Tennessee's Emerging Creative Writers Contest

Ends on

Students should work with their English or Writing teachers on pieces they would like to submit to the contest in fiction, poetry, or personal essay. 

Students in Grades 9 – 11: 

Submissions should be formatted in standard MLA and proof-read.

Graduating Seniors:

Submissions should be formatted in standard MLA, proof-read, and submitted through the APSU Scholarship Portal found here: https://www.apsu.edu/scholarships/. 

Submissions must include:

  1. A cover letter that introduces the submission and includes the student’s contact information, grade level, high school, and name of English/Writing teacher.
  2. The necessary document(s) as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf.
  3. Remove any personal identifying information from creative pieces and file names.
  4. Files should be named as the title of the submitted work. Example "the_purple_wren.docx."
  5. Students are limited to a maximum of one submission per category. For fiction or personal essays, we ask for a 2000-word limit. 

Finalists and Winners will be announced in March 2025. 

IMPORTANT: Entries that do not follow the above guidelines will not be considered. If you have any questions about the contest or festival, please reach out to Dr. Raymond Deeren deerenr@apsu.edu. 

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
Create Your Account Have An Account? Sign In