Bennington Young Writers Awards

Bennington Young Writers AwardsThe Bennington Young Writers Awards are offered annually by Bennington College—whose literary legacy includes seven Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, the youngest Man Booker Prize winner, a MacArthur “Genius,” countless New York Times bestsellers, and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

DEADLINE: November 1.

WHO CAN SUBMIT: Students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades.

WHAT TO SUBMIT: Students may enter in ONE of the following categories: poetry (a group of three poems), fiction (a short story or one-act play), or nonfiction (a personal or academic essay). All entries must be original work and sponsored by a high school teacher. Short stories and nonfiction must be fewer than 1500 words.

JUDGES: Judges include Bennington College faculty and students.

AWARDS: First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $500; second-place winners receive $250. The annual competition runs from early September to November 1 with winning entries posted after April 15.

HOW TO SUBMIT: You may submit online or by mail (mailed entries must be accompanied by a submission form, available from your English teacher or by downloading here.) We welcome entries from international students—in order to submit online, please enter N/A in place of the CEEB code for your high school if it doesn’t have one.

DEADLINE: Submission deadline: November 1.

Last year, more than 2,300 students submitted poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the Young Writers Awards competition. We congratulate all entrants on their extraordinary submissions, and are pleased to share past winning entries.

MORE INFORMATION: For more information about the Young Writers and other programs at Bennington College, please contact us by email at admissions@bennington.edu or phone at 800-833-6845. Visit the website to see past winners.

NJCTE HS Writing Contest

NJCTE HS Writing ContestNew Jersey Council of Teachers of English (NJCTE) 2018 High School Writing Contest

Deadline: December 16, 2017 at 11:59pm EST.
Eligibility: NJ Students Grades 0-12
Entry Fee: None
2018 Categories:
~Poetry (one poem, 50-line max.) –FREE CHOICE
~Short story (5-page max. double-spaced) – FREE CHOICE
~Personal essay* (5-page max., double-spaced) – RESPOND TO
Personal Essay Prompt: Awakenings (see below)
Awards: Gold, Silver & Bronze Medal Awards. Gold Medalists receive Governor’s Awards
Website: njcte.com/hs-writing-contest/

Personal Essay Writing Prompt: Awakenings

Write a personal essay or narrative about an experience of race, ethnicity, class, religion or gender enlightenment that was significant for you.

We would like you to steer away from general to more personal experiences and observations. For example, you may choose to write about particular toys that were or were not given to you because of your gender, the expectations of important individuals in your life, decisions about where to sit in the cafeteria or what classes to take, conflicts over what information to share or not share in school, decisions about where to go and if you should go to college; the possibilities are wide ranging.

This prompt may bring to your attention a preconception previously unnamed, but it may also enable you to speak about your strengths and joys, about what unites us instead of what divides us.

How to enter:

Visit our web-site at njcte.com and follow the instructions provided. You must be a New Jersey high school student to enter.

To Avoid Disqualification:

  1. Each student may submit a maximum of one entry in each category (i.e. only one poem, one short story and one essay).
  2. Each teacher may submit up to ten entries for their students in each genre. Surplus entries will be disqualified in order of submission date.
  3. The file submitted must be anonymous. Files with student name, school or class on them will be disqualified.

Awards:

  • Genre Winners (poetry, short story, personal essay): Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals.
  • Gold medalists are eligible for the Governor’s Awards in Arts Education (GAAE).
  • School/District Winners:
    Honorable Mention: Top scoring students
    From schools with qualifying entries from at least 10 different students sponsored by at least three different teachers
  • Certificates of Merit – Top scoring students
    From schools which submit qualifying entries from at least three different students

Winners will be notified on or after March 15, 2018. Questions: njctewritingcontest@outlook.com

Gold, silver, and bronze poets have read at the Dodge Poetry Festival in 2014 and 2016.

Winter Tangerine Writing Workshops

New York City Winter Writing WorkshopsWriting Workshops

Winter Tangerine Writing Workshops

Winter Tangerine is holding four-day intensive writing workshops at Poets House in the heart of New York City this Fall & Winter.

We design our workshops for writers who want to challenge themselves and their work. We won’t teach you how to write: instead, we want to collectively build new lenses meant to create dynamic readings and writings. As a student, you’ll engage in daily writing activities, lesson-based writing prompts, & group discussions led by a team of enthusiastic advisors. Together, we will discuss identity & craft, and study a variety of writers, visual artists, and other creators. We favor playfulness over perfection, and we’ll encourage you to experiment with form and style: we want you to find what makes you electric.

Throughout the workshop, you’ll have the opportunity to peruse the Poets House’s 70,000 volumes of poetry, have lunch at the edge of the Hudson River, and work with an intimate group of writers committed to their craft. You’ll write every day & you will give and receive thoughtful feedback every day. The workshop will close out with a reading at Poets House, open to the public, with celebratory cake — and you will have the opportunity to read from the body of work you’ll have created during the workshop.

The workshop will also feature Guest Seminars by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib and other phenomenal writers. These seminars will include a short lecture based off a guided syllabus by the writers, a group-wide discussion, and a Q&A. Past Guest Seminars have included Kaveh Akbar, Fatimah Asghar, Richard Siken, and Danez Smith.

The first session will be from November 6th to the 9th. The second session will be from December 19 to the 22nd. The third session will be from February 21st to the 24th. Our workshops run from 11AM-5PM each day — we know that this means daytime-working writers will find it difficult to join this year, so we hope & plan to offer evening workshops next year. Tuition is $375, and we offer financial aid to those with need. There is no application fee. There is no age minimum or maximum, and no experience is necessary.

Applications close October 20th.

These workshops are made possible through Poets House’s Literary Partners Program.

National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing MonthNational Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants boot camp approach to creative writing. 

On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

Success Stories

Over 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder. See a full list of our published authors.

Pep Talks

Each year, authors offer mentorship to our participants through Pep Talks. The 2017 Pep Talks will offer inspiration from Roxane Gay, Kevin Kwan, Julie Murphy and Grant Faulkner among others.

2017 Forecast

Programs

Begun in 1999, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a nonprofit. In addition to National Novel Writing Month in November, its programs include Camp NaNoWriMo, the Young Writers Program, Come Write In, and the “Now What?” MonthsSee more information about NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program.