Students and adults in the community have the opportunity to get their work published in an upcoming anthology.
The executive of the Defiance Running Club is overseeing the project, which is being funded by the Wallaceburg and District Arts Council through Community Futures.
Mark Childs, organizer of the project, said he is thrilled to get the project off the ground.
“The idea started a few years ago, but now we have the manpower with the running club being the governing body of the project,” he said. “There has been a lot of chatter, and we are expecting a lot of submissions.”
In order for students to get published, they will have to submit an entry to a writing contest.
The contest is for students in Grades 6 to 12 and will begin Monday, January 4 with a deadline of Leap Day, February 29. The top 3 in each grade will be published and will receive a trophy.
Both the Lambton-Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board have approved the project. Schools participating are: AA Wright, HW Burgess, Holy Family, St. Elizabeth, Christ the King, Walpole Island Elementary, Sacred Heart, Riverview Central, Dresden Public School, Wallaceburg Christian School, LKSS, and WDSS.
Judging of the children’s entries will be handled by Kylie Lozon and her English department at WDSS. The running club executive will determine the top five at each grade level.
Editing of the manuscript will be handled by the editing department of Xlibris Publishing.
Adult submissions will be accepted starting December 1 with a deadline of February 29.
“The first section of the book will include the kid’s stories, with the second section being for the adults,” Childs said. “You don’t have to be a huge successful writer. We have an editing staff that are on board, so everyone’s writing doesn’t have to be bang on.”
Childs added the stories don’t have to necessarily be about Wallaceburg.
“They can be any genre, any topic,” he said. “We do have some guideline in place, but we are really looking for a great collection of local authors.”
A naming contest is also underway for the anthology as well.
The winning prize is $100 from 99.1, dinner for two at the Black Goose Grill in Wallaceburg and two tickets for an upcoming show hosted by the Arts Council.
The winning title will be announced Dec. 15 on air.
Enter the naming contest here.
Here are the submission guidelines for the Wallaceburg Anthology:
– We are currently accepting submissions from all Wallaceburg and area residents over the age of 18. Submissions from residents 18 and under will be accepted through our writing contest, which begins in January 2016.
– All submissions must contain original material, and may not have been previously published, accepted for publication, or have been a winner in another contest prior to the deadline.
– In this, our first year, we are accepting short stories of 1500-5000 words in length and poetry. The short stories may be from any genre excluding erotica. We discourage graphic violence and unnecessary profanity in your submissions.
– Standard manuscript format – double-spaced, typed, one side only on white 8-1/ 2 x 11″ paper (letter-sized), each page to include title and page number only. No staples, please.
– Hard copy submissions will be accepted by surface mail. Send your entry to:
2016 Wallaceburg Writing Contest
525 James Street
Wallaceburg, ON
N8A 2P1
Include a cover page listing the writer’s name, address, email address, phone number, and entry title, and word length [excluding title]. All information is held in strict confidence, and will be destroyed after the contest winners are announced. Manuscripts are not returned.
Email submissions are to be sent to: theblackgoose@hotmail.ca – Please type “Storyteller” in the subject line.
– Judges are Kylie Lozon, Head of the English Department at WDSS, and her teaching staff.
– DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: All submissions must be postmarked or emailed by Midnight, Sunday, January 31, 2016.
– Submission implies the author is granting first right of publication to the Wallaceburg Anthology, as winners will be published in our book. Rights then revert to the author. The Submission also grants the Wallaceburg Anthology the right to publish the entrant’s name in the book.
– All authors will be exempt from royalties derived from the sale of the anthology. All proceeds from the anthology sales will be donated to the Wallaceburg Arts Council, a portion of which will be used for English scholarships.
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