Letters About Literature 2017-2018

It’s Letters About Literature time again!

Mississippi's 2016-2017 Letters About Literature winners

Letters About Literature is a state and national writing contest for students in grades 4-12. Each student is encouraged to write a letter to the author of their favorite book explaining how the book changed their life, changed their outlook, or helped them through a hard time. It’s a personal letter, not an essay, so students can feel free to express how they feel!

There are three age categories:

• Level 1: grades 4-6
• Level 2: grades 7-8
• Level 3: grades 9-12

Letters are due by December 9.

Statewide prizes are as follows:

• First place (for each of the three age levels): $100
• Second place (for each of the three age levels): $75
• Third place (for each of the three age levels): $50

First place winners move on to national judging. National prizes are $1,000 for first place in each of the three age levels and $200 for Honor Winners in each of the three age levels.

Mississippi's 2015-2016 Letters About Literature winners

The 25th annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries, and other organizations. Statewide, this contest is made possible by the Mississippi Library Commission, the Mississippi Center for the Book, and the Friends of Mississippi Libraries.

Teachers, librarians, and parents, please share this information widely! Additional information and entry coupons can be found here. We can’t wait to read your students’ letters!

Letters About Literature 2017

It's Letters About Literature time again!

Letters about Literature is a state and national writing contest for students in grades 4-12. Each student is encouraged to write a letter to the author of their favorite book explaining how the book changed their life, changed their outlook, or helped them through a hard time. It's a personal letter, not an essay, so students can feel free to express how they feel!

There are three age categories:

Level 1: grades 4-6
Level 2: grades 7-8
Level 3: grades 9-12

Letters from Levels 1 and 2 are due by January 9, 2017. Letters from Level 3 are due by December 2, 2016.



Statewide prizes are as follows:

First place (for each of the three age levels): $100
Second place (for each of the three age levels): $75
Third place (for each of the three age levels): $50

First place winners move on to national judging. National prizes are $1,000 for first place in each of the three age levels and $200 for Honor Winners in each of the three age levels.

Teachers, librarians, and parents, please share this information widely!

2016 Mississippi Letters about Literature winners

The 24th annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries, and other organizations. Statewide, this contest is made possible by the Mississippi Library Commission, the Mississippi Center for the Book, and the Friends of Mississippi Libraries.

Additional information and entry coupons can be found here. Please send all entries to Mississippi Center for the Book care of Ally Mellon at the Mississippi Library Commission.

Letters About Literature 2016

Nine students across Mississippi won awards in this year’s Mississippi Letters About Literature writing contest. Approximately 50,000 young readers across the country participated in this year’s Letters About Literature competition, a reading promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The Friends of Mississippi Libraries were a partner on the state level.

To enter, young readers write personal letters to authors, explaining how their work changed their view of the world or themselves. Readers can select authors from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic. The contest theme encourages a young reader to explore his or her personal response to a book, then express that response in a creative, original way.

In Mississippi, approximately 500 students competed across all three competition levels; only 50 letters advanced to state semifinals. From those, 30 were selected to advance as state finalists for judging.

The Mississippi Library Commission hosted an awards ceremony and reception on April 29 to honor state semifinalists, finalists, and winners. After a welcome and remarks by Mississippi Center for the Book Coordinator Tracy Carr, the nine state winners were invited to read their letters aloud. The students then received their awards, and afterwards light refreshments were served.

The first place state finalist for competition Level I (grades 4 through 6) was Isyss Jones of Newton for her letter to Rachel Renee Russel. The first place state finalist for Level II (grades 7 and 8) was Kyran Williams-Roberts of Starkville, who wrote a letter to J.K. Rowling. Victoria Kinsey of Pontotoc was the first place state finalist for competition Level III (grades 9-12) for her letter to J.R.R. Tolkien. Mississippi first-place finalists each receive a $100 cash prize and their letters move on to the national competition.

