The 54th annual Wisconsin Writers Awards, sponsored by the Council for Wisconsin Writers, opens for submissions on Nov. 1. The Council invites Wisconsin writers to submit work published in 2018. Contest categories include book-length fiction, nonfiction and poetry, short fiction and nonfiction, children’s literature, and a set of five poems, two of which must have been published in the contest year.
First-place winners in those categories receive $500 and a one-week writer’s residency at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI. Honorable mention recipients receive $50 and a one-week writer’s residency at the Painted Forest Study Center in Valton, WI. Entries must be postmarked no later than Jan. 31, 2019. Writers who enter must be current Wisconsin residents.
New for this year: The Young Writers Award, previously an essay contest, now accepts poetry, fiction, essay, memoir, journalism, humor and drama. This award recognizes Wisconsin high school students who excel at the craft of creative writing. The first-place winner receives $250 and the honorable mention recipient receives $50.
The entry fee for all contests except the Young Writers Award is $25. There is no fee for Young Writers Award entries. CWW membership is not required, but members are entitled to one free entry. Out-of-state judges will make the selections. First-place and honorable-mention awards will be presented at the Council’s Annual Awards Banquet in May 2019. CWW’s Major Achievement Award, which honors a Wisconsin writer for work that deserves special recognition for literary merit without regard to genre or category, is also scheduled to be presented. The recipient will be chosen by the CWW Board of Directors.
Specific guidelines, entry forms, and important additional information for each award category are available in the 2018 Entry Forms section of the CWW website at wiswriters.org/contest-entry-forms.
Please address general questions about the contest to CWW Publicity/Blog Manager Jerrianne Hayslett at jfarhsi@aol.com. Questions about individual contest categories should be addressed to the category co-chair. Co-chairs are listed on the 2018 Entry Forms section of the CWW website at wiswriters.org/contest-entry-forms.