Pell Center sponsoring student storytelling contest

As part of the Story in the Public Square initiative, the Pell Center and The Providence Journal have challenged undergraduate students to write a story that could inspire public action around an issue they consider important to military veterans and submit it to the public storytellers contest.

Story in the Public Square is a year-round initiative to study and celebrate public storytelling. It features an annual conference, lectures, awards and student contests, as well as original scholarship about public storytelling and how those stories can affect the public debate.

The grand prize is $1,000. Two honorable mention prizes of $250 will also be awarded. Winning stories will be published online.

Contest rules:

• All entries must be submitted by e-mail to public.story@salve.edu no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 2. Include your name, your university’s name and a valid e-mail address.
• All submissions must be the original work of the author. No team submissions. By submitting your entry, you agree to have your story published by the Pell Center.
• Submissions should be 500-800 words, absolute maximum.
• Submissions may be either fiction or nonfiction, but they must reflect an authentic veterans’ issue.
• All contestants must be enrolled as an undergraduate student at an accredited college or university at the time of the contest and provide proof of enrollment prior to award.
• All awards will be decided by a committee of judges. The committee reserves the right in its sole discretion to make no award if judging criteria have not been met. The decisions of the committee are final.

Submissions will be based on the following criteria: Does the submission address an authentic veterans issue? Could the story inspire action? Is the story well told? Does it provide insight and reflection? Does it convey emotion? Are there developed characters? Is its narrative crafted?

Click here for more information on Story in the Public Square.