Writers and poets have until next Friday to polish off the final drafts of their poems, fiction and nonfiction. The deadline for the 18th annual Kenai Peninsula Writers Contest is Feb. 27. Entries must be received by 5 p.m. at the Homer Council on the Arts or the Homer News. Mailed entries must have a postmark date of Feb. 27.

Sponsored by the Homer Council on the Arts and the Homer News, with support from Tom Bodett and Co., the contest is open to residents of all ages living on the Kenai Peninsula, including the Kachemak Bay communities of Seldovia, Nanwalek and Port Graham.

"It is the Kenai Peninsula Writers Contest," said Homer Council on the Arts Director Hope Finkelstein. "We really encourage peninsula-wide submissions."

Literary artists can enter poems, fiction and nonfiction by age groups of students grades kindergarten-3, students grades 4-6, students grades 7-9, students grades 10-12 and open/adult. A super short fiction category was added last year for stories 300 words or less. That category is restricted to the grades 7-9, 10-12 and adult age groups. Any student can enter, including home schooled and private school students.

New for this year, each poem must be submitted and counts as a separate entry.

"This is validating the value of a poem," Finkelstein said. "Even if a poem is just three lines, it's just as valuable as a 100-page short story. It's about quality, not quantity."

Judging is blind, with author's names unknown to a panel of judges. There is a two-tier judging system. Homer-area judges do the first round of judging, with selected works sent on to judges outside the Kenai Peninsula to select the final winners.

Award winners receive first place prizes of $25 to $100, and selected first-, second- and third-place winners and honorable mentions will be published in the Homer News. Awardees are announced in the May 7 Homer News, and selected awardees will be invited to read at public readings on May 8 or May 9.

The Kenai Peninsula Writers Contest remains as one of the few regional writing contests in Alaska, Finkelstein said.

"This is a real opportunity for emerging writers to present their work," she said. "It's a really valuable local venue."

To enter, literary artists must register online through a link at the Homer News Web site at www.homernews.com. A complete set of rules also is at that site. The online registration deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 27. Two hard copies of each submission with a separate cover sheet with the writer's name, work title and entry fee must be delivered or mailed to HCOA or the Homer News. The author's name must not appear on the manuscript. There is an entry fee of $2 for student works and $5 for adult works per entry. Payment may be made in cash or money order or checks payable to the Homer Council on the Arts.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michaelarmstrong.@homernews.com.