In this 200th birthday year of the City of Jacksonville, JaxNEXT100 presents JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival IX, a celebration of Jacksonville writers writing Jacksonville at the Jessie Ball duPont Center (corne of Adams and Ocean in Downtown Jacksonville) on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29.
For details, see the event guide here.
Many thanks to Mark Walker and his amazing team at The Jessie for celebrating our talented writers in this way.
JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival, 904WARD, and The Jessie wish to congratulate the winners of the We Have the WRITE to Our Futures Writing Contest and Celebration. We also wish to thank everyone who submitted an entry to the contest. All submissions will be preserved in a digital time capsule for the edification and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Page Poetry
Honorable Mention:
Ebony Payne English
Rashad Hawkins
Ashley Gilbert
Jalicia Lewis
Julie Delegal
Student Winner:
Phillip Simmons, Jr.
Runner Up:
Michael G. O’Connell
First Place:
Valerie Esguerra
Prose (Essay or Story)
Honorable Mention:
Karen Johnson Rieley
Anna K. Jacobson
Nick Blank
Linda O’Connell
Melissa Gopp-Warner
Student Winner:
Dana Aljubouri
Runner Up:
Gary Sass
First Place:
Valerie Esguerra
Spoken Word
Honorable Mention:
Jalicia Lewis
Yvette Angelique
Tricia Booker
True Aris Renato (Sergio Dixon)
Love Reigns (Taryn Wharwood)
Student Winner:
Zuri Jendayi Randolph
Runner-Up:
B. Neal Jefferson
First Place:
Valerie Esguerra
Join Jacksonville’s writing community at the Jessie on Friday, August 12th as we celebrate the city’s past and present and imagine its future through the voices of its poets, writers, and spoken word artists. Meet and mingle with writers and lovers of literature starting at 5 p.m., while enjoying two food trucks as well as delicious coffee, sweets, and both adult and non-alcoholic beverages. The awards program starts at 6:30 p.m., with readings from over 20 writers starting at 7 p.m.
Get the details at https://www.thejessie.org/jaxnext100
Folks are excited about the contest, and we want EVERYONE to have a chance to submit. Therefore, the deadline has been extended to Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at midnight.
To submit your work, click here.
In collaboration with 904WARD and The Jessie, the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival is thrilled to announce the “We Have a Write to Our Futures” Writing Contest and Celebration. Here are the exciting details:
Writers, poets and spoken word artists will create new work that shares their ideas, vision and expression of Jacksonville through reflection on its last 200 years, imagining its next 100 years or a combination of the two. Using one of the following prompts and your own creative vision, with a lens of diversity and inclusion:
Past: Write about a historical person, place, or thing in Jacksonville and how they or it impacted you, people of the past, or the city itself.
Present: In what ways has our city embraced the diversity of people living here? In what ways can the City address the remaining challenges to embracing diversity?
Future: Choose a line or lines from the Johnson Brothers’ song Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing and explore how those words inspire your vision of Jacksonville’s future.
An independent panel of judges will view submitted work and cash prizes will be awarded in the following categories:
1. Story or Essay: $1,000 for first place, $750 for runner-up, $500 for student winner, 5 honorable mentions at $200 each
2. Page Poetry: $1,000 for first place, $750 for runner-up, $500 for student winner, 5 honorable mentions at $200 each
3. Spoken Word: $1,000 for first place, $750 for runner-up, $500 for student winner, 5 honorable mentions at $200 each
Submission Details:
1. Submissions are open June 13, 2022 to July 20, 2022.
2. Written submissions are limited to 1,000 words for story or essay category and two pages for page poetry. Please submit your work in a .PDF, .DOCX or .DOC file format.
3. Spoken word recordings, in either audio or video format, are limited to 5 minutes and must be in a .mp4, .mp3, .mov, .wav, or .aac file format.
4. More than one submission can be made per entrant.
5. Winners will be announced live at the celebration event at The Jessie on Friday, August 12, 2022. All winners will be invited to read their work aloud at the event.
Entrant Eligibility
Open to any writer that lives or has a connection to or an affiliation with the city of Jacksonville. Student writers include all entrants 18 years old and younger. For this competition, you are considered a student if you are 18 or younger on August 12, 2022.
Questions? Email scribbler.finch@gmail.com