out Loud, - An annual spoken word competition for high school students. You can't use original poems, but this is still a cool opportunity for slam enthusiasts. Materials are distributed in September; finals are held in April. Get your English teacher involved so he/she can contact your state's coordinator and get you registered.
Polyphony- for grades 9-12; short stories and poetry.
Promising Young Writers program represents NCTE's commitment to early and continuing work in the development of writing. Students who are eighth-graders in the present academic school year are eligible to be nominated for the Promising Young Writers program. Send request for brochures to pyw@ncte.org. Note: we only mail to school addresses. Entry Deadline is February 1, 2011.
River of Words Poetry and Art Contest - for anyone age 5-19. Poetry.
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards - for grades 7-12; categories in visual arts and writing. Details for 2011 competition available October 1st.
SEVEN-CIFA Essay Competition 2010-11. Essay Competition. We are seeking essays on enterprise solutions to poverty from around the globe that are faith-based, faith-inspired, or interfaith efforts. Submission deadline is October 15, 2010.
Stage of Life features a national writing contest for teens and high school students (non-fiction, memoir, blogging, essay-style contest for teens in high school).
Teen Ink- a literary magazine and website
Young Arts: National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Scholarship opportunities for talented 17-18 year olds in the visual, literary and performing arts.
The Writing Conference, Inc., sponsors writing contests in poetry, narration, and exposition for elementary, junior high/middle school and high school students.
Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest - for girls in grades 10-11; November 15 deadline.
Young Arts - open to 2010-2011 high school seniors and other eligible 17 and 18-year-old artists in the performing, literary and visual arts. Deadline: October 15, 2010.
The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores and in cooperation with affiliate state centers for the book, invites readers in grades 4 through 12 to enter Letters About Literature, a national reading-writing contest. To enter, readers write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre-- fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic, explaining how that author's work changed the student's way of thinking about the world or themselves. There are three competition levels: Level I for children in grades 4 through 6; Level II for grades 7 and 8, and Level III, grades 9 - 12. Winners, announced in the spring of each year, receive cash awards at the national and state levels. Visit www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/letters/
Second Run is a literary reprint journal. Submit up to ten poems, or three plays, essays, or short stories of any length. Include a one-paragraph provenance to let our readers know where the piece came from, where you were in life when you wrote it, where it was first published, etc. Submit all work to submissions@secondrun.org
Misc.
Chicago Dramatists, the playwrights' theatre, has devoted all of its resources and programming to its singular mission of developing new plays and nurturing playwrights. Programs & Resources Available to all playwrights.
http://www.chicagodramatists.org/home/index.html
Look up One Act Play books on Google and you'll be overwhelmed.
Check out WBEZ's http://thestory.org.
Check out these personal narrative links...
http://library.springbranchisd.com/sbisd_library/personal_narratives.htm
HBO: Brave New Voices
One part Def Poetry Jam and two-parts documentary, Brave New Voices is a doc-series that features the finest young spoken word artists in the country.
www.hbo.com/bravenewvoices/
A good CD: "How to Read and Understand Poetry" by Professor Willard Spiegelman of S.M.U. (The Great Courses, The Teaching Company)
www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLong2.aspx?cid=268
Teachers in Illinois now have greatly increased access to high quality professional development programming regarding the teaching of writing. The National Writing Project (NWP) serves teachers of writing at all grade levels, primary through university, and in all subjects. To learn more and find the Illinois site closest to you, go to: www.nwp.org
The Poetry Foundation has wonderful audio and podcasts - Poetry off the Shelf - which I would highly recommend.
www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/audio.html
Poets & Writers Magazine (www.pw.org):
If you're looking for grants and awards, or literary magazines and small presses that welcome both new and established writers, begin here.
"One ought, everyday at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if possible, speak a few reasonable words." (www.poetryfountain.com)
Iowa Summer Writing Festival & other programs for teachers & writers. (www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/iswfest/html/welcome/index.html)
Summer on Campus: College Experiences for High School Students is a great resource book which gives detailed information about programs at colleges throughout the United States which enable students to take college courses.
