Vermont College of Fine Arts

 

Montpelier, VT—April 23, 2009—Hunger Mountain, the arts journal at Vermont College of Fine Arts, announces a new writing contest for writers of young adult (YA) and children’s literature. The contest, which is open to all writers, awards $1,000 and publication in Hunger Mountain’s new online arts journal, due to launch this summer. 

 

 

“We created the Katherine Paterson Prize because we wanted to support the work of young adult and children’s writers,” says Hunger Mountain managing editor Miciah Bay Gault. “We wanted a new way to honor the writers in this exciting field,” notes Gault. The Katherine Paterson Prize is open to writers of young adult fiction, middle grade fiction, and picture books.  Entries must be unpublished and no more than 5,000 words. There is a $20 entry fee. Entries must be postmarked by June 30, 2009.

 

The prize will be judged by Vermont resident Katherine Paterson, critically acclaimed author of numerous children’s books, including Bridge to Terabithia, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Jacob Have I Loved, and, most recently, Bread and Roses, Too. Katherine Paterson has won the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and scores of other awards and honors.

 

Hunger Mountain: The VCFA Journal of the Arts is both a print and online publication that aims to cultivate engagement with and conversation about the arts by publishing high-quality, innovative literary and visual art by both established and emerging artists, and by offering opportunities for interactivity and discourse. Hunger Mountain has traditionally published fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art. With the launch of its online arts journal this summer, its scope will expand to include video and web-based art, writing for stage and screen, and YA and children’s literature. The YA/children’s literature portion will include feature articles on hot topics and trends in YA and children’s literature, interviews with publishing industry insiders, and fiction selections by well-known and up-and-coming YA and children’s authors.

For more information about the Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Literature, email hungermtn@vermontcollege.edu, or send a self addressed, stamped envelope for contest guidelines to Katherine Paterson Prize, Hunger Mountain, Vermont College of Fine Arts, 36 College Street, Montpelier, VT 05602.