Department of English, Creative Writing, and Film
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-3700
fax: (248) 370-4429
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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.
2024 Memoir and Essay Winners
Undergraduate
1st place: Maria Mariotti, “Untitled”
2nd place: Kirby Jablonski, “Ladyfriend”
3rd place: Annie Williams, “Cigarette Clouds”
Grad/Alum/Staff
1st place: Thomas Carney, from Objects in the Mirror: A Life in Terms of Road Trips
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.
2024 Flash Fiction Contest Winners
1st place: Shannon Waite, “Anatomy of Desire”
2nd place: Taya Alani, "Semi-Truck Incident Causes Four-Hour Delay during Lunch Rush”
3rd place: Gus Lesperance Solomonson, “I Painted the Barn”
Honorable Mention: Annie Williams, “Recording Suspect #1”
Grad/Alum/Staff
1st place: Shaun Moore, “In Case of Invasion”
2nd place: Kevin Patterson, “Morbidity and Mortality”
3rd place: Christina Moore, “Story Keeper”
To read former winners' stories, please visit the contest archives.
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.
2024 Poetry Contest Winners.
Undergraduate Category
1st place: Lina Stoyanovich, “Summer Solstice, New York City”
2nd place (tie): Kirby Jablonski, “ode to the cowboy in me”
2nd place (tie): Zach Pedigo, “Geese Flying”
3rd place: Claire Bosnack, “horseradish”
Honorable Mention: Hope Greve, “What She Was Made Of”
Honorable Mention: Nosaiba Lela “Divine Timing”
Honorable Mention: Shannon Waite, “To Promise”
Honorable Mention: Annie Williams “Blackout”
Graduate/Alumnus Category
1st place: David Bowman, “Bad Dreams”
2nd place: Alex Stigleman, “Morning”
3rd place: Timothy Patrick, “On a Sunday Morning”
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.
2024 OU Screenplay Contest Winners
Undergraduate
1st place: Gracy Hershey, “Jason”
2nd place: Carmen Smith, “The Haze”
3rd place: Gus Lesperance Solomonson, “Rooster's Crow”
Lauren Jacobs, “Living in the Now”
Santino Fanone, “Do You Wanna Dance?”