State winner Victoria Kinsey’s letter also moved on to the national semifinals.

Other state winners include: Peyton Burton of Pass Christian (second place, Level I); Catherine Li of Starkville (second place, Level II); Denis Martinez of Ecru (second place, Level III); Darron Griffin II of Clarksdale (third place, Level I); Sophie Lanier of Pass Christian (third place, Level II); and Skyler Turner of Ecru (third place, Level III). Second-place winners receive a $75 cash prize and third-place winners receive a $50 cash prize. All state winners receive a medal inscribed with their name and ranking; all state semifinalists receive a certificate of achievement.

Megan Bryant, a teacher at Pass Christian Middle School, won the Educator of the Year award for encouraging the most students to submit letters.

The Mississippi Center for the Book is one of 50 state affiliates of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress. The Center's mission is to promote books, reading, libraries and literacy in society. The Center for the Book was established in 1977 as a public-private partnership to use the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading. More specifically, Mississippi's Center for the Book is devoted to promoting and exploring Mississippi's rich literary heritage through statewide activities.

For more information, contact Mississippi Center for the Book Coordinator Tracy Carr at tcarr@mlc.lib.ms.us or visit www.lettersaboutliterature.org.

Letters About Literature 2015

It's Letters About Literature time again! This year's theme is "How did an author's work change your view of the world or yourself?"

Letters About Literature is a state and national writing contest for students in grades 4-12. Each student is encouraged to write a letter to the author of their favorite book explaining how the book changed their life, changed their outlook, or helped them through a hard time. It's a personal letter, not an essay, so students can feel free to express how they feel!

There are three age categories:
Level 1: grades 4-6
Level 2: grades 7-8
Level 3: grades 9-12

Letters from Levels 1 and 2 are due by January 11, 2016. Letters from Level 3 are due by December 4, 2015.

Statewide prizes are as follows:
First place (for each of the three age levels): $100
Second place (for each of the three age levels): $75
Third place (for each of the three age levels): $50

First place winners move on to national judging. National prizes are $1,000 for first place in each of the three age levels and $200 for Honor Winners in each of the three age levels.

Teachers, librarians, and parents, please share this information widely!

The 23rd annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries, and other organizations. Statewide, this contest is made possible by the Mississippi Library Commission, the Mississippi Center for the Book, and the Friends of Mississippi Libraries.

Entry forms can be found here.

And the Winner Is...

The awards ceremony for the winners of the state level competition for Letters About Literature was held yesterday afternoon at the Mississippi Library Commission. In this annual contest, students in grades 4-12 read a book, poem, or speech and then write a mock letter to the author. The first place winners for Mississippi will continue on to the national level and learn whether they've won in mid-May. The national winner in each age group wins a $1,000 award and each national honorable mention winner wins $200.

This year, Mississippi's winners wrote to the authors about the following books:

Level I, upper elementary grades 4-6
The first place Mississippi winner wrote to Christopher Paul Curtis.
Both the second and third place winners wrote to R. J. Palacio.

 

Level II, middle school, grades 7-8

The first place Mississippi winner wrote to Russell Freedman.
Second place wrote to Lois Lowry and third place wrote to S. E. Hinton.

 

Level III, high school, grades 9-12
The first place Mississippi winner wrote to Kathryn Lasky.
Second place wrote to Margaret Mitchell and third place wrote to J. D. Salinger.

Congratulations to all our winners! Check back this Fall for information on participating in the next Letters about Literature competition.

Letters About Literature 2014

It’s time again for Letters About Literature, the national reading and writing contest for students in grades 4-12! In the contest, students write a personal letter to the author—living or dead—of their favorite books, explaining what the books meant to them, how the books changed their lives, how they related to the characters…or anything at all, as long as it is a personal letter! Books can be nonfiction, fiction, or even a short story, poem, or speech.

