Genius Olympiad: Creative Writing

GENIUS Creative Writing uses writing to raise awareness about global environmental problems and calls the public to action on solutions.

​

CREATIVE WRITING | Short Story

Short stories may be in any style or genre; realism, science fiction, horror, romance, fantasy, mystery, etc. Judges will be looking for unity of effect and narrations with strong voices. Stories should address an environmental issue directly or indirectly.

​

CREATIVE WRITING | Essay

For purposes of this competition, “essay” will be defined as a memoir or true story. The judges will not consider journalistic or academic essays, but rather are looking for personal stories that express the student’s own experience, memories, or observations related to environmental issues, such as a personal story of a city, lake, sea changing over time and personal reflection upon that change.

​

CREATIVE WRITING | Poetry

Poems can be in any form or style but will ideally use imagery and clear expression to evoke an emotional and/or intellectual response in the reader. Poems should address an environmental issue directly or indirectly. Simply mentioning a river or a mountain will likely be insufficient, but the poetry need not be didactic.

​

Participants submit their project either directly to Genius Olympiad or through an affiliated fair. Finalists are chosen to display their project at the 5-day Genius Olympiad at the University of Rochester in June. All participants will receive a GENIUS Participant Certificate for their ambition and participation. Four tiers of awards and gifts will be given according to the student’s total score within their category:

​

• Top Grand Gold Award: To the top one project in each category: A Grand Certificate, a gold medal, and an award will be given.
• Gold Medal: To top 10 % of the participants: A Gold Certificate and a gold medal.
• Silver Medal: To top 90-70% of the participants: A Silver Certificate and a silver medal.
• Bronze Medal: To top 70-50% of the participants. A Bronze Certificate and a bronze medal.
• Honorable Mention: To top 50-20% of the participants. A certificate will be given to all Honorable Mention winners.

• The GENIUS Olympiad is open to all international and U.S. students studying in grades 9-12 (or the equivalent). 
• All students under 17 years old must attend the GENIUS Olympiad with an adult supervisor (a teacher, a parent, or a guardian).
• Minimum age requirement for student participants is 13.
• Each student may present only one project. In the case of being a finalist for multiple projects, the applicant must choose which project to present.

• March 1: Application deadline for ALL individual/school/International Fair applications. 
• April 18: Application deadline for affiliated US/EU Fairs Certificate Holders.

• A creative writing project can be prepared and submitted by only one student.
• Your project file, including your creative work, must be submitted for a complete application. All submissions must have a title.
• Short story and essay projects should be 2000 words or less.
• Poets can submit 1-3 poems. There should be no more than one poem per page, and the submission must be no more than five pages total.
• Submissions should be on regular-size paper with 1 inch (2.5 cm) margins from each side. They should be double-spaced, in 12-point type, preferably using Calibri or Arial fonts. Please do not use unusual fonts or single-spacing. (Note: Poets can format their poem(s) as they see fit.)
• All projects must be submitted in their final format.
• All projects must be submitted in ONLY PDF format.
• Your project file name must be in English characters and should be less than 25 characters.
• By submitting an application, you give rights to GENIUS Olympiad to freely use your creative work.

• Finalists are announced in April