Fall 2019 Essay Contest
The deadline has passed and this year's contest is now closed to entries. Winners and honorable mentions, as selected by contest judge Pippa Biddle, are located here.
We seek essays that are set within a park space or public land, and that express a moment of personal transformation, awakening, adventure, exploration, reward, accomplishment, or revelation. Essays need not be about a U.S. national park—national forests, municipal and state parks, BLM lands, beaches, lakeshores, campgrounds, designated woodlands, and international parks are all suitable venues!
Placeholders will be published on Parks & Points in early 2020, as will the names of finalists. All entries are considered for publication. Winners will be selected by contest judge, Pippa Biddle. Read the winning essays from 2016, 2017, and 2018 by clicking the year.
Prizes
We have chosen prizes that we hope will support your impulse to travel:
1st Place $250 Delta gift card
2nd Place $100 REI gift card
Please note that prizes are sourced from entry fees, and inclusion of the company does not imply sponsorship.
CONTEST RULES
Winners will be announced by late February 2020 and published on Parks & Points in early March.
Submissions of original and previously unpublished work should be no more than 1,500 words. Facebook and blog posts are considered “published” writing.
Upon publication all rights to written work will revert to the author.
A $3 submission fee is required to enter. Multiple entries are permitted, but each requires a separate entry .
Pippa Biddle is a writer. Her work centered on travel has been published by Guernica, BBC Travel, AMC Outdoors, and Maine magazine. Documentary shows she has contributed to have aired on major networks including PBS and National Geographic. Her first book, Ours to Explore: Privilege, Power, and The Paradox of Voluntourism, an exposé of service-based tourism, is forthcoming from the University of Nebraska Press. She is a graduate of Columbia University with a BA in creative writing. Pippa lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband, pup, and ducks.
