Bennington College Young Writers Awards 2023-2024 Awards & Rules
Bennington College Young Writers Awards 2023-2024 – Bennington College has a unique literary legacy, including twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, four MacArthur Geniuses, countless New York Times bestsellers, and two of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.
In celebration of this legacy, Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Our goal with this competition is to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students.
Each year, students in the 9th-12th grades are invited to enter in one of the following categories with the following submission:
Poetry: A group of three poems
Fiction: A short story (1,500 words or fewer) or one-act play (run no more than 30 minutes of playing time)
Nonfiction: A personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer)
A first, second, and third place winner is selected in each category.
We welcome submissions from both U.S. and international students.
Have questions about the contest? Email [email protected]
Download a Young Writers Awards poster to print and hang in your classroom or school.
Rules
First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $1,000; second-place winners receive $500; third-place winners receive $250.
There is no entry fee
All entries must be original work reviewed, approved and sponsored by a high school teacher. We will use your sponsoring teacher as a contact for the competition should we have any questions. For homeschooled students, please contact a mentor to sponsor your writing.
Young Writers Award finalists and winners are also eligible for undergraduate scholarships at Bennington. YWA finalists who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington will receive a $10,000 scholarship every year for four years, for a total of $40,000. YWA winners who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington will receive a $15,000 scholarship every year for four years, for a total of $60,000.
The competition runs annually from September 1 to November 1.
Eligibility
Students currently enrolled in the 9th-12th grades or secondary school (for international students) during the academic year are invited to submit in one writing category by the November 1 deadline:
> Poetry: three poems of any length and in any form.
Poems must be typed. Each page must clearly show the author’s name.
> Fiction: a short story or one-act play.
Short stories must be typed, double-spaced, and fewer than 1500 words. Scripts must be typed, double-spaced, and run no more than 30 minutes (playing time). Each page must clearly show the author’s name.
> Nonfiction: a personal or academic essay.
Stories and nonfiction must be typed, double-spaced, and fewer than 1500 words. Each page must clearly show the author’s name.
All entries must be original work. All entries must be reviewed, approved, and sponsored by a high school teacher. We will use your sponsoring teacher as a contact for the competition should we have any questions. For homeschooled students, please contact a mentor to sponsor your writing.
Both US and international students are eligible to submit. All entries must be submitted in English.
We welcome simultaneous submissions, and we understand and appreciate that you may be participating in multiple competitions with your YWA entry. Our expectation remains that you will submit in only one category for the YWA.
For more Information: Visit the website for Bennington College Young Writers Awards 2023-2024
