There's Still Time to Enter the 2nd Annual Write-On! Writing Competiton

The deadline for submissions for the PCGS 2nd annual Write-On! Writing Competition is Thursday, June 30, 2016.

This year's competition has two categories:

Category 1 - Biographies. Memoirs and biographies where the major portion of the facts are from personal memories, interviews, family oral traditions, etc. No, or few, historical records are used in research.

Category 2 - Family History. A family history or biography that has been researched and documented through historical records.

Cash prizes and certificates will be awarded to the winners in each category. In addition, a grand prize of one year membership to PCGS will be awarded to the winner with the most points overall.

The entry fee is $15 for PCGS members or $20 for non-members. Contest entry fee is waived for paid registrants of the 2016 Do It the Write Way two-part workshop.

Visit the PCGS website for competition rules, judging criteria, and registration information. Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to hone your writing skills and perhaps get paid for it, too!

Our Second Annual Write-On! Writing Competition Has Begun

Pima County Genealogy Society (PCGS) is accepting entries for our 2nd annual Write-On! writing competition.

This year's competition has two categories:

Category 1 - Biographies. Memoirs and biographies where the major portion of the facts are from personal memories, interviews, family oral traditions, etc. No, or few, historical records are used in research.

Category 2 - Family History. A family history or biography that has been researched and documented through historical records.

Cash prizes and certificates will be awarded to the winners in each category. In addition, a grand prize of one year membership to PCGS will be awarded to the winner with the most points overall.

Submissions must be received by the Contest Coordinator by June 20, 2016. Awards and public announcement of the winners will take place during the PCGS general meeting on Saturday, August 10, 2016.

The entry fee is $15 for PCGS members or $20 for non-members. Contest entry fee is waived for paid registrants of the 2016 Do It the Write Way two-part workshop.

Visit the PCGS website for competition rules, judging criteria, and registration information.

Good Luck!

Meet our Write-On! Competition Winners

The winners of our 2015 Write-On! Competition were announced at our June General Meeting and on our blog post Write-On! Competition Winners. We are now introducing our winners to you.

1st Place
Margaret Ward
The Long Journey of Mabel Ida Lewis Smith 

 I was born in Central India to Canadian missionary parents. My mother’s family had been in India for generations, many holding positions that kept the British Raj running – post office and railway, for example. My schooling was varied. I attended a private school in New York, a one-room school in rural Ontario, and boarding schools in India and Canada. Following my undergraduate years, I married a psychiatrist. After three biological children, we adopted eight others, aged from infancy to thirteen. Once I was widowed, I wintered in Arizona, and eventually married an Arizonan. I have degrees in English, and Child and Lifespan Development and taught in high school and college. For many years, my interest in family traditions had no focus. As part of my graduate studies, I undertook a personal development project in which I collected and shared family stories. That was the spark that lit focused genealogical research.


2nd Place
Debra Kabinier
The Tale of the Traveling China

 Debra Fowler Kabinier started working on genealogy with her two great aunts when she was a young teenager.  The three of them would conduct research at the old county library and local historical society.  Her quest for family history continued in small spurts but took a back-seat to raising a family and growing a career.  Now that she is retired, genealogy is her full-time hobby.  She hones her skills by attending conferences, webinars, and taking classes.








3rd Place
Doris Briscoe-Lyon
An Incident at the Well

 I grew up on a dairy farm in Oregon and spent the summers driving a tractor on a hay farm. Working outdoors made my spirit soar and I felt free and close to God and nature. I was born to be left-handed, but in school I was forced to write with my right hand which was a trial for me, but my left hand is still the strongest. In high school I received good grades for public speaking and writing. After raising six children, I began writing poetry which seems to come quite easily to me. So now I am writing poetry and my memoirs, which releases my creativity. When I need a change, I go for a walk or play the piano which has been a special gift to me. I had only eighteen months of lessons when I was ten years old, and I was told I'd never be a piano player. But I am! I feel so blessed!



Be sure to read the winning stories in the September 2015 issue of The PCGS Researcher (available now in the Members Only section of our website). And let our winners know how much you enjoyed reading them.
 

