Calling All Indiana County High School Writers!

The Indiana Arts Council is excited to announce that we will be running our annual Youth Writing Contest again this year, and I would like to take this opportunity to invite your students to participate.

Like last year, the contest will accept both poetry and flash fiction. We were overjoyed and impressed by the submissions we received last year, and we look forward to reading more creative works from high school age writers throughout Indiana County.

Poems may take any form. Prose poems and flash fiction are welcome, too. They may treat any theme or topic and may grow out of class assignments. We encourage teachers to incorporate the contest into their lesson plans to support their students’ learning goals.

It is our goal to showcase the poetic talent of Indiana County's young writers and promote enjoyment and appreciation of creative writing for everyone!

The contest submission form is available through the URL shortlink below: 

http://bit.ly/IACWritingContest

Also available is a PDF handout for students with contest details and example poems and flash fiction from local writers. 

Details
We welcome original poems and flash fiction stories (limit one poem or flash fiction with a maximum length of 300 words) from any student of high school age residing in Indiana County.

Entries should be submitted via the online submission form in Word (.docx) or PDF format.

Submissions should include a cover page with the author's name, grade, and school and teacher if applicable. (Home schooled students should include their parents' contact information.)

The deadline for submissions is Saturday, December 5, 2026.

In addition to the honor of being selected as one of the top three writers, the winning authors will also be awarded gift cards.

Questions about the contest may be directed to IAC Board member and IUP Language, Literature, and Writing faculty member Matt Vetter at mvetter@iup.edu