Department of English, Creative Writing, and Film
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-3700
fax: (248) 370-4429
Department Awards and Contests
Oakland University Creative Writing Contests
Click to submit via Google forms here.
Guidelines
- Contests are open to all OU students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
- Deadline for all contests is March 1.
- Each entry must include a cover page and the creative entry in a single file (.docx or .pdf preferred).
- The cover page will state the writer's name, email, and phone number, plus title(s) of submission(s).
- Additionally, in the cover page you MUST identify yourself as an undergraduate student, graduate student, faculty, staff, or alum.
- Author’s name should appear on the cover page only; do not include any identifying information anywhere else in the document.
Top three entries in the undergraduate and graduate categories will receive a monetary prize. We regret that OU staff, faculty and alums are not eligible for monetary awards. All winners will be invited to read at an end-of-year ceremony; details TBA.
Entries must be submitted via Google forms: click here to access submission form. (no email or paper submissions). If you have any questions, please contact CW director Jeff Chapman at chapman4@oakland.edu.
Deadline: March 1
The Memoir & Essay Contest is for personal essays about events that have happened to you, or evocative writing about things that fascinate you: cultural commentary, current and historical events, scientific concepts, etc.... Memoir and essay are different from journalism and academic writing; they take an intentionally creative approach to telling stories.
Submit one essay of up to 8 double-spaced pages.
1st Place: $200
2nd Place: $100
3rd Place: $50
Questions? Contact Susan McCarty at smccarty@oakland.edu.
All winners will be invited to read at an end-of-year ceremony; details TBA.
2025 Memoir and Essay Winners
Undergraduate
1st place: Claire Martin, "Settings"
2nd place: Edgar Havard, "Walls"
3rd place: Jacob Holm, "Xenia"
Honorable Mention: Madeline Johnson, "When the Wind Stops"
Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Elsey, "This is a Phase of Grief"
Grad/Alum/Staff
1st place: Jennifer DeBellis, "Cat Molting Season"
2nd place: Brianne Turczynski, "The Boy Next Door
To read past winners' stories, please view the contest archives.
Deadline: March 1
Submit up to three pieces of flash fiction. Each flash fiction story must be 250-1000 words in length.
Undergraduate Contest Recognition
- 1st place: $200
- 2nd place is $100
- 3rd place is $50
All winners will be invited to read at an end-of-year ceremony; details TBA.
2025 Flash Fiction Contest Winners
2nd place: Emma Bowen, "On My Darling"
3rd place: Rene Demers, "Sisyphus' Resolutions"
Grad/Alum/Staff
1st place: Jennifer DeBellis "Boys Will Be Boys"
2nd place: Christine Moore, "Pocket Universe"
3rd place: Kevin Patterson, "Street Roots"
Deadline: March 1
Submit up to 3 poems of any style, typed, single-spaced, 12 pt font. Total length of all poems should not exceed 100 lines.
Undergraduate Recognition
- 1st place is $200
- 2nd place is $100
- 3rd place is $50.
All winners will be invited to read at an end-of-year ceremony; details TBA.
2025 Poetry Contest Winners.
Undergraduate Category
1st place: Alyssa Engler, “Things That Induce (my) Female Rage” and “I Had Coffee With Myself Yesterday"
2nd place: Natalie Muglia, “October Glaze” and “Frog Folk” and Austin Klotz “Love,” “Heart in My Hands,” and “Liar”
3rd place: Eddie Havard, “Teeth” and “Purple (Πορφύρα)”
Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Elsey, “Birdhouses Grow Lonely,” “Chartreuse Green Birthstone,” and “Mount Avon Cemetery"
Honorable Mention: Julia Kaplan, “Death in Springtime”
Honorable Mention: Vinessa Vincent Rajah, “Fear”
Graduate/Alumnus Category
1st place: Nick Zablocki “I Have Plenty of Theories” and “A Couch”
2nd place: Jenifer DeBellis “On the Bright Side”
3rd place: Alex Stigleman, “Mud Room”
DEADLINE: MARCH 1
Entries may focus on any film genre or category. Winning entries will be judged on originality, artistic innovation, and narrative cohesion. The screenplay contest is for short film screenplays. There is a strict 12-page limit to screenplays.
On the cover page with your information, include a brief summary of the screenplay and indicate whether it is original or adapted from a pre-existing source. If the entry represents a partial screenplay, please briefly describe how the submitted scene(s) fit the complete narrative.
All winners will be invited to read at an end-of-year ceremony; details TBA.
2025 OU Screenplay Contest Winners
Undergraduate
1st place: Leon Jacobs, Blood and Water
2nd place: Sophia Prins, How it Happens (excerpt)
3rd place: Emma Bowen, The Birdhouse