Warner & Genre Fiction Prizes

Along with the Pfister Poetry Prize, the Rose O’Neill Literary House awards two other major writing prizes to undergraduates: THE WILLIAM W. WARNER PRIZE and the LITERARY HOUSE GENRE FICTION PRIZE. The Warner Prize carries a $500 cash award. The Genre Fiction Prize carries a $100 cash award. The winners of THE WILLIAM W. WARNER PRIZE and the LITERARY HOUSE GENRE FICTION PRIZE are announced at the annual Senior Reading in the spring semester. Guidelines are listed below.

THE WILLIAM W. WARNER PRIZE FOR CREATIVE WRITING ON NATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The Rose O’Neill Literary House seeks entrants for the William W. Warner Prize, awarded to the Washington College undergraduate who shows the greatest aptitude for writing about nature and the environment. This prize is named for, and was endowed in the honor of, William W. Warner, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay, based on his experiences living and working among crab fishermen on the Chesapeake. According to Mr. Warner’s wishes, the judges will give preference to—but will in no way limit their consideration to—students who write about the natural history of our Atlantic Littoral, from the Canadian Arctic to the Gulf of Florida. The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $500. Entries may be in prose or poetry.

HOW TO ENTER

Warner Prize entries should be emailed to Amber Taliancich by 5:00 PM, on March 3th. Emails should include WARNER PRIZE and your name in the subject line. All electronic files must be saved as .pdf files with 12-point type, double-spacing (except for poetry), and one-inch margins. Students may choose to send one piece: A maximum of 5000 words of prose or drama, or one poem (up to 10 pages).

Entrants should take care to closely proofread their work and take advantage of the Writing Center. Questions about the criteria should be directed to Amber Taliancich. The 2023 prize judge will be announced soon.

THE LITERARY HOUSE GENRE FICTION PRIZE

The Rose O’Neill Literary House seeks entrants for the Literary House Genre Fiction Prize, awarded to a Washington College undergraduate for the best work of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or horror. The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $100.

HOW TO ENTER

Genre Fiction Prize entries should be emailed to Amber Taliancich by 5:00 PM, March 3. Emails should include GENRE FICTION PRIZE and your name in the subject line. All electronic files must be saved as .pdf files with 12-point type, double-spacing, and one-inch margins. A maximum of 5,000 words of prose is allowed for submissions.