PORTLAND – For the eighth year in a row, the Maine Humanities Council is the sponsor for the national essay contest, “Letters About Literature.”

The free annual contest is open to all students from grades four to 12 and invites participants to write a short letter to an author, living or dead, explaining how that author’s book changed their way of viewing the world and themselves.

The deadline for entries is Dec. 14. Applications, samples of winning letters and a sheet of tips and resources for teachers and interested students are available online at www.mainehumanities.org or by contacting the Maine Humanities Council at 773-5051.

The contest is sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council’s Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book and the David Royte Fund.

Last year, more than 900 students from nearly every part of Maine participated.

A panel of Maine educators and community leaders, including First Lady Karen Baldacci, will review the Maine semifinalists and select the winners in early spring.

Maine’s first-place winners in each level receive cash awards of $100 and a $50 Target gift card. Second-place winners receive gift certificates for book purchases.

First-place winners automatically advance to the national competition where two students from each level will be awarded a $500 Target gift card.

In addition, the six national competition winners will each win a $10,000 Reading Promotion Grant for their school or community library.

Twelve national runners-up will win a $100 Target gift card and a $1,000 Reading Promotion Grant for their school or community library.