real simple essay contest 2022

“Maybe you had to move cross-country after being relocated for a job, opening up new possibilities along with fears. Or maybe you needed to sell your house or leave an apartment before you expected to. How did that situation influence the rest of your life? If one unavoidable shift changed your world—for good and bad—in enduring ways, write it down and share it with Real Simple.”

The word limit is 1,500 words.

The deadline for submission is September 19th, 2016.

To learn more, read the contest rules and guidelines.

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The Winners of Our 3rd Annual Personal Narrative Essay Contest for Students

Eight short, powerful essays from teenagers about the moments, big and small, that have shaped them.

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As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

Our main inspiration for this contest was the long-running New York Times Magazine Lives column. All of the illustrations we have used in this post are borrowed from this column. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/magazine/how-my-sister-cured-my-writers-block.html">Related Lives Story</a>

By The Learning Network

For a third year, we invited students from 11 to 19 to tell us short, powerful stories about a meaningful life experience for our Personal Narrative Writing Contest . And for a third year, we heard from young people across the globe about the moments, big and small, that have shaped them into who they are today: a first kiss that failed to meet expectations, a school assignment that led to self-acceptance, an incident at airport security that made the world look much less sweet, and more.

Below, you can read the eight winning essays, published in full. Scroll to the bottom of this post to find the names of all of our finalists, or see them here in this PDF .

Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us.

(Note to students: We have published the names, ages and schools of students from whom we have received permission to do so. If you would like yours published, please write to us at [email protected] .)

The Winning Essays

“the best friend question”, “504 hours”, “t.s.a. and cinnamon buns”, “lips or slug”, “the bluff”, “autocorrect”, “purple corn”.

By Blanche Li, age 13, Diablo Vista Middle School, Danville, Calif.

“All right, class, settle down! Your last Spanish essays were the worst I’ve read in my 22 years of teaching. So today, I’m requiring you to be specific. You must use new vocabulary to write about your best friend. I don’t want to hear that your best friend is nice. I want to know how. Begin, and no talking!” my Spanish teacher, Señora Morales, shouted at the class.

I sat with my pencil hovering over my paper and then slowly began to write in Spanish: My best friend is Hayley. She’s a soccer champion who colored a red streak in her hair to support her team. She plays cello, like I do, and we car pool to our orchestra every Saturday. She uses funny English words like “shenanigans” and “bamboozle,” and describes angry people as “ballistic.” We’ve been best friends since fourth grade.

This is my standard response to the “best friend” question, no matter who asks. The problem is, Hayley isn’t real. I had to come up with a fictional best friend because there have been too many writing prompts asking me to describe this person, too many moments when I’ve replied, “I don’t have one,” and too many times I’ve heard, “Why not? Are you just not the type of person who wants a best friend?” It’s as if people think I’m too introverted and gloomy to even bother. Truth is, during school, I’ve watched with envy the best friends who ice skate together and the best friends who call each other nicknames like “Homeskillet” and “Key Chain.”

Of course, I have plenty of acquaintances — those who I talk to at lunch about conspiracy theories: that the school’s macaroni and cheese has neither macaroni nor cheese and that our beloved janitor is actually God. But the friend who I can depend on when my bully calls me “Bleach” doesn’t exist.

I’ve often wondered, does not having a best friend make me defective? Should I be embarrassed that the only people I hang out with at the farmer’s market are my parents? Should I be worried that my primary cure for loneliness is my cats? Will I have to face heartbreak and failure alone?

Not having a best friend means I have no one to text late at night when I can’t fall asleep and no shoulder to cry on when I fail my orchestra audition. Sometimes I tell myself, “You’re such a baby; just toughen up. There’s no way you’ll ever succeed because you can’t deal with the smallest issues in life.” Considering these thoughts makes me lock myself in my room, sit against the door, and take psychology tests on my phone to prove why I am defective.

But as I scroll through my phone, I ask myself, what would Hayley say to me right now? As an imagined character, Hayley can say what my mind tells her to. So Hayley sits down and puts her arm around me. Her lips curl slightly upward, and her brown eyes zoom in on my face. She tells me, “You can only do so much, and bringing yourself down uses most of the ‘so much’ you can really do.”

When Señora Morales hands back my paper describing Hayley, she tells me, “She seems like a great friend!”

“Yeah,” I grin. “She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”

By Lyat Melese, age 16, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va.

The shrill sound of a whistle slices through the gym, slowly halting the bouncing basketballs, squeaking tennis shoes and background chatter. My P.E. teacher stands in the middle of the room, looking around in distaste at the disarray of basketballs, hula hoops, and volleyball nets. He asks for volunteers to help clear the gym.

Saanvi raises a lone hand into the air. Everybody else refuses to meet the teacher’s eyes, focusing on the floor, their hands or the ceiling.

I sigh as it strikes again.

It is hard to define the Amharic word in English. It describes the feeling comprising a mishmash of extreme empathy and the inability to say “no.” It is a trait I see in my mother and, much to my annoyance, myself. While yilugnta makes me a kind and respectful daughter at home, it makes me a pushover susceptible to guilt-tripping at school.

I raise my hand, “I can do it.”

Saanvi and I collect all the balls and ropes, rolling the carts into the storage room.

We are alone when she suddenly stops and looks at me.

“Did you get accepted?” she asks, referring to the highly selective admission to the local STEM high school.

“Yeah,” I reply. “You?”

She looks away. Her hands fist at her sides as a frown is etched on her face.

I look down. “I’m sorry. I know how badly you wanted to go.”

“You don’t understand,” she spits out. “You obviously got in because you are Black.”

I don’t respond, focusing instead on the colorful hula hoops I am stacking in a pile: green, yellow, blue.

When we first moved to America, my parents went to great lengths to avoid the term “Black.” They instilled in me that I was not just Black, I was Ethiopian. I used to think it was because they didn’t want me to forget my culture. Now I think they were protecting me because the term “Black” shoulders the weight of history.

My Nigerian neighbor always grits his teeth and talks to himself when he watches Nigerian news. He blames Britain for forcing the tribes together. He says Nigeria should not have existed. Now, his wife hides the remote because his blood pressure grows too high.

My mom’s friend’s African-American partner goes to town halls and protests every week. He still waits for the day he will get the reparations his ancestors were owed.

My mom tells me that we are not like them. Our ancestors were not colonized or enslaved. Don’t carry the burden that is not yours.

In my head, I want to scream that I did not choose to carry anything. It was shoveled on top of my head. Much like my yilugnta , it is a trait I have to own, no matter how I wish otherwise.

The age of shackles and scramble for land has long passed, but the aftermath reverberates in our ears, whispering words like “victim,” “predator” and “diversity hire.”

Black is black is black.

I turn back to look at Saanvi.

“The admissions are race-blind,” I state.

“Everybody knows that’s not true,” she scoffs. “So few Black people apply, you are guaranteed a spot.”

She pushes past my shoulders and marches out of the room.

Her bag lies forgotten on the floor, a key chain with a colorful peace sign dangling from the front.

I stare at it, contemplating leaving it there.

I pick up the straps and haul it over my shoulder, once more carrying the weight I do not own.

By Elise Spenner, age 15, Burlingame High School, Burlingame, Calif.

It felt like there was no air in the room. Mom sat on the mint green chair in the corner. The white exam paper crinkled under me as I gripped my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth. My tears blurred the cheery posters on human anatomy, balanced eating and mask etiquette into a mosh pit of swirling words and colors. The doctor’s words were garbled, blocked out by a rushing storm of shame.

“Hospital … patient care … check if they have beds.”

“Disordered eating … bradycardia … not enough blood to the heart …”

I didn’t need to listen to her. I already knew everything. I am a straight-A student. I have a solid grasp on cause and effect. Two plus two is four; not eating and exercising too much is an eating disorder. I’ve watched enough “Grey’s Anatomy” to know when doctors have bad news. I could tell by the way she walked into the room: the weary smile that screamed pity and heartache and the look that said, “I came into this profession to save lives, but that means I have to ruin yours.” I knew before that, when the nurse’s brow furrowed at the 42 on the heart rate monitor, and her icy fingers pressed my wrist to recalculate. I knew when I left that morning for my ritualistic five-mile run, leaving the remains of a breakfast pecked at and shuffled around on the plate. Of course I knew.

For a moment, as I listened and cried and the world swirled around me, I was relieved. Relieved that I could let go. That I wouldn’t have to think about what I ate or how fast I ran because my hands were being forcibly removed from the steering wheel.

But the world wouldn’t stay on hold until I was ready to start living again.

While I sat shellshocked, Mom canceled next week’s vacation to the bungalow rental by the beach. Dad sent a terse email to my soccer coach explaining why I would miss our first training camp in a year. For the next three weeks, I would participate in my summer courses from the four walls of a hospital room, with my computer angled to block out the nurse that would routinely flush my IV, the tangled mess of green and yellow wires that would tie me to a 24-hour heart rate monitor, and the makeshift sofa that one of my parents would sacrifice their back to sleep on each night. And two months later, my dad would open the mail to find a bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Enough to account for the 504 hours I would spend in a hospital room, the 126 meals and snacks I would eat over those 504 hours, and the nurses who would wait on me for every single one of those 504 hours.

As I rocked compulsively on the glaring, white exam paper, relief quickly gave way to guilt. Gnawing guilt that in my undying pursuit for some ideal, I had destroyed my parents, my relationships and my life. I thought the numbers on the scale were some test to be passed or game to be won, until winning left me in a hospital bed for the summer. My choices were real. And the consequences? They were even more real.

First, after I finished sobbing, I wanted to scream, “Why me?” Then I wanted to pray to a god I didn’t believe in to turn back the clock and rewrite my story. But finally, with my face still buried in my knees, all I could do was whisper “I’m sorry” over and over and over again.

By Ruhani Chhabra, age 16, Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, Calif.

“You’re going to have to take that thing off, sir.”

Yet another T.S.A. officer had just arrived. I cast a nervous glance at my father, who was extremely calm, even as he explained — for the third time — that he couldn’t unwrap the turban on his head. One, it would take too long to put back on. Two, it was against his faith.

The sentence hung heavily in the cinnamon-scented air. I resisted the urge to run through the metal detectors, shoes on and everything.

Make no mistake, I didn’t want to be embarrassed about my religion; in Sikhism, dignity is as fundamental as the turban. But when you’re 12 years old, awkward, pimply and painfully aware of the stares and mutterings from speedy holiday travelers, it’s hard to muster that pride.

It shouldn’t have turned out like this. My father and I had embarked on an impromptu trip to surprise his relatives, and the events resembled a Charlie Brown Christmas special — until we reached that dreaded corner of the airport.

To distract myself, I concentrated on the sugary aroma coming from the diner in the terminal. We always ate there before our flights; I loved their cinnamon buns. I associated a peculiar sense of freedom with those baked goods — their sweet taste meant we’d finished with security, freed of scrutiny.

Having brown skin and a head-covering means you’re practically begging for a “random” T.S.A. check. I figured that out at around the same age that I learned how to put on an airplane seatbelt on my own. However, this demand was significantly worse. Still, I wanted him to comply, wanted to rid myself of the scathingness of being “different.”

My father, who knew he would forever be considered “different” from the moment he walked into this country, persisted. He’d been to this airport before, and they let him have his turban scanned instead of removing it — what could’ve changed?

“It’s the holiday season,” the palest officer said, rolling his eyes. “Security is tighter. Just make a decision. Can’t you see your little girl’s waiting too?”

