Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference to publish work from winners of first newspaper narrative contest

Monday, April 14, 2014 - 18:15
Category:

DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Orders are being taken for The Best American Newspaper Narratives of 2012, an anthology of 10 newspaper articles that were honored during the 2013 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.

The 10 articles were the first-, second-, and third-place winners and seven runners-up of the first Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest offered last year by the conference, which is hosted each July by the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas. The Best American Newspaper Narratives of 2012 will be published by the UNT Press in May. Copies can be reserved on the UNT Press website.

The anthology will also be on sale at this year's Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference July 18-20 (Friday-Sunday). The conference will take place at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine, Texas.

Entries are currently open for this year's Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest, which is sponsored by The Dallas Morning News. The contest honors exemplary narrative work and encourages narrative nonfiction storytelling at newspapers across the United States. All entries must have been published in daily newspapers or on the newspapers' websites between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2013 and may include narratives that are part of the series. The top three winners receive cash awards, and the first-place winner also receives free registration to this year's conference.

The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference is also accepting entries for its Personal Essay, Book Manuscript and Reported Narrative contests. The top three winners of all three of these contests receive cash awards, with the first-place winner of the Book Manuscript contest also receiving the option to sign a provisional book contract with the UNT Press. The three winners of both the Reported Narrative and Personal Essay contests, and four runners-up entries selected from these contests, will have their work included in Ten Spurs, a literary nonfiction journal published by the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism.

The deadline for all four writing contests is May 1 (Thursday). More information is on the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference's website.

Held annually for the past 10 years, the conference attracts more than 300 journalists, authors, editors, creative writing instructors, literary agents and students who are devoted to the art of nonfiction storytelling.

The theme for the 10th anniversary of the conference is theme is "Narratives on the Cutting Edge: Writing about Science, Technology, Medicine and Innovation." This year's keynote speakers are David Quammen, contributing writer for National Geographic; Lawrence Wright, staff writer for The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author; and Sheri Fink, another Pulitzer Prize winner and the author of Five Days At Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, a New York Times bestseller.  

 For more information about the writing contests, contact contest coordinator Tasha Tsiaperas at tsiaperas@gmail.com or 469-387-6985.

Registration is continuing for the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference at the conference website, with early registration rates available through May 1 (Thursday). Registration will close on June 1 (Sunday).

UNT News Service
News_Service@unt.edu
(940) 565-2108