The Norman Mailer Writers Colony and the National Council of Teachers of English are pleased to invite submissions for the first annual Norman Mailer High School and College Writing Awards.

PRIZES
Cash prizes of up to $10,000 will be awarded to National Winners. Prizes will also be awarded to runners-up, honorable mention writers, and those writers whose work earns top scores in early evaluation rounds.

For complete submission guidelines, judging criteria, or to submit an entry, visit the NCTE website.

CATEGORY
Norman Mailer produced extraordinary works in many genres, including the category of this year’s award: Creative Nonfiction. Students may submit work in any of the subgenres of creative nonfiction: memoir or autobiography, essay, literary journalism, profiles of people or places, and so on. 

ELIGIBILITY, PAGE LENGTH, and DEADLINES

• The High School Competition is open to students who will be seniors in fall 2009; each student’s entry must be no more than 10 single-spaced pages and will need to be endorsed by a teacher and released by a parent or guardian. Submissions will be accepted online only March 23–May 1, 2009.
• The College Competition is open to students who will be seniors, juniors, or sophomores in fall 2009. Entries must be no more than 15 single-spaced pages. Submissions will be accepted online only March 23–May 15, 2009.

Students may submit one or more pieces of writing. Although there are page limits for these pieces, quality is far more important than quantity. No late entries will be accepted.