October 31, 2019
High school students have the opportunity to have their prose or poetry published in Inscape, the award-winning fine arts journal published by Ursuline College.
Writing in the Rust Belt: A High School Writing Contest is open to all high school students and invites them to write on the theme of community, which is the theme of this year’s edition of Inscape. Two winners will be published in Inscape and invited to read their work at the journal’s launch party in May 2020. Submissions are due by December 1, 2019.
“Creative writing has the power to shape the way we view the world around us and to allow emerging writers to explore the power of their voice,” said Katharine G. Trostel, PhD, assistant professor of English. “The connection between storytelling and place is perfectly encapsulated by the theme, community.”
In either prose or poetry, students are invited to explore questions such as:
- What does it mean to create a just, vibrant, and inclusive community?
- What does it mean to belong to the Greater Cleveland area?
- What does it mean to belong to a rust belt city?
- What is our responsibility to community and to building communities?
- How do art and literature contribute to a community?
Contest Guidelines
- Prose pieces should be no longer than 500 words; poetry, no longer than 30 lines.
- Entries should be word processed.
- Contestants must submit a separate title page with the title of the piece, author’s name, address, email, phone number, school, grade, and name of author’s English teacher.
- To enable anonymous judging, contestants should not put their names on the piece itself. Their name should only appear on the title page.
- Each entry must be the original work of the writer. Plagiarized works will be disqualified.
- Email entries to Paula Fruehling.
- Include in the subject line of the email "Inscape Submission."
- Entries will be reviewed blindly by the student editors of Inscape.
- Submissions are due by December 1, 2019.
This contest is hosted by the Ursuline College English Department and Inscape, Ursuline College's Fine Arts Annual. Questions should be directed to Professor Katharine Trostel, PhD.
Above: A student reads her creative writing at the 2019 Inscape Launch Party.
