Contact: Sherry Tabor
February 2, 2007

Lonesome Pine Short Story and Poetry Contests

The 20th Annual Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest and the 3rd Annual Lonesome Pine Poetry Contest will be held in conjunction with this year’s John Fox Jr, Festival at Mountain Empire Community College. Community members are invited to participate in each contest with categories for adults, high school students in grades 9 through 12, and middle school students in grades 5 through 8.

For the short story contest, stories must be typed with no binders and no more than 1500 words. In the poetry competition, poems must also be typed without a binder. For each contest, only one submission per author is allowed.

A cover page must accompany submissions and include the writer’s name, address, daytime telephone number, title of the story or poem submitted, number of words in the story or poem, and the age category. In the high school and middle school categories, each student should include the name of the school that he or she attends on the cover page. The writer’s name must only appear on the cover page, while the title of the story or poem should appear on both the cover page and the first page of the work.

The deadline for all submissions is 4:30 p.m., March 2, 2007. Winners will be invited to accept their awards at the John Fox, Jr. Festival on March 21. The event will be held in the Goodloe Center, located in Phillips-Taylor Hall on the campus of MECC.

Entries should be mailed to Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest or Lonesome Pine Poetry Contest, Attn: Sherry Tabor, Mountain Empire Community College Foundation, 3441 Mountain Empire Road, Big Stone Gap, Virginia 24219.

Contestants who want a copy of the winning short story or poem, or would like their submission returned, should include a large self-addressed stamped manila envelope with adequate postage. For a complete list of rules for the contests or more information, call Sherry Tabor at (276) 523-7466.

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