Enter the 2013 Alpine Essay Contest
Guy and Laura Waterman spent a lifetime reflecting and writing on the Northeast's mountains. The Waterman Fund seeks to further their legacy through essays that celebrate this wilderness spirit.
This year's contest theme is: Technology in the woods! Do you venture into the woods with a smart phone or iPad or personal music player? Do you Twitter about bear encounters or call home in the evening? What do you think about “that guy” sitting in the corner of the shelter texting about the number of miles he hiked today? Or are you that guy? How does technology affect personal safety and responsibility? Is keeping the woods separate from our ever-connected world an artificial construct or a necessity? The Waterman Fund is seeking personal essays about the technological changes you've seen arriving in the backcountry and how these changes have affected your experience and the wild itself.
The Waterman Fund seeks the submission of essays about life in the mountains of the northeastern U.S. for its annual Waterman Fund Alpine Essay Contest held in partnership with Appalachia Journal.Wildness! Are you finding it where you least expect? Did you go in search and it wasn't there? The Waterman Fund is seeking personal essays about stewardship of wild places, whether through a scientific lens or an encounter with wildness.
What do we mean by "the spirit of wildness?" Why is it so important to our lives? Or, is it? Guy and Laura Waterman spent a lifetime reflecting and writing on the Northeast's mountains. The Waterman Fund seeks to further their legacy through essays that celebrate this spirit.
The winning piece will be published in Appalachia Journal. The winning essayist will be awarded $1500. Honorable mention will receive $500.
All are encouraged to submit essays for the 2013 contest. Essays must be original works at least 2000 words long. Writers who have not published a book on such topic or who have not been published in a national magazine on such topic are eligible for participation. Essays are due April 15, 2013. Winners will be announced by July.
Please include a brief cover letter with your contact information and a few lines about why you feel that your essay is right for this contest. We request (though don't require) that all manuscripts are double-spaced and in a 12 point font. We won't consider fiction, poetry, or songs; we're looking solely for nonfiction essays, whether with a personal, scientific, or memoir bent.
We appreciate online submissions. If you prefer to submit by mail, include a SAS postcard or your email address; we try to let you know as soon as we've received your work.
To submit an entry, email a Word document (or compatible format) and accompanying cover letter to: essays@watermanfund.org"> essays@watermanfund.org or mail to:
The Waterman Fund, Attn: Annie Bellerose P.O. Box 1064 East Corinth, VT 05040