The Meander Challenge: Official Rules

No purchase necessary. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning.

1. Sponsor. The Meander Challenge (the “Challenge”) is sponsored by Ever Mountain College and Dispatches from Ever Mountain, c/o Silent Thunder Press, 821 East Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30312 (the “Sponsor”). Questions: chancellor@evermountaincollege.com.

2. Eligibility. Open worldwide to individuals 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Employees and immediate family members of the Sponsor, and the judges, are not eligible. Void where prohibited by law.

3. Entry period. The Challenge opens on October 5, 2026. Entries must be received by 9:00 pm Eastern Time on December 21, 2026. The Sponsor’s clock is the official clock. Late, incomplete, or misdirected entries will not be considered.

4. The Challenge. Between October 5 and December 21, 2026, set aside at least one full day to meander on purpose. The meander may be physical or mental, though we encourage you to get up, get out, and get lost. Draw on that day to make something, and then show us what came of it and how. Work must be made during your meander day or soon after it, within the entry period, and must embody and be informed by your meander.

5. How to enter. Send a digital version of your work to chancellor@evermountaincollege.com [or submit at: form link]. Each entry must include: (a) the work, as an image, document, audio file, video file, or a link to where it can be viewed; (b) the story of the meander behind the work, up to 150 words, saying where the meander started, where it went, and how it shaped the work; and (c) your name, email address, and city and country. Files must be 25 MB or smaller; larger work should be submitted as a link. One entry per person. If you submit more than one, only the first received will be considered.

6. What qualifies. Original creative work in any form, including drawings, paintings, sculpture, photography, writing of any kind, music, song lyrics, dance, performance, film, video, culinary work, garden and landscape design, and other expressive forms. The work must be made by you. Collaborative work may be entered by one person on behalf of the collaborators, who all must meet the eligibility requirements; any prize is awarded to the person who entered.

7. Originality and content. By entering you confirm that the work is your own original creation, that it does not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights of any person, and that you have permission from anyone identifiable in it. Work that is unlawful, hateful, pornographic, or that the Sponsor in its judgment considers inappropriate for its audience will be disqualified. Work generated by artificial intelligence is not eligible; tools used in the service of your own creative decisions are fine.

8. Judging. Entries will be judged by a panel of Ever Mountain College faculty on how well the work embodies the spirit of the meander, the quality of the work itself, and the story of how it came to be. Judging is subjective and the judges’ decisions are final. The judges may decline to award any prize if, in their judgment, no entry merits it.

9. Prizes. Meander Master (one): a $150 gift certificate to Amazon.com, a conversation with the Chancellor of Ever Mountain College on Dispatches from Ever Mountain about the winner and their work, signed copies of Ever U: And the Boy Who Drew Too Much and Follow the Meander, and an Ever Mountain College hoodie sweatshirt. Approximate retail value $250. Mondo Meander (two): signed copies of Ever U: And the Boy Who Drew Too Much and Follow the Meander, an Ever Mountain College t-shirt, and a feature of the winner’s work in Dispatches from Ever Mountain. Approximate retail value $65 each. Meander Mojo (honorable mentions, number at the judges’ discretion): recognition in Dispatches from Ever Mountain. Prizes are non-transferable and may not be exchanged for cash, except that the Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize becomes unavailable. The Dispatches from Ever Mountain conversation and features will be scheduled at a mutually agreed time within [six months] of the announcement and depend on the winner’s participation.

10. Delivery of prizes outside the United States. Physical prizes will be shipped free of charge to addresses in the United States. For a winner outside the United States, the Sponsor may, at its discretion, deliver the books and apparel through a retailer or print-on-demand service in the winner’s country, provide signed bookplates in place of signed copies, provide digital or audiobook editions of the books, or substitute a gift certificate of equivalent value for any physical item. The winner is responsible for any customs duties, import taxes, or fees. Gift certificates will be issued in a form redeemable in the winner’s country where the Sponsor can reasonably arrange it.

11. Winner notification. Winners will be announced in the first issue of Dispatches from Ever Mountain of 2027 and notified by email. A winner who does not respond within 10 days of notification, or who is found ineligible, forfeits the prize, and the Sponsor may award it to another entry.

12. Taxes. Winners are responsible for any taxes on prizes.

13. Rights in your work. You keep ownership of your work. By entering, you grant the Sponsor a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to reproduce, display, and share your entry, your name, and your account of the meander behind it, in Dispatches from Ever Mountain, on evermountaincollege.com, on the Sponsor’s social media, and in materials about the Challenge, with credit to you. This license does not permit the Sponsor to sell your work. If you prefer your entry not be shared publicly unless it wins, say so in your submission and we will honor it.

14. Publicity. Except where prohibited, winners agree to the Sponsor’s use of their name, likeness, location, and entry for purposes of announcing and promoting the Challenge, without further compensation.

15. General conditions. The Sponsor may disqualify any entry that violates these rules or tampers with the entry process. The Sponsor may cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge if fraud, technical failure, or any other cause beyond its control affects its fair operation, and may in that case select winners from eligible entries received before the action taken. Entries become part of the Sponsor’s records and will not be returned, though we will not use them beyond the license in Rule 13. These rules are the complete terms of the Challenge; in the event of a conflict between these rules and any other Challenge materials, these rules govern.

16. Limitation of liability. By entering you release the Sponsor, the judges, and their respective agents from any claim arising from your participation in the Challenge, including any activity undertaken during your meander, or from the receipt or use of a prize, to the extent permitted by law. The Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, corrupted, or misdirected entries, or for technical failures of any kind.

17. Privacy. Information you provide will be used to administer the Challenge and to send you Dispatches from Ever Mountain. It will not be sold or shared with third parties except as needed to deliver prizes.

18. Governing law. These rules are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, and any dispute will be resolved in the courts located in Fulton County, Georgia.

19. Winners list. For the names of the winners, see the first 2027 issue of Dispatches from Ever Mountain or email chancellor@evermountaincollege.com between January 1 and January 31, 2027.