Idaho Youth Writing Challenge: Our Collective Future

Idaho middle school/junior high and high school students are invited to enter the 11th Annual Idaho Youth Writing Challenge: Our Collective Future! Stories connect us to ourselves and each other. Stories connect us to ideas and action. Stories connect the past, the present and the future. We cannot become what we cannot imagine?

Stories of our collective future will connect us to the possibilities of a world where everyone is valued for their whole selves, everyone belongs, and everyone can thrive.

Through stories, we are beginning to understand how deeply interconnected we are to each other, to all living beings, and the earth. This gives us hope that violence will no longer be a common occurrence and that collective thriving is possible!

Click here for the 2020 Writing Challenge Themes and Rules

How does it work?

Create an original poem that tells a story in 100 words or less about Our Collective Future: a future where everyone is valued for their whole authentic selves, everyone is safe, and everyone can thrive. Choose from one of the five prompts on the theme of Our Collective Future.

Who is eligible?

Student authors must be in Idaho middle school/junior high school or high school – public, private, alternative school settings, or youth groups – or be a 12- to 18-year-old homeschooled student residing in Idaho.

Deadline for submission is midnight Friday, February 28, 2020.

Awards

• Ten students selected to read their story at Tree Fort Music Festival Storyfort. Travel costs covered for student authors and one adult chaperone.
• $100 awarded to each of the top 10 selections for middle school/junior high school and the high school categories.
• $25 gift cards will be awarded for each of the 100 or more of the top writings selected for publication for the middle school/junior high school and the high school books to be released in April 2020.
• All published works will list the author, teacher, and school. A book of the published works will be distributed to Idaho’s middle/junior high schools and high schools. Make sure your school is represented! Students published in this year’s books will be invited to share their writing at the Stories of Our Collective Future reading event on Thursday, April 23rd in Boise, Idaho.

How to Enter – Deadline, Midnight Friday, February 28, 2020

Option 1 – Online:
Click here to submit your Our Collective Future Writing Challenge submission online.

Option 2 – Mail:
 Mail your writing submission, name, address, cell phone number, school name, grade, and teacher’s name to:

Questions?

Please email Jennifer Martinez at at the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence

Read the winning selections from 2019’s Stories of Transformation Writing Challenge themes.

Select the images below to view a PDF copy of 2019’s Stories of Transformation poetry collection booklets:

This project was supported by Grant No. 2016-TA-AX-K019 and 2016-WR-AX-0008 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.</p