The PHC Talent-Finder Nonfiction Writing Contest

Do you have what it takes to write professionally?

To be published?

Patrick Henry College is pleased to announce its fourth annual Talent-Finder Nonfiction Writing Contest for high school students, sponsored by the Journalism Major. Entries should be a nonfiction news article or commentary that addresses this year’s theme:

Resilience

Definition: 1. the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. 2. the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity. 

PHC Professor of Journalism Dr. Les Sillars will judge the contest and provide professional feedback to each contestant.

Contest closes on Nov. 11, 2024, and winners will be announced Dec. 18, 2024.

Writers can pick their topics, but the piece has to address this theme at some point; it should probably use the word “resilience” at least once. Articles need not have a religious theme.

Some examples of article ideas:

• a profile of someone whose life demonstrates resilience
• a profile of someone whose life did not demonstrate resilience, and what it cost
• a review of a book, movie, or song whose theme is resilience
• an essay about resilience in our culture; how and why our culture views the idea of resilience
• An essay about the idea of resilience itself

Prizes

The top three entries will be eligible for publication in The Herald, the student newspaper of Patrick Henry College
1st: $200   -   2nd: $100   -   3rd: $75   -   Honorable Mentions (5): $25

Please send questions to Dr. Sillars at ldsillars@phc.edu

To learn more about Journalism at PHC, click here. To read the Journalism Program Guide, click here.

2023 Contest Winners:

1st Place: Anna Northcutt

2nd Place: Tessa Moore

3rd Place: Olivia Liguori