There are three Levels of Competition:

Level I: Grades 4-6

Level II: Grades 7-8

Level III: Grades 9-12

Letters About Literature awards prizes on both the state and national levels. Each participating state center has its own panel of judges who select the top essayists in the state. State Winners will receive a cash award--$100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place in the competition levels—and first place letters will advance to the national level judging. A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select one National Winner per competition level to receive a $1,000 cash award. The judges will also select one National Honor per competition level to receive a $200 cash award.

In order to accommodate high volumes of letters, there are two different deadlines:

Letters for Level III (grades 9-12) are due by December 15, 2014

Letters for Levels I and II (grades 4-8) are due by January 15, 2015

Entries must be accompanied by an entry coupon; a copy of the official rules and an entry coupon (located in the official rules) are available at the Letters About Literature website.

For more information, contact Mississippi Center for the Book Coordinator Tracy Carr at tcarr@mlc.lib.ms.us.

Please pass this information on to other teachers, librarians, or parents who might be interested.

Letters About Literature Competition

Letters about Literature is a national reading and writing promotion program sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. At the state level, it is sponsored by the Mississippi Center for the Book and Friends of Mississippi Libraries.

Students in grades 4-10 are encouraged to write personal letters to the authors of their favorite books, explaining what the book meant to them. The books can be fiction or non-fiction, and can even be a short story, poem, essay, or speech (but no song lyrics). A letter is less formal than a book report or a research paper and students are encouraged to write in their own voices, as if they were having a personal conversation with the author.

There are three Levels of Competition:

Level I: Grades 4-6
Level II: Grades 7-8
Level III: Grades 9-10

Judges for the Mississippi Center for the Book will choose first-, second-, and third-place winners in each of the three categories; these winners will receive cash prizes of $100, $75, and $50, respectively. First-place winners in each of the three categories will also advance to the National Level Judging.

Judges for The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select three first place winners to receive a $1,000 cash prize and three second place winners to receive a $150 cash prize.

Letters must be postmarked by January 11, 2013 and be accompanied by an entry coupon, available at http://www.lettersaboutliterature.org/ For more information, email Mississippi Center for the Book Coordinator Tracy Carr at tcarr@mlc.lib.ms.us.

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Letters About Literature: Let's Go Writing, Mississippi!

It’s time to start thinking about Letters About Literature, the national reading and writing competition for students in grades 4-12. Letters about Literature is sponsored by the Center for the Book (in the Library of Congress) and Target stores nationally; locally, the Mississippi Center for the Book has partnered with the Friends of Mississippi Libraries.


In the contest, students write a personal letter to the author—living or dead—of their favorite books, explaining what the book meant to them, how the book changed their life, how they related to the characters…or anything at all, as long as it is a personal letter! Books can be nonfiction, fiction, or even a short story, poem, or speech.

There are three Levels of Competition:

Level I: Grades 4-6
Level II: Grades 7-8
Level III: Grades 9-12

State prizes include a $100 cash prize for first-place winners in each Level of Competition; a $75 cash prize for second-place winners in each Level of Competition; and a $50 cash prize for third-place winners in each Level of Competition. First-place winners will also receive a $50 Target gift card and will advance to the National Level Judging.

The national judges will select six National Winners (two from each Level of Competition) and twelve National Honorable Mention Winners (four from each Level of Competition). The National Winners will receive a $500 Target gift card, along with a $10,000 Letters About Literature Reading Promotion Grant for their community or school library. National Honorable Mention Winners will receive a $100 Target gift card and a $1,000 Letters About Literature Reading Promotion Grant for their community or school library.

Yes, that’s $10,000!

The contest runs from September 1 through January 6, 2012. Entries must be accompanied by an entry coupon, found here.

For more information, visit the Letters about Literature website at http://www.lettersaboutliterature.org/ or contact Mississippi Center for the Book Coordinator Tracy Carr Seabold at tcarr@mlc.lib.ms.us or 601-432-4450.