Following the success of last year's writing contest, this year's festival team has decided to host another contest as part of the Notre Dame Literary Festival! This year's theme: "Spoof Your Favorite Classic Novel with an ND Twist." As the theme evidences, we are calling upon creative, humorous writers from all university departments to submit an original prose piece that transforms the work of a classic novelist into a contemporarily relevant, Notre Dame focused story. While each submission does not necessarily have to follow the events within a particular scene from the novel (although this is an option), each submission must reference the novel through character names, recognizable features of the setting, and tone of the work. To make the contest more challenging, we are also asking students to transport the action of their stories to Notre Dame or the South Bend area. Basically, when our judges read the submissions, we want them to know which classic novel you have chosen to reinvent from an ND perspective!

So bring on the humor galore! Your prize for blowing away our judges? A novel signed by our visiting author as well as inclusion in the festival program. With these great incentives, why wouldn't you want to share your story with us?

Happy Writing! The Notre Dame Literary Festival Team

Basic Guidelines:
-Only one submission per student
-Submissions must not exceed 10 pages
-Submissions will not be accepted after December 8th, 2012
-All submissions or general inquires should be sent to sub@nd.edu with the subject line "NDLF | Writing Contest Submission"
-The festival team will notify the authors of the top three essays, as chosen by our judges, over winter break.

Rachel McKibbens and Mindy Nettifee: In October, two veterans of the slam poetry scene, Rachel McKibbens and Mindy Nettifee, visited Notre Dame as one stop on their nationwide tour. Titled "The Last Nerve: A High Tea Poetry Brawl," McKibbens and Nettifee burst onto campus armed with teacups, lace handkerchiefs, brashness, and a powerful performance energized by their feminist poetry. Both questioning and asserting the identity of female artists, McKibbens and Nettifee also shared emotional experiences influencing their own artistic journeys.

McKibbens and Nettifee both gave energetic, raw, and exciting performances, and everyone who attended the performance spoke about how much they enjoyed the act's uniqueness. The poetry slam began a great year for NDLF!