R.P. Barr to represent Prince William in state writing competition

Manassas writer R.P. Barr’s short story “Dinner Dishes” and poem “Pink Ribbon Afternoon” won first place in the fiction and poetry categories of the first tier (local chapter) competition of the Virginia Writers Club’s annual Golden Nib Contest. Barr’s entries have been forwarded to the VWC for statewide competition; statewide awards will be presented during the VWC Annual Meeting November 1 in Richmond.

Write by the Rails, the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, recognized winners of the chapter writing contest – the first tier of the VWC’s annual Golden Nib Contest – at their Aug. 21 meeting.

The distinguished panel of judges included:

·         Ann Marie Stippey, the 2014 Washington Post Agnes Meyer Teacher of the Year for Manassas City Public Schools and an Osbourn High School English teacher (fiction);

·         Robert Scott, co-Prince William Poet Laureate, novelist and Osbourn Park High School teacher (poetry); and

·         David Fawcett, sports editor for Prince William Today (nonfiction).

Maureen Arvai, Content Director at Brandt Social and a freelance writer, organized the local contest.

These winners were chosen:

·         Fiction) First-Place: R.P. Barr, Manassas, “Dinner Dishes”; Second-Place: Dani Ambrose Rogero, Manassas, “The Pin-Up Girl of the Lucky Lou”

·         Poetry)  First-Place: R.P. Barr, Manassas, “Seasons”; Second-Place: Kim Lervold, “Native American’s Perspective as Columbus Arrives”

·         Nonfiction) No entries submitted

Write by the Rails will sponsor  Fall for the Book’s “Haute Cuisine at the Hylton,” a celebration of fine food, superior drink and the various stories behind the scenes of every aspect of the food industry from farm to table and beyond on Thursday, Sept. 18, from 6 to 9 pm at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. Cookbook authors, food writers, chefs and chocolatiers, novelists incorporating food into their fiction, and even the newly minted Prince William Poets Laureate will be there. This is a free event, open to the public.

Local Teen Writers Win State Competition

Scholarship winner; 8 of 10 Golden Nib Contest winners are Prince William teens

The Virginia Writers Club has announced winners of their annual Teen Scholarship and Teen Golden Nib Contest competitions:

2014 VWC SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Renee Christina Ordoobadi - Bristow, Virginia


2014 TEEN GOLDEN NIB CONTEST WINNERS

HIGH SCHOOL - POETRY

1st Place - "Recess" by Renee Christina Ordoobadi

2nd Place - "Identity" by Teja, Janai Barnes, Dupree

3rd Place - "Acute Regression" by Neil Adair McMillan Hailey

Honorable Mention - "Homeless" by Leah Madeline Gaush


HIGH SCHOOL - NONFICTION

1st Place - "Glimpsing the World" by Katherine Brown

2nd Place - "When Life Gives You Lemons" by Phebe Ciemny

3rd Place - "Pilot" by Leah Madeline Gaush

Honorable Mention - "The Face of Depravity" by Renee C. Brittigan

 
HIGH SCHOOL - FICTION

1st Place - "Imperfect" by Erin Marguerite McCall

2nd Place - "Puppetmaster" by Kayleigh McCoy

3rd Place - "A Heavy Conscience" by Katherine Brown

Honorable Mention - "Awaiting the Fury" by Morgan Nicole Shaffer

Eight of the 10 teen winners live in Prince William, attend Woodbridge Senior High School and are enrolled in the CFPA Creative Writing Program.

Scholarship winner Renee Christina Ordoobadi recently graduated from Woodbridge Senior High School, and was enrolled in the CFPA Creative Writing Program. In March, she taught poetry at the Write by the Rails’ Rising Writers Workshop in Manassas. In June, she was one of 14 poets nominated for the Prince William Poet Laureate and became part of the Prince William Poet Laureate Circle at Tackett’s Mill. She is a contributing writer to BristowBeat.com and lives in Bristow, Virginia.

