Enter PLUM Writing Contest and Get Published

By 
Liz Bradley

Have you written anything you're proud of for class this year? Submit your writing to the Pacific Literary Undergraduate Magazine (PLUM) by Dec. 15 for a chance to win up to $125! This contest is open to all students.

There are six categories in the contest. You can submit writing from ENGW 180, or in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, literary analysis, and poetry. This year, we are extending the contest to students outside of the English department with an "Anything But" category. Submissions from all other subjects are welcome in that category!

First place in each category will receive $125 and will have their piece published in PLUM. Second place will receive $50 and will have an excerpt from their piece published. All submissions must have been written for a class during the 2023 calendar year. Submissions can be no longer than 20 pages. Print copies will be available for free toward the end of the spring (2024) semester. The deadline for submissions to the contest is Dec. 15.

If you miss out on the contest, fret not! General submissions will continue to be accepted in the spring! Visual art will also be accepted in general submissions, and one submission will make it onto this year's cover! Keep an eye out for announcements about general submissions.

How to submit

  1. For the categories of fiction, nonfiction, literary analysis, and poetry, choose a piece of writing from an ENGL or ENGW designated course from the 2023 calendar year. Pieces for the ENGW 180 category must have been written for an ENGW 180 course. Pieces for the "Anything But" category can come from any other subject.
  2. Remove your name form the document. Pieces will be read anonymously by impartial judges.
  3. Send your submission to plum.pacific@gmail.com. Title the subject of the email "Writing Contest [Insert Category.]" In the body of the email, include your name, the title of the piece, the class and term you wrote it for, and the professor you took the class with.

The deadline for submissions to the contest is Dec. 15.

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023