SUBMISSIONS OPEN JANUARY 15, 2020
ABOUT THE CONTEST
Mt. Diablo’s Young Writers Contest is for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in Contra Costa County. It has been held every year since 1995, starting with two categories and reaching just one school district. It has grown to encompass all of Contra Costa County and now provides four categories: Poetry, Short Story, Personal Narrative, and Humor.
“Honoring a new generation of California writers”
Your tax-deductible charitable donations to our 501(c)3 will help our contest participants. You may also donate by sending checks to CWC-Mt. Diablo at this address: Young Writers Contest P.O. Box 606 Alamo, CA 94507
AWARDS
First-place winners in each category receive $100, second-place winners receive $50, and third-place winners receive $25.
Prizes are awarded at a ceremony on May 16, 2020.
RULES
- All entries must be the original work of the student.
- Entries must be in English.
- Personal Information (name, address, etc.) must not appear on the manuscript or in the name of the submitted file.
- A maximum of three entries per student are welcome under separate submission. Note: this means three entries per student, not three entries per category.
- Each submission should use the following formatting:
- Text: Times New Roman, 12-point, black
- 1-inch margins all around
- Double-spaced, except for poetry, which may be single-spaced
- Title on first page and page numbers in the footer
- Indentation on first line of each paragraph
- No illustrations or photographs
IMPORTANT: If you are submitting something as part of a classroom assignment, please include a UNIQUE TITLE* when you submit your piece. Do not use the general title of the classroom assignment. It is confusing if we receive several submissions with the same title.
*Your filename should be the same as your title. For example, if your story or poem is titled “Lemons and Oranges,” your filename should be lemonsandoranges.doc (or .docx, or .pdf).
DATES YOU SHOULD KNOW 
January 15, 2020 – Submission period opens
March 25, 2020 – Submission period closes
April 1 – 15, 2020 – Judging period
April 25, 2020 – Winners notified by email
May 16, 2020 – Awards Ceremony
PAST WINNERS
| 2017 Winners | 2018 Winners | 2019 Winners |
OTHER INFORMATION
DEADLINE: Manuscripts must be received by 9:00 p.m. on March 25, 2020. Winners will be notified by email by April 25, 2020.
Non-winners will not be notified.
TEACHERS: We love it when you use our contest as an assignment or for extra credit. If you assign a specific topic, please ask your students to give their piece a unique title.
PARENTS: Parents of winning students will be requested to give permission for the child to be photographed for print, videotaped, or electronically imaged during the awards ceremony and agree to allow his or her child’s picture to appear in newspapers, news releases, and/or other published formats.
PRIZES: Winning short stories and poems from each grade level will receive $100 for first prize, $50 for second prize and $25 for third prize. The Humor Award of $100 will be awarded to one winner (combined grades) or one winner in each grade level, at the judges’ discretion. The Betty Tenney Personal Narrative Award of $100 will be given to the best personal narrative/essay in each grade. Second and third place prizes may be awarded in the personal narrative category at the judges’ discretion. Prizes will be presented to winners on May 16, 2020. Further information on the awards ceremony will be provided to the winners. Parents and teachers of winning students are welcome.
Have more questions? Ask us below, or email us at youngwriters@cwcmtdiablo.org.
