The Goats

A few of us have been kicking around an idea born in an office somewhere in the Northwest.

In the coming weeks, we're going to ask for your submissions for a new kind of writing contest. We're going to ask for your brightest stuff, the stories you bled, the ones that kept you up and made your heart beat heavy in your ears.

The ones your editor didn't get. The gray stories that felt like they didn't belong and wouldn't win traditional snewspaper contests.

Three categories. Three winners.

Best of all: Instead of cash prizes or plaques, we're going to dedicate three goats in the name of the winners to three families.

But we need some help first.

We need 15 judges, smart folks willing to volunteer their brains and a few hours to confer. We've got a number of people in mind already, but we need creative folks outside newspapers, too. The whack college professor. The brilliant kid who journaled her Appalachian hike. You get it. We'll take care of the asking, just submit those names to bmontgomery@sptimes.com.

We also need your ideas on organizing this thing. What should the categories be? What should we call this? What's a decent fee to charge for submissions? How can we make it better? Does this idea suck?

Thanks for your thoughts. Look for more details soon. And spread the word.