Essay Competition: Oregon Quarterly

2011 Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest

OPEN AND STUDENT CATEGORIES

Oregon Quarterly invites entries to the 2011 Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest in both student and open categories. Entries should address ideas that affect the Northwest. The Oregon Quarterly staff will select finalists and the contest judge will choose the top three winners in each category. Past judges have been Kim Stafford, Barry Lopez, John Daniel, Karen Karbo, Brian Doyle, Lauren Kessler, Craig Lesley, Molly Gloss, Kathleen Dean Moore and Kenny Moore.


PRIZES:

Open Category
First place: $750
Second place: $300
Third place: $100

Student Category
First place: $500
Second place: $200
Third place: $75

In addition:
First place essay in the open category will appear in Oregon Quarterly.
A selection of top essays will be featured in a springtime public reading on the UO campus.
Fifteen finalists (ten in the open category and five students) will be announced in the summer 2011 issue of Oregon Quarterly.
All finalists will be invited to participate in a writing workshop with the contest judge. The contest is open to all nonfiction writers, except: (1) first-place winners from previous years' contests, (2) authors who have written a feature for Oregon Quarterly in the past calendar year, and (3) staff of Oregon Quarterly, University Advancement, or their family members. The student contest is open to any student enrolled and pursuing a graduate or undergraduate degree at a college or university at the time of the deadline. Previously published essays will not be considered.
Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Submit two copies of your manuscript.
Paperclip a cover sheet to the two copies that includes only the essay's title; a word count; and the entrant's name, address, and phone number must be provided. Indicate whether the essay is for the student or open category.
Entrant's name must not appear on any pages of the manuscript other than the cover sheet.
One entry per person.
Manuscripts should be printed double-spaced on 8½-by-11-inch white paper with minimum 1-inch margins.
Word length is 2,000 words maximum for the open category, 1,500 words for the student contest.
Faxed or e-mail entries are not accepted.
Postmark deadline is January 15, 2011.
Entries will not be returned. Those that do not meet these submission guidelines are automatically disqualified. There is no entry fee.

Send entries to:
Oregon Quarterly Essay Contest
5228 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5228

Sponsored by Oregon Quarterly magazine and the UO Duckstore