Teens ages 13 to 19 can enter a free environmental writing competition that opened Monday, Nov. 2 and runs through Nov. 23.
The Charles River Watershed Association is promoting the contest, which is hosted by Cambridge-based nonprofit Write the World and co-sponsored by outdoor clothing company Patagonia. It's the third year for the competition, which offers cash prizes and a chance at publication in Patagonia Stories, the company's creative journal.
Entries are welcome in any genre: personal essay, poetry, fiction, memoir, op-ed or journalism. The theme asks young writers to explore moving in nature and being moved by it, according to a Write the World press release.
Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong will judge the entries. Yong is the author of An Immense World, a book about how animals sense the world around them.
"We want teens to express what it feels like to be in nature … to communicate how nature flows through us," David Weinstein, founder and CEO of Write the World, said in the press release. "When young people find words for that, they discover that protecting wild places also protects who they are."
The writing can be set anywhere. Last year's winning entry, "To Dye For" by Diya Thennarasu, 16, of California, explored how fashion leads to insights about the planet. It was published in Patagonia Stories.
The first 50 entrants can receive an in-depth review from an expert reviewer before the deadline. Peer feedback is also available through Write the World's online community. Final submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. in the writer's local time zone on Nov. 23.
To enter, teens can sign up for a free Write the World account at writetheworld.org and submit through the competitions page. Educators can also bring the competition into classrooms with free prompts and teaching resources.
Upcoming
- Nov. 2–23: Write the World Environmental Writing Competition, free, open to ages 13–19. Enter at writetheworld.org.
