Pioneer Con

Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 30, 2024

General Guidelines (All Categories):

• You must be a current JSCC student.
• Limit 3 submissions per category per person.
• Each submission should be no more than 2,000 words in length (about 4 single-spaced pages).
• Written work should be submitted as .doc or .docx files (no PDFs, please).
• Prizes are awarded to the top 3 entries in each category.
• Winners will be published on the Pioneer Con Website.
• All submissions will be considered for Wingspan. If work is selected, Wingspan editors will reach out to confirm their permission to publish.
• All rights revert to the author upon publication.

Categories:

• Text or Media Analysis Essay: Students will choose from a curated list of texts and visual media (paintings, drawings, graphic design, sculpture, etc.) and formulate an essay that is an analysis of their chosen work. They can explore the theme of exploration in their essay by evaluating traditional literary and visual components like characterization, imagery, and style. They can also choose to compare and contrast to another piece of written or visual work. Essays will need to be in MLA format and range from 1,000-1,800 words. The curated list is available here.
• Creative Writing: Students will use their interpretation of the theme of “discovery and exploration” by writing a fictional short story (between 800-2,000 words), a poem (between 14-50 lines), or an engaging personal essay (between 800-2,000 words).
• Art: Students will use their interpretation of the theme of “exploration by creating a work of art. Students can submit paintings, drawings, sculptures, graphic designs, collages, recordings of original songs, or original films to the contest.

For any questions, please email the Pioneer Con Writing Contest sponsor Heather Wyatt at hwyatt1@jeffersonstate.edu.