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Stray to Stay
Tell us how you rescued your beloved pets and share their adoption story.
Prizes
- First place:
- $2,500
- Second place:
- $1,000
- Third place:
- $500
Matching grand prize donation to benefit the ASPCA.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Mar 24, 2021
Submissions closed
Apr 21, 2021 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Apr 27, 2021
Prizes
- First place:
- $2,500
- Second place:
- $1,000
- Third place:
- $500
Matching grand prize donation to benefit the ASPCA.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Mar 24, 2021
Submissions closed
Apr 21, 2021 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Apr 27, 2021
About this challenge
You've heard it before, "adopt, don't shop!" We couldn't agree more, especially during these times, where shelters and rescue centers are at capacity and need our help in order to save more lives. There are many pets that could use our love and a second chance!
Enter the Stray to Stay Challenge by sharing your pet adoption story—tell us how you knew they were the one, what about their personality drew you to them the most, and why haven't you looked back since! Encourage others to give second chances, just like you did. Be sure to include photos or videos of your furry, scaled, or feathered best friend! If you haven't adopted a pet yet, this is your chance to tell us about the kind of companion you'd love to adopt in the near future!
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until April 20, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 35 countries will not be eligible to win.
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Challenge resources
Summer Solstice Challenge Winners
‘Safety Net’, by Meredith Harmon, begins in a confiding tone. ‘What town?’ the tale asks. ‘We're an enclave. We're farmers. We till the soil like our forefathers, and our children's children's children will till it, till the end of time.’ There is a folkloric sensibility here, suited to the prompt, but also something contemporary and practical. This winning story of a community trying to protect and preserve itself has echoes of Shirley Jackson’s famous tale ‘The Lottery’, Meredith is a strong Vocal Creator with 225 stories to her name; and this is her second first place win of a challenge; huge congratulations.
By Vocal Curation Team8 days ago in Resources
Let's Talk About AI and Vocal Challenges
We might as well cut to the chase. Yes, we run every challenge entry through our AI detector; if we find an entry has been generated, it’s disqualified. As Justin Maury, Founder/CEO of Vocal has written, we use these detection systems because we know our readers enjoy authentic content; we also ask you to disclose when you’ve posted on the platform using AI assistance. But a different issue comes into play when we’re thinking about Challenges, and we believe it’s an important one.
By Vocal Curation Team10 days ago in Resources
Dialogue Poetry Challenge Winners
Hannah Moore is a first-time grand prize winner with her dialogue poem, On Receipt of Bad News. This was a poem that genuinely engaged both with the exchange of our prompt, but also focussed on the way poetic rhythms of language could support the writer's conceit. It felt very truthful, too, the way one speaker wishes to ignore the news and focus on practicalities; there was a quiet heartbreak, here. Well done.
By Vocal Curation Team15 days ago in Resources