I had been thinking of the next theme for a contest. It came to me as I was thinking about one of our writers. He was sentenced to death over twenty years ago in a case that would be laughable if it hadn’t started with a death and resulted in a death sentence. Any reasonable person can look at the evidence and wonder – how did he get there, and why is he still there?
As an observer of his and many other cases, the biggest challenge has been the resistance from within the very system to acknowledge flaws or mistakes made within that community. As I reflect on that, I think – it would take one person with a lot of grit to take the case on, buck the system and do the right thing, rather than follow the norm – just one person. They do exist.
The Oxford dictionary defines grit as ‘courage and resolve, strength of character’. Tell me a story, describe a person you know or have witnessed – display true grit. Resolve in the face of repercussions, ignoring what people are comfortable with and doing the right thing, over and over again if necessary. Courage to take the path of most resistance for a just cause.
Inspire us. Give us an example we can look up to. It could be a family member, friend, or someone you witnessed from afar. It could be in prison or out of prison, an action taken by a fellow inmate or an officer.
That’s the theme of this contest: Describe a display of ‘inspirational grit’ you have seen or been touched by or heard about.
Only those who are incarcerated are eligible to participate.
We can’t accept anything that has been previously published.
Submission is free – BUT, even if an entry doesn’t win, we consider entry permission to publish and edit. Sometimes we get so many excellent entries, they can’t all win, but they need to be shared.
Entries should be 1,000 words or less.
Submissions can be handwritten.
As done in our previous contests, I will narrow down the entries to the top ten, and then hand them off to individuals to rate the writing with a point system to determine winners.
PRIZES:
First Place: $75
Second Place: $50
Third Place: $25
DEADLINE: August 31, 2021. Decisions will be posted on or before September 30, 2021.
MAILING ADDRESS:
Walk In Those Shoes
Writing Contest Entry
P.O. Box 70092
Henrico, Virginia 23255
I’m truly anxious to hear the stories of people to inspire us, people who remind us that grit does exist.
As a reminder, WITS gives away a book each month to one ‘Writer Of The Month’. All it takes to be considered is to have an essay posted on the site that month. The last book was Ordinary Grace, and the titles are often books we use in our book clubs.
