South Carolina students can test their creative skills with two upcoming contests sponsored by the South Carolina Center for the Book: Letters About Literature and River of Words.
Students have one more month to pen their notes for the Letters About Literature competition. The national contest is open to students in grades four through 12, and submissions are being accepted until Dec. 8.
To enter, participants write a letter to an author, past or present, describing how that author’s work made an impact. Contestants are cautioned not to summarize the book’s plot, but to express in an honest, conversational tone how the book affected them.
There are three competition levels: Level I for students in grades 4-6; Level II for grades 7 and 8; and Level III for grades 9-12. National winners and state level winners in each level receive cash prizes. To download the official how-to-enter guidelines at the LAL Web site, visit www.loc.gov/letters.
The annual competition is sponsored by the Library of Congress Center for the Book in partnership with Target, and its affiliate, the South Carolina Center for the Book. There were more than 1,200 entries from South Carolina students in the 2006 contest.
River of Words, an international poetry and art contest focusing on watersheds, is open to students ages 5 to 19. The competition is designed to help youth explore the natural and cultural history of the place in which they live, and to express, through poetry and art, what they discover.
The deadline for entries for River of Words is Feb. 15. Students may enter on their own or as part of a group. For more information about the contest and how to enter, see the Web site at www.riverofwords.org. There is no charge to enter. South Carolina student winners in each age category will be honored at a ceremony in Columbia in late April.
For more information about both competitions, call youth services consultant Jane Connor at the State Library at (803) 734-8658. Visit www.sccenterforthebook.org.
