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11th Annual Pharr from Normal Writing Contest
Official Contest Guidelines
The Pharr Memorial Library will be hosting the 11th annual Pharr from Normal Writing Contest, sponsored by the Friends of the Library! Get your pens, pencils, and quills ready! This year’s theme deals with the paranormal, supernatural, and mortality. Winners of the writing contest will receive cash prizes!
Both teens and adults are welcome to enter the contest! Writers will have from September 26th to October 26th to complete their stories, and winners will be announced on October 31st.
Criteria Details
Submissions must include the writer’s legal name, age, and contact information (email/phone number) on the top of the first page. Writers may only submit one entry.
Story must be written in Arial, 12pt font, and be double-spaced. Stories should not exceed 1,000 word count.
Original and unpublished work only. Plagiarism and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (such as ChatGPT, Copilot, etc) is strictly prohibited and will result in disqualification.
No excessive use of viollence and/or foul language.
Submission Details
Entries may be submitted in person at the 2nd floor reference desk of the Pharr Memorial Library, or through email to [email protected] wth the subject line of “2025 Writing Contest”.
All submissions must be turned in by the end of the day on Sunday, October 26th by 5:30PM in person or 11:59PM through email.
Late submissions will not be accepted.
Judging Details
Judging will be done by the library staff. Final prizes will be awarded in two categories: Teens (13-17) and Adults (18+). Stories will be jusdged on the basis of imagery, creativity, grammar, organization, and langauge use.
Prizes
| Teens (13-17) | Adults (18+) |
| 1st PLACE $100 | 1st PLACE $100 |
| 2nd PLACE $75 | 2nd PLACE $75 |
| 3rd PLACE $50 | 3rd PLACE $50 |
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