OK, so we know you’re going to spend most of your summer reading. But wouldn’t it be fun to spend it reading AND hanging out with other kids who like to read AND talk about books. Well that dream can be a reality. Click through to learn more about the Great Reads Summer Program! Continue reading
Are you an eighth grader or high school freshman, sophomore, or junior who wants to take your writing to the next level? Do you want to be surrounded by other, equally dedicated young authors? Then enter Interlochen Arts Academy’s Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition to win a $30,0000 scholarship to the Michigan boarding school.
Today, teacher Mika Perrine talks about the writing life at Interlochen and introduces a few choice selections of student work. Continue reading
In celebration of Philadelphia’s 215 Festival—four days of PA literary goodness—we have a writing contest where you could win publication in Apiary Magazine and three found photos from the PERSONAL collection of Ransom Riggs, author of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”! To make this contest even cooler, the finalist stories will be judged by Madeleine Richardson Graham, curator of the 215 Festival’s YA Saturday—a.k.a. Figment citizen Vee Weasley! Continue reading
Not sure if you’re ready to commit yourself to the epic challenge of National Novel Writing Month? Unsure if you can handle 30 straight days of frenzied writing? Click through to read the top five reasons you should sign yourself up for the month-long sprint to a novel.
Hint: One is eternal glory. Another might be Nutella . . . Continue reading
We’re kind of obsessed with the automatons Katharine’s uncle creates in “The Dark Unwinding.” In last week’s newsletter, we challenged you to describe an automaton you would like to create. You wrote some imaginative stuff. Click through to see our top five favorite entries! Continue reading
Lesléa Newman is author of “October Mourning,” a book of poems about Matthew Shepherd, a young man who was brutally murdered for being gay. Lesléa has stopped by Figment with a poetry writing challenge for you. Click through to learn how your poem could be featured on the Figment homepage! Continue reading
New York City in 1926 isn’t all dancing in your glad rags at the Cotton Club. Somewhere out there, something wicked is lurking . . . and he’s leaving behind clues. A dead girl, missing her eyes, with a word scrawled on her forehead and a symbol on her chest. What does it all mean? And who—or what—is terrorizing New York?
In honor of Libba Bray’s eerie new jazz-age mystery, “The Diviners,” we’ve got a riddling flash-fiction contest for you. Write a story about a mysterious clue and be entered to win a signed copy of the book and some jake flapper swag!
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Jessica Shirvington’s novel “Entice” is full of angel-mythology, forbidden romance, and quite a few archetypal characters. Today, she shares her thoughts on creating interesting and dynamic archetypes. And she has a writing challenge for you. Click through to learn more. Continue reading
There are certain topics that are hard to tackle. Writing about military families dealing with the loss of a soldier is definitely one of them. E.M. Kokie, the debut writer behind the novel, “Personal Effects” shares her experiences researching such a touchy subject. And she has a writing challenge for you Figs! Click through to read more. Continue reading
Did YOU do it?
Did YOU kill the most heinous, hateful, gaseous editor the literary world has ever known?
No? Prove it!
83 of the world’s most famous YA authors—think Libba Bray, David Levithan, John Green, Lemony Snicket, and Lauren Myracle—have already written their alibis, which have been collected in the new anthology “Who Done It”?. They most certainly did not murder their editor, Herman Mildew.
But now the fuzz suspects you. Write an alibi of 500 to 1,000 words and you could win your freedom—plus a thousand dollars! Not to mention a review of your work by a New York literary agent. And an invite to a swanky party or a phone call with author Jon Scieszka! Continue reading