annual creative writing contests
Every year the Program in Creative Writing awards about $20,000 to students at various stages in their studies. The following prizes are awarded at the end of the spring semester in the ceremony we modestly call The Academy Awards of Creative Writing. This year the red carpet will be unrolled on May 8, 2008 at 7pm in 6191 Helen C. White Hall and checks handed out after a reading by Institute Fellows Kevin Gonzalez and Shara Lessley.
The Charles M. Hart, Jr.Writers of Promise Award is given for the best poetry and fiction by students enrolled in English 203 (Beginning Fiction and Poetry Workshop). Students taking English 203 in either semester may submit one story or three poems to the instructor of the course. The final deadline for this competition is typically in early March. This year's award is $500, with a second place prize of $400, a third place prize of $300, and a fourth place prize of $200.
The George B. Hill Award and the Therese Muller Memorial Award are awarded for the best poetry and short stories, respectively, submitted in a campus-wide competition. In each competition, this year's award is $500, with a second place award of $400, a third place award of $300, and five honorable mentions of $100 each. Any currently enrolled student may submit one short story and/or three poems. The deadline for the competition is typically in early March.
The Felix Pollak Poetry Thesis Prize ($1,000) is awarded annually for the best book-length poetry thesis completed by an English Major with an Emphasis in Creative Writing.
The Eudora Welty Fiction Thesis Prize ($1,000) is awarded annually for the best book-length fiction thesis completed by an English Major with an Emphasis in Creative Writing.
The Cy Howard Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing ($1,000) is alternated annually between a male and a female recipient judged to be the most promising Senior English Major with an Emphasis in Creative Writing.
The deadline for the thesis prizes and the Howard Scholarship is typically toward the end of April. Your English 695 instructor will let you know the precise deadline.
The David and Jean Milofsky Prize in Creative Writing ($1,000) is awarded annually to a graduate student in the MFA Program for the best poetry or fiction submission.
The August Derleth Prize ($1,000) is awarded annually to a graduate student in any discipline for work on Wisconsin regional literature or for writing in any genre to which August Derleth contributed (fiction, poetry, essay, creative non-fiction, etc.).
The deadline for the Milofsky and Derleth Prizes is typically in early March.
The Jerome Stern Teaching Award is presented for outstanding teaching by a graduating MFA student. The recipient is determined by the Creative Writing faculty. There is no application procedure for this award.
Spring 2008 Contest Winners
The contest winners will be posted here as soon as possible after the May 8, 2008 Awards Ceremony