Writing Contests | Behind the Vision

"The Next Generation"
Writing Contest

A student-specific writing contest intended to spark a love for writing and exercise their creative muscle.

The Prize

The winning students will have their poems & stories published in a book alongside their peers.

This contest is hosted at the state level to maximize the number of students who have the opportunity to see their work in print.

We will be publishing a Middle School book and a High School book per state. To keep the contest competitive, and so the students who win can feel like it's truly an accomplishment, each book will only feature up to 200 students (400 per state).

The Prompts

Each prompt has a specific set of requirements that must be met to be eligible for consideration. There is no limit on how many poems and stories a student can submit.

Poetry

Poetry Style, Emotional Theme, Topic

(Topic word must be included in the poem)

Haiku, Any Emotion, "Oak"

Rhyme, Happy, "Law"

Sonnet, Angry, "Finish"

Limerick, Any Emotion, "Power"

Short Story

Genre, Perspective, Topic, Word Count (all are 300-500 words)

(Topic word must be included in the story)

Romance, 3rd Person, "Light"

Horror, 1st Person, "Tongue"

Fantasy, 3rd Person, "Moon"

Any Genre, 1st Person, "Faith"

The Rules

All students must agree to the Release Waiver when submitting their work for consideration. The Release Waiver grants Behind the Vision, LLC permission to publish your work in the anthology with basic editing privileges (spelling, grammar, and font) - all rights to your work remain with you, the author.

Behind the Vision, LLC doesn't tolerate poems or stories that include hateful and discriminatory language and themes, and we don't tolerate plagiarism. Any poems or stories that we deem offensive or to not be original work will be disqualified.

