Contribute an Essay

Please accept our invitation to become a part of One Book One Community by sharing your beliefs with us in essay form, using the This I Believe guidelines below. You may submit your personal statement of belief online, or mail it to One Book One Community, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library, 200 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Evansville, IN 47713.

Selected essays submitted to the EVPL may be read on WNIN Radio, published in the Evansville Courier & Press, posted in our Browse Essays section on the EVPL website, or read at the concluding event at Shanklin Theatre featuring book co-editor and radio series producer Dan Gediman.

You also have the option of submitting your essay to the This I Believe website. Essays of their choosing will be displayed at http://www.thisibelieve.org and possibly broadcast on NPR. Writers of broadcast essays will receive $200.00 for their contribution!

Writing Tips

The This I Believe website gives the following tips for writing your essay:

• Tell a story: Be specific. Consider moments when belief was formed or tested or changed. Think of your own experience, work and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does. Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenching (it can even be funny) but it should be real. Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.
• Be brief: Your statement should be between 350 and 500 words.
• Name your belief: If you can't name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief. Also, rather than writing a list, consider focusing on a core belief.
• Be positive: Please avoid preaching or editorializing. Tell us what you do believe, not what you don't believe. Make your essay about you; speak in the first person.
• Be personal: Write in words and phrases that are comfortable for you to speak.

More tips, along with sample essays, can be found on the This I Believe website at http://www.thisibelieve.org.