THE CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM INVITES SUBMISSIONS for the annual Fiction/Nonfiction and Poetry competitions.
All currently enrolled Oberlin students are invited to submit work for the following competitions:
The Emma Howell Poetry Prize
When Emma Howell died in 2001, her parents set up a poetry prize to be awarded yearly to an Oberlin student. They wanted to encourage young poets, just as Emma was encouraged as a creative writing major at Oberlin. After five years of generous donations from friends and family, the fund for the prize reached the "endowed" status Oberlin Fund. Each year, a panel of judges - members of Oberlin's Creative Writing Department and Emma's father, the poet Christopher Howell - pore through stacks of submissions from Oberlin students and awards a prize of $1000 to the winner. In April of each year, the program hosts a reading of the finalists for this prize, as well as other poetry and fiction prizes. And each year her parents are especially proud to attend the ceremony, to meet the writers and listen to their work. Read more details
The Miroslav Holub Science Poetry Prize
The $100 Miroslav Holub Science Poetry prize is awarded to poetry with a significant amount of content informed by science. Any field qualifies, from the life sciences to the “hard” sciences (or any combination). The poems may be in nontechnical language or they may use some technical diction; in either case, they should be accessible to a non-technical reader. Judges will include scientists and poets.
The Friebert Academy of American Poets Prize
There are no requirements of style, theme or length for the Friebert Prize; the quality of the writing is the only criterion. The winning entry will receive an award of $100.
The Diane Vreuls Fiction Prize
Named after fiction writer and co-founder of the Creative Writing Program, Diane Vreuls, this prize of $100 is awarded to the best work of short fiction submitted by a currently enrolled Oberlin student.
The Friends and Alumni Award in Fiction or Nonfiction
Contributions by Creative Writing alumni support this annual $100 award to the best entry in fiction or nonfiction by a student currently enrolled at Oberlin.
