Entry forms for the 2010 Writers Competition at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library – its 22^nd year – are available at the library beginning Sunday, Jan. 31. A pdf version of the forms can also be downloaded at the library’s website at www.cdalibrary.org. Click on the “About Us” link and then “Annual Events” to find the Writers Competition page.

Copies of the forms are also available through the mail by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Attn: Writers Competition, Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814-4012. 

Beginning this year participants are limited to submitting two entries in the competition.

“Competitors can submit two fiction entries, two nonfiction entries or one in each category,” said David Townsend, Library Communications Coordinator. “This has been done to give our volunteer judges the opportunity to better review the entries they receive. In some cases in the past few years judges in some of the age groups might be reading 40 or 50 entries. That can be very demanding.”

An entry fee – $1 for ages 6-11 and $2 for ages 12 and up – and a complete entry form must be submitted with each entry. The form includes permission to include entries in the bound volumes added to the library collection. This permission is signed by participants or the parents or guardians of participants under age 18. The writers are not giving up future publication rights by signing the form.

Entries submitted by competitors in the 6-8 age group may be handwritten, but cannot be in cursive, must be double-spaced and must otherwise follow the rules for margins and other elements.

Entries need to follow the format spelled out in the entry forms.

“It’s very disappointing to hear that your entry has been rejected,” Townsend said. “I encourage participants to read through the rules before they sit down to write.”

The deadline for entries is 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 31. Mailed entries must be postmarked no later than March 29.

Cash prizes will be awarded in each category and age group – $100 for first, $50 for second and $25 for third – at a ceremony hosted by the Friends of the Library in May.

For more information about the competition contact Townsend at 208/769-2315 Ext. 426 or send e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

News about the library and other city departments is also available on the City of Coeur d’Alene news blog: http://cdacity.blogspot.com/.