We’re thrilled to share the news of an incredible act of literary citizenship. An anonymous donor has funded a HippoCamp 2016 conference registration, valued at $389, for someone with financial need who otherwise could not attend the conference, which is scheduled for Aug. 12-14, 2016 in Lancaster, Pa. Also, Hippocampus Magazine will donate a pre-conference workshop and one of our TBA local restaurant friends will provide a gift certificate for dinner Saturday evening, for a total prize package valued at $478.
How to Win: Application Details
For this scholarship competition, we’ll consider quality of writing and financial need, so we’re looking for a writing sample and some additional information.
Essay theme: Lessons Learned – up to 500 words
Hippocampus Magazine’s three-fold mission is to entertain, educate, and engage readers and writers of creative nonfiction. Our annual conference fulfills all three aspects of our mission, but especially the educate part. For this essay contest, we’d like to hear about a writing lesson that had a profound impact on you. It can be straightforward, such as a teacher or book that inspired you, or it can be more abstract.
Along with your essay submission, aside from the basic biographical information, there are also two required open-ended responses as part of the application form; you’ll have 200 words max for each section:
- How would you benefit from attending a professional development conference for writers, such as HippoCamp? Please be specific, focusing in on this time in your life, at this stage in your career, about what you hope to gain, where you hope to go from here.
- Please explain how and why you need this scholarship; for example, from a financial perspective, how would this prize help you participate in an event that you might not otherwise get to attend?
Deadline:
Submit by March 15
Judging:
A panel of HippoCamp 2016 committee members will read all entries, and decisions will be based on the quality of writing and financial need.
Prizes:
- Grand Prize: Complimentary full conference registration to HippoCamp 2016 ($389 value) and the pre-conference workshop for your choice ($49); also a $40 gift certificate to a local (TBA) restaurant for Saturday’s “dinner on your own.”
- Two runner-ups will receive a $150 partial scholarship toward the conference registration.
- The winning essay, as well as runner-ups, will appear as a Writing Life column in a future issue of Hippocampus Magazine.
Rules and Eligibility:
- The prize is for conference registration only, and it does not include hotel accommodations or travel; please take that into consideration before you enter, as we want to be sure the winner is able to attend; hotel and travel information is located on the conference website under “Venue & Travel.”
- Winner must accept prize by April 1, otherwise it will be forfeited and will be offered to the first runner-up.
- Attendees who already have registered for the conference may still enter the essay contest; if someone already registered should win the grand prize or runner-up prize, their conference registration will be refunded (minus the Ticket Leap and credit card processing fee, for which our organization has already paid.)
- Hippocampus Magazine and HippoCamp staff and volunteers, their relatives, spouses and current mentees/students, are not eligible to win.
Enter here.
This post also appears in its entirety at the conference website.
