Juneteenth Writing Competition

I’m happy and excited to announce that Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute will be holding a four-part writer’s workshop and a new writing contest. The competition is Writing for Social Change and will be held in conjunction with a four-part workshop series. The special presenter for the series will be Deborah Ahenkorah Osei-Agyekum, founder of the Golden Baobab. Funding for the competition and workshop is possible with a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

Reflective representation is especially important in children’s literature. It promotes literacy and encourages youth to dream big and picture themselves as anything they want to be. Our goal with the writing contest is to inspire, equip and train BIPOC adult literacy artists to use the arts as a strategic tool for community building and social change advocacy.

The contest will be for a 300-word children’s picture book for reading ages 4 to 8. Manuscript submissions can be fiction or non-fiction. The contest is open to Minnesota residents of African-American heritage that are 18 years of age and over. Submissions must be received by Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. The theme for the competition is Juneteenth.

The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000, 10 copies of their published book, and will be honored during the annual PPGJLI community celebration. The winning manuscript will be selected by a community panel of judges.

We’re extremely fortunate to have Deborah Ahenkorah Osei-Agyekum as our guest presenter at the writer’s workshop. Born in Accra, Ghana, she’s a global advocate for literacy and has worked for the last decade to find solutions for eliminating childhood literacy challenges. She co-founded the children’s literacy NGO, Golden Baobab, and works to inspire African writers and illustrators to create children’s content, and publish their work.

The workshop provides BIPOC artists with the tools to imagine and create culturally diverse children’s books. The series provides writers with an opportunity to learn about the design and writing process for crafting children’s books from experienced literary artists.

The writing contest is an excellent opportunity for anyone to aid in social change and promote literacy. Minnesota residents have the unique chance to provide children with inspiration, role models, and the impetus for change.

Enter today: https://www.ppgjli.org/writing-for-social-change

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.