The Winners

Danna Lima Cortez	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Aubree Schnittker	Bristal Bay Borough School District
Angelina Kliewer	Sycamore Creek Community Charter School
Shailoh DuBois	Homeschooled
Benjamin Pincus	King Phillip Middle School
Rifa Iyoob	Palm Desert Charter Middle School
Alexa Backhouse	Churchill Jr. High School
Faye Klutke	Pine View School
Dyuthi Pothukuchi	Arizona College Prep Middle School
Elissa Harrington	Albertville High School
Carissa Mayfield	Highland Academy
Daniel Castaneda	Coronado High School
Noah Bassett	Coronado High School
Samarah Sepulveda	Coronado High School
Adilene Luna	Coronado High School
Jaqueline Giles	Coronado High School
Valerie Santoyo	Coronado High School
Joel Garcia Orozco	Coronado High School
Marlette Cordova	Coronado High School
Alina Williams	Coronado High School
Jacob Vidal	Coronado High School
Alejandra Butanda Arrendondo	Coronado High School
Kara Armstrong	Coronado High School
Kiki Doan	John F. Kennedy High School
Hana Fathi	John F. Kennedy High School
Omar Safi	John F. Kennedy High School
Alyson Alvarez Coral	John F. Kennedy High School
Michael D. Dela Cruz	John F. Kennedy High School
Kane Hum	John F. Kennedy High School
Emily Ip	John F. Kennedy High School
Joshua Suthaharan	John F. Kennedy High School
Eric Conner	John F. Kennedy High School
Ruien Luo	Mission San Jose High School
Gianna Kin	Mission San Jose High School
Allison Scott	Legend High School
Helena Mooney-Twyford	Jackson-Reed
Gabrielle Ruddy	Center Academy Riverview
Ani Harutyunyan	Fort Myers High School
Yohann Maingrette	Shelton Academy
Ariana Lawrence	Cheerful Heart Academy
Emma Mceachern	Georgia Cyber Academy
Gabriella Morrow	Jackson High School
Jaylen Sayavongsone	Charles Drew High School
Justyss Ciu	Konawaena High School
Maria Villegas Magana	Konawaena High School
Kailani Barboza-Wright	Konawaena High School
Kaleia Mattos	Konawaena High School
Cynammon Llanes Bautista	Konawaena High School
Helena Roback	Konawaena High School
Beverly Blissitte	Konawaena High School
Ace Williamson	Konawaena High School
Jaiden Basden	Konawaena High School
Ikaika Jace Landell Arellano	Konawaena High School
Kyleiah Cho	Konawaena High School
Branson Muston	Konawaena High School
Maleilia Munoz	Konawaena High School
Ember Marsh	Century High School
Brock Stiles	Augusta High School
Blake Firebaugh	Augusta High School
Brianna Hayes	Augusta High School
Sierra Williams	Augusta High School
Ike West	Elko High School
Bayley Mason	Elko High School
Max Freistroffer	Elko High School
Jaden Shedd	Coalgate High School
Audrey Coleman	Mt. Lebanon High School
Ace Mosier	Barrington High School
Cassidy Craps	Gilbert High School
Caroline Richardson	St. James High School
Trinity Rushing	Westlake High School
Olivia Schoen	Riverview Junior High School
Juan Boscan	Mountain View High School
Aliya Chase	Riverview Junior High School
Lily Dooley	Riverview Junior High School
Morgan Cameron	Lindbergh
Eleanor Beland	Laramie High School
Donya Fournier	Arizona College Prep Middle School
Sharon Victor	Arizona College Prep Middle School
Peyton Stark	Willis Junior High School
Chase Kiswani	Sebastian Questa Elementary
Kathlynne Nabin	Sebastian Questa Elementary
Navisha Bathrinarayanan	Sebastian Questa Elementary
Caroline Boulter	King Phillip Middle School
Alexa Reilly	King Phillip Middle School
Nisim Kalmar	King Phillip Middle School
Nicole Martinez	Imagine Chancellor
Kaely Ramirez	Imagine Chancellor
Michena Bien-Aime	Imagine Chancellor
Naiya Wells	Imagine Chancellor
Amelia Rahming	Imagine Chancellor
Gianna Conigliaro	Imagine Chancellor
Eva Arline	Imagine Chancellor
Rebecca Machin	Imagine Chancellor
Jadyn Irizarry	Imagine Chancellor
Angelina Jada Pernetti	Imagine Chancellor
Aleigha Albritton	Faith Christian Academy
Coralynn Miller	Georgia Cyber Academy
Brenden Emry	Doris Todd Christian Academy
Sierra Berrigan	Doris Todd Christian Academy
Lily Hagler	Doris Todd Christian Academy
June Padgett	Doris Todd Christian Academy
Justus Green	Doris Todd Christian Academy
Leulua'ialii Tupua	Doris Todd Christian Academy
Olivia Colt	Doris Todd Christian Academy
Aoife O'Reilly	Wood River Middle School
Keely Watt	Benton Central Jr. Sr. High School
Ray Bridge	Benton Central Jr. Sr. High School
Devin Beausoleil	Benton Central Jr. Sr. High School
Amelia Krueger	Decorah Middle School
Iris Wadsworth	Decorah Middle School
Noah Kermond	Gates Intermediate School
Phoebe Caine	Brownell Middle School
Jessica Atchison	Brownell Middle School
Makenzie Waterson	Brownell Middle School
Avery Stewart	Yinghua Academy
Kaeleigh Trihey	Corvallis Middle School
Savanna Johnson	Corvallis Middle School
Izabella Arnold	Corvallis Middle School
Augi Ford	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Carlton Burney	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Aiyana Wilson	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Deborah Martinez	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Bryant Castellanos Camarena	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Rumelle Goze	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Braelyn Jones	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Julio Molinary	Imagine Chancellor
Jacob Snyder	Imagine Chancellor
Dayna King	Mater Academy Mountain Vista
Baylie Brewer	Talawanda
Luciana Santacruz	Lakeridge Middle School
Virginia Davis	Springfield Middle School
Claire Kaltenbach	Springfield Middle School
Regan Kukowski	Springfield Middle School
Rosemarie Walker	Springfield Middle School
Cambria Mobley	Springfield Middle School
Ava Dennis	Riverview Junior High School
Payton Cassidy	Riverview Junior High School
Bryson Preece	Riverview Junior High School
Lilly Cropper	Riverview Junior High School
Grace Hanson	Riverview Junior High School
Laila Andrade	Riverview Junior High School
John Walker	Augusta High School
Harini Arun	Arizona College Prep Middle School
Sarah Jensen	Fleming Island High School
Barbara Bizama	Desert Mountain High School
Natashja Maccormick	Cypress Lake High School
Sage Howell	Blackfoot High School
Paige Burnett	Blackfoot High School
Autumn Linder	Hawkinsville High School

Author Interviews

Learn from accomplished authors about how they got their start, the books they've written, and the trials & tribulations they've encountered during their storytelling careers.

Gary Lemons

Author of "Snake" poetry series.

Click the image to listen to our interviews with Gary on our Patreon page for FREE!

