English Department Creative Writing Contests
Ready to submit your writing?
This year’s deadline is April 15, 2025
Important details
All contest submissions should be typed in a standard 12-point font; prose should be double-spaced. The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript.
External Submissions
ACM Nick Adams Short Story Contest
External Submission
Each year, ACM sponsors the Nick Adams Short Story Contest to celebrate the creativity and talent of student writers at ACM colleges and to highlight the excellent creative writing programs across the consortium.
AWP Intro Journals Project
External Submission
The Intro Journals Project is a literary competition for the discovery and publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs.
NOTE: The English Department recently decided to end our AWP departmental membership and will no longer submit Intro Journals Project entries beginning in 2024-25. There is another external opportunity currently in development. Stay tuned!
Departmental Distinction
In Fall 2021, the English Department faculty voted to discontinue the awarding of distinction in our department. This decision was the culmination of conversations over several years–conversations that acquired greater urgency as the department began a more rigorous and wide-ranging discussion of equity, inclusion, and antiracism during the 2020-2021 academic year. The English Department joins several other St. Olaf departments and programs that have made the same decision in recent years and also joins a number of other departments and programs that have not offered distinction for many years.
What makes you keep choosing the English Department?
Great colleagues, students, and opportunities! For example, one of the highlights of this semester has been my work with four CURI students. We’re transcribing recipes written by women in the 1600s to make them Google-searchable. My students are not only excited to do this work, but actively trying to investigate alchemical terms, May butter, and even the impact of AI for the future of transcription research. All of this happened organically, based on their own interests, and it’s been a delight to collaborate with them.
Nancy Simpson-Younger ’06