PLUM Writing Prizes

The Department of English is pleased to offer awards in exceptional writing produced by students in our courses. The 2020 call for submissions is now open! The deadline is Monday, March 9, 5:00pm PST by email to pacificuwritingcontest@gmail.com.

Established in 2007 with a grant from the Office of the President to acknowledge the quality of writing produced by students in the university's College of Arts & Sciences, awards are given in three Creative Writing and two Literary Scholarship categories. First prizes are published annually in PLUM: Pacific's Literature by Undergraduates Magazine. 

Categories

Amy M. Young Awards in Creative Writing

To recognize the quality of creative writing produced by emerging writers, the prize is given to the best submission produced in a Pacific University creative writing course during the Spring 2019, Fall 2019, or Spring 2020 semesters. This includes majors, minors and students in other majors studying in introductory or advanced creative writing courses.

Categories to be reviewed by an outside judge: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Submit up to three poems (in a single document), and twenty pages of creative nonfiction or fiction. Students may submit in all three categories, but only once in each category. 

• 1^st Prize: $150 in each genre, and publication in PLUM: Pacific’s Literature by Undergraduates Magazine
• 2^nd Prize: $50 in each genre
• 1 Honorable Mention in each genre

Awards in Literary Scholarship

To recognize the quality of critical writing produced by emerging literary scholars, this prize is given to the best submissions of critical writing produced by students in literature courses during the Spring 2019, Fall 2019, or Spring 2020 semesters. Students may submit one critical essay up to twenty pages in length, to be judged by an outside scholar.

• 1^st Prize: $150, and publication in PLUM: Pacific’s Literature by Undergraduates Magazine
• 2^nd Prize: $50
• 1 Honorable Mention

Awards in College Writing

To recognize the quality of academic writing produced early in their education, this award recognizes work produced in ENGW 180, 181, and 182. The essay must have been composed during the Spring 2019, Fall 2019, or Spring 2020 semesters. Students may submit one critical essay up to twenty pages in length, to be judged by an outside scholar.

• 1^st Prize: $150, and publication in PLUM: Pacific’s Literature by Undergraduates Magazine
• 2^nd Prize: $50
• 1 Honorable Mention

Submission

The call for submissions will go out by email in late February or early March. Get in touch with any member of the Department of English for more information or a copy of the latest issue of PLUM. The submission requirements are typically as follows:

1. Include in the subject line of your email the following depending on the category to which you are submitting (one email per submission):
   • Contest, Literary Scholarship
   • Contest, College Writing
   • Contest, Creative Writing: Poetry
   • Contest, Creative Writing: Fiction
   • Contest, Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction
2. Include in the body of your email (not in the attachment) the following:
   • Your Name
   • Email Address
   • Phone Number
   • Title of Work
   • Course name and number (ENGL or ENGW)
   • Professor's Name
   • Semester of course (i.e., Spring 2018, Fall 2018, or Spring 2019)
3. Attach your submission following this format: 
   • DOC or DOCX file only (no PDF, Pages, etc.)
   • Title at the top of the document (no cover sheet required)
   • Number all pages
   • Page layout: 12-point font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, MLA documentation
   • No identifying information, such as your name or the name of course, can appear in the submission. Otherwise, it will be disqualified.
4. Submit by email to pacificuwritingcontest@gmail.com