Phebe Ciemny, who recently graduated WSHS, and Neil Adair McMillan Hailey, a junior, were also among the 14 poets nominated for the Prince William Poet Laureate and in June became part of the Prince William Poet Laureate Circle at Tackett’s Mill. Ciemny taught poetry at the Write by the Rails’ Rising Writers Workshop in Manassas in March, along with Erin Marguerite McCall, who also recently graduated WSHS. McCall taught writing and the arts at the Write by the Rails’ Rising Writers Workshop. Teja, Janai Barnes, Dupree is a WSHS junior, and writes for the Valkyrie newspaper; Renee C. Brittigan is also a junior; Katherine Brown is a sophomore, whose winning piece, “Glimpsing the World,” was published in Eddas 2014 Bifrost. She attended the Write by the Rails’ Rising Writers Workshop in Manassas in March. Leah Madeline Gaush is a freshman at WSHS. Brittigan, Brown, Ciemny, Hailey, McCall and Ordoobadi all have additional writing published in Eddas 2014 Bifrost.

“I’m so proud of all of them,” said Woodbridge Senior High School creative writing teacher Cathy Hailey, who was herself featured in the March issue of Prince William Living magazine as one of the five Influential Women of 2014.

Three Year Anniversary: Write by the Rails Gets It Right

Three years ago, on a steamy August afternoon in Manassas, four local writers--Cindy Brookshire, Katherine Gotthardt, Sheila Lamb and Pete Pazmino--met at what was then the Simply Sweet Coffee Shop on Main Street to talk about ways they could encourage and support other writers in the area.

As the meeting ended, they agreed to meet later at Okra’s to organize. Recognizing the railroad heritage of Manassas, they named their new group Write by the Rails.

Since that day, things have changed. Simply Sweet has become Grounds Central Station, where owner Matt Brower continues to serve great food and drink and supports all manner of the arts—music, ballet, art, phonography and, of course, writing. And Write by the Rails has grown from those four writers to 257 members signed up through Facebook and other means. Early members joke about not meeting their Facebook friends face to face for months. About forty members are active.

That first year the club held networking meetings at area restaurants, started a email distribution list; publicized the group through local newspapers, online news sites and blogs; staged a literary panel discussion; sponsored multi-author book signings and displays at la Grange Winery in Haymarket, the Manassas Neighborhood Conference and the Arts Alive! Festival (sponsored by the Prince William County Arts Council) at the Hylton Performing Arts Center

The group staged a book signing at the Manassas Railroad Festival in June, 2012, and in the fall of 2012, became the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. The group also published New Departures in November, an anthology featuring poems, short stories, essays and artwork by its members. Eleven members of WBTR (as its members call it) joined the Prince William County Arts Council, and one member was elected to the Arts Council Board of Directors.

This past year Write by the Rails has become a chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. Chapter member June Forte and others worked to establish a Prince William Poet Laureate Program, the first a county (Richmond and Alexandria and a few other cities name laureates.). On June 14 at the Poetry & Jazz on the Lake event at Tacketts Mill, the club named Robert Scott and Zan Hailey as twin Poets Laureate.

Book clubs aren’t new, with some dating to the eighteenth century in England and perhaps even earlier. In the opening years of the twentieth century in this country, a group of writers in the San Francisco Bay area (including Jack London, poet George Sterling and short story writer Herman Whitaker among others) held informal meetings at first but soon became the Press Club of Alameda. In 1909, a faction broke off from the Press Club to form the California Writers Club, which is still active today.

The Virginia’s Writers Club dates back to November, 1918, founded by a group of writers including James Branch Cabell, the first president. Poet Ellen Glasgow hosted the first meetings at her house.

News, plans, members' writings and more are posted on our homepage, www.writebytherails.org, and in the Facebook group, www.facebook.com/groups/Writebytherails.The group is open to the public. If you are a writer (published or unpublished) affiliated with Manassas, Manassas Park or Prince William County, consider officially joining by emailing us at writebytherails@gmail.com. There is no charge to join.

--Dan Verner, Vice President, Write by the Rails

Write by the Rails 2013-2014 Achievements

As a chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, we've had tremendous success, thanks to our active, vibrant members.  Here are some of the highlights from 2013 until now.

· Chapter member June Forte launched the Prince William Poet Laureate Program, working with PWC Arts Council, Tackett’s Mill and the Clearwater Foundation. On June 14 at the Poetry & Jazz on the Lake event, two Poets Laureate were named to a two-year term: Robert Scott and Zan Hailey.

