UNK contest invites high school writers, artists to explore ‘Nebraska Values’

KEARNEY – The University of Nebraska at Kearney’s English Department is inviting Nebraska high school students to participate in the 2024-25 Nebraska Emerging Writers and Artists Contest.

The competition encourages students to reflect on their values and express their insights through writing or visual art.

The contest, themed “Nebraska Values,” challenges participants to explore what they value, how those values shape their identity and their impact on the communities they belong to. It is held in collaboration with the American Democracy Project, Phi Eta Sigma freshman honor society, UNK Art Society and Sigma Tau Delta English honor society.

Students may submit entries in one of four categories: essay, short story, poetry or visual art, which includes photography, painting, drawing or 3-D designs. Entries will be judged by UNK undergraduate students.

Submission Guidelines

Open to Nebraska high school students in grades 9-12.
Writing submissions must meet word count limits: Poetry: 250-300 words; Short stories: 4,000 words; Essays: 2,000 words.
Visual art submissions must be photography, painting, drawing or 3-D designs. Files should be in PNG or JPEG format, 2MB or smaller and include a brief (1-3 sentence) statement explaining how the piece connects to the theme.
Submissions are due by March 7. Winners will be announced in April, with four first-place winners earning $100 and having their work showcased at UNK’s Student Language and Literature Conference. Runners-up in each category will receive $50.

Entries must remain anonymous, with personal details collected via an online submission form available at http://tiny.cc/EmergingWriters.

For more information, contact Annarose Steinke at steinkea2@unk.edu.