The Rawlings Writing Award
The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society is sponsoring a writing contest for graduate and undergraduate students, in two tracks. The Rawlings Writing Award is $500 for undergraduate students and $1,000 for graduate students. The topic should be related to the works, career, or legacy of Rawlings.
Candidates are required to be enrolled at a university or college at the time
they composed the work and will be invited to present their work at the next annual Rawlings conference. Winners will also be invited to submit their work for publication in the Society’s journal or newsletter. Submissions can be new work or work that was composed in the previous calendar year. All submissions must be submitted electronically through the appropriate portal.
Candidates must agree to the Award’s AI Policy, included in the portals. Submissions will be evaluated by a Society review panel, and winners will be announced by March 1.
Undergraduate Contest
Students can submit a critical essay, a creative written work, a recorded performance, or a media project (such as a digital exhibit). Written projects should run between 1500 and 3000 words.
Submit your entry and find information for the undergraduate contest.
Graduate Contest
Because writing is of paramount importance for graduate-level scholarship,
the graduate contest requires written work, either critical or creative. Submissions should run between 1500 and 5000 words.
Submit your entry and find contact information for the graduate contest.
Contact: Kenneth Kidd at kbkidd@ufl.edu with any questions or concerns.
DEADLINE: February 1, 2027
AI Policy for the Rawlings Award
AI tools can be supportive learning aids, helpful for brainstorming, generating research questions, and identifying useful search terms. However, AI tools cannot replace your own critical thinking or original writing. You may use AI to help you with preliminary research and information gathering. Because AI systems often reshape wording in ways that override your authentic voice, you may not use AI to generate text for work submitted for Award consideration. This Award is designed to acknowledge your time and creative-critical labor, after
all. If you do use AI, please do so mindfully, and document that use in your submission.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society 