Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers
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Student Competition

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Student Award Winners GCACWT 2020

Due to the cancellation of our March 2020 conference, award winners are being announced here and on our Facebook page, and notifications sent to the programs that submitted nominations.

Fiction
  • Undergraduate Award: "Carpe Noctem"  by Shae Krispinsky, University of South Florida. Instructor John Fleming.
  • Graduate Award: "Juice" by Chanel Etienne, University of New Orleans. Instructor Joanna Leake.
Fiction Judge: Kat Meads

Poetry
  • Undergraduate Award: "Abuela's Last Gift" by Melissa Gullo,  University of South Florida . Instructor Jay Hopler.
  • Graduate Award: "dear alexander" by Jerico Lenk, University of South Florida. Instructor John Fleming.
Poetry Judge: Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello

Creative Non-Fiction
  • Undergraduate: "Nibiru," Brooke Fishbein, University of South Florida. Instructor Julia Koets.
  • Graduate: "Red" by Reda Wigle, University of New Orleans. Instructor Randy Bates.
Creative Non-Fiction Judge: Mary Anna Evans

About the Judges:

Kat Meads is the award-winning author of twenty books and chapbooks of poetry and prose, including, most recently, the novel Miss Jane: The Lost Years. Her memoir-in-letters, Dear DeeDee, will be published later this year. A native of North Carolina, she lives in California.

Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello is the author of Hour of the Ox (U. Pittsburgh Press, 2016), which won the AWP Donald Hall Prize forPoetry and Florida Book Award bronze medal. She is a Kundiman and Knight Foundation poetry fellow, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Best New Poets, and elsewhere. She serves as a program coordinator for Miami Book Fair.

Mary Anna Evans is the author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, which have received recognition including the Patrick D. Smith Florida Literature Award and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. She teaches fiction and nonfiction writing at the University of Oklahoma. Her twelfth book, Catacombs, was published in August 2019.

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2021 GCACWT STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION
will be open in early 2021

GCACWT members may submit the work of students enrolled in their 2020-2021 classes. Schools may use whatever internal procedure they like to determine entries. Each school is limited to nominating one student per award:
  • Fiction Award--Undergraduate
  • Fiction Award--Graduate
  • Poetry Award--Undergraduate
  • Poetry Award--Graduate
  • Creative Nonfiction Award--Undergraduate
  • Creative Nonfiction Award--Graduate

Winners will be announced at the GCACWT annual conference. Some winners may receive an offer of publication in Sweet: A Literary Confection or The Apalachee Review. 

Entry Requirements:
  • Schools are limited to one entry per award.     
  • Students' names and school affiliations should not appear on manuscript (please make sure this info is not in header or footer, either).
  • All submissions must be submitted online.
  • All submissions must be .doc, .docx, or .rtf
  • Prose entries are limited to 3,000 words and should be double-spaced.
  • Poetry entries are limited to one poem.

Each entry must be submitted by filling out an online form that will create for us a cover sheet stating category, the student's name, bio, address, phone, e-mail, and status as a graduate or undergraduate, and the submitting teacher's name, address, phone number, and e-mail, etc.

Judges will be announced after the competition. No judges will have direct links to students at GCACWT member institutions.

Manuscripts will not be returned.

Student Award Winners from Fairhope 2019:


  • Fiction Award--Undergraduate: "Stepping on Snails by Megan Lear of Spring Hill College. Instructor Michael Piafsky. Judge James Alan Gill.
  • Fiction Award--Graduate: "The Bird Woman" by Erinn Beth Langille of the University of New Orleans. Instructor Fredrick Barton. Judge James Alan Gill.
  • Poetry Award--Undergraduate: "Precious Metal" by Henry Goldkamp of the University of New Orleans. Instructor John Gery. Judge Helen Pruitt Wallace.
  • Poetry Award--Graduate: "Rosary Casino Party" by Kelly Gangeness Le of the University of New Orleans. Instructor Carolyn Hembree. Judge Helen Pruitt Wallace.
  • Creative Nonfiction Award--Undergraduate: no entries
  • Creative Nonfiction Award--Graduate: Sarah Basil of the University of South Florida. Instructor Ira Sukrungruang. Judge Carolyn Alessio.

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Newsletter
  • Fairhope 2020
    • Registration
    • Panel or Reading Request
    • 2020 Panels (Filled and Open)
    • Program
    • Directions & Lodging
  • Student Competiton
    • Submit to Student Writing Awards
  • Biographical Notes
    • Bio Submission
  • Presses & Journals
  • Panel or Reading Request
  • Contact Us
  • Past Conferences
    • Fairhope 2018 >
      • Registration
      • Registration
      • Panel or Reading Request
      • Panels (Accepted & Proposed)
      • Program
      • Directions & Lodging
    • GCACWT 2017 >
      • 2017 Panels (Accepted & Proposed)
      • Biographical Notes
      • 2017 Program
    • GCACWT 2016
    • GCACWT 2014 >
      • Fairhope 2014 Pictures
      • Fairhope 2014 Judges
      • 2014 Student Fiction Prize
      • 2014 Student Nonfiction Prize
      • 2014 Student Poetry Prize
  • Fairhope 2019
  • Panels (Accepted & Proposed) 2019