Live Oak Public Libraries and the City of Savannah present the Savannah Children’s Book Festival in Forsyth Park on Nov. 17, with generous support from Gulfstream Aerospace.
A portion of the book festival is again the Young Writers’ Contest, which this year is a salute to Savannah’s historic Daffin Park on its 100th birthday. Students should write a poem about one of the following: why parks and open space are important, reading in the park, or Daffin Park and its 100th birthday
Poems may be in any format, e.g. haiku, sonnet, acrostic, ballad, cinquain, quatrain, diamante, limerick, etc., including free form verse. Maximum length is 20 lines; longer poems will be disqualified. There is no minimum length.
Poems must be submitted on 8 1/2 by 11 paper (four copies required) to any library branch or via email to: divinec@liveoakpl.org. If handwritten, they must be legible and four copies must be submitted. Typed entries are encouraged. Work will be judged on its creativity and successful use of the suggested themes.
Contestants are encouraged to use the resources at their library to research Daffin Park, parks, open space and poetry. They can also go to the library to use a computer to write and email their poem, or use their library Power Card to make copies of their poem.
The four categories of competition are: grades kindergarten through second, grades third through fifth, grades sixth through eight and grades ninth through twelfth.
All entries must include the student’s name, home address, age, school, grade and phone numbers. Email address is optional, but very helpful in notifying winners.
The contest is open to all area students. Parental permission is required to enter. Poems become the property of Live Oak Public Libraries.
Entries are due by 6 p.m. on Oct. 19, to any Live Oak Public Libraries branch. Entries may be given to any library staff member.
Winners will be announced on Nov. 2, on the library’s Web site, www.liveoakpl.org, and will be notified by mail or email. They will be invited with their families and writing teachers to a reception at the Bull Street Library to receive their prizes and read their winning entries on Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. The public is invited to come and hear the winning poems.
For more information, contact Christy Divine, (912) 652-3605 or divinec@liveoakpl.org.
First, second and third place winners in each age group will receive gift certificates from Barnes and Noble Booksellers.
The Young Writers’ Contest is sponsored by the Live Oak Public Libraries Foundation, City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs, Gulfstream Aerospace and Barnes and Noble Booksellers.