If I was embarrassed before, it was nothing compared to how I felt now. With all eyes on me, I wanted to shrink to the ground.

I had always feared the possibility of such humiliating “precautions” imposed on my father, and I had always thought that I would speak up. Even a simple “Don’t talk to him that way” would suffice.

Yet I looked up, turned to my father, and said, “Just take it off.” And the way he sighed let me know that I’d won. It was a rather haunting victory.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on my younger self. After all, I was severely insecure and surrounded by years worth of schoolyard ignorance (“So … why does your dad wear that rag?”), which morphed into my buried shame, and it took me a while to realize I had to dispel it. It took me even longer to learn how.

In the years to come, I’d discover the cathartic space of transcribing my feelings on paper. At that moment, though, I simply internalized everything: the embarrassment, the confusion and, most of all, the gnawing guilt. I watched impassively as my father removed his turban, every layer of meaningful fabric peeled away in front of a whole crowd.

The officers, circling him like angry piranhas, took one long look and then dismissed us. It was over.

Or so I thought. My father, never one to hold a grudge, still bought me some cinnamon buns. I took them onto the flight and looked out the window at the bright blue American sky, wondering why they didn’t taste as sweet as before.

By Daniella Canseco, age 17, Saint Mary’s Hall, San Antonio

When I was younger, I romanticized the thought of my first kiss. I thought it would be the most extravagant thing I would experience with the most handsome boy ever. I wanted the whole shebang: a Zac Efron look-a-like, roses, candles. When I did have my first kiss, was it like this? Nope. My first kiss was in a church parking lot after a musty dinner at the local food court. Just like everyone else, I remember the experience vividly, even though I try to forget.

The first red flag with this guy should’ve been the fact that when my mother Googled him, a picture of my last failed attempt at a relationship came up. They knew each other. Why didn’t I bail that very moment? Well, I was so desperate for even a hue of male validation that I put my blinders on for all red flags. I even ignored the fact that he had shirtless mirror pictures on his Instagram. How I cringe.

In my blue Mazda with the sticker “Let me see your kitties” on the back, I drove into the desolate Mission City Church parking lot, not knowing what fate awaited me. For about 30 minutes this guy showed me his entire music library, which consisted of subpar rap songs that his ex-girlfriend had introduced him to, and his entire camera roll, which was all pictures of him shirtless in front of a mirror, except for two, which were, surprisingly, shirtless pictures of him not in front of a mirror. So unpredictable!

A heavy rain started and, with each drop of water smacking my car, a loud slap would reverberate inside and inhibit our ability to hear one another. This unfortunate turn of events resulted in a conversation where the question “WHAT?” was said every other statement. We made small talk by screaming (well, him just screaming about himself at me) for about 10 minutes until the atmosphere in the car thickened with anticipation.

“Have you ever been kissed before?” he asked, breaking the silence.

“HAVE YOU EVER BEEN KISSED BEFORE?!” he howled at me.

Taken aback by this overwhelming question, I felt heat rush to my face as my body tinged with panic: Will he think I’m weird if I say no? Should I lie? I shouldn’t have eaten that Greek salad with onions.

“It’s OK if you haven’t.”

I pulled out my metaphorical white flag of surrender and admitted to my lack of achievement of this milestone. Suddenly, I saw his body lean over the dashboard that separated us; his hand reached for my cheek and, just like that, he started kissing me. The fumes of hot onion breath were shared between us as his wet lips slid against mine like a slug. This went on for a good three seconds, which really felt like a good three years, until I pushed him away, overwhelmed by the discomfort I had just experienced. My hand lunged for my cup of water as I attempted to wash down the dissatisfaction of something I had yearned for for years.

“Oh, are you OK?” he questioned, as I violently gulped down my water.

“ARE!? YOU!? OK!?”

“OH! YEAH, I-I JUST NEED TO GET BACK.”

I drove him back to his house, the only sounds the ending of the once violent storm and his ex-girlfriend’s rap music playlist. The awkward end-of-date goodbye ensued, and I drove back home in silence rethinking what happened, my lofty expectations deflated. Most of life’s presumptions will not be close to reality, but that’s just how things work.

By Marion Cook, age 14, The Wheeler School, Providence, R.I.

Thirty feet below me and the quivering gray of the diving board, the ocean howled its lonely tune. It whispered and wept like a child lost at the market. It was restless. The wind blew to the same beat at which my heart quickened. It thumped almost audibly despite the shouts of encouragement from strangers, their presence adding a touch of surrealness to my already fraught situation.

I wonder how many people I disappointed that day. I wonder if they remembered my face as I disappeared into the lottery of daily life.

Slowly, my cousins began to run off the sharp angle of the board. I watched some of them fall; there was always this flutter of panic before they all resurfaced, laughing.

I wanted to, too. I wanted to be like them. They said it felt like flying. I remembered thinking that I wanted to know what it felt like to have wings.

The concept of voluntary risk leaked from my brain in the same way water leaks through one’s cupped hands. I think I blame cancer. My mom was diagnosed. Skin cancer. On her head. Not like one surgery and it’s gone type cancer, like fighting for more time type cancer. I was nine years old. Instead of worrying about what to wear to school, I worried about whether or not my mom would wake up in the morning. And how I wouldn’t know until later because a hospital bed cradled her arms and IV bags hugged her, instead of me.

I didn’t really think about my partially broken urge to take on fear because I was too busy with school and birthday parties and the full-time occupation of being the kid of a sick person.

So I didn’t. For years I would come back. Sometimes I would watch my cousins or strangers fall and just say that I didn’t feel like it or that I had just dried off or that the water was too cold. The ocean didn’t judge me, and the sky didn’t care.

But I still felt regretful whenever I walked away. Slowly, I remembered that I had still wanted to know what it felt like to fly.

All of life is temporary and like a dream in the sense that when it will end is as obscure as the already forgotten beginning. Perhaps the greatest people are those who understand that risk is what makes life count. You can be alive for lifetimes without ever really living at all. Sometimes fear is what makes existence tangible as we crisscross our strings of consciousness, floating haphazardly in the void.

I remembered this. I think, to some degree at least, it saved me in a way. I ran off the board. Partially because heights and I are not compatible, and partially because life’s too short to spend time hesitating.

And I did fall. I think I screamed. The whole ordeal happened as spontaneously as the disease that had engulfed my mother. It was over faster, though. And hurt less than radiation and needles and drugs sometimes did. My mom was there that day. Despite relapses and tumors, by the time I was 14, she was extraordinarily cancer-free. The ocean consumed me. I felt small again, like a kid, like I had traveled back to before the Big Bang, and everything forever was silence and the bubbles caused by the air escaping my lungs. And then I resurfaced. I was OK.

I was going to be OK.

By Ellen Xu, age 16, Del Norte High School, San Diego

I stare at the texts on my phone screen, sent from Dad an ocean away: “Love you.” “Miss you.” “Call?” When I was young, I used to play a game where I would repeat a word enough times for it to sound foreign. Now, I’m playing the same game but in reverse, attempting to remember what it was like when his texts still held their meaning.

Out of habit, I type out “Lub”— my way of saying “love”— and press send, a fraction of a second too late before I see the letters rearrange themselves on their own accord. “Lin.” My mom’s name. Not again. I’m convinced autocorrect has a mind of its own; or, maybe it knows that there is a part of me that has a hard time letting go, that wants to revert to a time when her name was not taboo when sent to him.

Dad moved to China the summer after sixth grade. I remember the long nights we would sit at kitchen table discussions, a tug of war between “job” and “family.” Whenever I look back, I’m reminded of the movie “Interstellar”; not just because it was our favorite movie, but because if I had only been smart enough like Murphy, I would have told him to stay. It was not long after he left that distance severed the bond between my parents, like the expanding universe pulling stars out of orbit. Like Cooper pounding his fist on an interdimensional bookshelf, I am banging on the keyboard hoping the right words will fall out. But all that ends up on the other side is empty text and autocorrect.

I write “Lub” again, this time removing the autocorrect and appending a gauche apology. He texts back: “Call for just one minute?” I think of all the things I want to say: It’s not the same to call. It’s been two years since I was last with you. I just had my first driving lesson today and don’t you remember promising me years ago that you would be the one to teach me to drive? Do you know how many memories we’ve traded for texts and calls?

But I don’t say this. I bite back the frustration and text back “OK,” and in the next instant, his face lights up my screen.

We don’t say much in that minute. He doesn’t ask me how I am, because “good” is never a good enough answer. I don’t ask about his new life, his job, his family, or any of the questions I used to hurl at him. His tear-filled smile, creased with hope and sadness, makes me swallow all the things I want to say. The fact that he is OK with this, that he would keep calling and texting me every night even if I never answered, that just being able to see me on the other side of the screen is enough, makes it enough for me to let go. To move past my anger and regret at how, when I needed it the most, my words came out jumbled in those crucial moments at the kitchen table, where I could have changed things.

I’m not angry anymore. He looks at me and tells me he loves me. And for once, my words come out just as I want them to: no longer autocorrecting to the bitterness of a past left behind.

“I lub you, too.”

By Lillian Sun, age 17, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va.

Part of my youth remains in China, in the suburbs of Hangzhou where the children feed stray cats on the open streets and the elders take leisurely walks in the quiet parks. The roads were barely wide enough for one car to pass through, not that very many people knew how to drive. My grandpa owned a bicycle that he used to take me to wherever I wanted to go. At 70 years old, he could still pedal the two of us through the town fast enough for the wind to tousle my hair and send my hat flying.

The bicycle only had room for one passenger, so I walked with my grandpa and grandma whenever all three of us went downtown in the summer. We bought our groceries in a spacious multistory shopping mall that sold everything from cellphones to raw meat. I wasn’t tall enough back then to push the cart and decided to drift from stall to stall, eyeing the different foods on display designed to catch the eye of a wandering child. No matter how much I begged, my grandpa never bought me shiny red candy or steamed custard buns: Wai puo and I can cook better food for you.

Once back in our apartment, my grandparents got to work, creating an aroma that seeped through the kitchen and into the living room where I was reading an old book. Within half an hour, a whole steamed fish, white rice, and purple corn were laid out on the table. I always finished the fish and rice first, leaving the corn for last.

My grandparents only bought the freshest vegetables, especially so when it came to purple corn. They knew which corn was the most tender just by looking at the husks. Then, they boiled the corn for a good 10 minutes on their gas stove to ensure that it was fully cooked.

I was not a patient granddaughter and often burned my fingers picking up the purple corn, though my complaints were forgotten after the first bite. The kernels stuck to my teeth and filled my mouth with warmth. I chewed the glutinous corn until my jaw ached and my teeth were stained purple, leaving a wholesome aftertaste on my tongue.

After two years of living with my grandparents, I flew back to the United States. The streets here were loud and dogs barked all day long. The corn in American grocery stores was pale yellow, small and watery. I didn’t burn my fingers when I ate it, nor did I chew it for very long. Juice from the corn dripped down onto my plate and I wished I was back in China, walking hand in hand with my grandparents. Here in America, I could eat all the candy I wanted, but there were only so many pieces I could swallow before the sugar became nauseating and I threw up, crying.

My mother eventually found frozen purple corn at a Chinese supermarket, packaged in Styrofoam and plastic wrap. When boiled, the corn softened to a chewy texture, but I could no longer taste Hangzhou summers in this purple corn.

Student Personal Narrative Contest Finalists

In alphabetical order by the writer’s last name.

Daniella Canseco, age 17, St. Mary’s Hall, San Antonio: “Lips or Slug?”

