Annual Manuscript Contests
All Manuscript Contest entries must be submitted by May 1, 2017.
Deadline Extended to May 5th!
Have you registered for the conference, and still want to enter?
Find out how by logging back into the event site, click on the “Already Registered” link, and enter your email address and your registration confirmation number! You’ll find contest information in the “Other Important Stuff” tab!
Winners in each category will be announced at the PWC Awards ceremony held on
Sunday, June 11, 2017 at 4:15 PM (friends and family welcome)
Please note, there is no guarantee that all three prizes will be awarded for each category.
Judges are not Workshop Leaders or PWC Board Members.
Contest Manuscripts will not be returned. Entries that do not meet the submission criteria will be discarded.
Prizes:
1st place:
Free tuition for the following year’s Philadelphia Writers’ Conference**
2nd place:
50% tuition for the following year’s Philadelphia Writers’ Conference**
3rd place:
$40 Gift Certificate for use at Farley’s Bookstore
* Dinner only registrants are not eligible for the annual contest
** Prize excludes dinner events and special workshops like Master Classes.
To enter our contests, first register for the conference and then go to the “CONTESTS” tab on the Registration site. (note, this link won’t work until you register for the conference)
Words on the Wall Contest
There are no other length, spacing or typing restrictions. Whatever you can fit on that one page is eligible.
Name and address on reverse side only.
Winning entries from previous years’ contests are not eligible.
Prizes are determined by popular ballot and are announced during the Awards Ceremony on Sunday Afternoon.
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9 Comments
Mary
June 16, 2014 at 8:14 amI’m wondering who was the judge for the poetry contest this year.
Jim Knipp
June 17, 2014 at 5:29 amHi Mary, Paul Siegell, senior editor of Painted Bride Quarterly and author of three books of poetry, WILD LIFE RIFLE FIRE (Otoliths, 2010), JAMBANDBOOTLEG (A-Head, 2009) and POEMERGENCY ROOM (Otoliths, 2008) was our judge for the Poetry contest. We asked all of our judges to award according to merit and not just to name winners to fill a slot, with an eye towards awarding only work that would be considered publishable.
PWC Focus on Contests – by Miriam Shnycer
March 1, 2015 at 6:26 am[…] Writers’ Conference to enter. You can find all the rules for the annual manuscript contest on our contests page. We’re also launching a short “Spring Wakeup” pre-conference contest. More on that after the […]
Dennis Strain
March 26, 2015 at 9:13 pmFor a contest submission, if my name does not appear (1) in the text, (2) in the title page, and (3) in the file name, how do you know that it is my submission?
Jim Knipp
March 26, 2015 at 9:48 pmHi Dennis, Submittable stores your name and the title of your work and the contest coordinator has access to that information. The judge, however, only has access to your submission (the uploaded document) and selects the winner by title, which the chairperson then links to your name.
David Milley
April 9, 2016 at 2:53 amWhat has become of the “Spring Forward” contest for this year’s conference?
Jim Knipp
April 14, 2016 at 2:01 amHi David, we’re still running through the submissions and hope to announce a winner soon. Thanks for checking!
Judy Ellison
July 7, 2017 at 10:11 amWhere can I obtain a list of the 2016 Contest winners and copies of their writings?
Jim Knipp
July 9, 2017 at 11:41 amHi Judy,
Our 2016 Contest winners were Ed Kratz, Mary Mooney, and Sharon Esterly. We don’t save or publish the entries (this allows our winners to submit their piece to market after the conference), so we can’t provide copies…