Opportunities in English

Writing Contests

In Creative Writing

The Mando Award for Creative Nonfiction

The Armanda “Mando” Alters Montaño ’12 Prize Memorial for Creative Nonfiction honors the legacy of Mando Alters Montaño, an inspiring young writer and journalist who died while working in Mexico City shortly after graduation in 2012. The prize will honor a work of creative nonfiction, including but not limited to personal essays and literary journalism, that best demonstrates the vulnerability, intelligence, lyricism, and curiosity that marked Mando’s own work.

The winners of the prizes are decided through an annual competition, judged every spring semester. A cash award of $500 for first prize and up to two honorable mention awards of $100 each will be given.

Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2025 by 11:59 p.m.

Rules and Guidelines:

Entrants must be currently enrolled Grinnell College students in good standing. Only students who are taking at least 12 credits on campus or in a Grinnell-approved study abroad program are eligible to submit their work.
All unpublished works are eligible for the prize. A story is eligible for a prize if it has appeared in the Grinnell Review, The Scarlet and Black, or any other campus publication during the academic year of the prize. It cannot have appeared in a previous year’s campus publication, even if it has been significantly revised, nor have won a monetary prize or been a finalist in previous Grinnell College contests.
Entrants may submit one or two pieces (typed, double-spaced, with a maximum total word count of 6,000 words).
Each submission should include:
- a removable cover sheet containing:
  - the author’s name
  - the title of the entry
  - the author’s email address, campus phone number, mailbox number, and current address (either campus or permanent)
- The title of the story should be on the first page of the entry. Cover sheets will be removed for judging so that the entries may be judged anonymously.
Submit electronic copy entries (PDF only) to De Dudley.
No late entries will be accepted.
Cash awards are $500 for first prize and $100 each for up to three honorable mention winners. Judges determine how many, if any, honorable mentions are awarded each year.
Award winners will be announced in April of each year at the annual Mando Memorial Lecture on campus. The winner will be invited to read the opening two pages of the essay at the event and will have the option of publishing the winning essay on the English Department website.

Please direct any inquiries about the contest to Hai-Dang Phan, phanhai@grinnell.edu.

Frequency:

Annually

In Critical Literature

The Selden Whitcomb Critical Essay Prize

The Selden Whitcomb Critical Essay Prize for the best essay in literary criticism is made possible by Edna Osborne Whitcomb, widow of Selden Lincoln Whitcomb 1887, as a bequest made to the College at the time of her death in 1932. Selden Whitcomb was a Grinnell graduate who also taught here from 1895–1905, serving eventually as the chair of the English department. The winner or winners of the prize are decided through an annual competition in the spring semester. $500 dollars will be awarded for first place, with $100 each to two runners-up.

Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2025 by 11:59 p.m.

Rules and Guidelines:

Entrants must be currently enrolled Grinnell College students in good standing. Only students who are taking at least 12 credits on campus or in a Grinnell-approved study abroad program are eligible to submit their work.
Only papers written for an English department seminar or in a MAP supervised by an English department faculty member are eligible for submission.
Entrants are limited to one critical essay.
Submission should include:
- a removable cover sheet containing:
  - the author’s name
  - the title of the entry
  - the author’s email address, campus phone number, mailbox number, and current address (either campus or permanent)
- The title of the story must also appear on the first page of the story; however, the author’s name should only appear on the cover sheet. Cover sheets will be removed so that the entries may be judged anonymously.
We are under no obligation to award the prizes in a given year if the quality of submissions is less than meritorious.
Submit electronic copy entries (Word or PDF only) to De Dudley. No late entries will be accepted.
Award winners will be announced in May 2025.

Please direct any inquiries about the contest to Hai-Dang Phan, phanhai@grinnell.edu.

Frequency:

Annually

In Fiction

The Nick Adams Short Story Prize

The Associated Colleges of the Midwest sponsors the Nick Adams Short Story Contest, which is named for the young hero of many Hemingway stories. The contest was established in 1973 with funds from an anonymous donor to encourage young writers. A cash award of $1000 is given to the winner. Nelson Ogbuagu, economics major, was the last Grinnell student to win for his story “Playing It Safe” in 2016.

Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025, by 11:59 p.m.

