The Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition

  • Exciting News!

    The Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition has begun! Unlike many writing competitions, the Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition does not give students a prompt to respond to, or provide any other boundaries to their genre choice or creativity beyond a 1900-word maximum length. Entries may include a short story, poem, essay, personal narrative, or any other kind of writing written entirely by the student (no writing, edits, or revisions by an adult).

    Important information about the writing competition can be found below, along with a link to the entry form.


    WHAT TO WRITE

    Unlike many writing competitions, YGA does not provide a prompt to which students must respond or provide any other boundaries to their genre choice or creativity beyond a 1900-word maximum length. 

    Gwinnett County Public Schools does request that submissions be appropriate for the school setting.

    Entries may include:

    • Short Stories
    • Expository Writing
    • Personal Narratives
    • Poetry            
    • Essays                        
    • Any Other Original Student Writing

     

    GENERAL RULES:

    1. Students must turn in a completed entry form with their writing (attached).
    2. Entries must be the students’ original work (This includes all edits, revisions, and publication.)  Dictated stories cannot be accepted. 
    3. Entries must be typed or handwritten on 8.5x11 inch paper.  Print on one side of the paper only. If your entry is more than one page, paperclip only.  Do not bind, make a cover for, decorate, laminate, or otherwise alter the original paper on which the entry is written.
    4. The maximum length is 1900 words.  If your submission nears the 1900 word maximum, please include a word count.
    5. The student should write his/her first name, last name and teacher’s name at the top right corner of the first page ONLY.
    6. Once received by BLES, the original work will not be returned.  Please keep a copy before you submit the work.

    ****Entries that do not follow the guidelines above will not be included in the competition process.****

     

    Questions:  wendy.shaw@gcpsk12.org  OR nicole.norby@gcpsk12.org 

     

    SELECTION PROCEDURES:

    There will be one winning entry per grade level, selected by the BLES Literacy Committee.  Judges will not have access to other judge’s scores, nor are they aware of the name of the student.  The winning entry from each grade level will be sent to and judged by the Gwinnett County Language Arts Department.  Judges will use a rubric for judging written submissions.

     

    DEADLINE:

    All legible submissions with COMPLETED entry forms must be received in the Media Center by Wednesday, November 20, 2024. LATE ENTRIES and/or ENTRY FORMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED after Wednesday, November 20, 2024.


    Click here to view and print an entry form.