Oregon Quarterly essay contest invites entries on Northwest themes

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Nov. 6, 2007) -- Oregon Quarterly, the magazine of the University of Oregon, invites submissions to its ninth annual Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest.

The Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest, sponsored by Oregon Quarterly and The Duck Store (formerly the University of Oregon Bookstore), is open to previously unpublished writing about ideas affecting the Northwest. Non-fiction writers can compete in open and student categories.

The winner in the open category will receive $750 and publication in the Summer 2008 issue of Oregon Quarterly, which is distributed to nearly 100,000 readers. The student winner will receive $500 and publication in the Autumn 2008 issue. The second- and third-place writers in both categories will also receive cash prizes.

Kathleen Dean Moore, an Oregon Book Award-winning essayist, will judge this year’s contest. Moore is the author of three award-winning books of essays about natural places: "The Pine Island Paradox" (2004), winner of the 2005 Oregon Book Award in creative nonfiction, "Holdfast: At Home in the Natural World" (1999), winner of the 2000 Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award, and "Riverwalking: Reflections on Moving Water" (1996), which was a finalist for an Oregon Book Award. Moore is University Writer Laureate and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Oregon State University. Her essays have been published in such magazines as Orion, Discover, Audubon, Wild Earth, Hope, and Field and Stream.

The 15 finalists will be announced in the Summer 2008 issue of Oregon Quarterly and invited to attend a workshop with Moore. Six top essays, from both the student and open categories, will be featured in a public reading.

Entries must be postmarked by Jan. 31, 2008. There is no entry fee.

For submission guidelines, visit http://www.OregonQuarterly.com

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu

Source: Ross West 541-346-5047, rwest@uoregon.edu

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