DaytonDailyNews.com

Attention local writers: We've opened the call for entries for the 13th annual Dayton Daily News Short Story and Poetry Contest.

Winning stories and poems will be published in the Dayton Daily News and at DaytonDailyNews.com. The "best of show" writer — the entrant whose work is selected by judges as the best of the best — will receive a full scholarship to the prestigious weeklong Antioch Writer's Workshop, held each summer in Yellow Springs.

To enter, please follow these rules carefully:

Short story requirements: Fiction only. No memoirs or essays. Length: 2,500 words maximum. Stories must be original and unpublished. Writers may submit up to two stories. Stories must be typed, double-spaced and stapled in the upper left corner. No binders.

Poetry requirements: Writers may submit up to three poems. Poems may be single-spaced. All poems must be typed and stapled. Poems must be original and unpublished.

Each entrant may submit both poems and stories, but poems and stories must be mailed separately.

Cover page: Each entry must have a cover page with: title(s), writer's name, age, full address, e-mail address and daytime, evening and cell-phone numbers. Age categories: Youth (12 years old and younger); Teen (13 to 18 years old); and Adult (19 and older). Entrants must live in the DDN circulation area. Students attending college here may enter.

Deadline: Entries must be postmarked or received at the DDN offices by March 20, 2009.

Entry fees: None.

Manuscripts: Will not be returned. Because of the volume, we cannot confirm receipt of individual entries over the phone.

Mail entries to: Short Story/Poetry Contest, c/o Ron Rollins, Dayton Daily News, 1611 S. Main St., Dayton, OH 45409. Winners will be notified around June 1.

Questions? Contact rrollins@DaytonDailyNews.com or alarsen@DaytonDaily

News.com.