Bennington College Young Writers Awards

Bennington College Young Writers Awards are created by Bennington College, to promote excellence in writing at the high school level and to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students. Each year, over 5,000 students submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the Young Writers Awards competition.

Interested in the competition?

Competition Overview

Grades 9-12 students worldwide

Eligibility

Free

Entry Fee

September 1 annually

Submission Open

November 1 annually

Submission Deadline

📌 Note: Aralia is not the organizer of this competition. For official rules, deadlines, and updates, please refer directly to the competition organizer. Aralia provides listings and information about competitions for student reference. Aralia is an online education platform offering competition preparation classes to students worldwide.

Competition Details

1. Prizes

Winners will be selected in each category. The competition will also select distinguished submissions in each category and grade.

First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $2,000
Second-place winners receive $1000
Third-place winners receive $500
Distinguished Writer awards receive $250

Besides cash prizes, students will also receive scholarships to Bennington College (if they apply, are admitted, and enroll):

YWA winners will receive a full-tuition scholarship each year for four years (more than $60,000 per year)
YWA distinguished writers will receive a half-tuition scholarship each year for four years (more than $30,000/year)
YWA finalists will receive a $25,000 scholarship every year for four years.

Winning entries will also be published on the Bennington College website, potentially in local newspapers or magazines, or recorded for the Bennington audio library. Authors retain all other copyrights.

Submission Requirements

Students can only choose one category to submit work, and a student can only enter once per year.

Note:

Students in grades 9–11 can submit their entry to one category on the Bennington College website.
Students in grade 12 must first complete the Common App or Coalition App (no fees or extra essays). After submitting, they’ll receive an email with YWA submission instructions, allowing them to apply to both Bennington College and the YWA through a single process.

1. Poetry

Submissions for the poetry category must contain 1-3 poems, with a combined limit of 1500 words.

2. Fiction

Submissions for the fiction category include short stories or stand-alone excerpt from a larger piece.

3. Nonfiction

Submissions for the nonfiction category include personal or academic essays, or a stand-alone excerpt from a larger piece. The word limit is 1,500 words.

4. Submission Rules

Both the fiction and nonfiction categories have a strict 1,500-word limit. Headers, footers, footnotes, titles, and bibliographies count in the word limit. There are no exceptions to the word limit; the judges require you to cut all excess words.

Submissions must be typed, double-spaced, and in a legible typeface and font size such as Times New Roman 12-point. Each page must include the author’s name.

All submissions must be written in English.

Students must submit only in one category and submit one time per year.

All submissions must be reviewed and approved by a high school sponsor teacher, who will also serve as the competition contact. Homeschooled students should arrange for a mentor to sponsor their writing.