Warren County Community College invites high school students to enter the 2017 Warren County High School Poetry and Fiction Contests. The contests are open to all Warren County high school students (including those who attend private school or are home-schooled). There is no entry fee.

Each contest will be judged by the creative writing professors at WCCC. Prizes for each contest are gift cards to Barnes & Noble in the following denominations: $60 for first place, $40 for second place, and $25 for third place.

The first, second, and third place poems and stories (or excerpts of them) will be published in Ars Poetica, the WCCC student art and literary magazine. The winners will be invited to read at the April 27^th Ars Poetica release event, which will also feature the published student writers of WCCC. Deadline for entries is Feb. 27.

Each student’s name, home address, high school, and contact information (e-mail address and phone number) should appear at the beginning of every short story and/or poem submitted. Students who are home-schooled should mention that in lieu of the name of a high school. A student may enter both contests (poetry and fiction).

Each poem should be no longer than four pages. Each story should be no longer than twenty pages. All entries must be typed. Short stories must be double-spaced.

Submissions should be sent to Professor BJ Ward, Warren County High School Poetry and Fiction Contests, Warren County Community College, 475 Route 57 West, Washington, NJ  07882. The postmark deadline for submissions to the contest is Monday, February 27. The contest’s results will be posted on the college’s web site (www.warren.edu) in early April.

Warren County Community College is home to the Associate in Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing, the first in New Jersey and one of only five of its kind nationally, as recognized by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. For more information about the degree or the high school writing contests, please call (908) 835-2531 or e-mail ward@warren.edu.