Hosted annually by the Department of Humanities, the Annual Writing Contest contest showcases the writing talents of Illinois Tech undergraduate students from across the university.
2019 Writing Contest Details
All full-time Illinois Tech undergraduate students are invited to enter the 54th Annual Writing Contest. Full-time status is defined as being enrolled in at least 12 credit-hours in the current (spring 2019) semester.
Contest Rules
- Entries may include fiction, poetry, plays, nonfiction (such as essays, reviews, and technical or scientific papers), and essays by freshman. Nonfiction (including essays by freshman) should be readable by an educated person with no special training in the subject of the essay.
- All entries must include an entry form as a cover sheet attached to each entry. Forms are available in 218 Siegel Hall, or you can download one here.
- All entries must be submitted in duplicate. One should be typed, double-spaced, on 8.5″ x 11″ paper. Do not put your name on the paper copy itself or any of its pages. Deliver paper submissions to Greg Pulliam in the Department of Humanities, 218 Siegel Hall. The second copy should be submitted as an MS Word .DOC or .DOCX file to iitwritingcontest@gmail.com. The document should be saved in one of the following formas: Lastname.Nonfiction.doc, Lastname.Poetry.doc, Lastname.Fiction.doc, or Lastname.Freshman.doc, depending on the category to which it will be entered.
- You may enter several categories, and you may submit more than one entry in a category. Limit of one prize per category to any one student.
- You are encouraged to submit work that has been the subject of a class assignment, but please send a clean copy, free of any comments, marks, or grades.
- Entries will not be returned, so keep a copy for your records.
- All submitted short stories and plays will be considered for the Edwin H. Lewis Prize for Fiction. Submissions must be limited to no more than 25 double-spaced pages.
- All submitted poems or groups of poems will be considered for the Mollie Cohen Poetry Prize, which seeks to honor the effort to master the art of poetry rather than the exhibition of emotions. You may submit as many poems you wish; however, multiple poems by the same student will be judged as a single entry.
- All submitted nonfiction will be considered for the Edwin H. Lewis Prize for Nonfiction.
- All submitted freshman essays will be considered for the Freshman Essay Prize. Freshman is defined as any student who is in their first year of full-time college enrollment in spring 2019.
- Authors retain all rights to their works’ however, the authors grant Illinois Institute of Technology, the Department of Humanities, and TechNews the rights to publish their works for one calendar year, from April 1, 2019–April 1, 2020.
Winners will be announced on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 on the Lewis College of Human Sciences website. Please do not call the Department of Humanities to inquire whether you have won.
A luncheon for all entrants and an awards ceremony will be held at a later date. Details on the luncheon will be announced soon.
Download the Writing Contest Application
Prizes
| Prizes * | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edwin H. Lewis Prize for Fiction | $300 | $200 | $100 |
| Edwin H. Lewis Prize for Nonfiction | $300 | $200 | $100 |
| Henry and Myrna Knepler Freshman Essay Prize | $300 | $200 | $100 |
| Mollie Cohen Prize for Poetry | $300 | $200 | $100 |
Prizes will be awarded as PNC Bank gift cards, which may be used anywhere VISA is accepted.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Thursday, February 28 at 5 p.m.
For more information, please contact iitwritingcontest@gmail.com.