· The 2014 VWC Scholarship winner and 8 of 10 Teen Golden Nib Contest Winners 2014 were students from Prince William County Public Schools

· Chapter member Pete Pazmino received the Claudia Mitchell Arts Fund award by the Rappahannock Association for the Arts and the Community ($2,100 for a month-long residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia)

· Chapter hosted a one-day Rising Writers Workshop for teens and young adults on March 29 using a grant from Prince William County. Presenters included Sara Robinson, Sarah Crossland, Robert Scott, Matt Iden, Katherine Gotthardt, Stacy Shaw, Kelly Harmon, Nick and Stacia Kelly and students and alumni of WSHS’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA) Creative Writing Program.

· Chapter led workshops, gallery readings and book sales at Arts Alive! May 3, 2014 - Prince William County Arts Council at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.

· Chapter members Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine led two workshops, “The Hybrid Author: Combining Traditional and Self-Publishing” and a master class on social media at the at James River Writers March Writing Show in Richmond on March 27-28, 2014. Pip Ballantine presented “Women in Steampunk” at the Library of Congress in April 2014.

· Chapter president Cindy Brookshire received a VWC Special Achievement Award

· Chapter member Patricia Daly-Lipe won the 2013 VWC Summer Shorts Contest (first place, nonfiction, for her essay, “A Journey into the Heart of Creativity”)

· Chapter member June Forte participated in the Woodbridge Writers Retreat

· Chapter hosted a Write by the Rails “Endless Possibilities” Blog Tour for 8 weeks; 16 members participated; a followup podcast outprocessed the experience.

· Monthly chapter meetings averaged 20 to 25 in attendance and featured a guest speaker, from “Couples Who Collaborate” with Tee Morris & Philippa Ballantine (steampunk) and Nick & Stacia Kelly (urban fantasy) to “Inspirational Writing” with Deborah Tompkins Johnson, author of How Did They Do That?

· Chapter’s open group on Facebook increased from 160 to 257 members; website and chapter news on Virginia Writers Club website were maintained and updated with current information on about open mic nights and readings, manuscript groups, opportunities through Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University; chapter’s gmail account was monitored and queries were responded to; a regular enews was distributed and 1,000 business cards were shared with members.

· Chapter built community partnerships through active membership and participation in the Prince William County Arts Council (Author Nancy Kyme is council treasurer; poet Katherine Gotthardt served on the board two years and has been succeeded by freelance writer Jasmyn Oliver), the Prince William Chamber of Commerce and the Inter-Service Club Council of Greater Manassas.

· Community outreach included hosting weekly meet and greets at local coffee shops and restaurants in Manassas, Gainesville, Occoquan, Lake Ridge, Woodbridge and Haymarket; reading works in historic downtown Manassas at the Harris Pavilion and The Things I Love, leading a children’s journaling project at The Manassas Museum during the Manassas Civil War Weekend, talking to students about writing at the “Welcome Week Community Corner” day at George Mason University’s Prince William Campus, reading and talking about writing to children in schools during National Young Readers Day or at the afterschool literary club at Featherstone Elementary School in Woodbridge or in ESL class at Elizabeth Vaughan Elementary School in Woodbridge; teaching a one-day writing class to members of the Lifelong Learning Institute- Manassas at the Boys and Girls Club in Manassas; participating in a panel during the "You CAN Do Anything Too" Symposium! sponsored by the Neville Empowerment Network Inc.; helping to judge portfolios at the annual 4-H Presentation Night; leading a poetry workshop during National Poetry Month, participating in the Second Annual Local Author Fair at Bull Run Regional Library, and donating baskets of books to be auctioned to benefit local charities like the Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center and the American Red Cross.

Dennis Fargo to Speak at Write by the Rails Meeting May 15

Writer Dennis Fargo will be the speaker at the monthly meeting of Write by the Rails, the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, at 7 pm on Thursday, May 15 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 9325 West Street, Manassas.  Mr. Fargo served in five submarines during the heart of the Cold War, 1964-1991. His experiences included service as a Navy SCUBA diver, nuclear propulsion plant operator, strategic weapons officer, and attack submarine Commanding Officer. Mr. Fargo will relate two or three "sea stories" about submarine life.  

