EUGENE, Ore. — (Dec. 31, 2013) — Oregon Quarterly, the magazine of the University of Oregon, is accepting submissions to its 2014 Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest, a competitive annual forum for outstanding nonfiction writing with a Northwest perspective.

The postmark deadline for entries in the 15th annual contest, sponsored by Oregon Quarterly and the Duck Store, is Wednesday, Jan. 15.

The winning essay will be published in the summer 2014 issue of Oregon Quarterly magazine, which is distributed to nearly 100,000 readers in Oregon, the Northwest and around the world. Almost $2,000 in prize money will be awarded to top essays in the student and open categories.

A selection of winning essays will be featured in a free public reading at the University of Oregon on May 29, and will be included in a chapbook published by Oregon Quarterly. Winning and finalist essays are also published on the Oregon Quarterly website.

Finalists will be invited to attend an exclusive writing workshop with this year’s judge, Jonathan Evison. Best known for the novels “West of Here,” “All About Lulu,” and “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving,” Evison has won numerous awards and accolades, among them the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award (twice) and a New York Times Editor’s Choice award. He lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington.

Past judges for the essay contest include Kim Stafford, Barry Lopez, John Daniel, Karen Karbo, Brian Doyle, Lauren Kessler, Craig Lesley, Molly Gloss, Kathleen Dean Moore, Kenny Moore, Thomas Hager, Debra Gwartney, Robin Cody and Ellen Waterston.

Entries should be nonfiction, should not have been previously published in print or online, and should be no more than 1,500 words in the student category and 2,000 words in the open category. No entry fee is required.

Find complete guidelines at OregonQuarterly.com/essay.

About Oregon Quarterly

The longest continually publishing magazine in the state, Oregon Quarterly was founded in 1919 as Old Oregon, the alumni magazine of the University of Oregon. A regional magazine of ideas with a circulation of nearly 100,000, Oregon Quarterly brings a Northwest perspective to the stories and issues affecting the region and beyond.

CONTACT: Ann Wiens, Oregon Quarterly editor and publisher, 541-346-5048, awiens@uoregon.edu

LINK: Oregon Quarterly http://OregonQuarterly.com/essay.php

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