Letters About Literature

Letters About Literature is a national reading-writing program sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target Stores.  The Iowa Center for the Book is the Iowa sponsor.

To enter, students in grades 4 through 12 write a letter to an author explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s way of thinking about the world or themselves.  Readers respond to the work they have read by exploring the personal relationship between themselves, the author and the book's characters or themes.

Letters can be written about works from any genre, fiction or nonfiction, written by authors from the present or the past, in the world today or no longer living.  Students can write about a book, short story, poem or speech.  But no matter what the subject of the work is, the letter should show the impact it had on the student.

There are three competition levels:

• Level I for student in grades 4 through 6
• Level II for students in grades 7 and 8
• Level III for students in grades 9 through 12.

All letters are submitted to the national Letters About Literature office.  Letters from all participating states are read and semifinalist letters are returned to the state sponsors.  In Iowa there is a panel of judges for each of the competition levels who read the semifinalist letters and chose first, second, and third place winners and three honorable mentions.

Entries are submitted in early December.  Iowa winners are announced in March; national winner are announced in April.  Prizes are given at both the state and national level.