The Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara, in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate Initiative, is presenting the Martin Luther King Day Essay & Poetry Contest for 2021.
This year’s theme is focused on Dr. King’s comments on the importance of speaking up for one’s ideals.
The committee is looking for entries detailing writers’ thoughts on that idea or any aspect of Dr. King’s life and legacy.
Essay entries must be a single essay with no more than 1,000 words, and poetry entries can be no more than two poems with fewer than 50 lines each.
Writers must include their name, age and parental or school contact information at the end of the entry.
Each category will have three prize winners. The first place winner will receive $125, second place will receive $75 and third will receive $50.
There are four categories in which to submit: Essay, ages 6 to 12 or ages 13 to 18, and poetry, ages 6 to 12 or ages 13 to 18.
First prize winners will read their essays and poems during Santa Barbara’s Martin Luther King Day Weekend of Events, starting Jan. 18, 2021. The virtual event is to be determined.
The deadline to submit entries is Nov. 16.
Students attending schools in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Isla Vista and Hope Ranch must submit their entries to Lillian Pipersburg at belize1@cox.net.
Students attending schools in Carpinteria, Summerland and Montecito must send their entries to Christine Gilbert at cgilbert@cusd.net.
Finally, students attending Lompoc and Santa Ynez Valley schools must submit their entries to Linda Ryles at windmillryles@msn.com.
For more information, visit www.mlksb.org.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
