ACM has issued a call for entries from student writers at ACM colleges for the 44th annual Nick Adams Short Story Contest, which awards a prize of $1,000 to the author of the winning story.
Each year, the winning story is selected by a prominent writer who serves as the contest’s final judge. Maureen McCoy, a novelist and emeritus writing professor at Cornell University, chose “Proudly, Unburied” by Knox College student Evelyn Coffin as winner of the 2015 Nick Adams Contest. McCoy also gave honorable mention recognition for “Mothers” by Isabel Taylor from Beloit College.
Nick Adams Short Story Contest |
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Read her winning story: “Proudly, Unburied” |
The Nick Adams Contest, which is named for the young hero of many Hemingway stories, was established with prize money provided by an anonymous donor to encourage fiction writing at ACM colleges.
Over the years, final judges for the contest have included such writers as Maya Angelou, John Updike, Audrey Niffenegger, Larry Heinemann, Bharati Mukherjee, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Tyler, and Stuart Dybek.
Guidelines for entries
- Students enrolled in good standing at ACM member colleges are eligible to enter the contest.
- Stories need not have been written especially for the contest, but cannot previously have been published off-campus or been selected as a finalist in the Nick Adams Contest.
- There is a 10,000 word limit for entries.
- All entries must be submitted to the English department on the student’s home campus. The ACM office will not accept entries directly from students.
- Students should contact the English department chair on their campus for information about the on-campus submission deadline.
The English department at each college will select the four best entries to send to the ACM office in February. A small committee of faculty drawn from consortial colleges will select six finalist stories, which are forwarded to the final judge. The results of the 2016 competition will be announced in mid-March.
Links:
- Nick Adams Short Story Contest
- Contest winners, including links to stories
- Final judges in past years
