Freedom in Fiction

June 10, 2007 8:06 PM by Justin Ptak (Archive)

C.S. Lewis’ stories of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings" books taught Justin Marshall about free society vs. totalitarian rule. Now, he hopes new writers can capture young people’s imaginations, and he’s promoting a contest that would pay a winning writer to do just that.

Marshall, who works for Midland’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy – a group that promotes the free-market philosophy – is project manager of the Freedom in Fiction writing contest. The project’s goal is to honor the best unpublished works of fiction that have the greatest potential of imparting the ideas of free markets, liberty and personal responsibility.

The winning author for the international prize receives a $10,000 prize and, if the winning book sells 10,000 copies in its first year, the author would be eligible for another $90,000 cash prize. The money is intended to help the writer secure a major publisher and market the book.

"We’re hoping that’s a large enough incentive to gain the interest of some writers," said Marshall, who knows of one African writer who’s interested. "Word is spreading and we’re excited about its prospects."

For more information see: Freedom in Fiction Prize