SELC hosts distinguished writers at Virginia Festival of the Book 2007

Charlottesville, VA - The Southern Environmental Law Center is pleased to host renowned southern writers Janisse Ray and John Lane at the upcoming Virginia Festival of the Book in March 2007. In a panel discussion entitled "Why Write About Nature," Ray (Ecology of a Cracker Childhood) and Lane (Chattooga, Descending into the Myth of Deliverance River) will discuss the power of the written word to reverse environmental destruction and restore natural landscapes in the South. The event is part of SELC's 20th anniversary celebration as the South's leading conservation organization.

Ray and Lane will also read highlights from 13 years of SELC's annual writing contest, the Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment. Both authors are previous winners of the Phil Reed award and have served as judges for the contest. Their talk is scheduled for Saturday, March 24, at 4 p.m. at SELC's regional headquarters, located on the Downtown Pedestrian Mall in Charlottesville. The event is free and open to the public.

SELC is also announcing changes in the writing contest to tie in more closely with the Virginia Festival of the Book, raising the visibility of the contest and the winners, as well as the organization's conservation mission. Beginning in 2008, SELC will announce the winners and host readings of the winning entries at the festival, held the third week of March.

To make this shift, SELC is suspending the contest for this year only. The deadline for entries for the next contest is January 4, 2008. In order to accommodate writers whose works were published in 2006, entries published in the two years from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 in both the Book and Journalism categories will be accepted. Subsequent contests will continue to be based on works published within a calendar year, with submission deadlines falling in early January. SELC will send a call for submissions each October for the following year's contest.

Please be sure to visit this website for up-to-date information on the writing contest, especially during this transition period.

See www.vabook.org for more information on the Virginia Festival of the Book.