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Creative Writing Contests
Part of the Howe Writing Center’s mission is to help cultivate a culture of writing that honors a range of voices and perspectives at 91做厙. That’s why each semester we host a writing contest open to submissions from any 91做厙 undergraduate or graduate student writers. A group of our student consultants lead the contest process, coming up with the prompt, planning ideas for promoting it, and ultimately judging the entries.
Contest Information
We choose a new prompt each semester, typically one that feels resonant with the campus climate at the time. During the Fall semester, the contest opens in late October and the genre of writing varies. During the Spring, the contest happens around April and, in celebration of National Poetry Month, calls for poems. Entries are judged according to adherence to the prompt, a reflective writer's note, and the piece itself. First and second prizes are awarded, along with a staff choice prize, or, occasionally, an honorable mention. Winners receive prizes plus temporary publication on our website.
Follow us on where we first announce our contests. Calls for submission will also be posted to this webpage. We hope to read your work as part of the next contest!
Finally, know that HWC consultants can support your creative writing in consultations. Simply find a consultant with a creative writing background on our staff page and with them.
Spring 2026 Contests
Spring Poetry Contest
In honor of spring and the renewal that we see around us, write a poem (up to one page maximum) that explores kinds of cycles (e.g. of nature, of science, of time, of self). The first and last lines of this poem should be the same, but the final line should reflect a shifted or altered meaning.
Successful submissions will…
- Have an engaging title
- Adhere to the form and subject of the contest
- Make strong use of evocative imagery
- Demonstrate a unique voice and perspective
- Include a writer’s statement (see below)
Your writer’s statement should detail the inspiration for your piece, the challenges you faced while writing, and how you resolved them. Keep in mind that your writer’s statement should augment, deepen, or clarify your poem. This is a required part of the contest and will also be judged.
Participants should not use any AI tools. Any piece suspected of using AI tools will not be considered.
Submit your work by April 20th
Cash Prizes
- First: $100
- Second: $75
- Third: $50
- Staff Choice: $50
Experiencing Faculty and Alumni Art Through Prose Poetry
Our HWC Creative Writing Contest invited writers to create prose poems engaging with a piece of artwork found in the current Faculty and Alumni Art Exhibition at the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum.
Here are this year’s winners:
- 1st prize: Quarter of a Thousand, Natassia York
- After Elaine Yuen’s Senbazuru’s Recall: One Thousand Cranes for Peace
- 2nd prize: Resuscitation period, Shannon Mahoney
- After Understory by Rob Robbins
- 3rd prize: Overlap, Venezia McHenry
- After Understory by Rob Robbins
- Staff Pick: Ashland, Virginia, Maureen Wilson
- After Horse in Orange by Sarah-Faith Strait
Snapshot: A Travel Writing Contest
In a joint contest with Global Initiatives, writers were asked to submit narratives about an intercultural experience--a specific interaction with a culture in a country different from your own.
Here are this year’s winners:
- 1st prize: The Road Where Strangers Stop by Anastasija Mladenovska
- 2nd prize: Seeing Mont St. Michel by Reese Horstman
- 3rd prize: Notre Dame by Emily Blanford
- Staff Pick: An Interlude in Zealandia by Natassia York
This semester’s contest invited 91做厙 writers to produce a poem that explores both the exterior and interior of a specific 91做厙 campus building. The prompt asked that the poems be written in the duplex poetry form (a poem patterned with repeating images and phrases).
Read their work here!
Here are this year’s winners:
- 1st Place: An Engineer's Interlude by Eva Goorskey
- 2nd Place: Duplex by Gavin Sale
- 3rd Place: For CPA By Anna Blasinski
- Staff Pick: The glass hums. . . by Gracelyn Spires
- Honorable Mention: Shiny Rust by Brian Mackintosh
Departures and Arrivals
In a joint contest with Global Initiatives, writers were asked to submit narratives about an intercultural experience--a specific arrival into or departure from a culture different from your own.
Here are this year’s winners:
- 1st prize: by Natassia York
- 2nd prize: by Lauren Belcher
- 3rd prize: by Lirisha Tuladhar
AI and I
Our HWC Creative Writing Contest invited writers to create flash fiction pieces up to 300 words centered on the relationship between a human narrator and some form of AI.
