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Creative Writing Festival

November 18,2009

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Application

Download Brochure: Creative Writing Festival Brochure

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Creative Writing Festival - November 18, 2009

We are happy to announce the High School Creative Writing Festival for the year 2009 and to invite you and your writing students to attend and participate in this twenty-five-year tradition at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Each year approximately 700 students and teachers participate in the Festival. We are pleased to be able to offer you and your students this day of stimulating exposure to the writing of their peers and the chance to hear their work discussed and evaluated by professional writers in a college setting.

Entry Categories and Rules for Submission

A participant may submit in only one (1) categor y. See category chart below.
Participants must mail in TWO copies of the Identification & Proof of Originality cover sheet (completed and signed), the submission cover page, and the submission (only one copy of music or multimedia is required).
All manuscripts must be typed, double spaced, stapled together, and mailed before the deadline.
All manuscripts must have a typed cover page bearing the author's typed name, title of the work (poetry may have up to three titles), and name of the school.
Multimedia entries must send a description if the submission is not suitable for mailing.
Submissions must be postmarked by October 23, 2009.
Each school is limited to twenty-five (25) submissions. There is no limit to the number of students you may bring.
Participants should bring at least twenty (20) copies of their manuscripts to be taken to the session at which their work will be evaluated.
To ensure the continued quality of the Festival experience, we may have to limit the number of participants.
We regret that late or carry-in submissions cannot be considered, except in the genre of multimedia. Multimedia descriptions must be sent in advance.
Students should pick up their annotated manuscripts at the end of the workshop session time they were assigned to.

Festival Schedule

Convocation Speaker: Wisconsin Poet Laureate Marilyn Taylor

Marilyn L. Taylor, Ph.D., is Wisconsin's Poet Laureate for 2009 and 2010 and the author of six collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including The American Scholar, Poetry, The Valparaiso Review, and Iris. She was awarded First Place in recent contests sponsored by The Atlanta Review, Passager, The Ledge, and GSU Review, and she recently won the Dogwood Prize for a crown of sonnets titled "The Good-Girl Chronicles". Her newest collection, Going Wrong, was published in 2009 by Parallel Press.

Marilyn taught poetry and poetics for fifteen years for the English Department and the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has led workshops for Redbird Studios and Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee, All Writers Studio in Waukesha, Lakeland Colloge, Fond du Lac's Windhover Center for the Arts, Lawrence University's Bjorklunden Center in Baileys Harbor, and elsewhere in Wisconsin and throughout the country.

In 2004 and 2005, Marilyn served as Poet Laureate of Milwaukee, her home town. Currently she is Contest Co-Chair for the Council for Wisconsin Writers, and a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. She is also a Contributing Editor for The Writ er magazine, where her columns on the craft appear bi-monthly.

Time	Event
8:00 - 9:00 am	Check-In, Hamilton Center (in the University Center)
9:00 - 9:50 am	Convocation, Hamilton Center
10:00 - 10:50 am	Workshops
11:00 - 11:50 am	Workshops
12:00 - 12:50 pm	Lunch
1:00 - 1:50 pm	Workshops
2:00 - 2:50 pm	Workshops
3:00 - 3:50 pm	Workshops
4:00 - 4:50 pm	Workshops
5:00 - 5:45 pm	Awards Ceremony, Hamilton Center

For the Students

Workshops are designed for students in grades 9-12
Students' work will be discussed in the sessions
Workshops are limited, and student writers will be assigned in advance to the workshop in which their work is critiqued
Non-submitting participants may attend any session of their choice
Every submission will be carefully read and considered
A faculty member will make written comments on the original manuscript
Because of the great number of entries in some categories such as poetry, our faculty cannot always discuss every work submitted
At check-in, participants will receive a copy of the schedule designating the workshop assigned and its location
Lunch for the participants will be on their own.

For the Teachers

UW-Whitewater staff members and visiting writers will coordinate special teachers' writing workshops to be held concurrently with the students' workshops. A session on the teaching of creative writing will be conducted and a workshop for teachers will be offered if there is sufficient interest. Teachers who want to submit their own work for consideration in a Teachers' Writing Workshop should submit their work by October 23, 2009. Lunch for the teachers will be included in the fee.

Prizes & Refunds

Prize money has been approximately $700 in previous Creative Writing Festivals. It is anticipated that this year's Festival will award a comparable amount. Awarding of prizes will depend on the number and quality of submissions per genre. We regret that it will not be possible to give refunds to those students who are unable to attend. Teachers may receive refunds, less a $5 handling fee, if notification is received before November 6, 2009.

Fees

$22.00 Students with Submission and attendance fee

$17.00 Attendance fee (students not submitting a manuscript)

$26.00 Teacher Fee

Students who do not wish to submit a manuscript for evaluation in a workshop are still welcome to attend the Festival. These students are encouraged to participate in discussions of the work being considered in the various workshops. Students may not submit a manuscript for evaluation if they do not attend the Festival. Please submit one check from the school or adviser to cover all students attending. A catered luncheon is included in the teacher's fee. Students will be "on their own" for lunch. Student luncheon options, both on and off campus, will be included in the packet received at check-in.

Identification & Proof of Originality

Each applicant submitting work must have the Identification & Proof of Originality Form attached, and completely filled in, as a cover sheet to each copy of their work. It is available in the Creative Writing Brochure.

This sheet identifies the student, the school, the title and category of the entry. Each student must fill in the blanks and sign the Statement of Responsibility for each entry to be official. (Please make additional copies as needed.)

Special Notice

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is committed to equal opportunity in its educational programs, activities and employment policies, for all persons regardless of race, color, gender, creed, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, marital status, Vietnam-era veteran status, parental status and pregnancy.

If you have any disabling condition that requires special accommodations or attention, please advise us well in advance. We will make every effort to accommodate your special needs.

Contact Information

Dale Ritterbusch, Director
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
409 Heide Hall
800 West Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190
Phone: (262) 472-5055
pritterbusch@wi.rr.com

Office of Continuing Education Services
2005 Roseman, UW-Whitewater
Whitewater, Wisconsin
(262) 472-3165

Email: cesevents@uww.edu

Application