To encourage and cultivate young reviewers and critics under the age of thirty, the Virginia Quarterly Review is holding a “Young Reviewers Contest” in September of this year.

The prize for the winning entry is $1,000, publication in VQR’s Winter 2009 issue, and a publishing contract for three additional reviews worth up to $3,000. Finalists (up to five) will receive a complimentary one-year student or associate membership in the National Book Critics Circle (http://www.bookcritics.org/), a one-year subscription to VQR, and may also be offered paid publication in VQR (in print or online).

Initial screening of entries will be by the staff of VQR. The final judges will be:
• Rebecca Skloot, assistant professor in the creative writing MFA program at the University of Memphis and a member of the National Book Critics Circle’s board of directors;
• Oscar Villalon, book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and a member of the National Book Critics Circle’s board of directors; and
• Ted Genoways, editor of VQR.

General Guidelines:
• Entrants must be under the age of thirty as of the closing date of the contest, September 30, 2008.
• Entries (one per person) should be at least 2,000 and no more than 3,500 words and should be an in-depth review of a book of fiction, poetry, or nonfiction published in the US after January 1, 2008.
• There is no entry fee for the contest.
• Entries will be accepted online at http://www.vqronline.org/young-reviewers-contest/