In the photo left, May Amelia Shapton is the 2020 winner of the Dandelion Cottage Student Short Story Contest. Shapton won the contest as a 12th grader at Lake Linden-Hubbell High School. Virtual workshops are set for Jan. 4 and 11 to help new writers prepare for the next contest. In the photo at right, the 2020 first-place medal is shown . (Photos courtesy of the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association)

MARQUETTE — Upper Peninsula students in grades five through 12 who are interested in submitting to the Dandelion Cottage Student Short Story Contest sponsored by the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association are invited to sign up for a free short story writing workshop.

Space is limited to the first 20 students who enroll. Students from L’Anse Area Schools have already become the first three to complete the sign-up process, which takes under five minutes to complete at https://uppaa.org/student-workshop/.

UPPAA award-winning author and educator, Deborah K. Frontiera, will conduct the virtual workshop, which will take place at 7 p.m. Jan. 4 and 11. The UPPAA noted the scheduling enables students to have enough time to rewrite or polish their stories before the contest deadline for submission, which is Jan. 31.

The first session will be about story structure, developing a character and starting a first draft. Students will complete their first draft between the first and second session, the UPAA said. The second session will involve revision with Frontiera providing many suggestions for students to examine their stories and improve them.

Students may also consult with their teachers or others on their stories, but the students themselves must make any suggested changes, the UPPAA said. Students then give their stories to their language arts teacher, with teachers in a U.P. public or private school able to submit two stories from each class to the contest.

Students who are home-schooled should check with their local districts for a sponsoring teacher. There are no entry fees for writers.

Local author Larry Buege, who is involved in the contest, said the inspiration for the competition came from his granddaughter, Rory Zakrzewski, who at age 11 wrote a 22,000-word novel.

“Her novel, ‘Plaid,’ has a decent plot when viewed through the eyes of an eleven-year-old and is available on Amazon.com,” Buege said in an email. “Not many 11-year-olds can say that. I wondered if we had similar talent in the U.P. With the help of UPPAA, we created the Dandelion Cottage Short Story Contest, and the U.P. students did not disappoint us.

“Our biggest hurdle was convincing teachers, parents and students that getting outside help is not cheating. That is the norm in the publishing world. Editors tell writers what parts are weak and need to be rewritten. Copy editors point out spelling and grammar errors.”

The contest, Buege said, should be a learning experience.

“Good writers become great writers by listening to feedback,” he said. “Our free workshop with award-wining author and educator, Deborah Frontiera, is a good place to get such feedback. Our only requirement is that the students make all revisions, and that they understand why a semi-colon is needed instead of a comma.”

The top prize for the Dandelion Cottage Contest is $250 cash for the first-place senior division entrant, $100 for second place and $50 for third place. In the junior division composed of grades five through eight, there is a single $150 prize for the overall division winner. Winners also receive a hardbound edition of the UP. Reader in which their stories appear and a commemorative medallion.

The workshop is designed mainly for fifth through eighth graders, but high school students with no experience in writing short fiction and who are interested in learning are welcome to register as well, UPPAA said. There is a limit of 20 students for workshop participation, so students should register as soon as possible by visiting https://uppaa.org/student-workshop/.

For full information on the contest’s submission guidelines, go to the Dandelion Cottage website www.dandelioncottage.org

For more information about this workshop, contact Victor Volkman via email at president@uppaa.org.

The UPPAA was established in 1998 to support authors and publishers who live in or write about the U.P. UPPAA is a Michigan nonprofit association with more than 100 members, many of whose books are featured on the organization’s website at www.uppaa.org. UPPAA welcomes membership and participation from anyone with a U.P. connection who is interested in writing and publishing books.  

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500 ext. 250. Her email is cbleck@miningjournal.net.