Regional essay contest deadline nears

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Jan. 8, 2008) -- The deadline for entries in the ninth annual Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest, sponsored by Oregon Quarterly, the magazine of the University of Oregon, is drawing near. Entries must be postmarked by Jan. 31.

The contest is open to previously unpublished writing about ideas affecting the Northwest and should be no more than 2,500 words in the open category and 2,000 words in the student category. There is no entry fee.

Recent winning essays have focused on topics as varied as tumbleweeds, Northwest artist Carl Morris, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and the flooding of Celilo Falls.

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.

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.

For submission guidelines, visit http://www.oregonquarterly.com/html/essay.htm.

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

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