Admissions

Creative Writing Essay Contest

Creative Writing Essay Contest 

Deadline: April 15, 2025

Eligibility: 9-12th graders who attend a Florida high school or are homeschooled.

Submissions: Submissions may be emailed to creative@ncf.edu. or below The contest accepts submissions in three genres. Choose one or more to submit: 

Poetry: A group of three to five poems in any style. 

Fiction: A work of fiction of no more than 1,500 words. If the submission is an excerpt from a larger work, please indicate this on your title page.

Creative Nonfiction: A work of creative nonfiction (not an academic essay) of no more than 1,500 words. 

Prizes: Judges will select firstsecond, and third-prize winners in each genre as well as finalists.

First Prize: $600
Second Prize: $300
Third Prize: $100
Five Finalists: $50 each

Winners and finalists will have their work published in a magazine and will be invited to an-all-expenses-paid trip to New College for a literary event in spring 2025. 

In addition, winners and finalists are eligible for full- and partial-tuition undergraduate college scholarships. Winners who apply, are admitted, and enroll at New College will receive a full-tuition scholarship. Finalists who apply, are admitted, and enroll at New College will receive a 50% tuition scholarship.

Submission Guidelines/Process:

  • Students may submit contest submissions on their own by sending them to creative@ncf.edu.

    Teachers are also welcome to submit entries on current or former students’ behalf with student’s permission (teachers must indicate that they are doing so through the submission platform), though students do not need to have a “sponsoring” teacher for their submission.

    Students do not need to have taken a creative writing course to enter contest, nor do they currently need to be enrolled in an English course.

    Contest entries must be in English, though if there are excerpts of other languages in the entry (e.g. portions of dialogue in other languages), that is completely fine. 

    Submissions must be in .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf format and contain a cover page with student’s name, date of birth, high school, and submission genre. Google Docs are not accepted.
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