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Creative Writing Contests at Carleton
| Writing Contests at Carleton: The Nick Adams Short Story Contest and Carleton's Four Annual Literary Prizes |
| The English Department encourages Carleton students to enter their work in the four writing contests sponsored by the college. In addition, the department participates in the Nick Adams Short Story Contest organized by the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. For detailed information about these competitions scroll down on this page. For information about writing contests sponsored by other institutions or publications, check the notices posted on the Creative Writing Bulletin Board next to Laird 209. |
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The Nick Adams Short Story Contest
We have a winner! Sarah Olson, Carleton rising Junior who plans to major in English, won the Nick Adams Short Story Contest this spring. Below are excerpts from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest's press release about Sarah and her winning story "Truth in Lies."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Sarah Olson named winner of 2013 ACM Nick Adams Short Story Contest. Sarah Olson, a sophomore at Carleton College, has been named the winner of the 41st annual ACM Nick Adams Short Story Contest. Ms. Olson’s story “Truth in Lies” was selected from the 37 stories submitted by students from ACM colleges. Novelist Peter Geye served as the final judge for the contest this year."
"In commenting on Ms. Olson’s story, Mr. Geye wrote that it is: a story that's as beautifully and as carefully written as the paintings the author describes. I was often reminded of the short stories of Richard Ford while I read, a feeling I relished. But this story is not just style. While it feigns aloofness, it actually packs plenty of emotional punch…I only wish the story
went on for the length of a novel, so I could relish the author's prose for days instead of hours. Bravo!"
To read the entire text of the press release, click on the article in the upper right corner of this page.
To read Sarah's "Truth in Lies" click here.
Carleton's Literary Prizes: Fiction, Academic Essay, Poetry, Humor
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| THE NICK ADAMS SHORT STORY CONTEST |
Deadline for the 2012-2013 contest: Friday, January 25, 2013. |
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| The ACM, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (of which Carleton is a member), has announced that entries are being accepted for the annual NICK ADAMS SHORT STORY COMPETITION, which offers a prize of $1000 for the best story by an ACM student. All students in good standing, including first year students, may participate in the contest. |
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| The prize, named for the young hero of many Hemingway stories, was given by an anonymous donor to encourage young writers who are students of ACM colleges. The results of the competition will be announced in March 2013 and the $1000 prize awarded to the winner. |
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| RULES AND GUIDELINES: |
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1. Each entrant may submit as many as two stories to the Carleton English Department. The stories need not have been written especially for the competition, but must not have been previously published off-campus.
2. Each manuscript is limited to 10,000 words.
3. Each submission should have a separate title page or cover sheet that includes the title of the story, the author's name, and the author's campus and home addresses. When printed, the title page must be able to be removed so the story can be judged anonymously.
4. The title of the story (but not the author's name) must also appear on the first page of the text of the story itself (page 1).
5. The stories should be submitted electronically as Microsoft Word documents* to the English Department's Administrative Assistant, Carolyn Soule. Please send them as email attachments to csoule@carleton.edu. Contestants will be notified about whether or not their stories have been chosen to be sent to the ACM Office in Chicago for further competition.
6. The Carleton English Department is authorized to select as many as four stories to send to the ACM office in Chicago; a small committee of faculty drawn from colleges throughout the consortium will then select the semi-finalists. The winner will be chosen by a professional writer. Past judges have included such writers as Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, Anne Tyler and Maya Angelou.
*Stories should be Microsoft Word documents rather than PDFs in case we need to correct the cover page or page 1 of the story itself. |
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| Carleton's Finalists in the Nick Adams Short Story Contest: 2012-2013 |
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Kate Cieslowski for her story, "Fine"
Sarah Olson for her story, "Truth in Lies"
Dan Peck for his story, "Looking After Quinn"
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Ellie Schmidt for her story, "Empty Shells"
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| THE CARLETON LITERARY PRIZES |
The deadline for all four competitions: Wednesday, April 10, 5:00 p.m., in the English Office, Laird 208 |
| Carleton College awards prizes each year to the winners of the four writing competitions listed below. The prizes will be presented at the annual Honors Convocation to be held on May 31, 2013 in the Carleton Chapel. There is a monetary award for each prize. |
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| THE CLASS OF 1885 PRIZE is awarded annually to the student submitting the best work of the imagination in prose. |
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| THE MARGARET DALTON CURRAN PRIZE was established in 1986 by family and friends in honor of Margaret Dalton Curran, '26, who developed a lifelong interest in excellent writing while at Carleton. This prize is awarded annually to the student submitting the most accomplished academic essay. |
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| THE HUNTINGTON POETRY PRIZE, endowed in memory of Dr. George Huntington, Carleton professor, poet, and novelist, is awarded to the best poem, or group or poems, submitted by a Carleton student. |
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| THE SAMUEL STRAUSS PRIZE FOR HUMOROUS WRITING is awarded to the student whose submission is judged to be the wittiest. Entries may be of any length, dramatic or non-dramatic, and may be written in prose, verse, or hybrid forms. |
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| CONTEST RULES AND REQUIREMENTS: |
| 1. If you enter MORE THAN ONE of the contests, you must submit a DIFFERENT manuscript for each. A COMPOSITION CAN BE ENTERED IN ONLY ONE CONTEST. |
| 2. TWO COPIES of each manuscript should be submitted to the English Department administrative assistant in Laird 208. Copies will not be returned. |
| 3. Your name should appear only on the back of the last page of each copy. |
| 4. Indicate on each submission the prize for which you wish to be considered. |
| 5. All pages of each manuscript must be securely stapled together or bound in a binder that can't be detached from the pages. The pages must be numbered. |
| 6. Contests are judged by members of the English and other departments. |
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| Winners of the Carleton Literary Prizes: |
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The Huntington Poetry Prize in 2012: Kathleen Hagan Roberts for her two groups of poems "The Professional Poems" and "6 Poems."
The Class of 1885 Prize in 2011: Rae Wood for her short story "Gone for Good."
The Samuel Strauss Prize for Humorous Writing: Griffin J. Johnson for his humorous piece, "Everyone is Jumping Off of The Bridge."
The Curran Prize for an academic essay in 2011: Gabriel Silberblatt's comps essay on Italo Calvino. |
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