On the Agenda

Prince William Poet Laureate – The selection panel announcement at Bistro L’Hermitage, with special guest Sofia Starnes, Poet Laureate of Virginia, was covered by Prince William Living magazine, BristowBeat.com and El Imparcial newspaper; nominations closed May 10 and June Forte will give an update on the selection process at the May 15 meeting. SAVE THE DATE: June 14 announcement of the first Prince William Poet Laureate will take place at Tackett’s Mill Lakeside with these special features:

Family Arts Festival presented by Edgemoor Art Studio 12pm - 4pm June 14 

Bring the entire family out for a fun-filled afternoon of family friendly activities. Join local merchants, food vendors and beer/wine garden while enjoying the beauty of Tackett's Mill Lakeside.

·         Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of Edgemoor Art Studio 12:05pm

·         Live music entertainment 

·         Kids craft artwork workshops and face painting.

·         Basketball shooting challenge

·         Tackett's Mill Lakeside professional photo booth

Poetry & Jazz on the Lake: Prince William County Poet Laureate 3pm - 6pm June 14 

Hosted by: Guy Lambert WPGC Radio        Featuring Live Music

Join us for an evening of poetry, community and jazz on the lake. Celebrating the selection of Prince William County's Poet Laureate, Poetry & Jazz On The Lake is our celebration of the arts community to recognize talented poets in our area.

·         Live poetry readings accompanied by the sounds of professional jazz.

·         Book signings from local authors

·         Meet exhibitors from local businesses and organizations

·         Tackett's Mill Lakeside professional photo booth

·         Plenty of food, wine and beer to pair with the beautiful atmosphere of Tackett's Mill Center

Community Partnerships.  Write by the Rails is now a member of both the Inter-Service Club Council of Greater Manassas www.iscc-manassas.org and the Prince William Chamber of Commerce www.pwchamber.org. We hope to increase our visibility and mutually benefit from these community partnerships by taking an active role in each.

ARTS ALIVE! at the Hylton Performing Arts Center - thank you to those writers who participated at the book tables, readings and workshops on May 3: Cindy Brookshire, Ellen Butler, Garrett Carlson, John DeDakis, Joe Geraci and his wife Terry, Leigh Giza, Katherine Gotthardt, Marv Josaitis, Stacia Kelly and Nick Kelly, Nancy Kyme, Belinda Miller and her husband Gary, Ron Rauss, Jan Rayl, Tamela Ritter, Janda Sample, Stuart Schadt and Dan Verner.

Advanced Title and Settlements has awarded Write by the Rails $928.60 through their “Advance Your Community Giveback Campaign.”  Our chapter was one of 15 local not-for-profits competing for votes in the campaign. In addition to the funds raised, PotomacLocal.com has agreed to donate 30 consecutive days of complimentary banner advertising on the website’s sidebar to each of the non-profit organizations who participated in the event. The offer amounts to a $300 value to each of the organizations involved.

Next Rising Young Writers Workshop: Thank you! An anonymous donor has given $500 to Write by the Rails for the next Rising Young Writers Workshop. A committee of at least 10 writers is in the process of forming to plan that workshop in 2014-2015.

Virginia Writers Club Symposium is Aug. 2. Early bird registration to the Fourth Annual Symposium, Navigating Your Writing Life: Finding Your Way is open for all active Virginia Writers Club members. The Symposium will be held on Saturday, August 2, 8:30am to 3:30pm at The Dickinson Fine & Performing Arts Center at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville. The keynote speaker is Kathryn Erskine, author of Mockingbird, the winner of the 2010 National Book Award. Symposium participants will find presentations and panels including how to format an i-book; publishing and marketing your work; getting feedback; craft sessions on poetry, the short story, young adult fiction, mysteries and thrillers, and non-fiction; and memoirs and journaling. Early bird registration extends to June 15. The fee is $60, with lunch included. After June 16, the fee rises to $75. Please go to the home page on the website and follow the links to the registration form. Click on Early Bird Special and enter G4SFPFAQ. Don't miss out on the discount. We look forward to seeing you at the Symposium.  If you have any questions, please contact Sara Robinson, Symposium chair, or Betsy Ashton, president. (Note, Write by the Rails doesn’t charge chapter dues, but to be a member of the Virginia Writers Club, you need to go to the website and join ($15 for the first year) at www.virginiawritersclub.org.  Our bylaws state that in order to be a chapter, at least five of our chapter members must be VWC members, and we meet that requirement.)

