The Golden Quill Awards writing contest, sponsored by SLO Nightwriters and in conjunction with the Central Coast Writers Conference and Cuesta College, is now in its 26th year. This contest has grown over the years to include entrants from across the country and internationally.
The theme of this year’s contest is Transformation.  Each entry must depict this theme, as interpreted by the writer.
The hottest new trend in the writing community, Flash Fiction, is a new category this year. Writers are challenged to compose an entire short story in no more than 500 words.  The remaining categories are Short Fiction, a story between 1,000 and 1,200 words; and Poetry, a poem up to 40 lines.
The awards have increased this year, commensurate with the superior quality of writing that is coming in and the increased amount of entries. For Short Fiction and Poetry, first place winners will receive $1,000.  The second place award in these categories is $500 and the third place award is $100. For Flash Fiction, the first place winner will receive $500 for the 500 words.  The second place award is $100 and the third place award is $50.
The judging panel boasts all new judges this year who come to the contest offering an impressive variety of credentials from award-winning authors, to editors and publishers, to professors, to writing and workshop teachers.  Judging is blind and based on criteria in five categories.  For Short Fiction and Flash Fiction the judges will score entries based on use of theme, plot and story, use of language, emotional impact and the narrative voice and content.  Poetry entries will be scored based on use of theme, emotional impact, message, form and flow, and use of language.
Entries must be received by July 15. Visit https://www.thegoldenquillawards.com for all submission guidelines and full contest rules.  The contest can also be found on Facebook at httpss://www.facebook.com/pages/Golden-Quill-Awards-2015/1561133127493211 and Twitter httpss://twitter.com/GldnQuillAwards and now on YouTube!
The contest is run in conjunction with Cuesta College and the Central Coast Writers’ Conference (CCWC).  The Conference runs September 18-20, 2015, on the Cuesta College campus in San Luis Obispo. More information can be found at https://cuesta.edu/communityprograms/writers-conference/.