UPDATE: Congratulations to the 2012 Award Winners! Click here for the full list!
Students may submit one or more stories (within the page limits) or a self-contained section of a longer work (for example, from a novel). Submissions may be “conventional” or “experimental” and may represent any fiction tradition. However, the best work will demonstrate compelling literary merit. Open to high school and both college levels.
Entries accepted March 1–April 30, 2012, Noon CST.
Writing Category: Fiction
High School Fiction Writing Award Competition is open to all high school students. Students may submit one or more pieces of writing as one file, maximum 10 single-spaced pages, endorsed by a teacher and released by a parent or guardian. Winner will receive the following:
• Cash award of $5,000
• *Travel and lodging to attend the Colony’s National Award Ceremony
Two-Year College Fiction Writing Award Competition is open to first-and second-year full-time students enrolled in community colleges, junior colleges, and technical colleges. Maximum 15 single-spaced pages. Winner will receive the following:
• Cash award of $5,000
• *Travel and lodging to attend the Colony’s National Award Ceremony
Four-Year College Fiction Writing Award Competition is open to current full-time undergraduate students. Maximum 15 single-spaced pages. Winner will receive the following:
• Cash award of $10,000
• Scholarship to the Norman Mailer Writers Colony during the summer of 2013
• *Travel and lodging to attend the Colony’s National Award Ceremony
Poetry Award open to full time students enrolled
in four-year colleges, two-year colleges, junior colleges, and technical colleges. Students may submit one or more poems, to a maximum of 10 pages. The winner will receive:
• Cash award of $5,000
• *Travel and lodging to attend the Colony’s National Award Ceremony
*Funding for travel is limited to the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Canadian and other foreign students are eligible to enter. Outside of the U.S. a $500.00 USD payment toward travel will be allowed. Hotel will be paid as for students in the U.S.
Formatting Guidelines
The writing you upload must include a title, your name, and page numbers within your file. Please use a plain, common, and easily readable font, such as Times New Roman, 11- or 12-point. Accepted file types: .pdf, .doc, .docx, and .txt (maximum file size: 8 megabytes).
Prizes
One winner in each category will receive a cash award and will be an honored guest at the Colony’s National Award Ceremony in New York City on October 4, 2012. Winners will be notified in September. Four finalists in each category will be awarded trophies. Up to fifteen semifinalists in each category will be awarded certificates.
Judging
Submissions will be read by national panels of teachers and will be judged by how well they achieve the following qualities:handling of image, plot, character, or other elements; originality; insight, voice, and style; and overall aesthetic, emotional, or intellectual effect. Stories that receive high ratings from the teacher panels will be submitted to a distinguished panel of authors selected by the Norman Mailer Center, who will choose the winning entry. Authors retain copyright of their work.
2011 High School Winner: Dalia Wolfson Hunter College High School, New York, NY
Parquet Dictionary
2011 Two-Year College Winner: Christopher Woodard
Berkeley City College, Berkeley, CA
Let All Those End Soon With Few Tears
2011 Four-Year College Winner: Elisa Gonzalez
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Digital Leftovers, All the Words I Knew, Family History
2010 High School Winner: Dawna Bagherian,
High Above the GroundIllinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, Illinois
2010 Community College Winner: Gwyne Bahler,
HairIvy Tech Community College, Lafayette, Indiana
2010 College Winner; Minh Phuong Nguyen,
Suffering Self
University of Missouri - Colombia
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2009 High School Winner: Emily Swanagin
Read Emily's essay
LunaAlabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham, Alabama
2009 College Winner: John Gilmore,
Final Cascade John's piece has been accepted for publication in a forthcoming issue of
Creative Nonfiction.
Utah State University, Logan
Email your questions to nmw@ncte.org