Writing Competitions
The Annual Flash Fiction Competition is held during each spring semester.
Flash fiction stories are extremely short stories. For our contest, each entry may be no longer than 500 words to be eligible. Titles must be included in the word count. Judges for the competition have included Jenn Rossmann, Kate Brandes, Margo Rabb, and Jennifer Gilmore. Student winners and honorable mentions read their flash fiction stories in a public reading with the contest’s judge.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE FEB 9, 2024 submit here
The 2024 Annual Flash Fiction judge is Stephanie Powell Watts.
Henna Cho ’14 reads her poem to the audience proceeding the H. MacKnight Black Poetry Reading held in the Williams Center on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon was featured.
The H. MacKnight Black Poetry and Literature Prize, established in 1945, is awarded to a senior for the best poem. A poet of national or international distinction judges the contest, meets with students, and gives a reading on campus, preceded at the podium by the student winner or co-winners. MacKnight Black judges have included Paul Muldoon, Gillian Conoley, Mark Doty, Lynn Emanuel, Brian Henry, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, David Lehman, William Matthews, Campbell McGrath, Heather McHugh, Alicia Ostriker, Molly Peacock, Tomaz Salamun, Brenda Shaughnessy, Gerald Stern, Kimiko Hahn, Matthew Dickman, Michael Dickman, Brenda Shaughnessy, and Kazim Ali.
The 2024 MacKnight Black Competition judge and featured poet is Chiyuma Elliott.
The MacKnight Black Poetry Prize is awarded annually in memory of H. MacKnight Black ’16, who at the time of his death in 1931, was regarded as one of America’s significant poets. He was particularly admired for his incorporation of technological terms and images in his poetry.
The Jean E. Corrie Poetry Prize, established in 1989, is awarded for the best poem by a first-year student, sophomore or junior. The prize is sponsored by the English department and the Academy of American Poets. The judge of the competition gives a reading at the Jean Corrie Poetry Reading & Ice Cream Social, preceded by students whose poetry was selected in the competition. Past judges have included Katherine Bogden, David Chin, Barbara Crooker, Katie Ford, Ross Gay ’96, Jared Harel, Steve Myers, Yolanda Wisher Palacio ’98, Beth Seetch, Ruth Setton, BJ Ward, Bob Watts, Joe Weil, and Javier Avila.
The 2024 Jean Corrie judge and featured poet is Jessica Guzman.
The Corrie Prize is held under the auspices of the Academy of American Poets. Academy prizes were established in 1955 with ten schools as participants. In subsequent years, the prizes have been awarded to more than 200 colleges and universities across the United States. Among the prominent poets who won recognition through an Academy College Poetry Prize are Sylvia Plath, Tess Gallagher, Heather McHugh, Mark Doty, and Jorie Graham.