The Short Story and Poetry contests are open to youth in grades 1-12 who creatively write as a hobby and make less than $500.00 annually on manuscripts.

All GFWC-WI member clubs are invited to sponsor a youth writing contest in their area. The club can do it by contacting schools (public, private, online, home) in the club’s area or by simply publishing the contest in the local paper. Each club should then send in the winner in each category/age group to the State Contest Chair, Alexandra Lerch-Gaggl. There is no need for a district competition. There could be up to 8 submissions from each club. Submissions must be made by the middle of February (see specific date in the Contest instructions) and can be mailed via USPS or emailed as a Word document to the State Contest Chair. The stories and poems must have been written in the year before they are submitted. Only one entry per child per category is allowed.

Every entry must have a signed GFWC Creative Arts Waiver included as found on the last page of the Contest instructions!

Click here for the PDF version of the 2022-2024 Contest instructions.

Winners announced at the 2020 GFWC-WI State Convention can be found by clicking here.