Ruhani Chhabra, age 16, Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, Calif.: “T.S.A. and Cinnamon Buns”

Marion Cook, age 14, The Wheeler School, Providence, R.I.: “The Bluff”

Blanche Li, age 13, Diablo Vista Middle School, Danville, Calif.: “The Best Friend Question”

Lyat Melese, age 16, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va.: “Guilted”

Elise Spenner, age 15, Burlingame High School, Burlingame, Calif.: “504 Hours”

Lillian Sun, age 17, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va.: “Purple Corn”

Ellen Xu, age 16, Del Norte High School, San Diego: “Autocorrect”

Bailee Cook, age 17, Hanford High School, Richland, Wash.: “To Cry”

Esther Lee, age 16, St. Paul Preparatory, Seoul: “Warmth Behind Unfamiliarity”

Anjanette Lin, age 14 Groton School, Groton, Mass.: “Orange Nikes”

Jimmy Lin, age 17, BASIS International Park Lane Harbor, Huizhou, Guangdong, China: “The Front Seat”

Robin Linden, age 13, The Wheeler School, Providence, R.I.: “Goodnight, Mom”

Sybellah Kidd-Shugart, age 15, Sprayberry High School, Marietta, Ga.: “A Watch Wound Back Seven Years”

Sim Khanuja, age 17, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Mo.: “An Angel’s Eyes”

Maximus Masucci, Harmony Middle School, Purcellville, Va.: “How I Learned to Break Out of My Shell: An Autistic Boy’s Perspective on Communication”

Pranav Moudgalya, age 17, University High School, Irvine, Calif.: “Talking Turkey”

Jack Quach, age 17, St. Ignatius High School, San Francisco: “A Mighty Pen”

Sum Yu Tian, age 15, The Hockaday School, Dallas: “The Ever-Moving Train”

Ryan Thomas, age 16, Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale, Ill.: “The Pyrotechnician”

Yihan (Laura) Wang, age 13, Shrewsbury International School Bangkok Riverside, Bangkok: “Confession”

Elizabeth Warren, age 17, The Hockaday School, Dallas: “El Xbox”

Stella Wu, age 16, Taipei American School, Taipei, Taiwan: “Anonymous”

Jerry Xu, age 16, Sacred Heart Schools Atherton, Atherton, Calif.: “What’s in a Name?”

Honorable Mentions

Jayda Brain, age 15, Illawarra Christian School, Albion Park, Australia: “The Viking Revenge Flume”

Claire Beeli, age 15, Woodrow Wilson High School, Long Beach, Calif.: “When Airplanes and Rocket-Copters Were Stars”

Tony Cai, age 17, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.: “A Coin Never Delivered”

Czarina Datiles, age 16, Academy of Our Lady of Peace, San Diego: “Bystander”

Jinane Ejjed, age 13, The Seven Hills School, Walnut Creek, Calif: “The Flying Turtle”

Elena Green, age 17, Washington-Liberty, Arlington, Va.: “Modern Education”

Viona Huang, age 16, Diamond Bar High School, Diamond Bar, Calif: “Born a Crime”

Chloe Jacobs, age 17, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Conn.: “Heart Hearth”

Yoo Jin Cho, age 16, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Sydney: “Lost Your Voice?”

Eve Kaplan, age 16, Community High School, Ann Arbor, Mich.: “Boy Crazy”

Liana Kim, age 15, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, Va.: “Echoes of My Blood”

Gwen McNulty, age 14, Lincoln High Schoo, Lincoln, R.I.: “You Don’t Dry Them”

Asher Mehr, age 17, De Toledo High School, West Hills, Calif.: “I Remember August”

Atena Mori, age 16, Iolani School, Honolulu: “Not Throwing Away Any Soup”

Eojin P.: “Withering Cards”

Anya Pan, age 14, International School of Beijing, Beijing: “White Rabbit Under the Sun”

Raymond Pan, age 17, Aurora High School, Aurora, Ontario: “10,000 Kilometers”

Stewart Payne, age 16, Western Albemarle High School, Crozet, Va.: “Playing Games”

Arian Salamat, age 17, Branham High School, San Jose, Calif.: “Boneco”

Alexander Sayette, age 16, Winchester Thurston School, Pittsburgh, Pa.: “400 Meters”

Lauren Strauch, age 18, St. Mary’s Hall, San Antonio: “Two Women Baking”

Cheyenne Toma, age 17, Leonardtown High School, Leonardtown, Md.: “Mourning the Dad I Never Had in Nine Innings”

Paul Wallace, age 16, Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, Ill.: “Unholy Night”

Madison Xu, age 17, Horace Mann School, Bronx, N.Y.: “Table for Three”

Round 4 Finalists

A PDF of all the winners and 154 more great narratives that made it to Round 4.

Thank you to all of our contest judges!

Sara Aridi, Erica Ayisi, Edward Bohan, Julia Carmel, Amanda Christy Brown, Kathryn Curto, Nicole Daniels, Dana Davis, Shannon Doyne, Alexandra Eaton, Jeremy Engle, Arden Evers, Vivian Giang, Caroline Gilpin, Michael Gonchar, Robyn Green, Emma Grillo, Annissa Hambouz, Michaella Heavey, Kimberly Hintz, Callie Holtermann, Jeremy Hyler, Susan Josephs, Tina Kafka, Shira Katz, Varya Kluev, Megan Leder, Phoebe Lett, Kathleen Massara, Keith Meatto, Sue Mermelstein, Andy Newman, Amelia Nierenberg, John Otis, Fran Pado, Kim Pallozzi, Olivia Parker, Ken Paul, Anna Pendleton, Raegen Pietrucha, Natalie Proulx, Christina Roberts, Kristina Samulewski, Katherine Schulten, Juliette Seive, Jesica Severson, Rachel Sherman, Ana Sosa, Arman Tabatabai, Mark Walsh and Kim Wiedmeyer

Ayn Rand Essay Contests

Enter one of our contests today for a chance to win up to $10,000!

Participating Students

$2,200,000+

Prize Money Awarded to Date

Program Founded

Essay Contests

For nearly four decades, the Ayn Rand Institute has hosted annual student essay contests on Ayn Rand’s novels. These contests encourage students to seriously engage with Rand’s ideas through reflection on her profound and influential novels. Students who participate will need to read the book they have selected carefully, grapple with its complex themes, and push the boundaries of their writing ability. By doing so, we hope students will achieve a deeper appreciation for Rand’s literary works and develop a curiosity for the philosophy that underlies them.

Open to all 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students worldwide.

Deadline to enter is April 27, 2023

The Fountainhead

Open to all 11th and 12th grade students worldwide.

Atlas Shrugged

Open to all 12th grade, college, and greaduate students worldwide.

Deadline to enter is November 6, 2023

Read an Ayn Rand novel

Select the book according to your level of education, and begin reading. Pay attention to the themes and character motivations, and be thinking about how you might answer the essay topic questions.

Write an essay on the book

As you start to write, be thinking about how to answer the essay question you have chosen to write on. Be sure to give yourself enough time to construct a coherent outline, find supporting evidence, and revise your draft a couple times.

Submit for grading

Submit your essay online using ARI’s application portal. Be sure to check that the information you provide in your application is correct, and that your essay satisfies our requirements.

Wait for the results

Grading for all submissions begins once the deadline has passed. Essays go through three separate grading stages, and the final results are announced approximately three to four months after the entry deadline.

Our Grading Standards

Essays are judged on whether the student is able to justify and argue for his or her view, not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses.

Our graders look for writing that is clear, articulate, and logically organized. Essays should stay on topic, address all parts of the selected prompt, and interrelate the ideas and events in the novel.

Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic meaning of the novel.

Organization

Understanding.

Students can receive free digital copies of all of Ayn Rand’s novels at aynrand.org/freebooks . All you have to do is say a few words about who you are and why you want to read the book, and we’ll send you a copy within one business day—no strings attached. If you would prefer to read a physical copy, you may purchase them via the links on our website. They are also likely available at your local bookstore or library.

You may participate if you are in a lower grade than what is listed, but not if you are in a higher grade. Please email us at [email protected] if you have any questions about your eligibility status. (Note: Students must be at least 13 years of age or older in order to participate. We make no exceptions to this rule.)

Yes, please cite the page number(s) and place quotation marks around any material you choose to include from the novel you are writing on. A bibliography is only necessary if you choose to include secondary source material in your essay.

No. You may submit one essay per contest, per year—provided you meet the grade-level requirements and are eligible to enter.

Yes! You are more than welcome to enter multiple contests, provided you do not exceed any of the grade-level restrictions.

Yes, as long as you still meet the eligibility requirements for the contest and were not previously a first-place winner. In fact, some students have won prizes multiple years in a row!

No. All awards are cash prizes. We place no restrictions on how the prize money is spent by recipients.

No, this will have no effect on your chances of winning. Judges look for writing that demonstrates a clear understanding of the novel, not whether the student agrees with it.

Have a different question?

Write to us at [email protected] . We typically respond within two to five business days.

Start Your Essay Today!

The Ayn Rand Institute has hosted annual essay contests on Ayn Rand’s fiction since 1985, awarding over $2.2 million in total prizes to students worldwide.

Updates From ARI

Copyright © 1985 – 2023 The Ayn Rand® Institute (ARI). Reproduction of content and images in whole or in part is prohibited. All rights reserved. ARI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions to ARI in the United States are tax-exempt to the extent provided by law. Objectivist Conferences (OCON) and the Ayn Rand Institute eStore are operated by ARI. Payments to OCON or the Ayn Rand Institute eStore do not qualify as tax-deductible contributions to the Ayn Rand Institute. Ayn Rand® is a registered trademark and is used by permission.

Essay Contests

Dare to read, think, speak, and write.

Almost from the earliest days of the Naval Institute, its essay contests have been one of its most important functions.

On 13 June 1878, with Commander Alfred Thayer Mahan as acting Chair, the Naval Institute adopted rules for the first essay contest — the General Prize Essay Contest. This contest continues to this day.

Currently, the Naval Institute sponsors 14 essay contests.

Current Essay Contests

2023 CNO Naval History Essay Contest - Midshipmen and Cadets

2023 cno naval history essay contest - professional historian, 2023 cno naval history essay contest - rising historian.

2023 Coast Guard Essay Contest

2023 Enlisted Prize Essay Contest

2023 Naval Mine Warfare Essay Contest

2023 NPS Foundation/U.S. Naval Institute Annual Essay Contest

Essay contest archives, receive the newsletter.

COACHING + PUBLISHING

FORMATTING + DESIGN

FREELANCE COMMUNITY

40 Free Writing Contests: Competitions With Cash Prizes

by Kelly Gurnett | Oct 3, 2022

Have you ever Googled “writing contests”? Many require “reading fees” or prizes — like seeing your work in print — that you can only receive if you pay for it.

Some legitimate contests do charge small entry fees, but often a fee can be a red flag for a scam, so those might be the ones you want to stay away from.

Besides, there are plenty of free writing contests that encourage and inspire boundless creativity with real cash prizes and career-advancing opportunities! Since it can be hard for a writer to know where to find them, we did the legwork for you.

We found 40 reputable, well-reviewed, free writing contests for poets, fiction writers, essayists and more. With thousands of dollars in cash prizes and numerous opportunities to secure a publishing contract, you’re sure to find the right free writing contest for your work.