Rules and Guidelines:

Entrants must be currently enrolled Grinnell College students in good standing, but need not be English majors or enrolled in an English course.
Submitted stories need not be written especially for the contest, but stories cannot have been previously published off-campus or previously received finalist status in this contest.
Each manuscript is limited to 10,000 words.
Each submission should include:
- a removable cover sheet containing:
  - the author’s name
  - the title of the entry
  - the author’s email address, campus phone number, mailbox number, and current address (either campus or permanent)
  - the word count of the story
- The title of the story must also appear on the first page of the story; however, the author’s name should only appear on the cover sheet.
No more than two entries may be the work of one student.
Submit electronic copy entries (PDF only) to De Dudley. No late entries will be accepted.
Grinnell College may submit a maximum of four entries to the ACM faculty committee. A small committee of ACM faculty members will screen the stories. Approximately six stories will then be submitted for final judging by a notable author outside the consortium.
Award winners will be announced in May 2025.
The prize will be awarded only if the final reader finds a story of sufficient excellence.

Please direct any inquiries about the contest to Hai-Dang Phan, phanhai@grinnell.edu.

Frequency:

Annually

The Henry York Steiner Memorial Prize for Short Fiction

The Henry York Steiner Memorial Prize for Short Fiction was established as part of the Steiner Prize, established in 1913 by Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Steiner of Grinnell who endowed the annual award of a prize “for some form of creative art.” The winners of the prizes are decided through an annual competition, judged every spring semester. A cash award of $500 for first prize and two awards of $100 each for second prize will be given.

Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2025 by 11:59 p.m.

Rules and Guidelines:

Entrants must be currently enrolled Grinnell College students in good standing. Only students who are taking at least 12 credits on campus or in a Grinnell-approved study abroad program are eligible to submit their work.
All unpublished stories are eligible for the prize. A story is eligible for a prize if it has appeared in the Grinnell Review during the academic year of the prize — in other words, if it has appeared in the fall semester’s Grinnell Review. It cannot have appeared in a previous year’s Grinnell Review, even if it has been significantly revised, nor have won a monetary prize or been a finalist at Grinnell College.
Entrants may submit one or two short stories (typed, double-spaced).
Each submission should include:
- a removable cover sheet containing:
  - the author’s name
  - the title of the entry
  - the author’s email address, campus phone number, mailbox number, and current address (either campus or permanent)
- The title of the story should be on the first page of the entry. Cover sheets will be removed for judging so that the entries may be judged anonymously.
Submit electronic copy entries (Word or PDF only) to De Dudley. No late entries will be accepted.
Cash awards are $500 for first prize and $100 each for two second prize winners.
Award winners will be announced in May 2025.

Please direct any inquiries about the contest to Hai-Dang Phan, phanhai@grinnell.edu.

Frequency:

Annually

In Poetry

The Lorabel Richardson/Academy of American Poets Prize for the best single poem

The Lorabel Richardson/Academy of American Poets Prize is awarded for the best single poem to Grinnell poets in memory of Lorabel Richardson 1919. Ms. Richardson, who as a student won the Steiner Prize for Short Fiction in 1917, worked her whole professional life as an English teacher in the public schools in Marshalltown, Iowa. The prize, which is administered through the Academy of American Poets, was established in 1993 through a fund established by Louise Haug of Ames, Iowa. The academy’s nationwide program makes awards of $100 for the best undergraduate poetry produced each year.

Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2025 by 11:59 p.m.

Rules and Guidelines:

Entrants must be currently enrolled Grinnell College students in good standing.
All unpublished poems are eligible for the prize. Poems are eligible for a prize if they have appeared in the Grinnell Review during the academic year of the prize — in other words, if they have appeared in the fall semester’s Grinnell Review. They cannot have appeared in a previous year’s Grinnell Review, even if they have been significantly revised, nor have won a monetary prize or been a finalist at Grinnell College. Only students who are taking at least 12 credits on campus or in a Grinnell-approved study abroad program are eligible to submit their work.
Each submission should include:
- a removable cover sheet containing:
  - the author’s name
  - the title of the entry
  - the author’s email address, campus phone number, mailbox number, and current address (either campus or permanent)
- The title of the poem should also be on the first page of the entry. Cover sheets will be removed for judging so that the entries may be judged anonymously.
You may submit up to three poems.
Submit electronic copy entries Word (.doc, .docx) only to De Dudley. No late entries will be accepted.
A cash award of $100 is given for the Lorabel Richardson/Academy of American Poets Contest.
Award winners will be announced in May 2025.

