Student Literary Contest

Awards For Best Original Work in Poetry and Fiction

Submission deadline: Midnight, February 18, 2026

Winners will be contacted by March 11, with the award ceremony and student reading to be held at 3:30 p.m., March 18, in Armstrong Browning Library.

The Department of English at Baylor University offers a variety of awards and prizes to recognize outstanding creative writing by undergraduate and graduate students. Entries will be judged by professional poets and authors. 

Eligibility

The contest is open to all undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at Baylor. You may submit work that you have submitted to other contests.

Submission guidelines

Qualified applicants may submit either or both of the following:

•    Poetry: One entry (not exceeding two pages)
•    Fiction: One entry (not exceeding twenty-five pages double-spaced)

At the top of each entry, include:

•    Name
•    Baylor ID number
•    Graduate or Undergraduate status
•    Email address

Submission format

•    Save your submission as a Word document.

•    Use the following naming format for the Word doc: 
     [Graduate or Undergraduate]_[Your Last Name].docx
     Example: Undergraduate_Smith.docx

  Email your submission to:

•    Poetry: Poetry.odkpgjy3fqhz6lqd@u.box.com   
•    Fiction: Fiction.sd1xwa1pf17vniz7@u.box.com
   

Questions?

For any inquires, contact J_shoresarg@baylor.edu.
We look forward to reading your work and celebrating your creativity!