Over the next several weeks, the Cardinal will be holding two contests for Seattle Academy students: a playlist contest and a short story contest. Eight winners will be selected to receive prizes.
The Contests
Contest 1: Create a playlist meditating on an emotion.
- Create a playlist meditating on an emotion of your choosing.
- Fifteen songs or fewer, please.
- Give your playlist a title.
- Select an image or visual to accompany your playlist.
- You are encouraged to include either an artist’s statement or a one-sentence (or longer) explanation of each song to help the judges understand your choices.
Contest 2: Begin the story of a moment of change.
- Write the beginning of a short story that is centered around a moment of significant change.
- Limit your writing to the first portion of the story: write a first chapter, first scene, or creative introduction rather than a complete story.
- Approximately one page or shorter, please.
Judging
Each contest will be judged by both a panel of professional judges and by Cardinal readers like you. For each contest, the panel of judges will select a winner, a runner-up, and a shortlist of their favorite entries. Anyone at SAAS will then have the opportunity to vote on a winner and runner-up from the shortlist.
This means that each contest will have four prizewinners: a winner and runner-up selected by the panel of judges, and a winner and runner-up selected by Cardinal readers.
Playlists
Playlists will be judged based on the following factors:
- Fluidity & Transitions Between Songs
How cohesive can your playlist be?
Is this slow song in the right place? - Range of Sound
Have fun blending genres and artists! - Depth of Approach
Emotions are complex. Your playlist should reflect this! - Title & Image Choice
How does your title and image relate to the message you are trying to send? - Artist’s Explanations, if Included
Your song explanations and/or artist’s statement help the judges connect the dots.
Stories
Stories will be judged based on the following factors:
Engagingness of Story
How interesting is the beginning of your story in its own right?- Success of Lead
How effective is the beginning of your story as the lead-in to something larger? Does it make the reader wish the rest of the story were written? - Language & Style
Use language and style as effectively and beautifully as you can.
Prizes
Each contest will have four prizewinners, two winners and two runners-up. Prizes are as follows:
- Playlist Winners: $35 gift certificate to Everyday Music
- Playlist Runners-Up: $15 gift certificate to Everyday Music
- Short Story Winners: $35 gift certificate to Elliott Bay Books
- Short Story Runners-Up: $15 gift certificate to Elliott Bay Books
In addition, winners’ playlists or stories will be published on the Cardinal and recognized on Seattle Academy’s social media pages.
How to Enter
To enter, click the “Share Your Story” button from any page on the Cardinal.
You can submit your playlist in any way you like (8tracks link, Spotify link, a simple list of song/artist names, etc), but don’t forget your title, your image/visual, and, should you choose to include it, your artist’s statement and/or explanations.
Details
- Only current SAAS students may enter.
- You may submit only one entry to each contest.
- You may enter both contests.
- The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, January 20th.