(If you don’t mind paying a little money to enter, our friends over at Smart Blogger have rounded up some great writing contests that have small entry fees. And if you’re still hungry for more opportunities, we also have posts on writers grants and writing fellowships .)

Fiction and nonfiction writing contests this year

Ready to share your novel or personal essay with the world? Whether you’re a newbie or more established writer, you’re likely eligible for a few of these contests.

Here are some fiction and nonfiction writing contests worth considering .

1. L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest

Whatever your feelings about L. Ron Hubbard’s work and philosophy, the prizes for this regular contest are nothing to sneeze at. Every three months, winners earn $1,000, $750 and $500, plus an additional annual grand prize of $5,000.

Submissions must be short stories or novelettes (up to 17,000 words) in the genre of science fiction or fantasy, and new and amateur writers are welcome to apply.

Deadlines: Quarterly on March 31, June 30 and September 30.

This boutique publishing firm offers cash prizes and promotional packages to winning authors. Submit a novel of 10,000 words or more in any fiction genre (no fanfic or poetry).

Inkitt’s writing contest runs monthly and gives authors the chance to win cash prizes up to $300, exclusive book badges and promotional packages while showcasing their books to Inkitt’s audience of more than 3 million users. Winners are determined by Inkitt’s unique algorithm based on overall reader engagement.

Deadline: See individual contest pages.

Disclosure: Inkitt is an advertising partner of The Write Life. We hold our advertisers to high standards and vetted this contest just like others on this list.

3. Drue Heinz Literature Prize

You can win $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press with this prize, awarded for a collection of short fiction.

You may submit an unpublished manuscript of short stories , two or more novellas or a combination of novellas and short stories. Your total word count should be between 150 and 300 typed pages. You must also have already published a novel or book-length work of fiction “with a reputable publisher,” or no fewer than three short stories or novellas in nationally-recognized journals.

Deadline: Annual submissions must be postmarked between May 1 through June 30.

4. St. Francis College Literary Prize

Since 2009, this biennial literary award has honored mid-career writers who have recently published their third, fourth or fifth work of fiction. The winner receives $50,000 and may be invited to the St. Francis College campus in Brooklyn, New York, to deliver a talk about their work or teach a mini fiction workshop to St. Francis students.

Deadline: Biennially; the contest was not offered the last two years due to the pandemic and limited campus access

5. Young Lions Fiction Award

This $10,000 award recognizes “young authors,” which the rules define as any author aged 35 or younger. Submit any novel or collection of short stories published or scheduled to be published in the calendar year. Works must be written for adults; children’s or YA pieces are ineligible.

Deadline: Submissions for this year are open as of May; deadline is TBA

6. Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prizes

One of the best-loved small presses in the creative writing world, Graywolf Press hosts a variety of contests for both established and up-and-coming writers. Graywolf also offers smaller fiction and nonfiction prizes, with genres rotating by year; 2020 was a nonfiction year, so fiction was up in 2021, then back to nonfiction in 2022, and so on. These awards include a sizable advance — $12,000 in previous years — as well as publication with Graywolf.

Deadline: Contest is held annually with rotating genres; this year’s deadline is TBA.

7. The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans

Hosted by the prestigious Iowa Review, the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award is offered to U.S. military veterans and active-duty members writing in any genre about any subject. Manuscripts of up to 20 pages will be accepted, and the first-prize winner will receive $1,000 and publication in the Review. A second place prize of $750 is also available, as well as three runner-up prizes of $500 each.

Deadline: Biennially. The next contest will be held in 2022.

8. New Voices Award

Presented by Lee & Low Books, an award-winning children’s book publisher, this award is given for a previously unpublished children’s picture book manuscript of no more than 1,500 words written by a writer of color or Indigenous/Native writers who’s a resident of the U.S.

The winner receives $2,000 cash and a standard publication contract, and an additional Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000. You may submit up to two manuscripts.

Deadline: Submissions for this year will be accepted May 1 to July 31.

9. Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

For 15 years, this contest has provided visibility for emerging African American fiction writers and enables them to focus on their writing by awarding a $15,000 cash prize. Eligible authors should submit a work of fiction, such as a novel or short story collection, published in the calendar year. (Galleys for publication within the year are also accepted.)

Deadline: Annually; the deadline is August 15, each year

10. PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

Honoring the best work of fiction published by an American author in a single calendar year, this award has been given to the likes of John Updike, Philip Roth and Ann Patchett. Novels, novellas and collections of short stories are all eligible.

The winner receives a hefty cash prize — up to $15,000 in the past — and an invitation to read at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C. Plus, there are no submission fees or application forms to deal with; just send a PDF of each book (as many as you’d like) to [email protected]

Deadline: Each year , submissions will be accepted from July 1 to October 31.

11. PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers

This contest requires you to have already published a short story in a literary magazine or journal or cultural website. But if you’ve made your debut (but gone no further), you may be eligible for the generous cash prize of $2,000, which is annually awarded to 12 emerging writers, whose works are then published together in an anthology.

Short stories of up to 12,000 words are eligible and must be published in the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is given. Additionally, keep this in mind: Submissions are only eligible if submitted by an editor. Authors may not submit their own work.

Deadline: Annual submission window between June and November.

12. Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

Fiction and nonfiction writers who have recently published a book that “contribute[s] to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity” are eligible for this award, which offers $10,000 cash as well as media and publicity opportunities. Plus, winners receive their prize at a ceremony in Cleveland.

Submissions must be published in the prior year (so books published last year are eligible for the award this year).

Deadline: Annual submission window is September 1 through December 31.

13. Marfield Prize (aka National Award for Arts Writing)

Presented by the Arts Club of Washington, this award seeks to honor nonfiction books that deal with the “visual, literary, media, or performing arts.” The prize is $10,000 and may be awarded to works of criticism, art history, memoirs and biographies, and essays.

Deadline: Annually in the last quarter of the year; the submission window is usually between November 16 to December 31.

14. W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction

If you’re a war buff, this competition is for you. It awards $5,000 — and a 24-karat-gold-framed citation of achievement — to the best piece of fiction set during a period when the U.S. was at war (war may either be the main plot of the piece or simply provide the setting). Submissions may be adult or YA novels.

Deadline: Annually on December 1.

15. Friends of American Writers Chicago Awards

FAW presents two annual awards: an Adult Literature Award for literary fiction or nonfiction, and a Young People’s Literature Award for a children’s/YA book.

Authors must reside in the state of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin — or they must set their book in one of those locations. Prize amounts vary from year to year, but you don’t have to bother with an application and all winners are celebrated at the organization’s May luncheon.

Deadline: Annually in December

16. Hektoen Grand Prix Essay Contest

Hektoen International, an online journal dedicated to medical humanities, offers two prizes annually for essays of no more than 1,500 words: $5,000 is awarded to the winner and $2,500 to the first runner-up. Eligible topics are broad so long as they have a relation to medicine, and many include art, history, literature, education and more.

Deadline: Annually; September 15 is usually the deadline

17. Biopage Storytelling Writing Contest

There’s no denying it: social media is a huge part of our 21st-century lives. It’s easy to get used to limiting our communications to 280-character and emoji-strewn snippets, which is why this marketing firm is hosting an essay writing contest to “remind people of the benefits of writing.”

Essays of up to 5,000 characters (roughly 1,000 words) will be accepted, and right now they’re looking for stories of COVID-19 quarantine life. The grand prize winner will receive $300, and five runners-up will be awarded $100 each.

The contest is free to enter, but you’ll need to register for a Biopage account to be eligible.

Deadline: July 31, each year

18. St. Martin’s Minotaur / Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition

Writers 18 and older who have never had a novel published (in any genre) are eligible for this prize, awarded to an original book-length manuscript where “murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story.” The winner receives a publication contract with Minotaur Books and an advance of $10,000 against future royalties.

Deadline: December 17, each yea r

19. ServiceScape Short Story Award

ServiceScape, a platform matching freelance writers, editors and graphic designers with clients (i.e. a great place to look for paid writing work !) offers a yearly Short Story Award of $1,000 to a winning fiction or nonfiction work of 5,000 words or fewer. The winner will also have their story featured on the ServiceScape blog, which sees thousands of readers each month.

Deadline: November 29, each year

20. Stowe Prize

This biennial prize of $10,000 honors an American author whose adult fiction or nonfiction work has had an impact on a critical social justice issue (as did Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin ). The book must be written by a U.S. author and have been published in the United States during the previous three calendar years.

Deadline: Contact the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center for this year’s deadline .

21. The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction essays of no more than 5,000 words on any subject are eligible for consideration for this award, whose winner receives $250 and publication in Lunch Ticket , the literary and art journal produced by the MFA community of Antioch University Los Angeles.

Works must not have been published elsewhere. Award winners are required to submit a 100-word biography, recent photo and a short note thanking the Woods family for their generosity and support.

Deadlines: Biannual reading periods are in February for the Summer/Fall issue and in August for the Winter/Spring issue.

22. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms Essay Contest

Each year, this Canadian organization offers three prizes, ranging from $500 to $1,500, to the essay with the most thoughtful, well-reasoned arguments around a specific human-rights theme. (For example, 2022’s prompt was, “ Canadian governments are making Digital ID technologies a precondition of access to essential services and goods. What can Canadians do to protect their Charter rights and freedoms against the dangers of these technologies? ”

The contest is open to Canadian college and university students, and essays should be 2,500 words or less in length.

Deadline: October 31, each year

23. Write the World

For young writers ages 13-18, these cool contests also serve as mini workshops. Recognizing that “a first draft is never perfect,” submissions actually receive peer review by authors, writing teachers and other experts and writers are given the chance to revise their pieces based on this feedback before submitting them for final prize consideration.

Contests vary each month, but there’s a $100 prize for the winner and $50 for the runner-up (plus $50 for the best peer-reviewer). All three are featured on Write the World’s blog alongside comments from a guest judge. And since each month’s prompt is from a different genre, developing writers get a chance to test out different styles.

Deadline: Monthly.

Stuck with writer’s block and looking for a way to jumpstart your escape? Prose offers weekly challenges meant to spark your creativity; many are just for fun, but look for the weekly numbered challenges posted by Prose (rather than community members or sponsors) for a chance to win money.

Prizes are typically between $100 to $200 and word counts are low — some as low as under 150, some as high as 500. So even if all you get from the prompt is a chance to flex your brain, it’s not a bad deal.

Deadline: Weekly and monthly.

25. The Restless Books Prize For New Immigrant Writing

First-generation immigrants have a chance to win $10,000 and publication by Restless Books for telling their stories (real or imagined). The contest alternates annually between fiction (novel or short story collection) and nonfiction (memoir, essay collection, narrative nonfiction). In 2021, it went to a work of nonfiction of at least 25,000 words; 2022 will be fiction.

Deadline: S ubmission window is usually between January and March.

26. AFSA National High School Essay Contest

The U.S. Institute of Peace and the American Foreign Service Association sponsor this annual high school essay contest, where the winner receives a $2,500 cash prize, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., and a full-tuition paid voyage with Semester at Sea upon the student’s enrollment at an accredited university. Essays should be between 1,000 and 1,250 words and have to answer all aspects of the prompt as well as demonstrate an understanding of the Foreign Service.

Runners-up get a pretty sweet deal, too — a $1,250 cash prize and a full scholarship to participate in the International Diplomacy Program of the National Student Leadership Conference.

Deadline : April, each year.

