The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition is sponsored annually by The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society, Inc, a non-profit literary and educational organization.
A list of manuscripts which have been designated finalists and semi-finalists will be posted on the website on or about August 1, 2017. Winners will be notified on September 25th, William Faulkner’s birthday, leaving plenty of time for winners to make plans to be present to receive their awards.
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( votes)The competition is for previously unpublished work only. Self-published and print-on-demand books are considered published unless authors can present documentation that less than 500 copies have sold. Also considered as published and not eligible are books, stories, essays, and poetry previously published in their entirety on the Internet.
Funded annually by private donors. Requirements: an original novel, previously unpublished. The Society places a word limit of 100,000 words on books within the single entry fee of $40. Writers who wish to submit books of up to 175,000 words must pay a $75 fee. Novels in excess of 175,000 words must pay a $125 fee. Books in excess of 225,000 require a $200 fee.
The prize will be funded annually by private donors. Requirements: limited to 75,000 words within the limit of a $40 entry fee. Entries over 75,000 words require an entry fee of $75. Entries of more than 100,000 carry a fee of $100; more than 150,000 require a $125 fee; entries of 225,000 words or more carry a fee of $200. Requirements: an original work of creative non-fiction, including non-fiction novels, histories, memoirs, and biographies.
The Novella Prize is funded annually by private donors. Requirements: a short work of original fiction, previously unpublished. $35 entry fee. Works of fiction limited to 25,000 words will be accepted in the novella category.
The Short Story Prize is funded by private foundations and individuals. Requirements: a short work of fiction of less than 10,000 words. $35 entry fee.
This award, created and originally funded by Edgar winner Julie Smith in memory of the late Evans Harrington Grant, a creative writing professor at the University of Mississippi, is now funded by other private individuals. Requirements: highly polished one-page synopsis, and first few chapters or first 25 pages. Entry must not exceed 7,500 words, including the one-page synopsis. Entries may be any form of a novel, including literary, mainstream, or genre. $35 entry fee. Entries exceeding 7,500 words will not be accepted.
The Shelby Foote Essay Prize is funded annually by private donors. Entry fee is $25. Requirements: original work of creative non-fiction. The essay must not exceed 2,500 words.
The Marble Faun Prize for Poetry, created by Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin, is now funded annually by New Orleanian David Speights in memory of his late wife, Marti Speights, who was a member of the Faulkner Society’s Advisory Council. Requirements: single poem of not more than 750 words. $25 entry fee.
Prize, $750; Sponsoring Teacher, $250
A prize of $250 is awarded to the sponsoring teacher. The Hartwig Moss Prize is funded annually by Mrs. Hartwig Moss, III, and her children in memory of her husband. Requirements: original work of fiction of less than 5,000 words. Entries must have sponsoring teacher or school, preferably both. $10 entry fee to be paid by school or, in case of home-schooled students, by teacher.
The overall general guideline is “ready for publication” with minor editing. The Society reserves the right to withhold award of a prize in any category in which there are no entries deemed “ready for publication” by the judges.
The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Competition is open to all writers anywhere working in the English language. Although foreign residents are welcome to enter the competition, transportation to and from areas outside the continental United States is not paid for winners by the Society. For foreign residents, the Society will pay transportation from one of these U. S. airports of entry: New York, NY, Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA, Miami, FL, Houston, TX, Chicago, IL or Dallas, TX.
Don’t forget to send your check and entry form together. Drop Dead Deadline for postmarking your entries this year is May 1, 2017. Early entries to competition are encouraged and earlier entries are most likely to be better matched with the most appropriate pre-round readers.