Please direct any inquiries about the contest to Hai-Dang Phan, phanhai@grinnell.edu.

Frequency:

Annually

The Selden Whitcomb Prize in Poetry for the best collection of 4 poems

The Selden Whitcomb Prize in Poetry for the best collection of 4 poems was established by Edna Osborne Whitcomb, widow of Selden Lincoln Whitcomb 1887, as a bequest made to the College at the time of her death in 1932. Selden Whitcomb was a Grinnell graduate who also taught here from 1895-1905, serving eventually as the chair of the English department. The conditions of Mrs. Whitcomb’s bequest state that “the prize, or prizes, if there is enough for several, shall be awarded annually for the best original poetry written during the year by Grinnell students in the College.” The winners of the prize are decided through an annual competition judged in spring semester.

Deadline: Monday, March 3, 2025 by 11:59 p.m.

Rules and Guidelines:

Entrants must be currently enrolled Grinnell College students in good standing.
All unpublished stories are eligible for the prize. Poems are eligible for the prize if they have appeared in the Grinnell Review during the academic year of the prize — in other words, if they have appeared in the fall semester’s Grinnell Review. They cannot have appeared in a previous year’s Grinnell Review, even if they have been significantly revised, nor have won a monetary prize or been a finalist at Grinnell College. Only students who are taking at least 12 credits on campus or in a Grinnell-approved study abroad program are eligible to submit their work.
Entrants may submit one entry of four poems.
Each submission should include:
- a removable cover sheet containing:
  - the author’s name
  - the title of the submissions
  - the author’s email address, campus phone number, mailbox number, and current address (either campus or permanent)
  - The title of the poem should be on the first page of each poem. Cover sheets will be removed for judging so that the entries may be judged anonymously.
Submit electronic copy entries (Word or PDF only) to De Dudley. No late entries will be accepted.
Cash awards are $500 for first prize and $100 each for two second prize winners.
Award winners will be announced in May 2025.

Please direct any inquiries about the contest to Hai-Dang Phan, phanhai@grinnell.edu.

Frequency:

Annually

In Playwriting

Part of the Steiner Award bequest, mentioned above, The Henry York Steiner Memorial Prize for Playwriting is awarded when the Theater faculty identify a deserving piece of student-written drama.

Activities and Organizations

Creative Writing

Grinnell has a vibrant creative writing scene. There are many published writers on campus — faculty, staff, and students, along with a number of published writers living in town. The College regularly hosts workshops and readings headlined by prominent authors, many of which have been recipients of major awards: Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and MacArthur Fellowships. Grinnell’s proximity to Iowa City, site of the prestigious University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, makes it an easy stop on the reading train, as authors with newly published books often arrange a mini Iowa circuit. (Our location also allows Grinnellians to zip into Iowa City to catch a famous writer if, for whatever reason, they can’t make it to Grinnell.) In addition to the many professional readings — some six or seven a semester — there are all sorts of student readings and open-mic sessions. Each semester culminates with a formal reading from the Grinnell Review, the College’s undergraduate creative writing journal, where students are eligible for annual prizes in fiction and poetry, accompanied with monetary awards.

Writers@Grinnell

Writers@Grinnell, the English department’s reading series, brings to campus writers of all kinds: poets, novelists, memoirists, essayists, radio essayists, columnists, graphic memoirists, playwrights, and short story writers. Believing language to be a dynamic and communal medium, we give its crafted versions the attention they deserve, and we take seriously the importance of diverse perspectives. Recent visitors include African-American and Latino writers, international writers, LGBT writers, blind and deaf writers, bipolar writers, and writers with mobility impairments. Through the generous support of an anonymous donor, every year we host a distinguished author reading and an interdisciplinary creative writing event. This year, the program is directed by Hai-Dang Phan, associate professor of English..

Schedule of Events

SEPC

The Student Educational Policy Committee, or SEPC, is a student-faculty liaison group which provides faculty with student input on professors, candidates, curriculum, and other departmental issues. It also organizes social events within the department.