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Wilkes Scholarship

Penny Wilkes, writer and professor of creative and nature writing at National University, created The Penny Wilkes Scholarship in Writing and the Environment, an award, she explains, for “writing that has some connection to the environment and that shows a human relationship to the environment, which is especially important in this day and age when we really need to get back to nature.”  Penny Wilkes is the author of Flying Lessons and Whispers from the Land.

Faculty teaching Creative Writing classes may nominate fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submitted for their classes by both graduate and undergraduate students; students may also submit work. A jury of faculty members selects the winners.

Eligibility
All students taking a Creative Writing Program course in the current academic year.

Guidelines
Submissions may be fiction, nonfiction, poetry or cross-genre pieces that have a strong sense of place and use nature as a starting point for creative insight.

  • Cover Page (one per genre): contestant’s full name, UO ID, address, phone, UO email, as well as the genre and title(s) of work submitted.
  • Manuscript Header: contestant’s UO ID (no name), title of work, and page number.
  • Manuscript Content: up to two single-spaced poems or up to 15 pages of double-spaced fiction/nonfiction. All entries should be typed using a 12-point standard font in black ink only on 8-1/2″ x 11″ white paper.

Manuscripts will not be returned and those that do not meet these guidelines will be disqualified.

Submission Deadline
Late Winter/early Spring term. Entries must be submitted to 108 Alder Building by noon of the deadline posted.

Selection & Awards
Award will be distributed Spring term.

All disbursements are made through Student Accounts (balances due may be subtracted from the award amount).

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