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The Adamson Awards

An annual highlight of the Department of English is the Adamson Student Creative Writing Awards.

Run by the Creative Writing program, the Adamson Awards are presented for student excellence in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, and are open to undergraduate students throughout the Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë community. Student pieces are judged by professional writers, and to add to the sense of celebration, a prominent writer is invited to be the special guest speaker at the annual Awards.

In 1983, Clarence H. Adamson, a graduate of Carnegie Tech, gave Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë and the Department of English several gifts in memory of his wife, Pauline, who had died three years earlier. One of these gifts was the Adamson Scholarship for undergraduate women majoring in English. Another was the Adamson Awards for Writing and a fund for the support of an annual series of lectures by distinguished authors. And another was the Pauline B. Adamson Wing in Baker Hall, where the Adamson Awards ceremony is held every spring. The gifts were intended by Mr. Adamson as testimonials to the 35 years of companionship he shared with his wife and to her interest in education, language, and literature. The Adamson Awards are intended to encourage students to pursue excellence in writing. The awards are open to undergraduate students only.

2025 Adamson Awards Submission Deadline

Please check back in late March 2025 for this information.

What Can You Submit and What Are the Guidelines?

There are three categories for which you can submit your work.

1. Nonfiction Stories/Essays

2. Fiction

3. Poetry

IMPORTANT: Please include the name of the category you are submitting to before the title of your piece.

Example: Nonfiction: "What It Means to Write"
Example: Fiction: "Midnight Train"
Example: Poetry: "Acid Rain and Other Poems"

How to Submit Your Work

Other Important Details

Eligibility

The Awards are open to all currently enrolled undergraduate students at Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë, regardless of major or minor.

Restrictions

All submissions must be typed and all work must be original. All previous winning submissions for any of the awards offered by the English Department are ineligible. You may submit work in multiple categories, however, you may submit only one entry per category. Entries cannot be returned.

Judging

Outside judges appointed by the Awards Committee of the English Department evaluate entries and choose the winners.

Prizes

At the discretion of the judges, monetary awards plus one honorable mention are given to undergraduate students in each category—nonfiction (essays and articles for popular or literary journals), fiction, and poetry.

Presentation of Prizes

The Adamson Awards presentation ceremony typically takes place near the end of each Spring semester. Details will be posted here in mid-March 2025.

Winners are not notified ahead of time, so you should plan to attend the event if you submitted any of your work.

2024 Adamson Award Winners

Poetry

1. First Prize Adamson Award: Divyasri Krishnan - "Ars Poetica and Other Poems"
2. Second Prize Adamson Award: G.R. - "A Homeland With No Name"
3. Third Prize Adamson Award: Mick Muerte - "Growing Up and Breaking Down, Reckoning the Queer with the Brown"
4. Honorable Mention: Rhys Collins - "Son of War"

Nonfiction

1. First Prize Adamson Award: Seoyoung Joo - Music played by gentlemen who try to make their living as cigarette salesmen, and post boys, and delivery boys, and messenger boys
   
2. Second Prize Adamson Award: Anabelle Lee - Did It Reach You?
   
3. Third Prize Adamson Award: Grace Choi - The First Daughter
4. Honorable Mention: Mick Muerte - Competitive Starving

Fiction

1. First Prize Adamson Award: Divyasri Krishnan - Butchery
   
2. Second Prize Adamson Award: Dylan Rossi - Hide and Seek
   
3. Third Prize Adamson Award: G.R. - Madness is a Country
4. Honorable Mention: Anabelle Kang - Beta Testing

Academy of American Poets Prize

Annie Nguyen - "A Homeland With No Name"

Poetry Books Prize (formerly the Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë Press Prize)

Layla Malhas - "On Being Palestinian and other works"

The Edythe & Leon Nagin Award for Creative Writing Honors Thesis

Sophia Levin - By the Light of Lita

The Bart & Kathleen Astor Endowed Creative Writing Award

G.R.

The Barbara & Allan Topol Award

Divyasri Krishnan

The Donna Grear Memorial Award

Dylan Rossi

Adamson Award Ceremony Speakers