XDI Stories-About-Debate Writing Contest Judged By Brooke Kimbrough
Do you write things? Do you know the debate world? Can you make a good story combining the craft of folklore and debate? The Xylum Debate Institute is hosting a writing competition for the folk of the debate community!
What we're looking for : A fiction piece on the origins of debate. Has debate existed forever? Since yesterday? Was it created by a community near the Nile? You tell us! Spin some yarn, or churn some butter. Whatever gets your writing juices going!
Who's eligible : Anybody formerly or currently involved within Academic Debate ( All forms) or just any nerd really interested in submitting a piece to a high school debate camp. I mean, hey shoot for the stars. There's no age limit, so functionally everyone. Except for zombies. Literally no zombies.
Some judge notes : My name is Brooke! I'm a rising sophomore debater for the University of Iowa's Craig A. Debate Forum (Go Hawks! CACAWWWWW). In my debate career I've transitioned to mostly critical theory over traditional performances of debate (all debate is performative ;-] ), with emphasis on lots of Afro-pessimistic arguments, Black fem/womanist arguments, and more recently Fanonian psychoanalysis. My literary interests are any and everything James Baldwin ( my favourite fiction book by Jimmy is Giovanni's Room right now but I've got "If Beale Street could talk" and "Go tell it on the Mountain" up for this summer!), I adored the Meg Cabot "Princess Diaries" series, the Lauren Myracle "Ttyl" series, becoming a big fan of Zora Neale Hurston, and absolutely adore and live by the lessons in "For colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuff." I'm starting a publication on my University's campus next semester and will really enjoy the practice of reviewing other's work! No story is too weird for me, I've grown up on all types of strange stories and rhymes! Happy Writing smile emoticon
Basic Guidelines: - Original stories with a maximum of 2500 words. 12pt Big Caslon font(Times New Roman if your computer sux and doesn't have it). - Minimum of 250 words, short stories are welcomed and will not lose points for being short(If they meet the minimum of course!). - Stories containing more than 1 human characters are encouraged to be diverse in terms of gender and sexuality, race, physical/cognitive (dis)ability, and other cool character traits. -Writing mean things about folks in debate will get you immediately disqualified. - It is suggested you do some research on folklore before you start writing if you are not 100% sure what it is. There are many different types of folklore, I personally am really interested in Negro American, Negro-Caribbean, and Chinese folklore. Authors I am most interested in include : Toni Morrison, Z.N. Hurston, and Maxine Hong Kingston to name a few.
PRIZES -- B00Kz&C00L TH!NGz! The 1st place winner receives a gaggle of old books and a bright red bow.
The winning entry and the runner up will get posted on the Xylum Tumblr page with remarks as well as a mystery prize!