Kim Stafford

Author of "Singer Come From Afar"

Kim Stafford grew up in a very pro-writing environment. His father, William Stafford, was a poet who would typically publish one or two books a year, and between them, his parents would often write down the things that Kim and his siblings would say...

Click the image to keep reading!

Jeanne-Marie Osterman

Author of the chapbook, "Shellback"

Jeanne-Marie’s story begins with her father. Born in 1919 in Everett, Washington, he worked in the shipbuilding industry as a young man until he was drafted into the Navy during World War 2, where he served aboard the U.S.S. Nevada...

Click the image to keep reading!

Michael Bervell

Author of "Unlocking Unicorns"

Can you name a company that’s worth at least a billion dollars? Of course you can. In fact, you can probably name quite a few. There are the obvious ones who have been around for what seems like forever...

Click the image to keep reading!

Lynne Podrat

Author of "Listen to Me: How My Down Syndrome Brother Saved My Life"

Life can be messy. It can flip your world upside down in an instant and force you into situations that could ultimately break you if you let them. Lynne Podrat and her family experienced one such life altering event when her little brother, Bruce, was born. He wasn’t like Lynne and her other brother, David...

Click the image to keep reading!

Chelsea McKenna

Author of the Vorelian Saga
(Form Interview)

I am an aspiring author with a release date in late August. It will be my debut book called, The Blood of the Lion, the first of The Vorelian Saga. It is an epic fantasy about a dark prophecy about a rising Demon King who is determined to build an empire...

Click the image to keep reading!

Victoria Hyla Maldonado

Author of The Hearts Drawn Wyld Trilogy
(Form Interview)

I was probably always writing, but the first one that stuck with me was writing a “book” for my third-grade reading class. We were given little hardcover books that were blank inside, and we had to draft and edit then put the story and illustrations in the book. I did a little Oz fan fiction about a unicorn who finds her home among the residents of the magical land of L. Frank Baum...

Click the image to keep reading!

Jenifer Rowe

Author of "Unexpected Findings"
(Form interview)

Jenifer Rowe writes short stories, essays and memoir. Her work has been published in Scarlet Leaf Review, Crack the Spine, Wildflower Muse, Liars League NYC, the Sacramento Bee, and the 2018 and 2019 issues of California Literary Review. She earned Finalist distinction...

Click the image to keep reading!

Elizabeth Fournier

Author of "Green Burial Guidebook"

Elizabeth Fournier, who presently owns her own funeral home and has worked in the funeral and burial industry for more than thirty years, was well versed in death even as a child. She lost her mother and her grandparents (who all shared her family home) when she was little, and her familiarity with death became a part of her identity in school...

Click the image to keep reading!

Dr. Randy Overbeck

Author of the Haunted Shores Mysteries series

Dr. Randy Overbeck has over three decades worth of experience as a teacher and professor. He has donned many titles as an educator, which shows in his work. Overbeck has thus far had three books published—all by small presses—with a fourth on the way, Scarlet at Crystal River, scheduled for release this fall...

Click the image to keep reading!

Joanna Rose

Author of "A Crowd Full of Strangers"

Writing is a process. A very challenging, frustrating, rewarding, emotional, unpredictable process. Some stories can be knocked out in a few months. Others take years. Joanna Rose’s latest work, A Small Crowd of Strangers, was definitely the latter. It took twenty years for her to turn her idea into the incredible book that it is today...

Click the image to keep reading!

Anthony Flacco

Author of several books that recap incredible true events

Love is a funny thing. We fall in love with all kinds of things. People. Stories. Hobbies. Our jobs. Our pets. The most peculiar thing about love is that it can happen at any moment to anyone. Anthony Flacco met his first and longest love when he was 10 years old, when he got his first taste of acting in a community play...

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Molly Beth Griffin

Author of "Ten Beautiful Things" and other children's literary books

Molly Beth Griffin was a very shy child. “I remember being in Kindergarten and having to dictate a story to a parent volunteer, who would write it down for me.” This was just about the worst thing anyone could ask of young Molly, who felt uncomfortable being put on the spot, and didn’t like speaking to strangers...

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Jory Mickelson

Author of "Wilderness//Kingdom"

No two writing journeys are the same. Everyone that picks up the pen does so for different reasons, at different times in their lives. Jory Mickelson’s journey started during a period of uncertainty. He was working in kitchens, having just dropped out of college after deciding he no longer wanted to pursue a degree in visual art, and in his free time he was writing essays and blog posts about topics that he felt passionate about - these were his first steps onto the literary path.

Click the image to keep reading!