ISFHWE Announces Winners of the 2015 Excellence-in-Writing Competition

Members of the Pima County Genealogy Society are among the winners of the ISFHWE Excellence-in-Writing Competition for the third year running!

 

Press Release – September 4, 2015
The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors is proud to announce the winners of the Excellence-in-Writing Competition. All entries were exceptional this year. Submission details for 2016 will be announced soon. For any questions on the competition, email Tina Sansone at competition@isfhwe.org.

ISFHWE’s Excellence in Writing Competition

Category 1 - Columns

1st: Ernest Thode – Ask Ernie
2nd: James M. Beidler – Roots & Branches: Painful, poignant visit to mentor’s grave
3rd: Maureen Wlodarczyk – Genealogy: It’s not a tree or a chart…it’s a story!
HM: Michael McKeag – Where to Finish? 1 - My Family History
HM: Carolyn Leonard – When the Cheering Stopped – the last years of Woodrow Wilson

Category 2 – Articles

1st: Barbara J Starmans, PLCGS – Married to the Army
2nd: Maureen Wlodarczyk – Grazia Fucci Lipari
3rd: George G. Morgan – Managing Your Speaking Engagements
HM: Sherri Hessick – MayDay! MayDay! Lost Behind Enemy Lines
HM: Vi Parsons – Root Cellar Preserves


Category 3 – Newsletters

1st: Michelle D. Novak – The Archivist
2nd: Stephen Gauss – Harriman Family Newsletter
3rd: Kathryn Manz – Penn in Hand
HM: Linda Vixie – Pike Peak Genealogical Society Newsletter
HM: James M. Beidler – Der Kurier


Category 4 – Unpublished Authors

1st: Elyse Hill – History Lessons Learned From a Birth Certificate
2nd: Wendy Wilson Spooner – Civil Registration and Census Development in Great Britain & America
3rd: Catherine Smith – In a Flash
HM: Louise A. Eckhardt – A Mystery within a Mystery
HM: Diane Buescher – Finding Elusive Ancestors in Early German Church Records


Category 5 – Unpublished Material/Published Authors

1st: David Harper – Corresponding Hearts
2nd: Robyn Smith, of "Reclaiming Kin" Genealogy Blog – Minty’s Legacy: A Black Family in Slavery and Freedom
3rd: Dave Strausfeld – Hudie Streisfeld and her life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
HM: Ruth Randall, CG – Evidence of the Parentage of a Buffalo Solder: John Martin Daniels, Company I, 125th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry
HM: Carolyn Leonard – Dutch Letters

Category 6 – Poetry

1st: Luanne Griffin – Going Home
2nd: Casey Lin Brown – If I’d Met You
3rd: Lisa Brahin Weinblatt – Great-Grandmother
HM: Phyllis Matthews Ziller, MLIS – Finding Sarah 
HM: Kenneth R. Castle, PhD – They are Calling to You

Write On! Competition Winners

We are proud to announce the winners of the 2015 Write On! Competition.
1st Place --  Margaret Ward for her piece title The Long Journey of Mabel Ida Lewis Smith
2nd Place --  Debra Kabinier for her piece title The Tale of the Traveling China
3rd Place -- Doris Briscoe-Lyon for her piece title An Incident at the Well

Congratulations to the winners! Watch for the winning stories in future editions of The PCGS Researcher.

Thank you to all the writers who submitted an entry to the contest. We hope you will all participate again.   And thank you to our judges who worked hard to ensure a fair contest.

Watch this blog and our website for news of our 2nd annual Write On! Competition!

Deadline extended for Write On! Contest

The deadline for entries in our first Write On! writing contest has been extended to May 2, 2015. This gives you two additional weeks to polish up that story you've been working on.

The winners will be announced, and cash prizes awarded, at the June 20 PCGS meeting. You do not need to be present to win.

For more information and links to the entry form, visit our website at http://azpimagensoc.org/. The entry form will not be updated with the new deadline, so please do not be alarmed.

Please direct your questions to info@azpimagensoc.org.

Good luck!

The Write On! Deadline is Quickly Approaching

The deadline for entries in the Write On! writing contest is just around the corner: April 18 will be here sooner than you think. Don't miss your opportunity to get some valuable tips on your writing and maybe win some Cash along the way.

