Young Writers Awards

*Submissions are closed for this cycle—winners will be announced in early Spring 2024.*

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Young Writer's Awards FAQ:

I am at a school outside of the U.S. Can I still enter?

Absolutely! We welcome students from all over the globe to participate in the Young Writers Awards.

Is there a fee to enter?

Nope! The competition is free.

My school doesn’t have a CEEB, what do I do?

Enter in N/A, we’ll figure it out from there.

Can I submit in more than one category?

We ask that participants submit in only one category, and submit only one time per year.

I have submitted this work previously to other awards, publications, or competitions. Can I still submit it?

We welcome simultaneous submissions.

I’m a gap year student. Can I enter?

We ask that students who participate be in 9th through 12th grade—sadly gap year students are not eligible for the competition.

Can my submission be in {language that is not English}?

We have a diverse group of people who read our submissions; however, we do not currently accept submissions that are not written in English.

Is the word count absolute?

As Stephen King says: kill your darlings. The word count is strict, get your submission down to 1500 words. Headers, footers, footnotes, titles, bibliographies all count.

What does “sponsoring teacher” mean and entail?

A sponsoring teacher is someone who has worked with you, read what you’ve decided to submit, and helped you edit it. They’ve given you feedback and advice. Once you submit your work, your sponsoring teacher’s work is largely done, but we want to make sure that you’ve done this step.

Who can my sponsoring teacher be?

You don’t have to have taken a class with them, but they should know you, and have worked with you in some capacity previously. Your parents don’t count (unless you’re a homeschooled student).

2022-2023 Winners

Poetry

Fiction

Nonfiction

About the Contest

Bennington College has a unique literary legacy, including twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, four MacArthur Geniuses, countless New York Times bestsellers, and two of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

In celebration of this legacy, Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards 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 enter in one of the following categories with the following submission:

  1. Poetry: A group of three poems

  2. Fiction: A short story (1,500 words or fewer) or one-act play (run no more than 30 minutes of playing time)

  3. Nonfiction: A personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer)

A first, second, and third place winner is selected in each category.

We welcome submissions from both U.S. and international students. 

Have questions about the contest? Email ywa@bennington.edu

 Download a Young Writers Awards poster to print and hang in your classroom or school. 

Awards & Rules

First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $1,000; second-place winners receive $500; third-place winners receive $250.

  • There is no entry fee

  • All entries must be original work reviewed, approved and sponsored by a high school teacher. We will use your sponsoring teacher as a contact for the competition should we have any questions. For homeschooled students, please contact a mentor to sponsor your writing.

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.

The competition runs annually from September 1 to November 1.

Congratulations to our 2022-2023 winners!

More About Literature Studies at Bennington

Academics
Literature studies at Bennington are grounded in the idea that good writers are good readers. Each year, an exceptional group of Bennington undergraduates is chosen to participate in an MFA summer residency through the Undergraduate Writing Fellowship. At the graduate level, the MFA offered by the Bennington Writing Seminars is one of the best low-residency programs in the United States.

Off the Page & Outside the Classroom
Bennington College believes that a writer’s influence extends beyond the printed page. As the steward of the Robert Frost Stone House Museum, Bennington is committed to maintaining and growing Robert Frost’s literary legacy in Southern Vermont and beyond.

Throughout the year, Bennington College welcomes prominent writers and alumni to campus for readings during its Literature Evenings, Poetry at Bennington, and Writers Reading series.

Students at Bennington are invited to contribute to SILO, the student literary and arts magazine. Bennington Review, a national biannual literary journal based at the College, provides students an opportunity to help edit and produce a professional print literary magazine.

Bennington College Literature students go on to become novelists, poets, journalists, biographers, and more. Explore notable alumni.

Join Us At Bennington

Interested in exploring what a Bennington education can offer? Here are some next steps: 

Past Winners

Each year, over 5,000 students submitted poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the Young Writers Awards competition. We congratulate all entrants on their extraordinary submissions, and are pleased to share past winning entries.

2021-2022 Winners

read media release

Poetry

Fiction

  • First Place, "Observations made at the Lu Family Dinner Table, New Year's Eve, 2019," Sunshine Chen, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA
  • Second Place, "A Language is a Story," Olga Musial, 33 Copernicus High School, Warszawa, Poland
  • Third Place,  "I Leave the Six Blank"  was written by Rachel Kenley Fry and attributed to another writer, who submitted the work. This never should have happened as the contest requires students to submit original work. We apologize to the writer for this wrongful attribution. Measures have been taken to guard against plagiarism in the future.

Nonfiction

2020-2021 Winners

read media release

Poetry

Fiction

Nonfiction

  • First Place,  "Dissecting Matryoshka," Stefania Bielkina, The Dwight School, New York, NY
  • Second Place, "Skin Test," Indigo Mudbhary, Lick Wilmerding High School, San Francisco, CA
  • Third Place, "Gifted," Rebecca Orten, Middlebury Union High School, Middlebury, VT

2019-2020 Winners

read media release

2018-2019 Winners

Poetry

Fiction

  • First Place: "Haymarket," Cynthia Lu, Belmont High School, Belmont, MA
  • Second Place: "Moon Fever," Kali Puhnaty, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Idyllwild, CA
  • Third Place: "Hardest Hue to Hold, " Lillian Robles, Homeschooled, Glendale, CA

Nonfiction

  • First Place: "Sundown with Giraffes," Azpiri Iglesias, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI
  • Second Place: "Becoming a Woman: A Checklist," Thalia King, Pittsburgh CAPA High School, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Third Place: "Transience," Jessica Yu, West Linn High School, West Linn, OR

2017-2018 Winners

Poetry

Fiction

Nonfiction

  • First Place: "PEEL," Kelley Liu, Troy High School, Troy, MI
  • Second Place: "Ruth," Sophie Paquette, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI
  • Third Place: "Bingo," Katherine Chou, Hamilton High School, Chandler, AZ

 

2016–2017 Winners

Poetry 

Fiction 

  • First Place: "Souvenirs," Catherine Wang, Chinese International School, Hong Kong
  • Second Place: "House of God," Jacqueline He, The Harker School, San Jose, CA

Nonfiction 

2015–2016 Winners

Poetry 

Fiction 

  • First Place: "Reddi-Wip," Walker Caplan, The Lakeside School, Seattle, WA
  • Second Place: "Momma Drove Like a Man," Ella Zalon, Oakland School for the Arts, Oakland, CA

Nonfiction 

  • First Place: "Of Perfumes," Addie Glickstein, East High School, Denver, CO
  • Second Place: "Hair," Luisa Healey, Hunter College High School, New York, NY

2014–2015 Winners 

Poetry 

Fiction 

  • Second Place: "Mansions," Sophia Gyarmathy, Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL

Nonfiction