Élan celebrates the writing of students between 6th and 8th grades in our annual Middle School Art Writing Contest. The winner of the contest is awarded a certificate and publication of their work on the Élan website.    

 

Students can submit their writing in any form, including poetry (of any length and style), fiction (of up to 3,000 words), and nonfiction (essays up to 3,000 words). Each student can submit up to three individual pieces.

​

Email Submission Guidelines: Writing (Required)

​

• The subject of the email should be the writer’s full name and then “Middle School Art and Writing Contest Writing Submission.” (For example: Sara Rodgers Middle School Art and Writing Contest Writing Submission) 

​

• In the body of the email, please include the writer's name, age, primary email, school, city, and home address, followed by the titles and the genre (ie, poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, etc.) of each piece being submitted. ​If applicable, include a sponsoring teacher’s name and email address.

​

• Include a professional biography (150 words maximum, in 3rd person). 

  • Example: Sara Rodgers is a 7th grade student at LaVilla School of the Arts. They love writing poetry, and riding horses in their free time.​

​

• Each piece must be attached as a separate WORD DOCUMENT and the file MUST be named the title of the piece.  

​

• The contest only accepts editable WORD DOCUMENTS at this time. 

​

• The contest only accepts original work, and fanfictions will not be considered for publication.   

​

• Do not include your name in the body of the document, as all submissions go through a blind reading process by our staff.​​ Make sure your piece title is included at the top of the document.  

​

• If you want to submit work to the Middle School Art and Writing Contest that was not published when you submitted it to a previous issue this work must first go through major revision or else it will not be selected for publication.​ 

​

• You may not submit more than three pieces in a single submission period.

​

• If a teacher is submitting on behalf of multiple students, please attach student submissions labeled and clearly indicate the work of each individual student in the document(s).

​

Email Submission Guidelines: Art (Required)

​

• The subject of the email should be the artist’s full name and then “Art Submission.” (For example: Sara Rodgers Art Submission)​

​

• In the body of the email, please include the artist’s name, age, primary email, school, city, and home address, followed by the titles and the medium (ie, oil on canvas, charcoal, photograph, print, etc.) of each piece being submitted. ​If applicable, include a sponsoring teacher’s name and email address.

​

• Include a professional biography (150 words maximum, in 3rd person).  

  • Example: Sara Rodgers is a 7th grade student at LaVilla School of the Arts. Their favorite medium to use is acrylic paint, though their watercolor paintings have also won awards.

​

• Name each art file “Piece Title (Full Name)”—example, “Water (Sara Rodgers).”

​​

• The art pieces must be a jpeg or png file. Submit the highest resolution quality format that can be sent as an attachment – 300 dpi or higher, and at least 2 MB. If your art does not meet the dpi requirement, there is no guarantee your art can be considered. 

​

• Ensure that the photo of your art is clear and taken from a straight angle so that all aspects of the piece are visible with minimal glare.​

​

• The contest only accepts original work, and fan art will not be considered for publication.   

​

• If you want to submit work to the contest that was not published when you submitted it to a previous issue this work must first go through major revision or else it will not be selected for publication.​​

​

• You may not submit more than three pieces in a single submission period.

​

​

Submissions for the 2024 Middle School Art and Writing Contest are OPEN!​