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Turn to words

Councils calling for contest submissions

Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 15/01) - The deadline to enter the NWT and Nunavut Literacy Councils' writing contest is only two weeks away, and organizers want more entries.

"We have 20 in all," says the NWT council's spokesperson Katherine Robinson, who is disappointed by the number.

Last year there were 463 entries.

"But, already, there's quite a range of communities represented," says Robinson

Kim Crockatt, the Nunavut council's executive director, says contestants are encouraged to write in aboriginal languages.

"One of the important things is that there isn't a lot of aboriginal language resources, so if people write in their own languages, they can than be published in Northern Writes," says Robinson.

Northern Writes, which is published annually, is a selection of the submissions chosen from the contest.

"With each aboriginal language ... it expresses the culture differently. You get a true sense of the culture in its own language."

Besides language, entries can cover a broad range of subjects and forms such as prose, poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

Entries must be postmarked no later than Jan. 31, 2000. Grand price is $500.