Notices

Young American Writers, Take Note Of Amazing Opportunity At The Mayborn

If you are a young American writer, you need to know about
the Mayborn – and you need to get ready to enter a contest to win a phenomenal
prize.
We at Youth Journalism International are proud to have a
partnership with the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. The Mayborn is an
amazing event held each July in Grapevine, Texas for writers at all stages of
their work, including the early stages where young writers are found.
The Mayborn conference is, hands down, one of the best and
most intensive opportunities for learning about writing that we know of,
anywhere.
The Mayborn is a weekend conference that brings young people
together with accomplished biographers, historians, journalists and other impressive,
non-fiction scribes.  Before the weekend
is over, a wonderful sort of bonding happens and everyone becomes part of “The
Tribe,” as conference leader George Getschow calls the gathered writers.
Getschow, who formerly directed coverage of the American
Southwest for The Wall Street Journal,
is a respected figure in the world of journalism, a talented writer and a
teacher of writing at the journalism school at the University of North Texas.  He’s an ambassador for Youth Journalism
International and the brains and creative force behind the Mayborn.
What makes the Mayborn so terrific for young writers is the
Young Spurs historical non-fiction writing contest, now in its fourth year.

Mayborn conference leader George Getschow, left, with five of
the 2012 Young Spurs.

 

Any American high school or community college student between
the ages of 14 and 25 is eligible to enter the Young Spurs contest, which calls
for an unpublished piece of biographical writing, in a narrative non-fiction
style, of a person who made an important contribution to his or her community.
It’s free to enter, and the prize is sweet. You, and a parent, teacher or writing
mentor, get to attend the conference and stay at a nice hotel
and meet loads of cool writer types, with fees covered. If you live far away, they’ll fly you in.
Ten winners are selected from the entries and those lucky
young writers will experience the Mayborn – but that’s not all. They also get a
special, intensive small group workshop with a professional writer. In that
workshop, which takes place the day before the Mayborn conference, they’ll work
together to polish their stories, which will be published in The Dallas
Morning News
.
This year, that one-day workshop will be led by Bryan
Burrough, an author of five books and a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and Vanity
Fair
. Though anyone can pay a fee and attend the conference, only the
winners of the Young Spurs prize can attend the small group workshop led by
Burrough.
The deadline for submissions is March 31, so get moving!
We urge all Youth Journalism International students in the
United States – as well as young American writers who are not part of YJI – to enter
the Young Spurs contest.  All the details are here.
Attending the Mayborn can be a life-changing experience. Don’t
miss it
.