The GFWC Shorewood Woman’s Club (a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs -Wisconsin), is sponsoring a Youth Poetry and Short Story contest for grades K through 12. The goal of this contest is to promote the creative arts as a method of self-expression to youth. Any poetry or short stories written in calendar year 2021 qualify for this year’s contest. The deadline for submission to the Shorewood Woman’s Club is February 1, 2022. Students may submit their entries to their school's front office.
The rules for the contest are below. The entries will be judged locally before going on to the state contest. Those winning at the state level will be forwarded to the national writing contest of the GFWC. The winners from the national contest will be announced at the GFWC International Convention in June.
The SWC is very pleased to offer this opportunity to Shorewood students. The SWC has been serving our community for 85 years and is excited to join with Shorewood schools as part of this national writing contest.
GFWC-WI Youth Short Story and Poetry Contest Rules
- Entries must be typed, double-spaced, printed on one side only, with minimum margins of one-inch (1”) on all four sides, on 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
- Entries must be written between January 1 – December 31, 2021 (during the contest year).
- Entries must have the following on the top right-hand corner of each page.
o Author’s full name, email address, mailing address, and phone number.
o Author’s school name and district, or home school supervisor o Name of the GFWC Club submitting the entry and GFWC-WI
o Category – Poetry or Short Story
o Title of Work
o Grade Level Category
Category 1: Grades K, 1, and 2
Category 2: Grades 3, 4, and 5
Category 3: Grades 6, 7, and 8
Category 4: Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12
- Authors must be amateurs; earnings from writing may not exceed $500 annually.
- Entries may not have been published prior to the competition and must be original works by the authors.
- A signed GFWC Creative Arts Waiver must be included with each submission. This waiver must also be signed by a parent. A copy of the waiver is included in this packet.
- One entry per youth per category.
- Short stories are limited to 2,000 words.
- Poetry entries can be any style, with a minimum length of eight lines and a maximum of 50 lines.
- The entries may be submitted in print to the school front offices or as attachments via email in either .doc or .pdf format to [email protected].
- Manuscripts will not be returned. All authors should keep an original copy of the entry.
- By submitting a short story or poem to GFWC-WI or GFWC, you are providing GFWC-WI or GFWC with royalty-free perpetual license to use, reproduce, post, display, create derivative works, sell, license the work in any media known or later invented without limitation, for commercial or non-commercial purposes.