Wild Words & Art rules, guidelines

Wild Words & Art is a writing and drawing contest inspired by "A Sand County Almanac," a collection of essays by Burlington native and naturalist Aldo Leopold. 

Entries will be accepted starting today. Deadline to submit essays, poems and drawings is 5 p.m. March 20.

Writing entries may be e-mailed to contest@leopoldheritage.org, or dropped off at or mailed to The Hawk Eye, 800 S. Main St., Burlington, Iowa 52601. Entries in the art contest must be mailed or dropped off at the newspaper office during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.

Mark mailed entries to the attention of Wild Words & Art.

The theme of this year’s contest, which is coordinated by the Leopold Heritage Group, is "The Outdoors and You."

Rules are as follows:

• The contest has three age ranges for entrants: middle school (gr. 6-8); high school (gr. 9-12); college/adult.

• Entries will be accepted from Iowa, Illinois and Missouri residents living within a 50-mile radius of Burlington, Iowa.

• All entries must include the entrant's name, address, phone number or e-mail address and name of the division being entered: Middle school, high school or college/adult.

• Incomplete or inaccurate contact information will result in disqualification of the entry.

• Poetry — Minimum 10 lines, maximum 30 lines. Include a title. Typewritten only.

• Essays — Written in first- or third-person. Must be 250 to 600 words. Include a title. Typewritten only.

• Art — Black and white, pen and ink, pencil or charcoal only on 8 1/2-inch x 11 inch paper. Submit originals only. No copies. Non-winning artwork will be returned upon request.

• Judging will be by a panel of teachers, writers, artists and naturalists. Winners will be selected on the basis of connection to the contest theme, overall quality of work submitted and adherence to contest rules.

• Winning entries will become the property of Leopold Heritage Group.

Prizes will be awarded to the first three places in each category, with $50 for first; $30 for second; and, $20 for third. Winners also will receive a copy of “A Sand County Almanac,” and will be invited to participate in an award ceremony and reading at Starr’s Cave Nature Center on April 19.

First-place winners will be published April 19 in the Lifestyle section of The Hawk Eye. Second- and third-place entries will be published at leopoldheritage.org.