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Current WHS Contests AND OPPORTUNITIES
Current WHS Contests AND OPPORTUNITIES
Filament, Weston High School's Art and Literary magazine, is accepting art and writing submissions that can be published anonymously or not. Send your best writing and art to amyholmes@westonps.org and ioanna.opidee@westonps.org.
Current Filament contest: Halloween! Submit your scariest work!!! (Deadline November 1.)
Possible Prompts:
1. Tell a story from the perspective of someone who puts on a realistic costume for a party, but midnight arrives and they find they cannot take it off—and their reflection stops matching their movements.
2. Write about a high schooler who knocks on the door of an abandoned neighborhood house on Halloween night, only to find the interior is fully furnished, lit, and waiting for guests.
3. Write a narrative starting with receiving a handwritten letter in your own handwriting, dated five years in the future, warning you not to attend school on October 31st.
4. Paint something scary!
5. Draw something scary!
Feel free to write/draw/paint/create anything! We cannot wait to see what you make!
Reach out to student board members Delilah Ben-Canaan, Jamie Stammer, Madi Hemmers or advisors Dr. Opidee, or Mrs. Holmes with any questions!
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Poetry Out Loud information can be found here on our WHS Poetry Out Loud page, and here, on the CT Poetry Out Loud site!
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CURRENT Public Opportunities
CURRENT Public Opportunities
A list of contest AND publication opportunities by date can be found here.
Many are featured below as well.
C O N S E Q U E N C E F O R U M
Young Writers Nonfiction Project
An opportunity for mentorship and publication for writers ages 15–24 whose lives have
been touched by war or conflict.
Each year, Consequence Forum pairs emerging writers ages 15–24 with experienced editors to develop true, personal essays about war and its aftermath, and publishes them in an e-magazine for a global readership. Writers don't have to have lived through a war to take part: displacement, migration, exile, and inherited family memory all count.
The reading period runs Oct 15, 2026 – Jan 15, 2027. A link to the submission portal and the submission guidelines can be found here: http://consequenceforum.org/young-writers-nonfiction-project/
This year's theme: Food & Story
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NYT Contest Calendar 2026-27.pdf_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NCTE Promising Young.pdf_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NCTE Student Award.pdf_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sons of the American Revolution Essay Contest
Deadline February 15
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Bennington Young Writers Awards (Deadline November 1, 2026)
The Bennington College Young Writers Awards celebrate exceptional high school students in grades 9-12 whose writing demonstrates originality, curiosity, craft, and creative ambition.
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Scholastic Writing Awards (Deadline December 5, 2026)
"The Scholastic Awards are the longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens, and a large source of scholarships for young artists and writers in the United States and Canada. Teens in grades 7-12, 13 years or older, are eligible to enter their original art and writing work for a chance at recognition, publication, exhibition and more."
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The Blank Theater Playwright Contest (Deadline March 15, 2027)
ELIGIBILITY: Playwrights must be 19 years or younger as of March 15, 2027 and reside or attend school in the US; co-authored plays are welcome provided all authors meet these eligibility requirements
CONTENT: Original plays or musicals of any length or genre and on any subject, written completely and solely by the author(s) - no form of AI may be used to write any portion of the script in any way whatsoever
LIMIT: Up to three plays per playwright or team - please complete a separate submission form for each piece
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Hollins University Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest - Deadline October 31
Sponsored by Hollins University, the 63rd Annual Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest provides scholarships, prizes, and recognition for the best poems submitted by young women in their sophomore or junior year of high school.
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PREvious Opportunities
PREvious Opportunities
U.S. Representative Jim Himes invites students within Connecticut’s Fourth Congressional District to participate in honoring Hispanic/Latino icons and their legacy. The essay should reflect how the icon has inspired the student and their own aspirations, the importance of the icon’s legacy in the last 100 years and recognize their contributions and vital presence as a Hispanic/Latino person within the United States.
All submissions must be emailed to Christine.Cornielle@mail.house.gov OR mailed to Jim Himes’ Bridgeport office (350 Fairfield Avenue, Suite 603, Bridgeport, CT 06604) by Thursday, October 1 end of day. The winners will be chosen by October 15th, the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Essays should have a minimum of 400 words for high school students (grades 9-12), 300 words for middle school students (grades 6-8), and 75 words for elementary school students (K-5). Essays may be in English or Spanish. Pictures are optional with submissions. Submissions must include parent/guardian name, address and contact information, student’s name, grade and school name.
STUDENT WRITING CONTEST ON THE 250th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES
NCTE and the National Humanities Alliance, with support from The Teagle Foundation, invite students to participate in a writing contest celebrating language and literature’s role in shaping our understanding of the past and future of the United States.
Top prize $1,000. Two second prizes of $500 for each prompt.
September 30 deadline. Winners announced in December.
Writing Prompts (Choose ONE)
Prompt One:
Identify an existing literary work and describe how it has shaped your understanding of our country. How does this work enrich your understanding about our shared past, present, or future in the United States? What does this work inspire you to consider for the future of the United States?
This competition defines literary works as published works of literature or literary arts, inclusive of fiction and nonfiction literature, poetry, song lyrics, and film scripts. Responses should be no longer than 10 pages (not including works-cited), double-spaced, and include only the student’s first and last name and submission title along with the writing.
Judging for this prompt will include weighted criteria toward the analysis of the selected literary work in conjunction with original interpretation to the understanding and/or inspiration it prompts.
Prompt Two:
Create an original multimodal work that celebrates what the United States means to you and/or inspires you to share about future possibilities for the United States.
Multimodal submissions must be accompanied by a reflective essay/artist’s statement of up to two pages, double-spaced, explaining the student’s creative choices using the tools of their chosen medium.
This competition considers multimodal works to encompass a wide range of texts across media types. The following are examples of potential multimodal submissions; submissions may include other kinds of works in different mediums:
Photo essays or pseudo-magazine covers, newspaper front pages, or film posters.
Digital games, like a piece of interactive fiction or a Twine story.
Video essays (should be limited to 10 minutes).
Judging for this prompt will include criteria weighted toward the original, creative work and the reflective essay/artist’s statement.
AI: Because this contest celebrates youth experience and voice tied to the humanities, all submissions must be generated exclusively by humans. Generative AI word, image, video, audio, and other similar technologies cannot be used in the research, development, production, review, or at any other stage in the creative process.
Send questions to ncteawards@ncte.org. More info here.
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