By Lola

Hey y’all! Just a quick reminder to keep tabs on your writing and your eyes on the prize: we’re already halfway through 2008 and next thing you know we’ll be calling for entries for the first ever Nick Gallo Award. The contest is open to all U.S.- and Canada-based freelance writers specializing in Mexico. Your work will be judged by a panel of peers and the winner will receive an engraved Mexican handicraft plus a three-night stay for two in a participating Mexico Boutique Hotels property, including air from a U.S. gateway.

Nick Gallo, winner of the Mexico Tourism Board’s prestigious Pluma de Plata award, regular contributor to such prestigious titles as Travel & Leisure, Alaska Airlines Magazine, United Airlines Hemispheres, Private Clubs, Northwest Airlines WorldTraveler, father, husband and all around way cool guy, died last October while on assignment in Greece. You can read our tribute to the Gallo más Gallo here.

The Nick Gallo Award will be handed out every spring on a date to coincide with Tianguis, an yearly event that brings together the best and the brightest writers from across the United States and the world.