Home » $1,000 Prize Is on the Line in ACM’s Annual Nick Adams Short Story Contest

$1,000 Prize Is on the Line in ACM’s Annual Nick Adams Short Story Contest

$1,000 Prize Is on the Line in ACM’s Annual Nick Adams Short Story Contest November 30, 2011

Continuing a 40-year tradition of encouraging young fiction writers, the ACM seeks entries from students at its member colleges for the 2012 Nick Adams Short Story Contest. A first prize of $1,000, established by a gift from an anonymous donor, will be awarded to the winner.

Students may submit up to two stories for the Nick Adams Contest to their campus English department. Stories need not have been written especially for the competition, but cannot have been previously published off-campus. Each college’s English department will select the four best stories to send to the ACM office, and a small committee of faculty drawn from colleges throughout the ACM will choose the finalists.

Binnie KirshenbaumBinnie Kirshenbaum

A professional writer, who serves as the final judge for the contest, will select the winning story and any honorable mention entries. Binnie Kirshenbaum, professor of fiction writing at the Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts and the author of several books and short story collections, was the final judge in last year’s contest. This year’s judge will be announced in early 2012.

Over the years, writers such as Maya Angelou, Saul Bellow, Larry Heinemann, Bharati Mukherjee, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Tyler, John Updike, Stuart Dybek, and Audrey Niffenegger have been final judges for the Nick Adams Contest.

The winner of the 2011 Contest was Adam Sirgany, a political science major at Knox College, for his story “Andrew at Eid.” Honorable mentions were awarded to two other Knox students – Sam Martone for “Luggage Lost” and Julia Ohman for “The Zoo.”

Adam SirganyAdam Sirgany

Visit the 2011 Nick Adams Contest webpage for more information about the students, as well as for links to “Andrew at Eid” and “The Zoo.”

Entries for the 2012 contest, submitted through the colleges’ English departments, must arrive at the ACM office no later than February 17, 2012. For more information about on-campus submission requirements and deadlines, please contact the chair of the English department at your ACM college.

Links:

Share this page