2015 Young Spurs writing contest
July 17-19, 2015
Grapevine, Texas
ELIGIBILITY
High school and community college students, 14-20 years old are eligible for this contest.
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS RECEIVE
The top 10 historical narratives will be selected by a jury pool of prominent narrative nonfiction
writers. These 10 winners will each be awarded a scholarship to attend the most renowned narrative
nonfiction conference in the country, The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Grapevine,
Texas on July 17-19, 2015. The scholarship covers conference registration, hotel rooms and meals
for the students and their mentors. Transportation costs are available on an as needed basis.
Winners will participate in a writing workshop Friday, July 17, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The top 10 essays
will also be published by The Dallas Morning News. The winners will also be honored during
conference festivities. All activities are held in the conference hotel.
CONTEST DETAILS
All essay entries must be unpublished factual historical narratives. We’re looking fora narrative
account of an historical event and the key character or characters involved in that event, living or
past, who left a deep and lasting legacy in his or her community, state, nation or world. You are
responsible for the independent research and writing of the essay. You may receive help, advice and
counsel from your teachers, parents or other mentors. You may also obtain assistance in typing your
paper, but the writing, thoughts and conclusions must be your own.
Your historical narrative submissions:
• Can cover a local, state, national or international event.
• Must be well researched and include a properly cited bibliography (MLA, Turabian, etc.) of at least
five or more reliable sources from interviews, books, magazines or online research.
• Must be original work, written in a compelling narrative style, that enlarges and illuminates our
understanding of the event or character you’re writing about.
• Must be well organized, with a beginning, middle and end, demonstrating a thorough command of
the event or subject matter.
• Must use correct syntax, grammar, spelling and punctuation
• The historical narrative must be a minimum of five pages, and cannot exceed 20 pages, double
spaced or about 5,000 words. As a general guideline, 1,200 words is the average length of most
submissions to our narrative writing contest.
• Must use Times New Roman style, 12 point type, double spaced with one-inch margins.
• No identification should be on any pages of the submission.
Your submission will be disqualified if:
• It is not original work or considered an “historical narrative.”
• It falls short of or exceeds our length requirements.
Winners
The winners will be notified May 1. Each winner will be sent copies of all workshop submissions, with
critique sheets and instructions. Before July 17, writers are expected to carefully read all the
submissions in their assigned workshop, make written notations on the submissions and also
complete the critique sheets. The critique sheets will be presented to each writer at the end of the
workshop session, and your workshop leader will also present each workshop participant a written
evaluation with suggestions on ways to revise and improve the biography.
In the critique sheets, each workshop participant will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the
biography with respect to the quality of the research and the writing. Workshop participants will
address such issues as clarity, comprehensiveness, creativity, the presence or lack of a narrative
thread and articulated theme, vivid and concrete detail, anecdotes, metaphor, scene setting, dialogue
and other literary devices used in writing the biography.
SUBMITTING

One electronic copy of the submission only (Word Document only) – submitted via email by midnight on March 31, 2015, to mayborncontest@unt.edu. The subject line
must read Young Spurs Submission.

Two unstapled printed copies must be sent in two separate folders, along with one hard copy of
your application, signed in blue or black ink. Submissions must be postmarked by March 31,
2015 and mailed to:
Sarah Whyman
Writing Contest Coordinator
Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism
University of North Texas
1155 Union Circle, #311460
Denton, TX 76203-5017
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sarah Whyman
Writing Contest Coordinator
maybornconferenceinfo@unt.edu
469.595.55082015 YOUNG SPURS CONTEST
APPLICATION FORM
DEADLINE: March 31, 2015
Fill in blanks by typing in the gray text boxes. Then print form to sign and mail.
Title of historical narrative
Author’s name
Author’s birthdate
Address
City
Phone
State
Zip
Cell
E-mail address
Name of school
City in which school is located
Teacher’s name
E-mail address of teacher
Telephone number(s) of teacher:
Work
Cell
Name of student (please print)
________________________________________________________________
Signature of student
________________________________________________________________________
Name of parent of teacher (please print)
________________________________________________________
Signature of parent or teacher
________________________________________________________________