The gauntlet is down for this year’s Kootenay Literary Competition. Since its beginning as a small competition for Nelson writers, it has expanded to cover the entire Kootenay region, and offers the winners substantial cash prizes.
For adults, there are three writing categories: fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry, with cash prizes for the first and second place entries in each category. For youth, there are two age divisions (12 to 14, and 15 to 18 years old) with cash prizes for the first, second and third place winners. Submissions will be judged by a panel of writing professionals, who will provide feedback and suggestions on the winning work. All the winning entries will be published in the 2013 KLC Anthology.
This year’s theme for older youth (15 to 18 years old) and adults is "refuge." Writers have the freedom to interpret the theme in any way they like, and approach it through any of the genre categories. Younger writers (ages 12 to 14) have a different challenge, and must incorporate a small selection of keywords into their work to qualify. Detailed rules are available on the competition website .
The deadline for submission is Friday, January 17 and the gala celebration to announce the winners will be March 14. The KLC committee hosts other writing related events in the region over the course of the year. In the spring of 2014, the second annual Spring Scribble weekend workshop for young writers will be held in Cranbrook. Details about upcoming events will be available on the KLC website.
The literary competition committee has made the 2012 Anthology available for free as an ebook through the KLC website. Printed copies are also available to order. Questions about the competition can be emailed to kootenaylitcomp@gmail.com or call Morty Mint at 250-352-7844.