Arttrav.com article writing contest with prizes!

Contest closed on September 27, 2009

winners announced here

Italy Travel article writing contest with book and bag prizes and a grand prize from Context Travel.

Deadline for submission: September 27, 2009, midnight EST.

Writing is easy! so don’t be shy - whip something up and send it in - you have a great shot at winning the wonderful prizes described below.

Description

Arttrav.com announces its first ever travel article WRITING CONTEST. Submissions should be about a place (town, piazza, restaurant, someone’s house…), monument (church, building, whatever), or work of art in Italy. They should contain the following information essential to the informed traveler (when relevant): historical background with accurate dates, social context or relevance to other places or works of art, opening hours and location if relevant, book or links bibliography, and photos or video. THE PURPOSE OF THE ARTICLE IS TO GUIDE FUTURE VISITORS TO THAT PLACE. 

The form of writing may vary from articles or reviews of exhibitions or events (preferably something ongoing for Fall 2009) to descriptions of museums or sites, or anything else you think can fit in a category. What distinguishes the writing on arttrav is that articles tend to be quite specific, rather than “trip report” or general introductory type material. If you’re in doubt, read some articles on this site for examples. But above all, be yourself, and write in your own style.

Winning submissions will be chosen from the seven following categories: Rome, Florence, Museums, Churches, Fuori Porta, “Art… that Travels!”, and Student (*see note below). See the articles in these categories online (the “topics” box on right sidebar) and the description below. Your article may be considered under more than one category (for example, a student writing about a museum in florence qualifies for three categories). One grand prize winner will be chosen cross-category. Category descriptions are as follows:

• Rome: anything about Rome - monuments, museums, history, churches, life in general - open topic, just location-specific.
• Florence: anything about monuments, museums, history, churches or life in Florence - open topic, just location-specific
• Museums: article reviewing museums of any kind, anywhere in Italy
• Churches: article about a church (or churches) anywhere in Italy
• Fuori Porta means beyond the city walls, in this case an article about literally anything you want outside of florence and rome!! This can be a country road, a small town… think big! (Italians still use the expression taking a trip “fuori porta”, especially for short day trips).
• Art… that Travels: Italian art available to see anywhere else in the world. Reviews or announcements of exhibitions of pieces that belong to italian collections but are on view somewhere else. This is a good category for anyone who has not been to italy but who has seen some interesting italian art elsewhere.
• Student: if you were a student in Italy - and student means you came here to study via an authorized program or language school of any sort, it doesn’t matter how old you are - you can write about any Italy topic, location or experience and submit it in this category. It might also be something you wrote as an assignment while you were here - for example here are some things written by my students.

Your piece will be judged by two art historians, Alexandra Korey and Caroline Hillard, on the basis of clarity and interest of writing, and on perceived value of the essay for a traveling public.

Eight winning essays will be published on arttrav.com and awarded prizes (see below).

Prizes

Winning essays will be published with credit to the author on www.arttrav.com (under the category/ies deemed appropriate by the editor) each consecutive Sunday at 9am european time in decreasing order as follows.

All winners will receive by mail i) a fabulous eco-friendly, long-handled organic cotton shopping bag with the arttrav logo (printed by The Clever Baggers), ii) AND/ PLUS one of the following prizes:

1. Grand prize winner: A three-hour walking seminar from Context Travel! Participation for two on any scheduled walking seminar offered in any of the cities in which Context Travel operates (Paris, London, Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Istanbul, New York, Philadelphia). [Prize Value: from 110 to 180 euros] Please see the Context website for details about their offerings.

2. Seven Category winners (Rome, Florence, Museums, Churches, Fuori Porta, “Art… that Travels!”, and Student) will receive i) the arttrav cloth bag ii) and/PLUS one of the following prizes. Contestants are asked to please specify their top three prefered prizes on the submission form. These prizes all have a value of circa 18-25 euros.:

i. Emily Wise Miller’s The Food Lover’s Guide to Florence, signed and donated by the author.
ii. One kilo of Holly Caffè qualità rosso coffee donated by De Gustibus Association.
iii. Rome with Kids, a book by JM Pasquesi (donated by the author).
iv. A beautiful handmade photo album (leather binding and florentine motif paper cover) from Abacus, my favourite store at via De’ Ginori, 28/r.
v. The Italy Discovery Journal (printed version) from Kids Europe (donated by the author - see my book review here).
vi. Package of Saffron “Zafferano DOP di San Gimignano” from Agriturismo Il Castagnolino, donated by De Gustibus Association.
vii. To Florence con Amore, book by Jane Fortune, donated by The Florentine.

A few guidelines

• Please limit your contribution to a maximum length of 1000 words.
• Please check that the topic in question has not already been covered extensively on the website (you can use the search box function).
• You must be the author of any photos submitted, have written permission of the author; or they must be in the public domain. Basically if you or your friend took and owns the photo that’s fine, but you can’t use images you find published elsewhere. Famous works of art can be illustrated from www.wga.hu or wikimedia commons.
• Note: To participate in the STUDENT category, you should currently be a student studying abroad, or have been so in 2007, 2008, or 2009. Please indicate that your submission qualifies for this category on the submission form - this automatically narrows down the competition for you!!

How to send your submission

Download the application form here.

Rename it “YOURNAME_form.doc” and fill out all fields (you will need to enable macros when it asks you to.).
Email form to contest@arttrav.com

• Attach up to 4 photos no more than 500kb each.
• Videos related to the article are also welcome, please upload them to youtube and provide a link in the form.

Some small print

• There is no fee to participate in this contest.
• Arttrav does not maintain exclusive rights to your contribution and will not publish anything without your consent.
• Prizes are objects or services donated by Sponsors and have no equivalent cash value. Prizes are awarded as-is and are not transferable. Prizes will be shipped by air-mail within 21 days of announcement of winners. Costs of shipping are borne by arttrav.com and sponsors.
• This contest does not constitute a “concorso a premi” according to Italian law Art. 6.1.a. del D.P.R. 26 ottobre 2001, n. 430 as it is considered a “concorsi indetti per la produzione di opere letterarie, artistiche o scientifiche.”
• Please see “form.doc” for personal data and copyright regulations.

For further information or if you’re having trouble with the form, please write your comments/questions on this page and you’ll get an answer soon.

Sponsors
Please take a look at and patronize our wonderful sponsors!

Context TravelProviding the grand prize:  a 3-hour walking seminar!	Il Poggiolo TuscanyGenerously funding postage	Hand-Bound books and restoration