Nick Adams Short Story Contest

Each year in the spring, ACM sponsors the Nick Adams Short Story Contest. The contest, named for the young hero of many Hemingway stories, was established in 1973 with funds from an anonymous donor to encourage young writers.

Any student at an ACM college is eligible to compete for the cash prize that is awarded to the winner. Students submit stories to their English department, and each department selects the four best to send to ACM. A small committee of faculty drawn from ACM colleges selects the finalists, and the winner is chosen by the contest's final judge.

Final judges in past years have included Jane Smiley, Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, Anne Tyler, Maya Angelou, Barbara Kingsolver, Jane Hamilton, and Stuart Dybek.

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  Alex Kotlowitz

  2010 Contest

  • Entries are now being solicited for the 2010 Nick Adams Contest. Students at ACM colleges may submit their short stories to their college's English department.

  • Chicago Writer Alex Kotlowitz to Serve as Judge for the 2010 Nick Adams Contest

Journalist and author of Never a City So Real and There Are No Children Here will select top story written by a student at an ACM college.

• 2009 Contest

  • Kokoro Lee Named Winner of the 2009 Nick Adams Contest
  • Final judge: Audrey Niffenegger

• 2008 Contest

  • Winning story: "Recollection" by Myra Thompson

  • Final judge: Stuart Dybeck
• Final judges in past years
• Contest winners in past years
• More information about the contest in recent years

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