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.
Interested in the competition?
Competition Overview
9th-12th grades, welcome submissions from both US and international students
Eligibility
Free
Entry fee
November 1
Submission deadline
Competition Details
1. Submission Category
The competition runs annually from September 1 to November 1. Each year, over 5,000 students submitted poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the Young Writers Awards competition. Each year, students in the 9th-12th grades are invited to enter in one of the following categories with the following submission:
- Poetry: A group of three poems
- Fiction: A short story (1,500 words or fewer) or one-act play (run no more than 30 minutes of playing time)
- Nonfiction: A personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer)
2. Prizes
First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $1,000; second-place winners receive $500; third-place winners receive $250. Besides cash prizes, students will also receive scholarships to Bennington College for 4 years of undergraduate, the finalists will receive $40,000 and winners will receive $60,000 scholarships at Bennington for four years.
Submission Requirements
Students can only choose one category to submit work, and a student can only enter once per year.
1. Poetry
Submissions for the poetry category must contain three poems. Any poetry style is accepted, and the poems have no word or line limit.
2. Fiction
Submissions for the fiction category include short stories or one-act plays. The word limit is 1,500 words. If submitting a one-act play, scripts must run for under 30 minutes.
3. Nonfiction
Submissions for the nonfiction category include personal or academic essays. 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.