27. Science-me a Story

Born in 2018, the Society of Spanish Researchers invites talented and original writers to write a 100-word blurb for a hypothetical novel. This might sound really easy, but your blurb has to quickly hook readers and make them want to read more. Open to anyone over 18 anywhere in the world, your real or fictional short story for this competition must be either in English or Spanish and “conceived from the objective of scientific dissemination to primary school” to qualify for the cash prizes: £150, £100 and £50.

28. VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

Virginia Commonwealth University sponsors this award that honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. While you may have published previous books in a different form, the submission must be your first published book marketed as a novel.

The award is a $5,000 cash prize, and the winning author must agree to attend the award event, usually scheduled for November.

Deadline : Annually; the submission window runs from July 1 through December 30

29. Daisy Utemorrah Award

The Daisy Utemorrah Award is for an unpublished manuscript of junior or YA fiction written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples currently living in Australia. Generously supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and the State Government of Western Australia, the winner of the award receives $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books.

Deadline : Submission window usually opens at the beginning of each year

30. Ultimate Meal Plans Nutrition Scholarship

College students studying nutrition, kinesiology or exercise-science fields: you’re going to be all over this one. Twice per year, the Ultimate Paleo Guide (aka the best paleo resource on the internet) awards $500 scholarships to two deserving students who meet all eligibility requirements — as well as write an 800-word essay about why you chose your field, an impact you’d like to make in your career, a challenge you’ve faced and more.

Deadlines: January 30 (awards in March) and July 31 (awards in September).

31. Insecure Writer’s Support Group Annual Anthology Contest

As long as you stick to the guidelines, The Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s annual contest welcomes your 5,000- to 6,000-word (previously unpublished) creative story. But before you send it off, make sure your story is polished and formatted! Plus, the prizes aren’t too shabby — winning stories will be edited and published, authors will receive royalties, and the top story will even get to give the anthology its title.

Deadlines: September 1, each year.

32. Short Fiction Prize

If you’re an undergrad at a college in the U.S. or Canada, this writing competition is for you. (Traditionally, this contest has encouraged applicants with an Asian background, but anyone is invited to apply.) Submissions should be no more than 7,500 words.

One winner will get a $1,000 prize as well as a scholarship to the next Southampton Writers Conference .

Deadline : Submission window is usually between March 1- July 14

33. Bacopa Literary Review Contest

The Bacopa Literary Review is an international journal published by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville. Each year, it opens submissions for pieces in four genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and prose poetry. Find detailed guidelines for each genre on its website. First place gets $300, and the second prize in each of the four genres gets $100.

Deadline: May 30, each year

Poetry contests this year

Curious about opportunities for poets? Your stanzas — rhyming or not — could be worth a fair amount of money in these poetry competitions.

Check out these poetry writing contests.

34. Black Voices in Children’s Literature Writing Contest

This contest is open to Black writers who are over the age of 18 and residents of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin. It’s hosted by Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing and seeks to fill the need for Black representation in children’s and young adult books. Original board and picture books for children aged 0-4 and picture books for ages 4-8 are eligible, provided they feature contemporary, realistic Black characters and culture and focus on character development, self esteem, community and other aspects of positive childhood development.

Three prizes, ranging from $250 to $1,000, will be awarded, and the first-place winner will be “seriously considered” for publication, though it’s not guaranteed.

Deadline: Usually late July , each year.

35. James Laughlin Award

If you’re already a published poet, this is the award for you; it’s given for a second book of poetry due to come out in the forthcoming year. The winner receives $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid week-long residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In addition, copies of the winning book are distributed to 1,000 members of the Academy of American Poets.

Deadline: Annual submission window is January 1 through May 15.

36. African Poetry Book Fund Prizes

The APBF awards three prizes annually for African Poetry. The Luschei Prize for African Poetry gives $1,000 for a book of original African poetry published in the prior year.

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets gives $1,000 and a publication contract for a book-length collection of poetry by an as-yet-unpublished African author.

The Brunel International African Poetry Prize is a new prize that grants £3,000 to a poet who was born in Africa, or has African parents, who has not yet had a full-length book of poetry published. (U.S. citizens qualify.) To submit, you’ll need 10 poems.

Deadlines: See individual prize pages.

37. Tufts Poetry Awards

Claremont Graduate University presents two awards each year to poets they deem to be “outstanding.” The Kate Tufts Poetry Award grants $10,000 for a published first book of poetry that shows promise.

The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award grants a mammoth $100,000 for a published book of poetry by an established or mid-career poet.

Deadline: Submission window is July 1 to June 30, each year

38. Graywolf Press Walt Whitman Award

The Walt Whitman Award is a $5,000 prize awarded, along with publication, to an American poet with a winning first book manuscript. He or she also receives an all-expenses-paid six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy.

Graywolf Press is also one of the publishers of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize , “a first book award dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by Black poets.” Winners receive $1,000 and Graywolf publishes every third winner of the prize.

Deadline : July 1 to Sept 1, each year

39. Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest

Now in its 21st year, this humor contest wants your best published or unpublished work for a grand prize of $2,000; runners-up are awarded $500 and 10 honorable mentions will receive $100 each. Writers of all ages from eligible countries can submit an original, humorous poem with 250 lines or less, and it must be in English.

Deadline : April 1, each year (and no, this isn’t an April Fools joke)

40. The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize

This writing competition is looking for the best piece of unpublished, themed writing. For example, one year, the theme was “Untamed: On Wilderness and Civilization.” Submissions may be prose, poetry or non-academic essays. Maximum word count is 2,500, and this is open to all nationalities and to anyone 18 or older. The winner gets a £10,000 cash prize, second place gets £3,000 and third place gets £2,000.

Deadline : Applications open at the beginning of each year. Follow the Alpine Fellowship on Instagram for updates.

Where to find more legitimate, free writing contests

Looking for more opportunities to submit your work? Here are a few great sites to keep an eye on for writing contests.

Winning Writers

A number of the contests found on our list came highly recommended by this site, which compiles some of the best free literary contests out there. Along with a wide range of recommended contests for writers of all stripes, Winning Writers also lists some contests and services to avoid — which is just as useful!

They also offer a handful of contests themselves , including the North Street Book Prize .

Poets & Writers

Another fantastic source for legitimate writing contests we consulted when compiling this list, Poets & Writers vets competitions, contests, awards and grants to make sure they’re following legitimate practices and policies. It’s worth checking out regularly as it features both annual and one-time contests.

(This listing contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through our links, you’re supporting The Write Life — and we thank you for that!)

The original version of this story was written by Kelly Gurnett . We updated the post so it’s more useful for our readers.

Photo via Viktoriia Hnatiuk / Shutterstock

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Writing Contest: Best 2022 of 2022

Update: This contest has concluded. Thank you to all writers who entered. We hope you enjoyed the exercise.

2022-Word Writing Contest Winners

Best 2022-word essay: “Getting Somewhere” by Wendy Fontaine

Essay honorable mentions: Nick Gaudio, Kevin Grauke

Best 2022-word short stories: “Lifecycles” by Edie Meade, “Cup-O-Noodle” by Christopher Mohar

Fiction honorable mentions: Z.H. Gill, Robbie Herbst

Best 2022-word poem: “Some People Take the Edge Off” by Bradley David

Poetry honorable mention: J-T Kelly

Bonus Winners: The Best 22-Word Poems of 2022

Winner, best set of two 22-word poems: Diane Gottlieb

Runner up, best set of two 22-word poems: Angela Acosta

Winner, best individual 22-word poem: Fatima van Hattum

Runner up, best individual 22-word poem: Julia Watson

Read The Best 22-Word Poems of 2022.

We are now accepting short stories, poems, and essays for our 2022 writing contest.

We offer four ways to enter this contest:

Titles are not included in the above word counts.

Writers can enter once in each category.

Submit your entries via email in a Word-compatible document with the title "Best of 2022 submission" to Matt Borondy at [email protected] . Please indicate whether your entry is fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. (If your piece is a hybrid work, choose one primary genre.)

This contest will close at 11:59pm PST on November 30, 2022. Winners will be announced in December 2022 (or January 2023 if we get overwhelmed by amazing entries—so let's hope for January 2023).

Will there be prizes? Yes. But we don't know what they are yet. It's 2022. Embrace the mystery for now. (See below for updates and details.)

Who will judge this contest? We don't know the names for sure yet, but it will be a mix of staff members, magazine contributors, and special guests.

Are you interested in judging it? You don't know yet. (But please contact us if you feel like being a guest judge.)

Listen: we haven't thought this through.

But, hey, it's worth a shot.

Here's what we know about our 2022 writing competition so far:

2022 Writing Contest Entry Fees

This contest is free to enter.

We hope/request that participants will follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , LinkedIn , and/or Substack .

You're also welcome to send us a donation . This may help boost the prize pool but will not increase your chances of winning! Speaking of the prize pool...

We will announce four winners: one for fiction, one for nonfiction, one for poetry, and one for the bonus poem.

Those four winners will receive publication on our site.

Winners will also earn additional prizes to be announced soon. The prizes will be cool. They will have value. That is all we know. We will announce them as soon as we know more.

Non-winners will be eligible for consolation prizes, which may include a special interview on our site, books, tools for writing, corgi mugs, and more. These consolation prize winners will be drawn at random, and some may be limited to entrants from North America for ease of distribution.

We will also consider immediate runners up for publication on our site if the writer desires this consideration.

Additional Rules and Considerations

Since the entry period for the contest lasts most of 2022, we'll attempt to notify a portion (approximately 50%) of non-winners early in the process. We’ll do this monthly to free non-winners up to submit their pieces to other publications.

Writers may submit one piece per section to the contest (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, bonus poetry). Each piece will earn one entry into the consolation prize drawing (excluding the winners). The maximum number of drawing entries for consolation prizes will be four per writer (one per piece submitted).

Entries should be original, not previously published, written in English, and may not be submitted by agents.

This contest is subject to change—as you may have gathered by now. But we will do our best to make sure it changes for the better.

Enter the 2022 Identity Theory Writing Contest Now

Submit to this contest now by sending us your submission in a Word-compatible document in an email with the title "Best of 2022 submission [fiction/essay/poetry/bonus poetry]" to Matt Borondy at [email protected] .

And if 2022 isn't your thing, you can still submit your work for regular publication. Obviously.

About The Author

Matt borondy.

WHAT WILL YOU RUN FOR? STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST

Grades 7-12.

2020 Contest Now Closed

With a chance to win prizes that will help them achieve the change they envision, the What Will You Run For? Student Essay Contest inspired students in grades 7–12 to take civics into the real world by researching and creating a plan to improve their own community.

Student Assignment & Rubric

Students will find a local issue or cause that they would like to address in their community. Then they will identify one of three roles—mayor, city council, or state legislature—they would run for to effect change. In a 2- to 3-page essay, students will tell us:

Download entry form for more information.

Great Prizes!

Student grand prize.

$1,000 Grant and Laptop

3 Winners—Grades 7–8

3 Winners—Grades 9–12

TEACHER GRAND PRIZE

$500 Gift Card

High School Winners

(grades 9–12).

Tristen S. Montoursville, PA Recycling

Angela Z. Cypress, TX Human Trafficking

Jenna H. Wilmington, DE Public Health

Middle School Winners

(grades 7–8).

Eunia L. Little Neck, NY School Shooting Prevention

Zachary S. San Mateo, CA Affordable Housing

Liberty M. Austin, TX Education Reform

How to Enter

For all teachers & parents.

Enter online (click button below)

Entries must be submitted by March 29, 2020.

For High School Students

High school students can also submit entries on their own!

