A creative writing contest focusing on some facet of Putnam County agriculture will be one event of the upcoming Putnam County Ag Week.

Friday, February 16, 2007

The deadline for entries is Friday, March 9 at the Putnam County Extension Office, located in the courthouse annex at 209 W. Liberty St., Greencastle.

The contest is an opportunity for participants to share their knowledge about Putnam county while exploring and refining their writing skills. The theme for this year's Ag Week -- with events set for Tuesday, March 20 through Thursday, March 22 -- is "Partnering for Progress."

Entries in the writing contest will be divided into two groups -- youth and adult. Youth have six categories, while adults have two.

In the youth group, categories are divided by grade level and by entries of poetry or prose. Youth categories are:

-- Y-1: Grades 3-5 with a poem or at least eight lines or two stanzas.

-- Y-2: Grades 3-5 with a story, autobiography, biography, children's story, essay, journal entry, short stories, or any other prose piece of 100-300 words.

-- Y-3: Grades 6-8 with a poem of a minimum of 10 lines or three stanzas.

-- Y-4: Grades 6-8 with a story, autobiography, biography, children's story, essay, journal entry, short stories, or any other prose piece of 300-1,000 words.

-- Y-5: Grades 9-12 with a poem of a minimum of 12 lines or five stanzas.

-- Y-6: Grades 9-12 with a story, autobiography, biography, children's story, essay, journal entry, short stories, or any other prose piece of more than 1,000 words.

Adult group participants may enter both categories -- one prose and one poetry. Adult categories are:

-- A-1: A poem consisting of a minimum of 10 lines or three stanzas.

-- A-2: A story, autobiography, biography, children's story, essay, journal entry, short stories or any other prose of more than 1,000 words.

All entries are to be neatly handwritten in ink, typed or computer-generated. All typed or computer-generated entries should be double-spaced.

Each entry must have a title page with the following information -- title, author, date, entry group, division and category and contact information with mailing address and telephone number.

Entries should be in a flat, pronged folder. No three-ring binders should be used. Entries may be illustrated to enhance the entry, but are not required. Illustrations can be hand-drawn or computer generated.

All entries must be the exclusive work of the participant.

For more information on the contest, contact the extension office at 653-8411.

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