Ready to sharpen your creative writing skills? See where your imagination takes you this year! Set your reminders for the Saturday, March 27, 2021 deadline. The Friends' Creative Writing Contest is a great opportunity to promote writing for students in grades 1-12 who attend a school or live within the Littleton Public Schools (LPS) boundaries. (See boundaries below.)

Ready? Set? Write!

Categories:

Poetry: Writing in verse such as free verse, epic, blank verse, rhymed, ode, song lyrics, spoken word, etc. 100 lines maximum.
Fiction: Short story and one act plays such as mystery, thriller, romance, historical, fantasy, etc. 2,500 words maximum.
Nonfiction: Short story, articles, and one-act plays such as memoir, biography, historical, instructional, commentary, etc. 2,500 words maximum.
New for 2021-Collaborative: More than one person working together to create a written piece. Writers can be a mix of ages (1-12 grade). All entries will be judged as one category. Poetry 100 lines maximum; fiction/nonfiction 2,500 words maximum.

Submissions may include artwork, illustrations, font variations, or other graphic elements to enhance the written word, not replace the writing process.

Grade Divisions

1st and 2nd grades
3rd through 5th grades
6th through 8th grades
9th and 10th grades
11th and 12th grades

Judging and Prizes

Our distinguished judges are from the English Department of Arapahoe Community College.

Judging is anonymous based on originality, quality of expression and skill in handling specific forms of writing.

Judges also use the Creative Writing Contest Rubrics. (See below).

Judges' decisions will be final.
Winners will be notified by April 18, 2021.
Prizes will be awarded!
- Individual writers: 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in each grade and for each category.
- Collaborative writers: 1st, 2nd and 3rd places combined grades and categories.

Rules: A Few Important Notes

Make sure to read the Friends' Creative Writing Contest Rules. (See Rules pdf below). Failure to adhere to the Rules disqualifies the submission from winning.
Each submission needs a completed Entry Form.
Do NOT put your name on your written submission, only on the Entry Form.
Put the title and page number on each page.
Submissions are to be individual work unless submitted in the Collaborative category.
Writers may enter in all categories in their grade.

How to Enter

Via this Website:

Complete and submit the Entry Form. (See above.)
Attach your entry as a pdf.
You will receive a notification that your submission and Entry Form have been received.

Email:

Complete and submit the Entry Form. Either complete the Entry Form below or print, complete, scan and send the form to: friendscreativewritingcontest@gmail.com.
Attach your submission as a .pdf
You will receive a notification that your submission and Entry Form have been received.

Mail:

Send Entry Form and submission to:

Creative Writing Contest

c/o Bemis Public Library

6014 S Datura St,

Littleton, CO 80120.

Postmarked March 27, 2021.

You will receive a notification that your submission and Entry Form have been received.

Littleton Public School boundaries are: Belleview Avenue, Sheridan Boulevard, Holly Street and County Line Road.

Publication Orders

Winning writers in print!

All winning 2021 entries will be bound in a book and copies will be available for purchase after the contest. Order a copy of the 2021 Creative Writing Contest Winning Writers publication. Alternatively, during normal Library operating hours, you can reference a printed copy in the children’s room of the 2021 and previous years' winners starting in 1968. Winning writers' work work be printed in black and white, even if any artwork was submitted in color.

PLEASE NOTE: This contest is sponsored and managed solely by the Friends of the Littleton Library and Museum.

The staff of the Bemis Public Library has no involvement in procedures or judging.

Questions should be referred FriendsCreativeWritingContest@gmail.com

Judging and Prizes

Creative Writing Contest Rules, Rubrics and Information