The Texas Center for the Book has launched the 2019 Letters About Literature contest, a program that invites students in Texas to respond to authors of books or poetry that has touched their lives. Letters About Literature is a Library of Congress program administered in Texas by the Texas Center for the Book. The contest opened Nov. 1, 2018 and is open to students in the fourth-12th grades.
Participants select a book, poem or play that has made a lasting impact on their lives. They then write a personal letter to the author that reflects how they have been changed, inspired or motivated by the work they selected. State winners receive $100 and a trip to the 2019 Texas Library Association Conference, and their letters will be submitted to the national Letters About Literature competition. National winners receive $2,000 and travel assistance to Washington D.C. for a special awards ceremony.
“My students can all name a book that changed their life in some way,” said Hill Country Middle School teacher Brenda Mosher. “The contest enables my students not only to reflect on how books shape their thinking, but it also encourages them to put into words what swirls in their minds and in their hearts as they read and after they close the book at the last page. ”
All submissions for the 2019 contest must be submitted on the new online submission platform by Dec. 14, 2018. A permission form is required for all students who will be younger than 13 on Nov. 1, 2018.
Two Texas entries received honorable mention designations in the national Letters About Literature competition in 2018. To learn more about the contest, how to submit and to view winning entries from previous years, visit www.tsl.texas.gov/lettersaboutliterature. The website also features a teaching guide and other resources for Texas educators.
For more information on Texas Center for the Book initiatives, a project of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, visit www.tsl.texas.gov/centerforthebook or contact Rebekah Manley, Texas Center for the Book Coordinator, at rmanley@tsl.texas.gov or 512-936-2505.
