What is the Writer's Eye
Writer's Eye is an annual literary competition organized by the University of Virginia Art Museum, beginning this year on October 22, 2007, with all entries due at the Museum by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 21, 2007. Participants are invited to write either poetry or prose compositions inspired by selected artworks. Entries are judged in four categories: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and University/Adult.
Judges for entries in grades 3-8 are teachers and writers from public and private schools. High School and University/Adult judges are well-known writers from our community.
To view the selected artworks you may visit the Museum during public hours, Tuesday-Sunday, 1 - 5 p.m., or you may book a group tour. Tours are available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., and on weekends by appointment. Artworks selected for the Writer's Eye competition have a “WE” icon on the wall label.
A reception and Awards Ceremony featuring readings by winners and comments by the judges will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2008, at 2 p.m. at the University of Virginia Bookstore. An anthology of the winning entries will be published and available for purchase at the Awards Ceremony.
High School and University/Adult Judges 2007
For the High School and University/Adult category, the Museum welcomes the writers Rita Mae Brown as the prose judge and Kendra Hamilton as the poetry judge.
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of numerous books, including Rubyfruit Jungle, Southern Discomfort, Sudden Death, Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual, Venus Envy, Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser, and Outfoxed. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and poet, she lives in Afton.
Kendra Hamilton is a writer by profession, the assistant editor of a national higher education magazine, and a poet by vocation. Her work has been published in Callaloo, Southern Review, Shenandoah, and River Styx and anthologized in Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam. Her collection, The Goddess of Gumbo, was published in 2006 as part of the Word Press series.
Prizes
| High School and University/Adult |
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1st place:
$100 and a one-year University of Virginia Art Museum Membership |
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2nd place:
$25 gift certificate and a one-year University of Virginia Art Museum Membership |
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3rd place:
a one-year University of Virginia Art Museum Membership |
| Elementary and Middle School |
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1st place:
$50 and a one-year University of Virginia Art Museum Membership |
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2nd place:
$25 gift certificate and a one-year University of Virginia Art Museum Membership |
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3rd place:
a one-year University of Virginia Art Museum Membership |
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