Calling all artists, creatives, writers, and anyone with something to say. This year the NCHEP Planning Team is hosting a creative competition around the theme of “Close the Distance.” 

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What does “close the distance” mean to you? This year we are considering the distances that exist between the “inside” and the “outside,” the disparities in career opportunities and access to resources, the separations of families and communities, the societal gaps between those living securely and those subjected to insecurity, the distances between theory and practice, between our intentions and our impact, and the distance between higher education in prison and higher education outside of prison. There are endless ways in which education can work to close distances and draw us into closer relationship, and the 13^th NCHEP  encourages us to explore these ways together as a community. In doing so, we push the field to view higher education in prison not simply as curriculum development and delivery, but as a complex ecosystem with symbiotic components. These components must be nurtured and supported to cultivate collaborative learning environments that benefit all: students, facilitators, administrators, and community members both inside and outside of prison.

Submissions from all participants will be considered for display at the 13^th NCHEP, November 9-11, 2023, but only with consent from the artist.

Prizes

Grand Prize: $1,000

Second Place Prize: $500

Third Place Prize: $250

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Formats

We encourage all forms of submissions: audio, video, performance, poetry, written, etc. For some performances you may want to attach a written explanation of how your work connects with the theme; alternatively, you may feel that the performance speaks for itself. 

Submissions may include, but are not limited to:

• Poetry
• Spoken Word
• Dance
• Visual Arts (i.e., painting, drawing,etc.) 
• Testimonials
• Essays
• Performance Art
• Short film (fictional or nonfiction)

Deadlines

• The submission portal will open on August 1, 2023. ‍
• The deadline to submit is September 30, 2023, midnight PT.
• ‍Notifications of acceptance or decline will be sent before November 9, 2023.

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Submission Guidelines

• Everyone must submit their work through the online application portal, unless they are currently incarcerated.
• Currently incarcerated people without internet access can submit their work to the online application portal via a proxy. Alternatively, you can fill out the PDF submission form and return it to an external proxy to submit to via email at nchep@higheredinprison.org.