Get your pencils and paintbrushes, ready that canvas and create! The annual Pageturners’ Writing and Art Awards is back, and the submission date is looming right around the corner on April 5. This is your chance to be the new Hemmingway or Picasso and get a monetary prize for your talents. So, do not delay, your time to start is today.

Each semester, an array of books is chosen for the Pageturners book club to read, discuss and find engagement in together. This winter’s reading roster included “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (January), “A Walk to Remember” by Nicholas Sparks (February), “Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: The Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW,” by Alexander Jefferson with Lewis H. Carlson (February) and “The Notorious RBG” by Irin Carmon and Shana Khizhnik. 

Each of these literary delights were supplemented by additional activities like Meet the Author events and discussions to enhance the reader’s experience. The hope is to cultivate inspiration among participants and motivate them to participate in the Writing and Art Awards which began in Sept. and will be concluding April 5.

“The main goal of the Pageturners Writing and Art Awards is to provide Schoolcraft students the opportunity to share in a unique and creative manner how one of the book selections discussed by the Pageturners Book Club impacted them using either a written or artistic medium,” states Co-coordinator, Denise Schell.

Those interested in competing should review the following guidelines for eligibility, submission and more:

•  Select at least one Pageturners book read during the fall or winter semester.

•  Create an essay or artwork dedicated to the title. (One submission in one category will be accepted from each participant. Accepted forms of art include drawings, paintings, sculptures, collages, woodcuts or dioramas. Video, film, jewelry and photography submissions will not be accepted.

• Writing entries should be less than 2,000 words (Reviews or summaries will not be accepted).

• All submissions are to be emailed directly to Denise Schell at [email protected] with their completed application.

• Students submitting art should take three pictures of their entry from different angles and email them to Denise Schell at [email protected].

“There are several benefits for participation. For example, both winners will be publicly recognized by Pageturners on our webpage as well as in the Connection. They will receive a certificate acknowledging each of the winners (Writing Award and Art Award), which looks great on a resume as well as a transfer college application,” Schell elaborated. “Finally, there is a monetary prize of $250 for the Writing Award and a $250 prize for the Art Award.”

Show us what you got, Ocelots. Fill out that application, get creating and send in your submissions for a chance to win. 

For more information, please email Co-Coordinators Denise Schell at [email protected] or Wayne Pricer at [email protected].