INDIANA – Entries are now being accepted for the 2022-23 Indiana Letters About Literature writing contest.
Students in grades four through 12 are invited to write a letter to an author, living or deceased, whose work has made a difference in how the student sees themselves or the world. Indiana students can write about works of literature including fiction, nonfiction, short stories, poems, essays, or speeches – including TED Talks.
The contest includes three competition levels:
- Level I: Grades 4-6
- Level II: Grades 7-8
- Level III: Grades 9-12
Prizes are awarded to the following winners at each level:
- First place: $100
- Second place: $50
- Third place: $25
Additionally, an Indiana Author Letters award of $50 will be given to the highest-scored letter written to an Indiana Author, and a Teacher’s Prize of $150 will be awarded to a teacher who has gone the extra mile to support their students in entering the contest.
Winners will be announced in late March of 2023 and will receive invitations to the Virtual Awards Ceremony and in-person writing workshops, as well as a prize pack that includes free books. All Indiana winning letters are published in a booklet that is distributed free to the winning students. The special guest for the Virtual Awards Ceremony will be Leah Johnson, author of “You Should See Me in a Crown,” which was named one of the best 100 young adult books of all time by TIME magazine.
Excerpts from last year’s winning essays can be viewed here.
The contest is coordinated by the Indiana State Library and the Indiana Center for the Book. The 2022-23 Letters About Literature contest for young readers is made possible by the James and Madeleine McMullen Family Foundation and the Indiana State Library Foundation.
Click here to read the call for entries. Click here for the group entry form. Click here for the individual entry form. The submission deadline is Jan. 9, 2023.
Please contact Suzanne Walker, director of the Indiana Center for the Book, with any questions.
