FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2015
Media Contact:
Gina Hyams, PR Consultant
413-464-2851
[email protected]
Spencertown Academy Arts Center Announces Teen Short Story Contest Deadline for Submissions: June 30, 2015
Spencertown, New York – Spencertown Academy Arts Center announces its first-ever Teen Short Story Contest. The contest is open to Berkshire and Columbia County teenaged writers in grades 9 through 12. Contest judges include book editors, authors, and other publishing professionals. The top three winners will receive cash prizes ($100, $75, and $50 respectively) and be invited to read their stories at the Academy’s annual Festival of Books over Labor Day weekend.
Jill Kalotay and Academy Board member David Highfill co-chair the Festival of Books, during which the Academy welcomes numerous acclaimed and well-known writers and nearly 2,000 readers. “Our mission at Spencertown Academy is to build a community through the arts,” said Highfill, vice president and executive editor at William Morrow & Co., an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. “With the Festival of Books in particular, we’re interested in engaging and entertaining all the area book lovers—and we know from past experience that there are lots of them. I think Jill Kalotay’s brilliant idea for this contest is a perfect way to do just that and to nurture the region’s next generation of literary talent.”
The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2015. Stories can be on any subject matter, with a maximum length of 4,000 words. Stories must be formatted in 12-point type, be double spaced, and have 1″ margins on standard 8 ½” by 11″ paper. Entries must not have previously been accepted for publication nor have won a prize. Send submissions, as well as any enquires regarding the story contest, to the Academy at [email protected].
Housed in a beautifully restored 1840s Greek-Revival schoolhouse at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. It offers a variety of free and low-cost community arts events, including concerts, readings, theater pieces, art exhibitions, and arts-related workshops and classes. For more information about the Festival of Books, visit the website.
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