Arts Council introduces countywide creative writing contest

Following the success of the county’s first adult visual art exhibit this summer, the Greencastle Arts Council voted at its December board meeting to offer a comparable competition for Putnam County creative writers.

Open to participants 18 years and older who have lived, work or studied in Putnam County and organized in collaboration with the Banner Graphic, deadline for submissions to the new Putnam County Creative Writing Competition will be Jan. 29, with winners’ work to be published in the Banner Graphic in the spring.

“As 2020 draws to a close, it seems like a perfect time to reflect, ruminate — and to write,” GAC president Lavinia Hale said.

“The Greencastle Arts Council seeks to support all forms of art in Putnam County and surrounding areas,” Hale added, “including literary arts. At each of our annual Bonne Soirée parties, we have had the privilege of hearing local writers present original works commissioned just for that event. I hope this occasion also will inspire area authors to pull out their pens and keyboards and to write about this extraordinary year.”

After the deadline for the competition closes, a panel of qualified judges will select one work to be published in the Banner Graphic and on the GAC website.

Judges for the competition will be Jared Jernagan, editor of the Banner Graphic; author and educator Beth Benedix, founder and director of The Castle; poet Abby Chew of Claremont, Calif., a graduate of South Putnam High School and member of DePauw University class of 2002; Matt McClelland, director of the Putnam County Public Library; and writer Donovan Wheeler, senior English teacher at Greencastle High School and content contributor to Indiana on Tap and National Road Magazine.

Submissions, which may be in the form of a short story, scene from a play, poem or song, should not exceed 1,000 words. There is no application fee.

Interested participants can submit their work, along with their contact information, before Jan. 29, by uploading it on the GAC website (www.greencastleartscouncil.org); by emailing their materials (gacsubmission@gmail.com); or mailing their submission to GAC Writing Competition (P.O. Box 631, Greencastle, IN 46135). Participants will be notified after the review process is completed.

For additional information, visit the GAC website, contact gacsubmission@gmail.com or call 247-9176.