Clubs to hold writing contest for kids

The Naperville Woman's Club and the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs will sponsor a Young Adult Writing Contest for students in grades seven through 12.

The contest is open to students in Naperville Unit District 203, Indian Prairie Unit District 204, Naperville private schools and home-schooled students in the city.

Cash awards and certificates of achievement will be awarded in a ceremony in Naperville. First-, second- and third-place winners will move on to the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs competition next spring.

Entrants may submit one poem or one work of fiction of any style or theme. Poems must be a minimum of eight lines and a maximum of 30 lines. Short fiction can be no more than 2,000 words.

All entries must be in English, typewritten (no carbons) or neatly printed. Stories must be double-spaced with minimum margins of 1 inch, one side only on 8½-by-11 inch paper. Two copies of each work must be submitted.

Students also are asked to keep a copy because manuscripts cannot be returned. Entries must provide the student's name, home address, telephone number, grade in school, school name and manuscript title in the top right-hand corner of each page.

A card with the same information should accompany the entry, and the card also should include the teacher's name and student's e-mail address.

To be eligible, authors must have amateur status. (Earnings must not exceed $500 annually.) Manuscripts may not have been published prior to the competition and must be an original work of the author.

Entries must be postmarked by Dec. 1 and mailed to: Naperville Woman's Club, Youth Writing Competition, P.O. Box 4197, Naperville, IL 60567. For details, call (630) 922-0043.