The Bennington College Young Writers Awards aim to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Our goal with this competition is to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students. Each year, students in the 9th-12th grades are invited to submit entries in either poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Entrants can submit three poems, a short story, or a personal or academic nonfiction essay. There is no entry fee.
First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $1,000; second-place winners receive $500; third-place winners receive $250. Winning entries will be published on the Bennington website.
Young Writers Award finalists and winners are also eligible for undergraduate scholarships at Bennington. YWA finalists who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington will receive a $10,000 scholarship every year for four years, for a total of $40,000. YWA winners who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington will receive a $15,000 scholarship every year for four years, for a total of $60,000.
Location(s)
- Remote
Schedule
- Submissions are due November 1st
Cost/Compensation
- Free
Eligibility Requirements
- High schools students in grades 9-12
- All entries must be original work and sponsored by a high school teacher.
Deadline
- November 1
Application or Entry Requirements
- Completed submission form
- Entries should adhere to the following category requirements:
- Poetry: A group of three poems
- Fiction: A short story (1,500 words or fewer) or a one-act play (run no more than 30 minutes of playing time)
- Nonfiction: A personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer)
- Entries can be submitted online or via mail
- All entries must be original work reviewed, approved, and sponsored by a high school teacher. Bennington will use the sponsoring teacher as a contact for the competition. For homeschooled students, applicants must contact a mentor to sponsor their writing.
- Both US and international students are eligible to submit. All entries must be submitted in English.
- Students who have graduated high school and are on a gap year are not eligible to submit.
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Bennington College is a private liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont. It was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became coeducational in 1969. The college has a small student body of around 800 undergraduate students and offers bachelor's degrees in various fields of study. Bennington has a unique academic structure called "The Plan," which allows students to design their own individualized course of study with the help of faculty advisors. The college also has a strong tradition of experiential learning, with opportunities for students to participate in internships, research projects, and community service. The campus features unique architecture, with buildings designed by renowned architects such as Marcel Breuer, Edward Larrabee Barnes, and Ben Thompson, and has attracted such notable faculty as Robert Frost and composer John Cage.
