Gaithersburg Book Festival Challenges Students to Be Inspired by Art for Sixth Annual High School Short Story Contest
Winning Author Will Receive $100 Prize
Gaithersburg, Md. – October 1, 2015 – Art will serve as inspiration for literature in the Gaithersburg Book Festival’s sixth annual short story contest for Washington, D.C., area high school students. Entrants will be challenged to draw their storylines from photographs taken by current and former Montgomery County students: Azalea Coste from Montgomery Blair High, Cameron Garland from Northwest High School and Lindsey Levy from Winston Churchill High School.
Members of the Gaithersburg Book Festival committee reviewed more than 100 photographs, drawings and paintings submitted by MCPS high school students for the 2015 Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus annual art show, and selected three works of art to serve as inspiration for the 2016 short story contest.
To participate in the short story contest, individuals must be enrolled in grades 9-12 at a public or private school, or in a homeschool program, for the 2015-16 school year, and reside in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia. Stories must be no longer than 1,000 words and must be inspired by one of the three photographs posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website.
Stories must be submitted as a Word document to writingcontest@gaithersburgbookfestival.org by midnight ET on Friday, February 19, 2016.
Up to 12 stories will be selected as finalists and posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website prior to the Book Festival. The first-, second- and third-place winners and the fan favorite will be announced at the Festival on Saturday, May 21, 2016, and will be awarded $100, $75, $50 and $25 gift certificates, respectively, courtesy of the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus.
The three photographs, plus complete rules and regulations for the contest, can be found online at https://gaithersburgbookfestival.org/gbf-programs/short-story-contest/.
About the Gaithersburg Book Festival
The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an annual all-day celebration of books, writers and literary excellence. Now in its seventh year, the Festival has become one of the premier literary events in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The Festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 21, 2016, on the grounds of Gaithersburg City Hall, in Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Md. Activities include author appearances, discussions and book signings; writing workshops; a Children’s Village; onsite sales of new and used books; literary exhibitors and food, drink, ice cream and more. FREE admission and shuttle from Shady Grove Metro and Lakeforest Mall. The Gaithersburg Book Festival also hosts additional author events in Montgomery County throughout the year as a way to encourage continued appreciation for all things literary. For more information please visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org.