Oz ~ The Writing Contest

The deadline for the writing contest has now past. We would like to thank all of you who sent in papers for consideration.
Best of luck!

For more than 100 years, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has delighted young readers. Oz has also inspired writers, movie producers, composers, artists, and editorial cartoonists, to name a few. The story and its beloved characters are known around the world as symbols of American culture. This contest asks young writers to create original fiction based on the 14 Oz books by America’s foremost author of fairy tales, L. Frank Baum. Winners will be honored at a national Oz conference, "Oz: The Books," to be held May 14-16, 2010, at California State University, Fresno.

Download Contest Entry Form Now

Download Contest Rules

Download Contest Flyer

Or call the Arne Nixon Center at 559-278-8116 to have forms mailed to you.

CONTEST RULES

Requirements

Contest open to all students, grades 4-12, residing in California.
No fee is required to enter.
Entry consists of three parts:

Contest Permission Form
Contest Entry Form
Contestant’s work

All submissions must be the student’s unpublished original work.
Each student may submit only one entry and can participate in only one division.

Divisions:

Division A: 4th - 7th grade
Division B: 8th - 12th grade

Awards for Each Division:

First Place: $150
Second Place: $100
Third Place: $ 50

The six award-winning entries will be embellished with illustrations provided by art students at Fresno State. Each author and artist will receive ten copies of their particular illustrated story.

The illustrated stories will also be made available to conference attendees.

Award winners and artists will be honored at the "Oz: The Books" conference on Sunday morning, May 16th, at the Satellite Student Union on the Fresno State campus. Their families will also be invited as special guests.

Submissions

Entries must be postmarked by January 29, 2010, or delivered
by 5 p.m. on that date to:

                Oz Writing Contest
                    Arne Nixon Center
                    Henry Madden Library
                    California State University, Fresno
                    5200 N. Barton Ave. M/S ML34
                    Fresno, CA 93740-8014

Winners will be notified by February 26, 2010. The early deadline is to give time to the CSU student artists who will provide cover art and/or illustrations.

Submission Criteria:

Division A, grades 4-7: 500 word maximum
Division B, grades 8-12: 1,500 word maximum
All submissions must be written in English.
Submissions may be typed (double spaced, 12 point type) or neatly handwritten on one side of the paper only.
Entries may be disqualified if they are deemed illegible by the contest judges.

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be judged based on originality, writing quality, and relevance to theme. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation may also be considered.
Submissions will be judged by board members of ANCA, the Arne Nixon Center Advocates.
The decisions of the judges are final and cannot be contested.

Ideas

Please feel free to use one of these ideas as inspiration, or to invent a story of your own.

What happened to Dorothy’s house after she left it in the land of the Munchkins?
On the night after Dorothy found the Scarecrow, Dorothy was sleeping, and the Scarecrow was keeping an eye on her, when Toto slipped away . . . .
What was the Lion like as a cub? Tell a story from his youth.
Deadly poppies and fighting trees are not the only dangerous plants in Oz. Tell a story about some of the others.
What was life like for the Winged Monkeys after they were freed?
What happened to Dorothy’s silver slippers when she went home to Kansas?
What happened to Dorothy on a later trip to Oz? She came back many times and not all of her adventures have been described.
Tell a story about another boy or girl who went to Oz. Maybe it was you!

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