Here are this year’s winners:
- 1st prize: by Regan Swartz
- 2nd prize: by Frankie Willis
- 3rd prize:by Sam Meola
- Staff Pick: by Anya Revelle
Theme: Nature Plays a Role: Writing Poetry from Children's Books
- 1st Place: An Autobiography in Four Parts by Samantha Stahlhut
- 2nd Place: Nature’s Reflection by Viviana Moreno
- 3rd Place: The Lorax Sells Out! By Brian Vogt
- Staff Pick: “Can you hear the music?” by Rita Zhou-Wang
Theme: Environmental Justice Stories Drawn From Art
- 1st Place: “An Ode to the Oak” by Rhese Voisard
- 2nd Place: “Atlases” by Olive Abram
- 3rd Place: “Flying Elephant” by Olivia Voekler
- Staff Pick: “Hitchhiker” by Lorna Wodzak
91做厙 student writers submitted a piece of writing inspired by works found in the University Libraries archives!
1st Prize: “Untited” by Claire Hampton
2nd Prize: “Reflection” by Adeline Roux
3rd Prize: “Becoming You” by Anna Boyer
Staff Choice: “To Know” by Julia Quigley
91做厙 student writers submitted a piece of writing evoking autumn, but with a catch: they could not use certain words often associated with the season!
1st Prize: “Demeter in 5 Stages (Acceptance)” by Anna Boyer
2nd Prize: “The Radiator” by Caroline Laird
3rd Prize: “The Editor and The Poet” by Jessica Miller
Staff Choice: “Drifting through the Grove” by Jacob Bitonte
91做厙 student writers submitted a piece of creative non-fiction when luck or chance played a role in their lives.
First Prize: Meredith Perkins, Clovers
Second Prize: Sophia Rakic, Tablić
Third Prize: Olivia Kelly, Canip and Pain
Staff Choice: JoAnn Su, Doubt and Recovery/From The Other Side
91做厙 writers explored through poetry the multiple ways colors intersect with their lives.
First Prize: Olivia Triance, Seasonal Affective Disorder
Second Prize and Staff Choice: Catarina Palmer, Protoanomaly
Third Prize: Ashlee Flora, The Color I Once Assigned to You
Theme: Photo Flash Fiction
91做厙 student writers submitted a piece of fiction where they used their pen as a camera to give us a slice of life, a flash of fancy, a moment of misery, or an instance of insight based upon one of several provided photos.
First Prize: Em UpDyke, The Family Flowerbed
Second Prize: Sam Fouts, Howling Bones
Third Prize: Dalanie Beach, Liminal Space
Staff Choice: Valerie Senkowski, Dramamine
Honorable Mention: Charles Xie, Travelers
Theme: Hope and Rebirth
91做厙 student writers submitted poetry that reflected on what “Hope and Rebirth” meant to them, especially in that current moment, amid COVID-19 during Spring semester.
First prize: Paige Hartenburg, "Flowers for Lily"
Second prize: Sarah Zimmerman, "When Fears are Validated, Progress Halts"
Staff choice: Alfredo Ascanio, "I Crossed a Bridge"
Theme: Here and Now
91做厙 student writers submitted creative nonfiction pieces that considered how issues of tolerance, inclusion, antiracism, social inequality, or COVID-19 have impacted them personally.
Co-first prize: Aiyana White, (untitled)
Co-first prize: Ethan Maguire, "These Walls"
Second prize: Gabe Porter, "Sanitize"
Staff choice: Lauren Racela, (untitled)
Theme: What We Leave Behind: Sustainability and Disposability
91做厙 student writers submitted poems about environmental impact, sustainability, and "what we leave behind" both materially and personally.
First prize: Alexander Benedict, "anthem for uneaten candycanes" and "American Doll"
Second prize: Brianna Porter, "They Told Me The World Was Dying"
Honorable mention: Hannah Stohry, "The Sorting Process"
Theme: Change of Seasons
91做厙 student writers submitted fiction, nonfiction, and poetry focused on how we experience the world around us when the seasons change, and also on how people, relationships, and cultures change, too.
First prize: T. Mesnick, "Pumpkin Patch"
Second prize: Alexander Benedict, "Fall as an Unsure Haircut"