Note to our finalists: The judges' responses are still coming in. We will notify the winners as soon as we have all our results and have had a chance to put together the judges' responses for you. Thank you for your patience! We know it is hard to wait.

Looking forward to more Book Bash fun? Book Arts Bash will be back in Spring of 2010.

Please visit the Favorite Poem Project, and hear Americans read the poetry they love.

Submission Guidelines:

Here's your chance to act in one of your favorite scenes from film or literature. Cast yourself as Captain Ahab or Catherine Earnshaw. Play it out just you imagine. Romeo and Juliet? Beowulf? The Magician's Nephew? The Yellow Wallpaper?

Now let's make it interesting: Switch up Cleopatra and do it in modern dress. Do a scene from Treasure Island as a musical. Do a mocu-mentary about Colonial America. Reenact the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Films should be around 3 minutes long -- definitely no less than 1 minute and no more than 5. You can use whatever film style you like and use any special effects you can implement. Make sure the actors you use give their permission for the film to be posted online if that's how you decide to submit your entry. You can submit your file on a data CD or DVD with your entry form taped to the front, or you can host your file online and fill out an entry form to tell us where to find it.

Acceptable video formats include the following: .avi .mov .wmv .mpg .mpeg .swf

Teaching this Genre:

Making a movie of a scene from a book, or remaking a scene from a well-known film, is a great way to creatively express your interpretation of that book or movie. But the possibilities in this category extend beyond literature. You can do any historical moment, or a scientific discovery, or any idea inspired by current events. Suggest ways that your student can turn something they've learned into a short film, and watch the information come to life. Say your student is creating a short film about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Now they're researching what technology was around during the time period, what the clothes and hair were like, what the furniture looked like, not just to have the information or regurgitate it on a test, but because they're making art and they want it to be realistic. Memorable, meaningful, this is learning at its best. 

Whether you're staging Rappaccini's Daughter or Snow White, there will be limits to what you can include, how many actors can be involved, what props are available, etc. Students sometimes dream big and then feel discouraged when the reality isn't as spectacular as the imagination. However, when the adults involved stay positive and encouraging, you'd be amazed at how the imagination can make up the gaps. Let them go with whatever solutions occur to them, and roll with it. Try not to get too involved in "fixing" and "helping." Lessons learned independently will be more interesting and effective than those taught. "Failures" can lead to greater understanding of the process and more ideas for next time.

One final learning connection: It's appropriate to discuss public domain, copyright law, and everything involved with obtaining permission for doing a "real" production.

Lots of monologues to try.

Bookforum.com's list of best novel adaptations.

Thoughts on adapting novels by James Ivory (Howard's End, Room with a View, etc), and more.

Essay on adaptation and then exercises.