Lunch and Learn in Occoquan. Writer Elizabeth Marine is interested in organizing a “Lunch and Learn” in Occoquan at Rockledge Mansion with box lunches by Georgetown Caterers sometime this summer. If you are interested in helping Elizabeth organize this venture, which will require a fee to participate, please send an email to writebytherails@gmail.com with “Lunch and Learn in Occoquan” in the message line.

Save the Date for Fall for the Book: Our Own Claudia Lefeve will be there!

Write by the Rails is a cosponsor of Fall for the Book, thanks to a $300 grant from the Virginia Writers Club.

The 15th annual Fall for the Book welcomes its largest line-up ever of cookbook authors and food writers. From surveys of ethnic flavors through a healthy dollop of school spirit and to a memoir of modern-day agricultural struggles—and tastings, don’t forget the tastings!—the festival offers a little something for all palates on Thursday, September 26, at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on George Mason University’s Prince William Campus. A 6 p.m. panel discussion with all of the participants below is followed by cooking demonstrations, tastings, and book sales and signings from 7-9 p.m.

Norman Davis is the co-owner of The Sweet Life, a custom cakery in Annandale, Virginia. Davis and partner Zane Beg have competed in twelve Food Network Challenges and four with TLC/Discovery, have been seen on the Oprah Show, and have designed cakes for the Washington Post, President Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell, T. Boone Pickens, and singer Patti Labelle, among others, and People Magazine chose The Sweet Life to represent Virginia in their feature “A Cake From Every State.”

Since opening their first restaurant in Washington, D.C., the highly acclaimed Equinox, more than a decade ago, Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray have risen to the top of the city’s vibrant culinary scene, and their Harvest Moon Hospitality Group now includes four restaurants, two catering companies, and partnerships with leading brands and institutions. Their book, The New Jewish Table: Modern Seasonal Recipes for Traditional Dishes, examines the couple’s culinary and personal lives, reveals how rewarding the sharing of two people’s traditions—and meals—can be, and proves them once more as pioneers in the movement to promote regionality and seasonality on the plate.

A Taste of Virginia Tech offers recipes from the best of Blacksburg’s eateries, both on- and off-campus, and explores the college’s culinary history through essays, remembrances, and more. Editors Krista Gallagher and Kris Schoels are both proud VT alums; Gallagher majored in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, and Schoels earned her degree in Fashions Merchandising.

Forrest Pritchard’s memoir Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm offers glimpses into the business, politics, and personal struggles of modern-day agriculture, and charts the author’s own journey from lost profits to renewed prospects for the future. In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly praised the book’s “remarkable odyssey of food from farm to table” and called Pritchard himself “a born storyteller.”

Michael Stein is a staff writer for the blog DCBeer.com, which “seeks to promote and grow the DC area’s craft beer culture through its locally focused beer website and its tasting and educational events.”

From beet soup, pierogies, and potato pancakes to mazurkas, babas, and more, Peter and Laura Zeranski’s Polish Classic Cooking and Polish Classic Desserts offer not just a tour of Poland’s culinary landscape but also a taste of the country’s history, heritage, and customs as well. Including the most iconic national dishes as well as a wide range of flavors from peasant fare to haute cuisine, these books seek both to preserve the traditions of Polish cooking and to update techniques for the modern kitchen.

VWC Symposium: Navigating Your Writing Life

Judges for First Tier of Golden Nib Contest Announced; Deadline is July 15

Write by the Rails, the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club (VWC) announces the call for submissions for the first tier of VWC’s Golden Nib Writing Contest.

Fiction, non-fiction and poetry entries are due July 15 and will be judged by a first-tier panel that includes Lillian Orlich, Osbourn Park High School guidance counselor who is completing 60 years of service in Prince William County Public Schools; Kari Pugh, Editor, Prince William Today, Northern Virginia Media Services; and Sofia Starnes, current Poet Laureate of Virginia.