Simply go to: scholastic.com/CreateChange/9-12

Alternatively, students can also mail entries to the address at left.

Email us . --> Official Rules . Call us: 1-800-Scholastic (1-800-724-6527).

CONTEST RULES: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. All students who are residents of, and currently reside in, the U.S. and D.C., and who are currently enrolled in grades 7–12 are eligible to enter, except for those who have family members employed by Levi Strauss & Co., Generation Citizen, or Scholastic Inc. and other related companies (see the Official Rules for a complete listing). Entries accepted in English only. Entry period: 12:01 a.m. ET on 10/28/19 to 11:59 p.m. ET on 3/29/20. Visit scholastic.com /createchange/officialrules for complete Official Rules and restrictions. In the event of prize unavailability, a prize of equal or greater value will be awarded as determined by the sole discretion of Levi Strauss & Co. and Generation Citizen. No cash substitutions for prizes. Prizes are nontransferable. ARV of Prizes: Student Prize ($1,500); Teacher Prize ($500).

Explore more programs like this at scholastic.com/extracredit .

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Top 66 Writing & Essay Scholarships in March 2023

Writing is an extremely important part of success in high school, college, and life in general. For some students, writing is also an intricate part of who they are and how they express themselves. If you are someone who loves English class and is genuinely excited about a new creative writing assignment, then you should keep reading! Writing scholarships, creative writing scholarships, and essay scholarships are great ways to put your talent to use.

Jump ahead to:

Frequently asked questions about writing scholarships

Explore these other scholarship categories

Whether you are planning on attending community college, a four-year program, or graduate school, we’ve got opportunities for you. Keep on reading to learn about the top scholarships for writers and creative writers including eligibility, award amounts, and deadlines!

Top 57 Writing & Essay Scholarships in March 2023

The Scholarships360 Research Team reviews all scholarships individually and strives to exclude any scholarship where any of the below applies:

If you believe a scholarship has been published in error, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll take a look!

* There are certain exceptions to this, for example if the sponsoring organization is a major corporation or nonprofit with its own scholarship application system. ** Lead generation scholarships will require students to sign up for an app or website and require minimal (if any) application requirements. ***Idea harvesting scholarships will require students to submit blog posts or other materials that companies may use for marketing purposes.

$10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship

Scholarships360 Exclusive

The Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education. Whether you are a high school student who hopes to…

$2,000 Nitro College Scholarship – No Essay

Easy scholarship from Nitro College open to all high school, college, community and graduate students.

$25,000 No Essay Scholarship

Easy scholarship from Niche open to high school and college students, as well as anyone looking to attend college or graduate school in the next year.

Sigma Tau Delta Junior Scholarship

Offered by Sigma Tau Delta

Are you a college junior studying English or literature? If so, consider applying for the Sigma Tau Delta Junior Scholarship! The scholarship is open to undergraduate students in their junior…

Ayn Rand Institute Novel Essay Contest (Fountainhead)

Offered by Ayn Rand Institute

Are you a junior or senior in high school with a passion for literature and politics? You might consider applying for the Ayn Rand Institute Novel Essay Contest (Fountainhead)! Each…

Ayn Rand Institute Novel Essay Contest (Anthem)

Are you an 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grader with a passion for writing and politics? Consider applying for the Ayn Rand Institute Novel Essay Contest (Anthem)! Each year,…

Rover Scholarship

Offered by Rover

Do you have a beloved pet that has made a difference in your life? Each year, the Rover Scholarship awards $2,500 to the high school senior or university student who…

Greater than Gatsby Annual Scholarship

Offered by Greater than Gatsby

Are you a visual artist and content creator? If so, you might consider applying for the Greater than Gatsby Annual Scholarship! This scholarship is open to incoming and current college…

JASNA Essay Contest (Jane Austen Society of North America)

Offered by Jane Austen Society of North America

Are you a high school, undergraduate, or graduate school student and Janeite (Jane Austen fan)? Or do you simply love Sense and Sensibility and are itching to write an essay…

HelpTeaching.com Scholarship

Offered by HelpTeaching.com

Are you a high school or college student with a love for writing stories (particularly for children)? If so, you might consider applying for the HelpTeaching.com Scholarship! Each year, the…

$25k “Be Bold” No-Essay Scholarship

Open to high school students, college students, community college students, and graduate students.

Ocean Awareness Art Contest

Offered by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs

Are you an 11 - 18 year old who has a passion for saving the environment and/or the ocean? Additionally, would you like to make a statement about the impact…

Delete Cyberbullying Scholarship

Offered by Delete Cyberbullying

Are you a high school, undergraduate, or graduate student who’s passionate about stopping cyberbullying? Consider applying for the Delete Cyberbullying scholarship! Each year, the scholarship awards $1,000 to multiple students…

Spirit of Giving Scholarship

Offered by Wine Country Gift Baskets

Are you a high school senior or college student who believes in the importance of acts of kindness, service, and giving? If that sounds like you, consider applying for the…

Minecraft Scholarship

Offered by Apex Hosting

Are you a high school or college student with a love for Minecraft? If so, we may just have the perfect opportunity for you: the Minecraft Scholarship! Each year, the…

Platt Family Essay Contest

Offered by Lincoln Forum

Are you an undergraduate student in the U.S. with a love of history and writing? If so, consider applying for the Platt Family Essay Contest! Each year, the contest awards…

Global Perspectives Scholarship

Offered by Rustic Pathways

Are you a high school or college student who will be enrolled in an accredited university for this upcoming school year? Furthermore, do you believe in the importance of making…

Clubs of America Scholarship Award

Offered by Clubs of America

Are you a current postsecondary student at any college or university in the U.S. who is passionate about their field? You might consider applying for the Clubs of America scholarship!…

$10,000 CollegeXpress Scholarship

Annual $10k scholarship from CollegeXpress open to high school students in the class of 2024, 2026, and 2026.

Niche $2,000 “No Essay” College Scholarship

Easy scholarship from Niche open to all high school, college, and graduate students.

Creative writing scholarships

Are you a writer who loves fiction, poetry, and screenplays? If so, you can put those talents to use by applying for creative writing scholarships.

Creative writing scholarships are a subset of writing scholarships that support students who enjoy writing poetry, fictional stories, plays, and generally using their imagination to guide their writing.

Here are the top creative writing college scholarships that you can apply for:

Cancer Unwrapped Teen Writing Contest

YouthPLAYS New Voices One-Act Competition for Young Playwrights

National High School Poetry Contest

The Narrative Prize

College-specific creative writing scholarships

Some colleges and universities may also offer specific scholarships and financial aid to students with a talent in creative writing! Check with the colleges on your list for these college-specific creative writing opportunities!

Note that some of these scholarships may have requirements for winning students that stipulate that they take a certain number of creative writing classes when enrolled in the college.

Kenyon Writing Award

High school seniors can apply for this scholarship program at Kenyon College which offers up to $15,000 per year of merit based aid. It is based off of your portfolio and does not take into account financial need, high school GPA, or other factors. Submissions typically have to be in by January of your senior year.

Barbara Caras Memorial Scholarship for Film Students

The scholarship is open to students in Sarasota or Manatee County, Florida who have completed at least one full year at an accredited Florida College and are majoring in Film, Computer Animation, Creative Writing, Motion Design, or Illustration. Five recipients will earn a $2,000 award. The application deadline is July 31st of the current year.

Lycoming College Creative Writing Scholarship

The scholarship is open to students majoring in Creative Writing at Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA and must submit five poems and/or a short story not to exceed ten pages. Six recipients will be selected and can earn up to $3,000. The scholarship deadline for the Fall 2023 Class is March 1, 2023.

Arkansas Tech University Gwaltney Scholarship

The scholarship is open to ATU students who submit individual works of fiction to the Department of English. Recipients earn a one-time cash award every year. The deadline to submit your entry is 2 weeks before the end of the spring semester.

Lake Forest College Carnegie English Essay Contest

The contest is open to first-year students of Lake Forest College who plan to study English either through the literature or creative writing track and submit an essay, between 500 and 1,000 words answering a designated prompt. Four winners will be awarded $2,500 annually. Submission deadline is March 1, 2023.

Austin Peay State University Creative Writing Scholarships

The scholarships are open to undergraduate and incoming APSU students who email a 10-20 page manuscript of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction, to Lakota Withrow at [email protected] . Awards are for $600 or $1,200. The deadline to apply is March 18th.

Scholarship essay resources

When it comes to writing and essay scholarships, your writing skills will be put to the test. You’ll have to adapt your writing to specific styles in order to effectively and succinctly communicate your ambitions and potential. We have a host of resources to help you perform well in this arena and stand out from the crowd.

Do I have to major in English to earn a writing or essay scholarship?

Explore these other scholarship categories:.

Scholarships360 Recommended

Top 24 Easy Scholarships to Apply For in March 2023

Top 60+ Scholarships for College Students in March 2023

Top 444 Scholarships for High School Seniors in March 2023

Trending now.

Apply to the $10,000 "No Essay" Scholarship

This easy scholarship is open to all US-based high school, college, and graduate students!

Popular scholarships

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These 11 Essay Contests with Generous Prizes Will Change Your Life

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Essay contests are unusual because to win them you have to use your words. If you are a student who aspires to become a journalist, novelist, or poet, then these essay contests are a stepping stone for you to make that dream a reality.

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There are several essay contests that are valid for students of all levels of education regardless of nationality. As long as you meet the specified requirements, you may register for one or more of the following essay contests.

1. FIRE Free Speech Essay Contest

In this contest, you will be asked to write an essay or persuasive letter in 700 to 900 words on the theme of current events, historical examples, your personal experiences, and other resources posted on the FIRE website. Registration for this contest closes on December 31 st , 2020 at 11:59 a.m. EST.

Who should apply?

Open to juniors and seniors in U.S. high schools, including home-schooled students, as well as U.S. citizens attending high school overseas.

What are the prizes of this contest?

2. Ayn Rand Institute Essay Contests

Have you ever read one of Ayn Rand’s thought-provoking novels? Now’s the time! Enter an Ayn Rand Institute essay contest and you’ll have a chance to win thousands of dollars in scholarship prize money.

You must sign up as a member of the ARI website to find out the deadlines for the contest.

These essay contests are available for students who are interested in Ayn Rand’s work ranging from grade eight students to postgraduate students. Please note that, however, the eligibility for each contest is different.

Total prizes to be awarded to the winners are $30,000.

3. AFSA National High School Essay Contest

The United States Foreign Service—often referred to as America’s first line of defense—works to prevent conflict from breaking out abroad and threats from coming to our shores. Peacebuilders work on the ground to create the conditions for peace and resolve conflicts where they are most needed.

Successful essays will identify, in no more than 1,250 words, a situation where diplomats worked on a peacebuilding initiative with partners from the country/region in question, nongovernmental organizations, and other parts of the U.S. government, and then go on to analyze what characteristics and approaches made the enterprise a success.

The deadline for essay submission is April 5 th , 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service are eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens/lawful permanent residents attending high school overseas.

$2,500 will be awarded to the writer of the winning essay, in addition to an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital from anywhere in the U.S. for the winner and his or her parents, and an all-expense-paid educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea. Runner-up receives $1,250 and full tuition to attend a summer session of the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program.

4. JASNA Essay Contests

Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) conducts an annual student essay contest to foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen’s works in new generations of readers.

The deadline for the essay submissions is June 1 st , 2021.

