Finnish city of Kuhmo organises a literary contest for young authors on mother tongues

What is my mother tongue? What does this language mean to me? How has it shaped my identity? What is the most beautiful word in my language? These are some of the questions that the Jutun Juuri – Root of the Chatter Writing Competition proposes as a basis for writing a text to participate in this contest organised by the City of Literature of Kuhmo. The contest is open to young people between the ages of 15 and 21 who live in one of the UNESCO Cities of Literature -Barcelona is one of them-, and there is time until 29 March to send in the works.

The texts must be between 800 and 1,500 words long, and must be presented in their mother tongue and translated into English (if English is the mother tongue, the rules propose that a local dialect be used). The jury will judge the texts written in English, while the original versions will be displayed in a public exhibition in the Finnish town.

The winner will receive a €400 prize and the option to interpret the text at a literary event to be held in Kuhmo. There will also be prizes, in the form of books, for the second and third place winners.

For more information, click this link.