About the VWC Golden Nib Writing Contest

The Golden Nib is a two-tier writing competition. Entries are submitted and judged at the VWC chapter level first. Each chapter submits only its first-place winning entries for VWC statewide judging (second tier). Entrants who live within the jurisdiction of a VWC chapter must enter the first tier of the competition through that chapter. Residents living in an area where no chapter exists must submit their entries to the chapter located closest to them. First-place chapter winners must either be a current member of the VWC or must join the VWC to advance to the state-level competition – a membership application and payment of $15 first year dues must accompany the entry.

Write by the Rails Contest Rules

Write by the Rails’ first tier contest rules mirror the VWC contest requirements – further information on the state-level process is available at: www.virginiawritersclub.org.  Entries will be accepted in the categories of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Write by the Rails will recognize 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd place winners in each category.

1. Manuscripts must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant, and must not have won a prize at any level in any other competition. Submissions can come from entries published in your personal blogs. Writing published in blogs other than your own or on social network sites or in an online publication are ineligible and should not be submitted.

2. Entrants may submit one entry per category of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Fiction and non-fiction entries must be no longer than 3,500 words. Poetry entries must be no longer than 50 lines.

3. Format: Submissions not in accord with this format and other rules will be disqualified:

      a. Detachable cover sheet including author’s name, address, telephone number, email address (if available), category (fiction, non-fiction, poetry), title of entry and word count.

      b. All other pages must show contest category, title and page number in the header. If the author’s name appears on any other page of the manuscript, the entry will be disqualified.

      c. Prose (fiction and non-fiction) manuscripts must be printed in a plain and legible font, such as Times New Roman in 12-to 14- pitch. Manuscripts must be printed on 8 ½ by 11-inch white paper, double-spaced, with one-inch margins top, bottom and left, and a ragged right margin.

      d. Poetry manuscripts must be printed in a plain, legible font, such as Times New Roman in 12- to 13-pitch, Manuscripts must be printed on 8 ½ by 11-inch white paper with 1-inch margins top and bottom.

4. Submissions must include an original and one copy of the manuscript.

5. VWC state-level awards are 1^st Place, $100; 2^nd Place, $50; and 3^rd Place, $25. State winning entries in each category will be published in Portable Data File (*.pdf) format, on the VWC Web site. All other rights remain the property of the author.

There are ten VWC chapters in the state. Only first-place winners from the chapters will be eligible for the state contest. That means only 30 entries will be forwarded for the State competition – 10 entries total per category (fiction, non-fiction, poetry) – by the state deadline of Sept. 3. Winners of State VWC Contest will be announced and awards presented at the State VWC Annual Meeting on November 2.

Deadline for the first tier of the competition is July 15, 2013.  Send entries to: 2013 VWC Golden Nib Contest, c/o June Forte, 12702 Valleywood Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22192.  No electronic entries will be accepted.

Virginia Writers Club’s Summer Short Shorts Contest

Categories
Fiction - A short story not to exceed 1,200 words
Non-fiction - A personal essay not to exceed 1,200 words
Poetry - Any form not to exceed 30 lines

Guidelines

· Only members of the statewide Virginia Writers Club who have paid their membership dues for 2013 may enter the contest.

· Entries, sent electronically, will be accepted from May 1 through June 30, 2013.

· A writer may submit only one entry per category.

· Entry must be the original unpublished work of the writer.

· Winners will be announced at the 3 August 2013 VWC Symposium in Charlottesville, followed by a posting of winners on the VWC website.

Format

· Entries must be in Times New Roman 12 sent as an e-mail attachment. Illustrations will not be accepted or considered.

· Prose must be double-spaced with a ragged right margin; poetry must be single-spaced with a flush left margin.

· No information identifiable to the author should be included in the body of the entry.

· The e-mail message to which the work is attached must include the title of the piece and category, the author's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. An author's biography of no more than 50 words should be included in the e-mail message.

The e-mail should be sent to contest coordinator Gary Kessler at gdkess@mindspring.com. An acknowledgment of receipt will be sent; if you don’t receive one, recheck.

Entry constitutes permission to publish the winning essay in a future edition of a Virginia Writers Club publication or on the Virginia Writers Club website. Acceptance of the prize money constitutes waiver of any and all further compensation for first publication rights. Remaining rights are the property of the author. Authors retain all rights to non-winning entries.