Students and home-schooled students enrolled at the high school level during the contest year, students enrolled in at least six credit hours of course work at a junior college, college, or university during the contest year, and students enrolled during the contest year in at least three credit hours of graduate course work at a college or university leading to an advanced degree are encouraged to apply.

Membership in JASNA is not required to enter the contest.

Winners and their mentors each receive a one-year JASNA membership. Besides, each winner receives a set of Norton Critical Editions of Jane Austen’s novels.

5. The Immerse Education Essay Competition

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a pre-set question relating to their chosen subject. The essay questions are pre-defined according to your age group and preferred subject. You are encouraged to tailor your essay response to reflect your interest in your chosen subject.

The application for the competition will be closed on January 5 th , 2021.

The essay contests are available to students of all nationalities who will be aged 13-18 during the summer of 2021.

First-place winners will be awarded a 100% scholarship to study their chosen subject with Immerse. There will be 10 first place winners across the Immerse Education Competitions. Runners up will be awarded partial scholarships of up to 70% to study their chosen subject with Immerse.

6. Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest

Showcase your ideas on public policy and the role of markets by entering this essay competition. Construct an essay exploring the importance of Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction in understanding entrepreneurialism and economic progress in today’s world. You may choose to analyze a particular industry or business (during any time-period) as a case study to bolster your essay.

The essay submission for the contest will be closed on June 1 st , 2021.

This essay contest is open to high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students.

$9,000 in cash prizes will be awarded $3,000 of this designated just for high school students. Winning essays may be published in Fraser Institute journals and authors will have the opportunity to experience the peer-review process.

7. Optimist International Essay Contests

This essay contest is sponsored by Optimist International to give young people the opportunity to write about their own opinions regarding the world in which they live. The approach can encompass a young person’s personal experience, the experience of their country, or a more historical perspective.

In addition to developing skills for written expression, participants also have the opportunity to win a college scholarship. The topic for the academic year of 2020-2021 is “Reaching your Dreams by Choosing Optimism”. All essay contests are held by early February.

Youth under the age of 19 as of October 1 st , 2020 (and is not enrolled as a degree seeking student of a post-secondary institution) in the United States, Canada, or the Caribbean are eligible for entry. There is no minimum age.

Winners have the opportunity to receive scholarships of up to $2,500.

8. 2021 We the Students Essay Contest

We the Students Essay Contest expects the participants to explore the relationship between equality and justice in an essay with 500 to 800 words. Applicants are encouraged to bring emotion, creativity, specific examples, and well-researched facts into what they write. The deadline for entry is April 15 th , 2021 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Armed Forces schools abroad, and students in United States territories are eligible to participate in the contest. In addition to going to school in a contested state, you must be in grades 8-12 and between the ages of 14-19.

A total of $7,500 will be awarded to the first winner. The second winner and honorable mentions will receive $1,500 and $500, respectively.

9. Student Essay Contest Sponsored by AWM and Math for America

To increase awareness of women’s ongoing contributions to the mathematical sciences, the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and Math for America co-sponsor an essay contest for biographies of contemporary women mathematicians and statisticians in academic, industrial, and government careers.

The essays will be based primarily on an interview with a woman currently working in a mathematical sciences career. Essay submissions are open from December 1 st to February 1 st .

Participation is open to middle school, high school, and undergraduate students.

The winners (including honorable mentions) receive a monetary prize, a membership in the AWM, a certificate, and their name and affiliation published in the Newsletter for the AWM. Also, all of the essays are published online and the essay of the Grand Prize winner is published in the AWM Newsletter.

10. Civics Education Essay Contest

Every year, in honor of Law Day, NCSC hosts a Civics Education Essay Contest. The goal of the contest is to get students engaged and ponder the importance of civics at home and in the classroom. The contest question is based on the American Bar Association’s annual theme. ABA’s 2021 Law Day theme is “Advancing the Rule of Law Now.” Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on February 26 th , 2021.

Students from grades three through twelfth are invited to enter these essay contests.

For the 9th-12th grade winners:

For the 6th-8th grade winners:

For the 3rd-5th grade winners:

11. St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition

Compete in this Global Essay Competition and be one of the top 100 contributors to qualify for all-expenses covered participation as a Leader of Tomorrow in the world’s premier opportunity for cross-generational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium. Submissions are due by February 1 st , 2021, 11:59 p.m. last time zone (UTC-12).

However, if you are not a fan of essay contests, then this no-essay scholarship might interest you: Bold No Essay Community Scholarship: Easy Scholarship to Enter in 2020 .

To be eligible, you must be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate program (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university and born in 1991 or later.

Win prize money of CHF 20,000 split amongst the three winners.

Concordia Presidential Scholarship in Canada for Undergraduate Students

Scholarship application: the right time to apply for a scholarship.

Standar Testing Service (STSI) Laptops and Scholarships

IITA Research Fellowships

Awaji Youth Federation Fellowship Offers Working and Learning Opportunity in Japan

2022 ARCHBISHOP’S ESSAY WINNER – CLERGY CATEGORY

Mar 16, 2023

Title: On Parrhesia and Gospel Witness

Author: Mark Brians

When the crowds encircle Christ in Solomon’s Porch during the Festival of Dedication, they charge him: “tell us boldly who you are!” [1] They do not draw-up to him to with excited anticipation as they did earlier in the Gospel, [2] instead they flank him like a gang of wolves. Already the crowd by the shore has begun its transformation into the mob of Good Friday. [3] Though he has already told them in several places [4] who he is, they charge him to do so at that moment with parrhesia –with a boldness about the truth being spoken. They are in a sense asking him “tell us again the truth we already know and yet cannot bear to receive; and say it with the boldness that will make us want to kill you.” This is what parrhesia means: the kind of boldness about the truth that hazards death and rejection. The person who speaks with parrhesia, Michel Foucault once noted, “risk[s] death to tell the truth instead of reposing in the security of a life where the truth goes unspoken.” [5] Amidst the controversial social issues of the day, the Anglican Church in North America must be a province marked by this same parrhesia –this boldness about the Truth which hazards severe consequences– or else it will cease to be what it is.

Such a charge, however bold it may seem, is not as simple as it first appears, for we live in strange times. Ostensibly, North America celebrates boldness – parrhesia — as a supreme virtue. Many voices, popular and academic, across the political spectrum enjoin us to “be bold” about our opinions and our persons. “Proud” is often the form this North American construal of boldness takes, forgetting that “the Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [6] Being bold in this popular way, Christians across the continent have taken to social media, joined-in marches and rallies, and have left churches and friendships torched in their wake. This popular North American brand of boldness seems to offer and excuse from the costliness of loving one’s neighbor –especially if that neighbor disagrees about mask mandates, or put a particular candidate’s sign in their front yard.

The kind of boldness vended in popular culture is a pseudo- parrhesia; a loud confidence which leaves everyone more secretly anxious, angry, and ashamed; a boldness fueled, frequently enough, less by love for the Truth than by hatred for a scapegoat. It is a boldness that is often little more than a euphemism for a brutality that shows little regard for the worth of human persons. It is, in the final analysis, not actually bold.

It is essential therefore for the Church to distinguish Gospel parrhesia, true boldness, from the false and popular kind on offer in the wider culture. As the Anglican Church in North America seeks to be a community that speaks the truth boldly in a world of falsehood, a community of parrhesiastes, there are four essential marks which differentiate the boldness of Christ in John 10 from cheap and false substitutes.

First, Gospel parrhesia is anchored in Christ and finds its origin in the love of the Trinity. It is not anchored in a strictly interior and fleshly self-confidence, which we are called to reject. [7] Instead, the Christian’s ability to bear witness to the truth comes through Christ Jesus “in whom we have parrhesia and access through our faith in Him.” [8] The love of Christ makes us bold, and in his love “we have parrhesia to draw near to the throne of Grace.” [9] And this boldness before the Father is what sends us in the power of the Spirit to be bold in our proclamation of the truth, like the disciples who spoke the word of God in the face of persecutory powers with all parrhesia. [10]

Standing in this kind of confidence “in Christ in God” [11] enables a firmness of resolve in speaking the truth in the face of consequences. Neither the anger of those to whom the truth is spoken, nor the fact that the truth may not be heard or received with the desired effect, nor even the fact that the speakers themselves may be called to repent from the false ways in which they have spoken, can shake or unseat the Christian love of the truth. Far from deploying Christian faith as a means to proving oneself right in what one says, Gospel parrhesia begins and ends in the righteousness of the Jesus who comes less to “prove them right” than to “bear witness to the Truth.” [12]

Secondly, true parrhesia counts the cost of speaking the truth, as in the book of the Acts of the Apostles where the apostles are not merely undaunted in the face of persecution, but un-surprised by it . [13] Easy ersatz boldness, after speaking boldly, leaves behind a fragile uneasiness. Christians “take a stand” on an issue of Gospel truth, and are subsequently dismayed and alarmed at the push-back. It is desired simultaneously to be bold and edgy and warmly tolerated. If, as Foucault has suggested, parrhesia means choosing “frankness instead of persuasion, truth instead of falsehood or silence, the risk of death instead of life and security, criticism instead of flattery, and moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy” [14] then the Christian who lives thus boldly chooses to occupy costly position in her community. Peter Leithart is right: “Parrhesia is the virtue of martyrs.” [15]

To speak the truth with boldness in a community defined by parrhesia is to not balk in the face of the danger of bearing witness to the truth, as well as not being surprised by those dangers when they lay their cost. Suffering for the sake of the truth is real and ought to be lived before God by his people in lament and imprecation, admitted to and acknowledged, not merely borne without emotion. That pain can be spoken. But it is precisely this willing to suffer for the Truth that marks the church as a people who add the signature of their lives to the testimony of what is real.

Third among the markers of Christian parrhesia is a conformity of life to the message of the truth. St. Paul told the Philippian believers that “it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full parrhesia now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death.” [16] St. Paul bore in his manner of life a perpetual second witness to the truth-claims he made. The challenge of parrhesia , suggests Craig Hovey, is “deliberately living in such a way as to be freed and enabled to speak the truth.” [17]

The world has watched in horror over the past several decades as scandal upon scandal has broken upon Christianity. It is with no little irony that those very leaders who seemed the boldest in their convictions and preaching, became the very ones who hid and dissembled when called to account; their witness marred by a lack of conformation with the truth they proclaim. [18] Perhaps because the failures of celebrity ministry-leaders receive all the press, Christians may be tempted to ignore the way that such non-conformity occurs in smaller settings: on social media, around dinner tables, in arguments with family, at vestry meetings, through SMS messaging, etc. The Church must, at all levels, seek to “walk in the light as He is in the light,” conforming its life and the lives of its members to the Person of Jesus.

True Gospel parrhesia thus demands a truthfulness on two levels: (1) a conformation to the Person of Jesus, so that the truth spoken by the Church is also the truth lived by the Church; and (2) a culture of confession, in which each and every way that the Church fails in this regard is exposed, confessed, and healed. This is where Foucault made his great misunderstanding about truth and power: he “misunderstands how confession of sin is related to proclamation of the Gospel.” [19] He failed to see the link between the parrhesia of the penitent, who makes bold with God about his or her sins and offenses, and the parrhesia of the evangelist, who makes bold to the World about God’s forgiveness of sins. Among the community of the penitent, therefore, Gospel parrhesia begins in the place of confession. Hovey notes that “[i]t should not be surprising that the same virtue as the Christian confrontation with unjust rulers gives expression to the same virtue as the Christian confrontation with the injustices of the self.” [20] One’s ability to demonstrate boldness, parrhesia , in the world cannot be dislocated from his or her willingness to confess with parrhesia. Unless this happens, Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned, “we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy,” [21] and, as St. John wrote, “the truth is not in us.” [22]

The boldness that results from confession is the mark of Christian witness. “Now our brother stands in Christ’s stead. Before him I need no longer dissemble. Before him alone in the whole world I dare to be the sinner that I am.” [23] In confession, moreover, one speaks with parrhesia and resolve about future conduct. As Brian Druppa counseled his readers, the Church is to come to confession not only bold in God’s mercy and bold to speak the truth to our brother about our sins, but bold also in our “[r]esolutions for the time to come never to offend in the same kinde [sic] again: for without this, Confession is but a mere Pageant.” [24] A Church that seeks to be a community that speaks the truth with parrhesia must be a community marked by this kind of repentance and forgiveness and a growing conformity to the Image of Christ.

