Discovery Institute is sponsoring a student video and essay contest to commemorate Academic Freedom Day, February 12, 2009, on Charles Darwin’s bicentennial. Deadline: January 23, 2009 Visit www.academicfreedomday.com/actUp.php to download entry form Darwin once wrote, “A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.” That famous quote will be the...

Up to 10 winning students. $2,500 each in cash prizes. Reconnecting The Circle® announces its third National High School Essay Contest. Deadline is January 23, 2009. This year’s essay question asks, “Why is it important to understand patriotism in Indian Country?” and prompts students to research Native American patriots, as well as explore their own American communities. All high-school aged students (grades 9-12) from...

American Diversity Report is accepting poetry/essays/short stories for its online magazine which receives more than 20,000 unique visitors from 40 countries. Submissions should be inspiring for Black History Month (February) and/or Women’s History Month (March). Accepted works will appear under Inspirations at www.americandiversityreport.com. Accepted writers bios will appear in our ongoing list of contributors. General guidelines: *...

$3000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press for one book of short fiction and one book of poetry. One runner-up in each category will receive a $1000 prize. Dates: Submissions will be accepted between January 15 and March 16, 2009 (postmark) What to send: Full manuscript (the author’s name should not appear on the manuscript) Two cover pages: one listing only the title of the manuscript, and the other listing the title,...

www.crpress.org/home.aspx C&R Press is looking for the best manuscript from a previously unpublished American poet (a U.S. citizen who has not published a full-length collection of poetry before). In this annual contest, we are looking for manuscripts that exhibit striking language, memorable imagery, intellectual depth, and a respect for diversity in all areas of life. Ultimately we are interested in supporting the best, most exciting work...

Postmark deadline: February 1, 2009 The Doris Betts Fiction Prize awards the first- prize winner $250; the 10 finalists will be considered for publication in the North Carolina Literary Review. These finalists will be almost the only fiction that NCLR considers. This year’s final judge will be Kat Meads, a native of eastern North Carolina now living in California, Meads’s books include the short story collections Not Waving and Little Pockets...

The editors at Fugue, the literary journal from the University of Idaho, are pleased to announce our 8th Annual Poetry and Prose Contest, which awards its first-place winners with $1000 in prize money and publication in Fugue, with publication for 2nd and 3rd place finishers. This year, we will be reading for nonfiction and poetry. We’re excited about our two accomplished judges: Patricia Hampl (nonfiction) and BH Fairchild (poetry). See...