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Share your thoughts and images of the West!

Check out upcoming contest topics, and submit your essay(s) or photo(s) for others to enjoy. Viewers can vote on their favorite essays and images, and entries with the most votes will be featured on the Web site, and earn consideration from our editorial and production staff for appearing in the magazine!

The West is not just about the varied terrain in which we live, but the collection of perspectives and realities of the people who occupy this inspiring land. Add your voice to High Country News – or enjoy those of other readers – and embrace your community of fellow people who care about the West.

Contest questions? Frequently Asked Questions Official Rules

Essay and Photography Contests

Past Contests

The People of the West

Photo contest — ended May 23, 2010

SUBMIT up to three of your image(s) starting April 12, through midnight, May 9, 2010. Click on an image to enlarge it. VOTE for your favorites (within the enlarged view frame) through midnight, May 23, 2010.

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The Most Changed West

Photo contest — ended Oct 11, 2010

SUBMIT up to three of your image(s) starting August 30, through midnight, September 26, 2010. Click on an image to enlarge it. VOTE for your favorites (within the enlarged view frame) through midnight, October 10, 2010.

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The Working West in Photos

Photo contest — ended Jul 19, 2010

SUBMIT up to three of your image(s) starting June 7, through midnight, July 4, 2010. Click on an image to enlarge it. VOTE for your favorites (within the enlarged view frame) through midnight, July 18, 2010.

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Stories of the Working West

Essay contest — ended Jun 21, 2010

SUBMIT your story starting May 10, through midnight, June 6, 2010. VOTE for your favorites through midnight, June 20, 2010.

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How High Country News informs and inspires me

Essay contest — ended Apr 12, 2010

Thanks to our story submitters and all those who voted! Read the winning entry, "The Lost Roads of Westwater Canyon," here. The story begins, "We walked the gravel and granite "bench" above the Miner's Cabin at the entrance to the Westwater Canyon Wilderness Study Area. Cut by the Colorado River, Westwater Canyon, in eastern Utah, is a deeply incised cleft..."

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The Natural West

Photo contest — ended Mar 15, 2010

Check out these fantastic landscapes of the American West! Thanks to all participants who submitted and voted on these images.

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The Weird West

Photo contest — ended Sep 13, 2010

SUBMIT up to three of your image(s) starting August 2, through midnight, August 29, 2010. Click on an image to enlarge it. VOTE for your favorites (within the enlarged view frame) through midnight, September 12, 2010.

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My Strangest Encounter with a Person, Place, or Thing in the West

Essay contest — ended Aug 16, 2010

SUBMIT your story starting July 5, through midnight, August 1, 2010. VOTE for your favorites through midnight, August 15, 2010.

View Contest

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