"Inspired By" Arts Showcase

The "Inspired By" Arts Showcase is one of several student-based competitions open to high school and college students to create a work of visual, literary or musical art that connects with a theme from Saint Louis University's 2023 Campus Read book.

Submission Guidelines

This year’s Campus Read features "A Small Place" and "Annie John" by our 2024 St. Louis Literary Award recipient, Jamaica Kincaid. In order to provide opportunities for students to explore their creativity and emphasize connections to our broader, local community, we will, once again, include an arts competition as a part of the Campus Read programming. The "Inspired By" Arts Showcase is open to students in area colleges and universities and is part of the St. Louis Literary Award series of programs.

All contest entrants should note the following: This competition is run by Saint Louis University and Jamaica Kincaid has no involvement in the submission, review or judging process. Submissions will not be read or seen by Jamaica Kincaid. Submissions may not contain plagiarized material. Participation in this competition does not grant any license (express or implied) to use any copyrighted material of Jamaica Kincaid or any other individual. Unauthorized use or distribution of the copyrighted material of others may incur legal action, and neither Saint Louis University nor Jamaica Kincaid will be liable for any such unauthorized use. In other words, your work needs to be completely your own, because we are celebrating your creativity too!

Full details (including prize opportunities!) are listed below.

What We’re Looking For

To participate in the showcase, create a work of art that connects to a theme from a work of Jamaica Kincaid. Below are possible themes from different works of Jamaica Kincaid. Feel free to add other themes or ideas that connect to each piece, and possibly add other books by our 2024 Literary Award recipient.

Possible Themes by Work

A Small Place

• Tourism and communication
• Slavery and colonization
• Pre-colonization and/or post-modernization
• Reality vs. Non-reality
• Class and Racism

Annie John

• Coming of Age/adolescence
• Gender and sexuality
• Mother-daughter relationships

My Garden

• The essential role of plants' connection to one's mind, body, soul, and heritage.
• Garden as a metaphor for life

Types of Work

• Written works: poetry (long or short form), creative writing (fiction or nonfiction), scripts, etc. Submissions should be no longer than 1,000 words.
• Performance: Short films (animated or live action), dance/choreographic displays, original music/lyrics/compositions, etc. Submissions should be no longer than 12 minutes.
• Visual and other non-digital submissions: photographs (digital or print copies), collages, paintings, sculptures, drawings, etc. 

Submissions and Deadlines

Submissions will be accepted starting Oct. 10, 2023, and will close at noon
CST on March 29, 2024.

Please include in your submission a brief statement describing the theme
or message of your work and how it relates to a work of Jamaica
Kincaid’s. This statement should not exceed 400 words.

• Digital submissions will be accepted via the Inspired By Arts Showcase form. Digital submissions can include the following formats: JPEG, MP3, MP4, PNG, Word, and PDF.

Submit Your Entry

Finalists

The Arts Showcase will select one finalist in each of the three categories (Written, Performance, Visual/Non-Digital); submissions from high school and college students will be judged separately and only against others in the same category (total of three college finalists and three high school finalists). Pieces will be judged on the following criteria:

• Expression of theme
• Quality
• Creativity

Finalists will be notified of their status via email and will be asked to provide a brief autobiography. Final pieces will be displayed on the Pius Library website and upstairs in the gallery space at Pius. An additional location off campus may also be included.

Finalists will also be acknowledged in the St. Louis Literary Award ceremony program.

Awards

Awards are given to the winning submissions in each of the following categories:

We thank you in advance for sharing this opportunity with your students, and we look forward to reviewing submissions!