Notre Dame Magazine is sponsoring its third annual Young Alumni Essay Contest. The magazine’s editors, who will judge the 2015 contest, are looking for original, previously unpublished, creative nonfiction essays. The editors are seeking evocative first-person works that would appeal to a college-educated audience.
Eligibility:
Open to those who received a University of Notre Dame bachelor’s degree in the years 2006 through 2015.
Only one entry per eligible individual is allowed.
Previous winners may enter.
Submission requirements:
Entries must be written in the English language, be original and previously unpublished.
Submissions should range from 800 to 1,500 words. Essays longer than 1,500 words will be disqualified.
Essays must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.
Entries accepted July 1 through midnight Sept. 9, 2015.
Submission procedure:
Because the entries will be read blind, it is important that entrants follow the procedures listed here:
To submit an essay, send an email to magazine@nd.edu. Include the author’s name, postal address, email address, phone number and ND graduation year. Make sure to include the title of the submission in this email.
Attach the word document of the entry to this email. The manuscript should include the title of the essay but no author identifying information.
Awards:
The first-place winner will receive a cash prize of $500. The winning essay will be published in Notre Dame Magazine in 2016.
Second-place winner(s) will receive $250. The winning essay(s) also will be published in Notre Dame Magazine in 2016.
Should the judges decide to award one or more honorable mentions, the winner(s) will receive $50 and publication at magazine.nd.edu.
Published essays are subject to editing.
Winners’ names will appear in magazine.nd.edu, and winners will be notified via email.
The judges’ decisions are final.
Contest tips:
Notre Dame Magazine has been lauded for the essays that appear in its CrossCurrents section.
For an idea of the types of essays most appropriate for this contest, we suggest reading previous CrossCurrents essays, which can be found at magazine.nd.edu/archives. Also, visit magazine.nd.edu/news/54803 to read last year’s winners.
These essays are not term papers. They should be evocative, first-person works that would appeal to a college-educated audience.
Questions:
Submit any questions about this competition to magazine@nd.edu.