Barrett Creative Writing Contest submissions due February 27

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For all HFC students who aspire to be the voice of their generation, or just share your creativity, we encourage you to take part in the annual Francis G. Barrett Creative Writing Contest with the Larry Colter Poetry Prize and Grunow Writer’s Prize. All submissions are due by Friday, February 27.

The contest is open to works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama

All students who are currently enrolled at HFC are eligible to enter. There will be a total of $1,000 in prize money. This contest is held annually at the College to honor the memory of the English Department's first department chairperson, Frances G. Barrett.

This year marks the debut of The Geraldine Grunow Prize for Excellence in Community-Engaged Writing. Grunow, a retired English instructor, was also a dedicated community activist whose life's work focused on universal human rights and civic engagement. This new contest promotes and celebrates the community-engaged academic writing of students at HFC.

Guidelines

Submissions should be sent as an electronic attachment, preferably Microsoft Word format. We also strongly recommend that students use your HFC Hawkmail email address to ensure that we receive your submission(s). You may submit 1-4 pieces of writing, which may vary in genre.

All attached submission(s) should be accompanied by a cover letter within the email containing the following information:

  • Name
  • HFC Student ID
  • Title(s) of the work(s) submitted
  • Your major and the number of years you have been attending HFC
  • Contact information (include email address, phone number, and home address)
  • A brief paragraph of biographical information: Tell us about yourself. For example, tell us about your hobbies, where you work, your family, your education, your past publications, etc. Also, include several sentences about what inspired the work(s) you submitted.
  • Please include the Release Form for Artwork and Creative Writing with your submission(s).

Submissions

Fiction, non-fiction, and drama submissions should be free of any grammatical errors. Ideally, the submissions should not exceed more than five (5) pages in length. Longer submissions may be considered, but they will be published only if they are exceptional. Also, excerpts from novels or novellas are welcome.

  • Submissions must be double-spaced and typed.
  • The page numbers should be clearly marked.
  • Identifying information (your name, email address, etc.) should not be included on any submissions.

Poetry submissions should be relatively free of any grammatical errors. The highest-placing poem in the Barrett Contest will also be awarded the Colter Poetry Prize, which is $100.

  • Poems should be single-spaced and typed.
  • The title should be clearly marked for each poem.
  • Identifying information (name, email address, etc.) should not be included on any submissions.

Notification of winners

Winners will be notified by Friday, April 3. They will be honored on Thursday, April 16, from 12:40 to 2:00 p.m. in the Adray Auditorium (Room F-100) in the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center (Building F on the main campus).

“I’ve been involved with the Barrett Contest for over a decade, and it continues to be one of my favorite highlights of the year. To see such wonderfully talented submissions from students and then to hear them share their work with the College community reminds me why I enjoy being an English teacher. I marvel every year at how creative and inspiring our students are,” said HFC English instructor Dr. Peter Kim.

For questions or more information about the Barrett Contest, contact michave@hfcc.edu.