MARQUETTE — Upper Peninsula teachers may submit short stories by students to the Dandelion Cottage Short Story Contest, organized by the U.P. Publishers and Authors Association, to win a cash prize.

“Really, the Dandelion Cottage has given a new purpose to the UPPAA that was missing before — a way to nurture the next generation of great U.P. writers,” said UPPAA president Victor Volkman in a press release.

The upcoming contest deadline is Jan. 31. Per the rules, submissions are accepted in two categories: grades 5 to 8 and grades 9 to 12. Starting this year, stories are now limited to no more than 4,000 words in length. Now in its eighth iteration, the contest has no limit to the number of students that a given educator can sponsor for the contest. There are no entry fees for student writers.

There are also no limits concerning subject matter or setting. Previous years’ winning stories included science fiction, fantasy, horror, historical fiction and contemporary fiction.

“We encourage like-minded students to form critique circles or writers clubs in their schools where they can exchange stories and ideas for improving each other’s work,” Volkman said. “All student entrants must submit the work jointly with a teacher or other school representative, so we suggest that interested writers begin working with instructors as soon as possible to allow for several rounds of revisions before submission.”

First place in the senior division will win $250. In the junior division, first place wins $150.

The top three prize-winning entries from high school writers and fifth through eighth-grade groups will appear in volume nine of the U.P. Reader, an anthology of short stories and poetry from members of the UPPAA. Their stories will also be recorded in audiobook form by Brandy Thomas of Marquette.

When released in April, copies of U.P. Reader will be donated to any interested rural libraries across the Superiorland library district. Winners and their families are invited to a special awards ceremony at the UPPAA Spring Conference on May 17.

Submission information can be found on dandelioncottage.org.