Posted Thursday, April 13, 2006, The OG, news

All current Uni students are eligible to enter the first-ever Iris Chang & Peter Kolodziej Writing Awards competition. Entries must be submitted to Gargoyle adviser David Porreca by 4 p.m. Friday. The competition was announced in January in the Gargoyle and in the U'n'I newsletter.

Winners in the fiction and nonfiction categories will receive $100 each. Students may submit writings done for their classes as well as writings that have appeared in student and nonstudent publications. Complete information, including an entry form, is available in the main office. PDFs can also be downloaded here for the information sheet and here for the entry form.

Iris Chang (1968-2004), who graduated from Uni High in 1985, was the author of three acclaimed works of nonfiction, including the best-selling “Rape of Nanking.” Peter Kolodziej (1963-2005), who graduated from Uni High in 1979, was a Harvard- and MIT-trained biochemist and biologist whose work as a Vanderbilt University scientist focused on the genetic factors involved in the development of neurons and the trachea.

After the passing of Iris and Peter within months of each other, Peter's brother Daniel Kolodziej offered to establish an award in their honor. Daniel had worked with Iris as an editor of the Unique literary magazine and knew of her passion for good writing. Peter was also devoted to the written word, both as an avid reader and an accomplished scientific author. Thanks to Daniel's initiative, as well as the generosity of Iris's classmates, the Iris Chang & Peter Kolodziej Writing Awards have been established.

Categories
• Entries will be judged in two categories: fiction and nonfiction.
• “Fiction” is any written work that is primarily the product of the author's imagination. Examples of entries in this category include, but are not limited to, short stories, one-act plays, scenes from longer dramatic works, and chapters from novels in progress.
• “Nonfiction” is any written work that adheres to documented facts and does not embellish or stray from those facts. Examples of entries in this category include, but are not limited to, journalistic reportage (news stories, feature stories, investigative projects, etc.), personal essays or memoirs, and academic research papers.

Prizes
• A $100 check, a book prize, and a plaque will be awarded to the winner in each category.
• Winners will be announced at Uni High's year-end awards ceremony.

Eligibility
• All current Uni High students, subfreshman through senior, are eligible to enter.
• Students may submit work in both categories.
• Students are limited to one entry per category.
• Each entry must be limited to no more than 2,500 words.
• Work that has been published elsewhere (such as in a Uni student publication or a local newspaper), written for a class, or submitted to other contests is eligible.

• Entries must have been written between April 15, 2005, and April 14, 2006.

Entry Preparation
• Each submission must be accompanied by a completed entry form.
• Entries, including those that have been published elsewhere, must be typed, double-spaced, and printed on standard 8 1/2x11 white paper. Font size must not be smaller than 10 points or larger than 12 points.

Deadline
• Entries must be submitted to David Porreca, Uni journalism adviser, by 4 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

— Gargoyle staff