This contest is open to everyone. We are looking for original and unpublished works, such as:

• Memoirs and biographies where the major portion of the facts are from personal memories, interviews, family oral traditions, etc. No, or few, historical documents are used in research. However, information that is not from your personal member should be cited, to show where and how you learned of facts or stories.
• A family history or biography that is researched and documented through historical documents.
• Genealogical poems or essays.

Entries should be 4,000 words or less, excluding textboxes, footnotes and endnotes. Authors retain copyright of their material, but grant permission to print the entry in the PCGS newsletter or other PCGS publications. Photos and illustrations used must be free of copyright, or have written permission from the copyright holder, and contain appropriate attribution.

Each entry will be read and graded by three judges using the guidelines at this link. Cash prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners. Winners will be announced, and prizes awarded, at the June 20, 2015 PCGS general meeting. You do not need to be present to win. To enter, follow this link to the Write On! Contest Entry Form and follow the instructions provided. Questions can be directed to the Contest Coordinator at info@azpimagensoc.org (please put "Write On!" in the subject line).

ISFHWE 2015 Excellence-in-Writing Competition is now open for entries through 15 June 2015.

   

                                

International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE)

Website: ISFHWE.org

                       

The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) is reminding writers IN ALL MEDIA (magazines, newspapers, journals, websites, blogs) that the 2015 Excellence-in-Writing Competition is now open for entries through 15 June 2015. 

The competition is open to both MEMBERS and NON-MEMBERS of ISFHWE; both published and non-published authors may enter (see category list below). Members of ISFHWE receive a discount on the entry fee (after logging in to the ISFHWE members’ corner; new members allow up to ten days to receive login information). The categories are:

Category I – Columns. This is for columns of original content, published on a regular basis, in any medium, published in 2014. Each entry must consist of 2,000 words or fewer. These are entries from the author’s regular column-not features. Note that these may be print or online columns (including blogs).

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Category II -- Articles. These one-time articles (not part of the author’s column) must have been published in 2014 in a journal, magazine, newsletter, blog or website. Entries cannot exceed 5,000 words. Note that these may be print or online articles, including GUEST entries on a blog. Footnotes are not included in the word count.

Category III – Genealogy Newsletter. This category is for society or family association newsletters published in

2014. Entries should consist of two issues, each submitted as a single file in PDF format. The judging will be based on originality, content, visual appeal, writing and editing quality, and accuracy. The award is to the editor of the publication. These may be print or online newsletters. The once-a-year newsletters usually sent at Christmas do not qualify for this competition as two issues from the same calendar year are needed.

Category IV –Unpublished Authors. Entrants in this category aspire to be published writers or columnists in the field of genealogy, family or local history. The submissions in this category are original and unpublished, between 500 and 2,000 words. Since these are UNPUBLISHED, blogs are not eligible for this category. The articles should be unpublished at the time they were submitted to the competition.

Category V– Unpublished material - Published Authors. This category is for original unpublished genealogically related articles by previously published authors. Entries should be between 500 and 3,000 words. Since these are UNPUBLISHED, blogs are not eligible for this category. The articles should be unpublished at the time they were submitted to the competition.

Category VI – Poetry. This category is for original content (published in 2014 or unpublished), that is related to family history. Entries should be no longer than 1000 words and have a title. This may include song lyrics (music is not judged).

Winners (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd) in each category will be awarded a cash prize and a certificate. Certificates may be awarded for Honorable Mentions. The awards will be announced in September 2015.

Entries must be submitted in PDF, Word, WordPerfect, or JPG format by e-mail in time to meet this deadline. Please note: Footnotes will not count toward word count.  Send entries to:  Competition@ISFHWE.org

Appropriate entry fee(s) - and membership dues to receive the discount - may be paid via PayPal on the ISFHWE website at ISFHWE.org

Full information on the competition is available on the ISFHWE website in the “2015 Excellence-in-Writing Competition - Information and Online Entry Form” link, which leads to: http://www.isfhwe.org/competition.php

For questions, contact the Competition Coordinator at: Competition@ISFHWE.org