Writers' Ink

Writers’ Ink is a creative writing contest designed for high school students, grades nine through twelve, in Union County, Arkansas. The magazine is accompanied by a literary magazine of the same name in which the winning contest entries and honorable mentions are published each year.  The contest and magazine were founded in 1997 by the English faculty of South Arkansas Community College in cooperation with local high school English teachers and administrators.  The first contest was introduced in September of 1997, and the first volume of the magazine was published the following April with 80 entries.  

The 2009-10 contest attracted 347 entries, involving five high schools and fourteen English teachers.  Cash prizes were awarded in five categories for a total of $1125.  Fifty-three submissions were published in the magazine: 25 poems, 13 short stories, and 15 essays.

In all, the contest has attracted 3,384 entries over the past 13 years, involved several dozen teachers from every high school in the county, and generated $15,600 in prize money.