Crooked Tree Arts Center is once again hosting the Young Writers Exposition as part of the annual Youth Arts Festival! Elementary, middle, and high school teachers from schools served by the Char-Em ISD (or home school students in Charlevoix/Emmet counties) are invited to submit works of writing to the exposition.
Things are a little different this year:
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There are no longer separate submissions for Poetry and Prose. Writings of any type/genre will be accepted: Poetry, Prose, Academic, Screenplay, etc…
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Entries will only be accepted into the jurying process if they were submitted by a teacher (including home school teachers)
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Teachers may submit no more than 5 of the best entries per class
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Entries are limited to no more than 1,000 words.
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A new "Finding Your Voice, Stories Told" award will be given for one middle school and one high school entry. (See below for details).
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Stories Told: A Community Project Empowering Students to Discover Their Voices is a uniquely collaborative literacy project involving the creative programming of Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Harbor Springs Festival of the Book, and Petoskey District Library. Designed for middle school students but inclusive of all readers, storytellers, families, and communities across our region, Stories Told highlights three fictional works (a novel, a novel in verse, and a graphic novel) that all speak to courage, self-confidence, and empathy and share the common theme, “Finding Your Voice.”
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This year, the Young Writers' Exposition is offering two “Stories Told" awards for students, ages 12-18 (one for middle and one for high school students) as part of the Stories Told: A Community Project Empowering Students to Discover Their Voices literacy project. Award recipients will be recognized at the Youth Arts Awards Night, on April 17, 2025, and have the opportunity to to “guest direct” their work with LTCT actors in rehearsal at GLCFA, and have their work performed during the SPRighT Showcase at CTAC on May 10, 2025, from 2:00 - 3:00PM, during the SPRighT (Student Playwright Reader's Theater) of Next Gen at the Great Lake Center for the Arts.January 2025.
Young Writers Exposition Timeline
January 14
A press release will be published announcing the ‘Call for Writers’. This officially opens the submission portal below.
March 14
All writing submissions will be due at 5pm on this Friday. This will mark the start of the jurying process and will close the submission portal.
April 10
This is the last day for jurors to read submissions. I will send an email to all educators with the names of the winners in hopes that they can attend awards night the following week.
April 17
Awards Night!
Awards
Winning writers of all age groups receive a medal, journal, McLean & Eakin Booksellers gift card, and will have their work published in the digital Petoskey News-Review; first place winners will also be printed in the physical copies of Petoskey News-Review.
Elementary winners will receive a Crooked Tree Arts Center gift card.
Middle and high school winning writers will receive monetary prizes:
- 1st place - $100 (Bob Schulze Award)
- 2nd place - $75
- 3rd place - $50
"Finding Your Voice, Stories Told" award will be given for one middle school and one high school entry
The Little Traverse Literary Guild will give two $500 “Best in Show” awards – the Hanna-Renkes/Jan Smith Literary Award – to high school students.
Winners will be invited to receive awards at the Youth Arts Awards Night on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 PM.
Submissions
If you have questions about the Young Writers Exposition, please contact Bobby Yarger at
231-347-4337 / bobby@crookedtree.org.
