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Creative Writing Contests
Part of the Howe Writing Center’s mission is to help cultivate a culture of writing that honors a range of voices and perspectives at Miami. That’s why each semester we host a writing contest open to submissions from any Miami undergraduate or graduate 黑料社区 writers. A group of our 黑料社区 consultants lead the contest process, coming up with the prompt, planning ideas for promoting it, and ultimately judging the entries.
Contest Information
We choose a new prompt each semester, typically one that feels resonant with the campus climate at the time. During the Fall semester, the contest opens in late October and the genre of writing varies. During the Spring, the contest happens around April and, in celebration of National Poetry Month, calls for poems. Entries are judged according to adherence to the prompt, a reflective writer's note, and the piece itself. First and second prizes are awarded, along with a staff choice prize, or, occasionally, an honorable mention. Winners receive prizes plus temporary publication on our website.
Follow us on where we first announce our contests. Calls for submission will also be posted to this webpage. We hope to read your work as part of the next contest!
Finally, know that HWC consultants can support your creative writing in consultations. Simply find a consultant with a creative writing background on our staff page and with them.
Spring 2025 Contest
Beyond the Red Brick: Exteriors, Interiors, and Duplex Poetry
Miami’s campus architecture is dominated by the ubiquitous red brick. However, there’s more to these buildings than “they’re all the same.” Buildings are characterized not only by their exteriors but also their interiors: their histories, the activities that take place in them, and the personal feelings and memories of those who inhabit their spaces.
The Howe Writing Center’s Spring 2025 writing contest invites Miami writers to produce a poem that explores both the exterior and interior of a specific Miami campus building. These poems should be written in the duplex poetry form (a poem patterned with repeating images and phrases). Writers might consider how the exterior of a building contradicts its interior, what hidden spaces within buildings speak to their personal experiences, or whether certain architectural elements align with the community's use of the building.
Submissions should:
- Be in the form of a poem
- Address both the exterior and interior of a particular building on Miami’s Campus
- Include 2 photos, one of the exterior and one of the interior space that your poem explores
- Provide a well-developed writer’s statement that discusses the challenges you faced while writing, your intention with your poem, and what you learned from the experience of writing it. Tell us anything that you’d like us to know about your writing process, your relationship to the building, and your prior experiences with poetry. Talk to us! Let us know who you are as a poet and a person!
- Poems may be any length, but the writer’s statements should be 250-300 words and are considered in the scoring process
We strongly encourage writers to before submitting.
Winning poems, photos, and writer’s statements will be posted on the HWC website and displayed in the writing center.
Contest Details
- Opens: March 17
- Closes: April 13
- Winners Announced: April 21
Prizes
- First Place: $100
- Second Place: $75
- Third Place: $50
- Staff Choice: $50
Prior Creative Writing Contest Winners
Theme: Nature Plays a Role: Writing Poetry from Children's Books
- 1st Place: An Autobiography in Four Parts by Samantha Stahlhut
- 2nd Place: Nature’s Reflection by Viviana Moreno
- 3rd Place: The Lorax Sells Out! By Brian Vogt
- Staff Pick: “Can you hear the music?” by Rita Zhou-Wang
Theme: Environmental Justice Stories Drawn From Art
- 1st Place: “An Ode to the Oak” by Rhese Voisard
- 2nd Place: “Atlases” by Olive Abram
- 3rd Place: “Flying Elephant” by Olivia Voekler
- Staff Pick: “Hitchhiker” by Lorna Wodzak
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted a piece of writing inspired by works found in the University Libraries archives!
1st Prize: “Untited” by Claire Hampton
2nd Prize: “Reflection” by Adeline Roux
3rd Prize: “Becoming You” by Anna Boyer
Staff Choice: “To Know” by Julia Quigley
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted a piece of writing evoking autumn, but with a catch: they could not use certain words often associated with the season!
1st Prize: “Demeter in 5 Stages (Acceptance)” by Anna Boyer
2nd Prize: “The Radiator” by Caroline Laird
3rd Prize: “The Editor and The Poet” by Jessica Miller
Staff Choice: “Drifting through the Grove” by Jacob Bitonte
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted a piece of creative non-fiction when luck or chance played a role in their lives.
First Prize: Meredith Perkins, Clovers
Second Prize: Sophia Rakic, Tablić
Third Prize: Olivia Kelly, Canip and Pain
Staff Choice: JoAnn Su, Doubt and Recovery/From The Other Side
Miami writers explored through poetry the multiple ways colors intersect with their lives.
First Prize: Olivia Triance, Seasonal Affective Disorder
Second Prize and Staff Choice: Catarina Palmer, Protoanomaly
Third Prize: Ashlee Flora, The Color I Once Assigned to You
Theme: Photo Flash Fiction
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted a piece of fiction where they used their pen as a camera to give us a slice of life, a flash of fancy, a moment of misery, or an instance of insight based upon one of several provided photos.
First Prize: Em UpDyke, The Family Flowerbed
Second Prize: Sam Fouts, Howling Bones
Third Prize: Dalanie Beach, Liminal Space
Staff Choice: Valerie Senkowski, Dramamine
Honorable Mention: Charles Xie, Travelers
Theme: Hope and Rebirth
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted poetry that reflected on what “Hope and Rebirth” meant to them, especially in that current moment, amid COVID-19 during Spring semester.
First prize: Paige Hartenburg, "Flowers for Lily"
Second prize: Sarah Zimmerman, "When Fears are Validated, Progress Halts"
Staff choice: Alfredo Ascanio, "I Crossed a Bridge"
Theme: Here and Now
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted creative nonfiction pieces that considered how issues of tolerance, inclusion, antiracism, social inequality, or COVID-19 have impacted them personally.
Co-first prize: Aiyana White, (untitled)
Co-first prize: Ethan Maguire, "These Walls"
Second prize: Gabe Porter, "Sanitize"
Staff choice: Lauren Racela, (untitled)
Theme: What We Leave Behind: Sustainability and Disposability
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted poems about environmental impact, sustainability, and "what we leave behind" both materially and personally.
First prize: Alexander Benedict, "anthem for uneaten candycanes" and "American Doll"
Second prize: Brianna Porter, "They Told Me The World Was Dying"
Honorable mention: Hannah Stohry, "The Sorting Process"
Theme: Change of Seasons
Miami 黑料社区 writers submitted fiction, nonfiction, and poetry focused on how we experience the world around us when the seasons change, and also on how people, relationships, and cultures change, too.
First prize: T. Mesnick, "Pumpkin Patch"
Second prize: Alexander Benedict, "Fall as an Unsure Haircut"