YOUNG GEORGIA AUTHORS

Question

WRITING COMPETITION

2024-2025

OFFICIAL RULES BOOKLET

ABOUT THE YOUNG GEORGIA AUTHORS WRITING COMPETITION

The purpose of the Young Georgia Authors (YGA) writing competition is to encourage students to develop
enthusiasm for and expertise in their writing, to provide a context to celebrate their writing successes, and

to recognize student achievement in arts and academics.

This prestigious competition has been engaging Georgia students since 1991 and is open to any student
currently enrolled in Georgia public schools, grades K-12. The competition is sponsored by the Georgia
Language Arts Supervisors (GLAS) and the Georgia RESA Network with support from the Georgia

Department of Education.
ENTRY OVERVIEW
Writings shall be entered into the state-level competition by winning the tiered levels: (a) local school, (b)
district, (c) RESA District, and then (d) state. School systems may submit ONE winning entry per grade
level (K-12) to the RESA-level competition. RESA-level winners will advance to the state-level
competition.
Unlike many writing competitions, YGA does not provide a prompt to which students must respond or
provide any other boundaries to their genre choice or creativity beyond a 1900-word maximum
length. Entries may include:
● Short Stories
● Poetry
● Essays/Literary Criticism/Analysis
● Journalism
● Academic/Research Reports

● Personal Narratives
● Any Other Original Student Writing
Evaluation Guidelines*

Below are the guidelines by which entries will be evaluated by state-level competition judges.

Expression of Ideas
● Writing suggests/conveys meanings; reflects strong thinking
● Thematic meaning(s) effectively controlled
● Piece is unified and builds upon itself, even if the structure is untraditional
● Sense of clarity of purpose, completeness, and closure
Language Use

● Writing style appropriate to content and genre
● Writing reflects mastery of technical aspects of writing (e.g., control over punctuation and
syntax) ● Writer uses language powerfully, via apt/original word choice, unique phrasing
● Strong flow produced via syntactical control and variation
● Writer effectively employs detail, evocative language, and/or imagery to enliven writing and to express ideas

Unique Perspective and Voice

● Uniqueness of writer is evident through stylistic choices
● Writing conveys unique, authentic, original perspective
● Style conveys unique, authentic, original voice

*Evaluation guidelines adapted from NCTE competition guidelines.

SELECTION PROCEDURES
1. The writing contest begins with a school-wide competition. Grade-level winners should be sent to the system
coordinator by Friday, February 7, 2025 @ 4:00pm.
2. A system-level contest must be held. ONE winning entry per grade from the system contest shall be submitted from a
system-level administrator to the RESA ELA Specialist or designee. Multiple entries by grade will be disqualified.
Individual entries sent by teachers, students, or schools will not be judged.
3. Winning entries from each system must be received by the RESA District ELA Supervisor no later than 5:00 p.m. on
Thursday, February 20, 2025. Entries received after this deadline will not be accepted. RESA YGA Coordinators may
also set an earlier submission deadline. Electronic versus paper submission is the preference of your RESA. If your
RESA chooses electronic submission, those submission guidelines will be provided to you by the RESA YGA
Coordinator.
4. Judging will be conducted by an appointed committee of English Language Arts professionals convened by the RESA
YGA Coordinator for the purpose of selecting a RESA Winner at each grade level. The RESA YGA Coordinator should
log each district’s winner for grade levels K-12, prepare a master list of entries and safeguard the names and
identifying school of origin in order to protect the integrity of the judging process. Judges shall not be aware of the
name of the student or school of origin. Once the RESA-level winners have been determined, the RESA YGA
Coordinator will send the entry form, original entry, and one copy of each grade-level winner with a composite list of
the names of the winners. The deadline to receive the RESA winners to GLAS is Thursday, March 20, 2025. Entries
received after that date will not be judged.
5. State-level winners will be announced on the GLAS website

Answer 1

on April 15, 2025. All participating students and their respective schools will be notified of the results through the official channels.

PRIZES

Winners at the state level will be recognized in various ways:

1. All state-level winners will receive a certificate of achievement.
2. First, second, and third place winners in each grade category will receive an award during a celebration event.
3. Selected entries from the state-level competition may be published in a special anthology to showcase the creativity and talent of Georgia’s young writers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For more details, or if you have questions about the Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition, please contact your local school’s writing competition coordinator or reach out directly to the RESA ELA Specialist. Further information is also available on the GLAS website, where updates regarding the competition will be posted.

CONCLUSION

The Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition is an excellent opportunity for students to express themselves creatively, hone their writing skills, and gain recognition for their literary achievements. We encourage all eligible students to participate and showcase their unique voices through the written word. Happy writing!