Finally, Gospel boldness is marked by charity. Christ does not call his disciples to some easy naivete which mindlessly says “I have no enemies –there are none who intend my ill and no injustices against which I must speak.” But Christ does call his disciples to love their enemies, to serve them, to pray for them, to be good to them, and to win them. [25] False parrhesia, false boldness about the truth, excuses us from kindness and civility. One sees this across America and across the political spectrum: a boldness that finds strength in being gruesome in its disregard for those who disagree, and which exchanges loving argument for sour ridicule. There is a kind of boldness that lets one’s neighbors know where one stands on the issues of the day, but it is another kind of boldness altogether which invites the disagreeing neighbor into one’s home for dinner and engages in costly conversations over desert and wine. It costs little to scorn those to whom the Church speaks the truth, but a deep costly parrhesia is needed to suffer with patience the scorn of our enemies and neighbors as we bear witness to the truth.

Such a posture lends force to the witness of the truth. To love one’s enemies and those with whom one disagrees, in local and embodied ways, is to prove by example one’s confidence in the truth. It is “the confidence that the truth can speak for itself.” [26] For to speak evidence without charity is in fact not to speak the fullness of the truth. It is to concede that one does not actually believe in the power of the truth; it is to believe that the truth is a lifeless and blunt instrument only useful when deployed as a cudgel operated not by its own power to effect, but by one’s own main force.

Christian parrhesia must be marked by a patient charity which, like the Lord Himself, is slow to anger. [27] This does not mean doing nothing, being idle, but resisting violent and uncharitable interventions in order to hasten the victory of the truth. For, as Hovey rightly discerns “[i]f victory could be brought about by the temerous intervention of the witness qua protester, it would not be the truth that wins.” [28] For Christians, the truth is living and active, not a dead and unliving tool of coercion. [29] A boldness that this truth will be victorious is what inspired Thomas Cranmer to so easily forgive his enemies and those who had orchestrated his harm:

“What will ye have a man do to hym that ys not yet come to the knowledge of the trueth of the gospel? […] if it be a true rule of our Saviour Christe to do good for evill, than lett suche as are not yet come to favour our religion lerne to folowe the doctrine of the gospel by our example in using them friendlie and charitablie [sic].” [30]

Christians in North America, Anglicans included, have proven themselves capable of being bold about their enemies. Have Christians in North America been as bold in loving them ? The degree that this answer is “no”, is the degree that the Church has lacked true parrhesia. Anglicans in North America must love the truth with all the bright radiance of blessedness while also loving those from whom they suffer the cost of that love of the truth. As costly as such work is, extending charity while bearing witness to the truth is precisely the work of those who bear the Name of Jesus, for “those who have seen the risen Christ cannot longer be satisfied with easy consolation.” [31] More simply, stated as an injunction: Speak the truth in love. [32]

Rather than addressing itself to any of the particular contemporary issues to which our Province must give a Christian witness, this essay instead has considered the way in which such a witness is given. It is the risky and daring Gospel parrhesia, inspired by the Spirit of Truth, [33] which must mark the witness of the ACNA. Confident in the love of Christ, joyful in the face of the hazards resultant from speaking the truth, conformed to Christ’s image through confession and growth in holiness, and abounding in love and charity towards those to whom it speaks the truth, such a Church can speak by the Spirit into any of the issues which demand its witness. “A church characterized by parrhesia shakes the earth until only unshakeable things remain” [34] contends Leithart. That’s good news. In an age marked by the overwhelming sense of powerlessness and despair, the Church is called to demonstrate what it means to be truly bold.

[1] John 10:24.

[2] cf. John 6:1-15, 25-28.

[3] John 19:7, 12.

[4] viz. John 2:18-22, 5:17-47, 6:29-69, 7:16-24, 7:37-39, 8:12-59, 9:35-39, and 10:1-18.

[5] Michel Foucault, Discourse and Truth: The Problematization of Parrhesia , Lecture Series at University of California at Berkeley (Oct.–Nov., 1983), transcribed by J. Pearson, https://foucault.info/parrhesia/ p.4.

[6] Proverbs 3:34, 16:5; James 4:6.

[7] cf. Proverbs 26:12; Romans 12:3; Galatians 6:3; Philippians 2:3.

[8] Ephesians 3:12; cf. Philemon 1:8.

[9] Hebrews 4:16.

[10] Acts 4:13, 4:29-31; cf. Acts 28:31.

[11] Colossians 3:3.

[12] John 18:37.

[13] Acts 4:23-31.

[14] Foucault, Discourse and Truth, p. 5.

[15] Peter Leithart, Solemn Charge and Exhortation , Trinity 2021, an address delivered to the 2022 class of the Theopolis Fellows Program.

[16] Philipians 1:20.

[17] Craig Hovey, “Free Christian Speech: Plundering Foucault,” Political Theology, 8.1, (2007), p. 71.

[18] Aware of ongoing investigations in the Province and their unfinalized nature, this statement is not intended to “weigh-in” on those proceedings or anticipate their outcomes in advance. It notes only the scandals of the past several decades, whose verdicts have been reached.

[19] Hovey, “Free Christian Speech ,” p. 76.

[20] Id., p. 77.

[21] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community, (trans.) John W. Doberstein, (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1954), p. 110.

[22] 1 John 1:8.

[23] Bonhoeffer , Life Together, p. 111.

[24] Brian Druppa, A Guide for the Penitent, (1660), pp.4-7; as quoted in Benjamin Guyer (ed.), The Beauty of Holiness: The Caroline Divines and Their Works, (London: Canterbury Press, 2012), p. 212.

[25] e.g. Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36.

[26] Hovey, “Free Christian Speech,” p. 79, (emphasis in the original).

[27] Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 78:38; Proverbs 14:29; cf. Romans 2:4; James 1:19.

[28] Hovey, “Free Christian Speech,” p. 79.

[29] Hebrews 4:12.

[30] J.G. Nichols (ed.), Narratives of the Days of the Reformation, Chiefly from the manuscripts of John Foxe the Martyrologist; with Two Contemporary Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer, CS, First (Old) Series, LXXVII ([London], 1859) National Portrait Gallery, London, pp. 246-7; as quoted in Ashley Null, “Thomas Cranmer’s Reputation Reconsidered,” in Reformation Reputations: The Power of the Individual in English Reformation History, (eds.) David J. Crankshaw and George W.C. Cross, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), p. 194.

[31] Hovey, “Free Christian Speech,” p. 80.

[32] Ephesians 4:15.

[33] John 16:13.

[34] Leithart, Solemn Charge ; cf. Acts 4:31, 16:26; and Hebrews 12:26-28.

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Essay Contests
On 13 June 1878, with Commander Alfred Thayer Mahan as acting Chair, the Naval Institute adopted rules for the first essay contest — the General Prize Essay Contest. This contest continues to this day. Currently, the Naval Institute sponsors 14 essay contests. Current Essay Contests.
RSN's Annual Essay Contest!
RSN's Annual Essay Contest for people in the U.S. who have kidney disease. Winners receive cash prizes. ... 2022. Winners will be announced on the week of September 25, 2022, and winning essays will be featured in RSN's publication KidneyTalk™ Magazine and on RSNHope.org. Read Full Press Release. All entries must be postmarked or received ...
40 Free Writing Contests: Competitions With Cash Prizes
The prize is $10,000 and may be awarded to works of criticism, art history, memoirs and biographies, and essays. Deadline: Annually in the last quarter of the year; the submission window is usually between November 16 to December 31. 14. W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction If you're a war buff, this competition is for you.
Writing Contest: Best 2022 of 2022
We offer four ways to enter this contest: Fiction: Submit a short story exactly 2022 words in length. Nonfiction: Submit an essay exactly 2022 words in length. Poetry: Submit a 2022-word poem. Poetry Bonus: Submit one set of two poems that are exactly 22 words each (44 words total). Titles are not included in the above word counts.
What Will You Run For? Student Essay Contest
Student Essay Contest inspired students in grades 7-12 to take civics into the real world by researching and creating a plan to improve their own community. See 2020 Winners Below! Great Prizes! STUDENT GRAND PRIZE. $1,000 Grant and Laptop; 3 Winners—Grades 7-8.
Real Simple Essay Contest Results
Aug 16, 2022. Undergraduate Majors . ... Real Simple Essay Contest Results, Good Intros For Essays, How To Begin An Essay With A Dialogue, Literature Review Utsc, 3rd Grade Persuasive Writing Samples, Thesis On Educational Problem In Pakistan, Checking your order ensures that none of your information has been stolen or copied. We work with a ...
Real Simple Essay Contest Winners 2011
Real Simple Essay Contest Winners 2011 - 4.8/5. 100% Success rate ... Customer Reviews. User ID: 833607 / Mar 30, 2022. Real Simple Essay Contest Winners 2011: So caring about what I expect... Member Login; Sign Up; REVIEWS HIRE. 100% Success rate REVIEWS HIRE. Level: College, University, High School, Master's, PHD, Undergraduate ...
Top 66 Writing & Essay Scholarships in March 2023
Top 57 Writing & Essay Scholarships in March 2023 These scholarships have passed through the Scholarships360 Review Process so you can apply confidently $10,000 "No Essay" Scholarship Scholarships360 Exclusive The Scholarships360 $10,000 "No Essay" Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education.
Real Simple Essay Contest Winners 2011
Real Simple Essay Contest Winners 2011 Reset password User ID: 766050 / Apr 6, 2022 Social Sciences REVIEWS HIRE User ID: 109231 296 Customer Reviews Nursing Management Business and Economics Psychology +99 Level: College, University, High School, Master's, PHD, Undergraduate Level: College, University, High School, Master's, PHD, Undergraduate
Real Simple Magazine Essay Contest
Real Simple Magazine Essay Contest: Accelerated Courses. Accelerated courses that allow you to earn your Bachelor's degree in just over 3 years or your Master's degree in 14 to 24 months. Confirm My Choices. Core courses: ... October 31, 2022 ...
These 11 Essay Contests with Generous Prizes Will Change Your Life
8. 2021 We the Students Essay Contest. 9. Student Essay Contest Sponsored by AWM and Math for America. 10. Civics Education Essay Contest. 11. St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition. Essay contests are unusual because to win them you have to use your words.
2022 Archbishop'S Essay Winner
2022 ARCHBISHOP'S ESSAY WINNER - CLERGY CATEGORY. Mar 16, 2023; Ernie; ... Such a charge, however bold it may seem, is not as simple as it first appears, for we live in strange times. ... Winners of Anglican House Publisher's 2022 Essay Contest. Mar 16, 2023. The World's Largest Baby Shower. Mar 15, 2023.