Enter the 2012 Alpine Essay Contest

The Waterman Fund seeks the submission of essays about life in the mountains of the northeastern U.S. for its annual Waterman Fund Alpine Essay Contest held in partnership with Appalachia Journal.

Wildness! Are you finding it where you least expect? Did you go in search and it wasn't there? The Waterman Fund is seeking personal essays about stewardship of wild places, whether through a scientific lens or an encounter with wildness.

What do we mean by "the spirit of wildness?" Why is it so important to our lives? Or, is it? Guy and Laura Waterman spent a lifetime reflecting and writing on the Northeast's mountains. The Waterman Fund seeks to further their legacy through essays that celebrate this spirit.

The winning piece will be published in Appalachia Journal. The winning essayist will be awarded $1500. Honorable mention will receive $500.

All are encouraged to submit essays for the 2012 contest. Essays must be original works at least 2000 words long. Writers who have not published a book on such topic or who have not been published in a national magazine on such topic are eligible for participation. Essays are due April 15, 2012. Winners will be announced by July.

Please include a brief cover letter with your contact information and a few lines about why you feel that your essay is right for this contest. We request (though don't require) that all manuscripts are double-spaced and in a 12 point font. We won't consider fiction, poetry, or songs; we're looking solely for nonfiction essays, whether with a personal, scientific, or memoir bent.

We appreciate online submissions. If you prefer to submit by mail, include a SAS postcard or your email address; we try to let you know as soon as we've received your work.

To submit an entry, email a Word document (or compatible format) and accompanying cover letter to: essays@watermanfund.org or mail to:

The Waterman Fund, Attn: Annie Bellerose
P.O. Box 1064
East Corinth, VT 05040

Conditions and Limits

  1. No submissions will be acknowledged or returned. The Waterman Fund is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, illegible, misdirected or postage-due requests, which are void.
  2. By entering, entrants represent and warrant that the entries they submit:
    1. Are their own original creations;
    2. Do not infringe any other person's or entity's rights, including, without limitation, contractual rights, rights of publicity and privacy, trademark, copyright, and patent rights; and
    3. Have not been submitted previously in a contest of any kind.
  3. Each contestant may enter one (1) Submission to the Contest.
  4. The subject of the essay should not present a conflict of interest; i.e. if writer works for a conservation organization, the subject of the essay should not represent what is a priority for that organization.
  5. Notifying the Contest Winner: Winners will be notified by July 20, 2012.
  6. Prize: $1,500 (in the form of a check) and the winning essay printed in Appalachia Journal. The winner must agree for his/her essay to be edited by the editor of Appalachia. In addition, the Waterman Fund may recognize one or more essays with honorable mention, awarding those winners with signed copies of the Waterman's companion volumes,Backwoods Ethics and Wilderness Ethics.

    For all prizes: Winner is responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt. No more than the stated elements of the prize will be awarded.

  7. General Conditions and Rights: The Waterman Fund reserves the right not to award any prizes in its discretion. The Waterman Fund reserves the right to cancel or modify the Contest if fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Waterman Fund's reasonable control impairs the integrity of the Contest, as determined by the Waterman Fund in its sole discretion. In such event, the Waterman Fund reserves the right to award the prize at random from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. In addition, submission of an entry in this Contest constitutes entrants' agreement to grant the Waterman Fund an irrevocable royalty-free worldwide license to reproduce and display the entry or any derivative thereof, credited with entrant's first and last name.
  8. Release: By entering this Contest, contestant agrees to release and hold harmless the Waterman Fund, and each of its respective officers and directors, (collectively the "Released Parties") from and against any losses, damages, rights, claims or causes of action of any kind arising, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, out of participation in the Contest, as well as claims based on defamation and infringement of any other person's or entity's rights, including, without limitation, contractual rights, rights of publicity and privacy, trademark, copyright, and patent rights.
  9. Limitations of Liability: The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by contestants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Contest; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from contestant's participation in the Contest or receipt or use of any prize or while traveling to or from any prize-related activity; or (6) liability in connection with the Content. If for any reason a contestant's entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, contestant's sole remedy is another entry in the Contest during the Contest Period.