Ithaca College

The 2019 Spring Writing Contests (hosted by the writing department) are quickly coming to a close. Get your submissions in before March 31st (end of day). https://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/writing/contest/

CATEGORY-SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

First-Year Essay: for a submission to qualify, it should be a research-based essay produced by a first-year student in a writing intensive course. Send one unpublished selection.

Poetry: send a selection of 3 unpublished poems in a single document.

Hybrid: for a submission to qualify, it should cross genres or alter a genre. Examples include, but are not limited to: flash fiction, flash non-fiction, prose poetry, image/text, lyric essays, drabbles, etc… Send one unpublished selection.

Short Story: send one unpublished selection between 1000-5000 words.

Long-form Writing: for a submission to qualify, it should be part of a project that is a minimum of 5000 words. Your submission, which can be an excerpt or a complete work, should not exceed 7000 words; this can include creative nonfiction, literary journalism, fiction. Poetry submissions are limited to 20 pages, with a minimum of 16; this can consist of a single poem, or multiple. Please include, along with your submission, a 150-word synopsis. (The 150-word synopsis, to be included along with your submission, does not count towards the submission's word count). In your synopsis, be sure to identify the genre you are working in. Your synopsis should describe the complete project.

Personal Essay and Memoir: Send one unpublished selection between 1000-5000 words.

Creative Nonfiction: this category is for essays that are artfully concerned with language, character development, and story. Send one unpublished selection between 1000-5000 words.

Nonfiction: this category includes research-based writing—any essay that privileges empirical and/or informational writing. This can also include public essays, argument, and essays on criticism, science, nature, to name a few. Send one unpublished selection between 1000-5000 words.

Feature/Magazine: for submissions that are journalistic features for magazines and newspapers, whether print or online. Send one selection. Submissions may have been published in the last year.

Humor/Satire: for submissions in the comedic of satiric mode, including forms such as monologue, parody, caricature, and irony. Send one selection.