IATE is a professional organization for teachers of English/language arts. Composed of nearly 1,500 teachers throughout the state, IATE provides a working network for the exchange of teaching tips, current research, and professional development. IATE publishes the Illinois English Bulletin, a newsletter, and hosts a fall conference. Check out their Fall 2008 edition at: www.iateonline.org
Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest is a great way to teach poetry and help students with written and oral communication skills. Poetry Out Loud was designed so that teachers may easily implement this "poetry bee" contest in the classroom. Poetry Out Loud awards prizes to students and schools at the state and national levels. For an overview of the program, classroom tools, and model recitations visit: www.poetryoutloud.org
Taking a trip? Here is a good CD collection. CLASSIC HUNDRED POEMS: All Time Favorites, edited by William Harmon (ISBN: 1598875787). Just enough explanation and analysis to make this highly enjoyable.
You can learn more about Young Chicago Authors by visiting the Web site at youngchicagoauthors.org.
A good CD: "How to Read and Understand Poetry" by Professor Willard Spiegelman of S.M.U. (The Great Courses, The Teaching Company)
We will hold off on recommending particular MFA programs, but if you don't know it already, there are many courses you can take on line. The courses offered by the University of Iowa are especially good as are the summer workshops offered on campus.
A wonderful resource for creative writing teachers, as you probably know, is TEACHERS & WRITERS COLLABORATIVE. Check out www.twc.org/publications.
Sandi Wisenberg's web site (http://slwisenberg.blogspot.com): Good resources for writers and "How To Books."
Chicago Poetry (http://chicagopoetry.com): Keep up-to-date with local Chicago poetry happenings.
Chicago Poetry Center (www.poetrycenter.org): Find out about monthly poetry events and readings.
Neighborhood Writing Alliance (www.jot.org): A local not-for-profit offering adults in low-income neighborhoods the chance to write, publish and perform works about their lives.
Facets Multi Media, Inc. Reel Poetry Program (www.facets.org/asticat?function=web&catname=facets&web=kids&path=): Learn about Facets year-round poetry appreciation program and other youth writing programs.
Chicago Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org): A great site -- check out their "Find a Poem/Discover a Poem" section.
Humorous Children's Poetry (http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/poehumor.htm#c): LOL -- a site for librarians, teachers, parents and students.
Powell's Books (www.powells.com/psection/Poetry.html): Great bookstore.
NarrativeMagazine.info (www.narrativemagazine.info):
Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenk's on-line magazine, devoted to fiction, non-fiction and the art of story telling.
NarrativeMagazine.com (www.narrativemagazine.com):
Mission is to bring great literature into the digital age, and to provide it for free. Stories, poetry, essays, novel excerpts, articles, and interviews are available -- without subscription -- to readers everywhere.
http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/YA/teen_writing.html
www.davidbarrkirtley.com/teenwriter/Contests.html
http://www.civicandarts.org/htmls/pdf/creative.writing_08.pdf
http://www.davidbarrkirtley.com/teenwriter/TeenResources.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?Writing-Contests-for-Teens--
Something-to-Do-With-a-Boring-Summer!&id=237227
http://www.grandmajam.com/luv2kids.htm#writers
http://www.piercecountylibrary.org/kids-teens/teens/teen-writing-contest/Default.htm
http://www.poetryamerica.com/teen-poetry-contest.asp
www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Arts/Creative_Writing/
www.proofpositive.com/contests/writecontests.htm
www.pw.org/content/grants_amp_awards_your_guide_writing_contests
http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/ssp/essay.htm
www.youngvoicesfoundation.org/index.html?gclid=CP-ug4KH3pUCFRTbQAodt1N9Xg
Would you like information about:
An on-line course for eager sixth-graders?
Ways to use Friday Night Lights and Veronica Mars in the classroom?
Creative alternatives to senior year?
Discussing creative approaches to the ACT or SAT essay?
Send us an e-mail. We can help you out.
Interested in Historical fiction? Contact us. We have material and ideas for writing about many Chicago figures and events. The material invites students to remember, discover, decide, and create.
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