ursinus creative writing scholarship

Ursinus Magazine

New Creative Writing Major Added to Curriculum

The English department has added a new creative writing major to its list of offerings. Available starting the fall of 2024, the new major combines extensive workshop classes across a spectrum of writing styles and genres with rigorous reading and analysis of literature.

“There has always been a tremendous interest in creative writing,” said Professor of English Jon Volkmer. “With a large number of applications every year for the creative writing scholarship , we have the engine for the recruitment of creative writers built in. Plus with the department’s addition of two really strong professors, Katie Schmid Henson and Shane Kowalski ’11, we are well positioned to add this major. This is an exciting next step.”

As part of the new major, which will have a substantial literary requirement, a “Writing in the Real World” course will be added to the curriculum. Aimed at making young writers market savvy, the course will cover topics such as how to identify markets and how to submit work. “It will cover the business side of things that students really want to know, and it will help them navigate the very difficult world of publication and the process of trying to find your way as a writer,” said Volkmer.

It joins courses such as “Humor” taught by Talia Argondezzi, director of the writing and speaking program; “Poetry of Family and Childhood” taught by Henson; “Nothing Makes Sense” taught by Kowalski; and “Fable and Fantasy” taught by Volkmer, who noted that “one of the things we do well at Ursinus is offer a wide variety of creative writing classes.”

“We have a very strong English major here. With 70 students enrolled in the major, we are the largest humanities department at Ursinus,” said Volkmer, who cited a New Yorker article from February that put the number of undergraduate English majors at Harvard University at fewer than 60 in 2020. “They’re five times the size of Ursinus, so we are doing something right.”

Noting the impressive outcomes of the creative writing minor, which has been in existence for more than 35 years, Volkmer said that the major, much like a degree in English, prepares students for much more than creative writing alone. “It prepares students for jobs in social media, editing, publications, journalism, and communications, with skills that are convertible to business jobs. It gives them something that is unusual for their resume because there aren’t many schools that offer this as a major,” said Volkmer.

“There have been so many students over the years who have taken a lot of creative writing classes and taken more than a minors’ worth. This new major satisfies a yearning in our student population to do more and to see a higher credential for it.”

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Ursinus College Creative Writing Scholarship

Get detailed information on Ursinus College Creative Writing Scholarship and its eligibility criteria, application deadline, rewards and more.

• Religious Scholarships
• Weird & Unusual

Scholarship Overview

Deadline: 01/01/2023

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

Website: Link

Awards Available: 1 awards

About the Scholarship

Eligibility criteria.

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On Education

J. D. Salinger Slept Here (Just Don’t Tell Anyone)

By Michael Winerip

• March 20, 2011

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. — For years, officials at Ursinus College had been trying to figure out how to capitalize on the fact that J. D. Salinger had spent one semester there in the fall of 1938.

They were hoping to attract publicity for Ursinus and tried everything they could think of to lure Salinger from the secluded world he’d lived in for his final 50 years. They offered to make him a guest lecturer; to build a literary festival around him; to award him an honorary degree. “No response,” said Richard DiFeliciantonio, the vice president for enrollment at the small liberal arts college here. “Absolutely nothing.”

Then Jon Volkmer, an English professor, had what Holden Caulfield would have called a goddam terrific idea. They could establish an annual J. D. Salinger Scholarship in creative writing for an incoming freshman, and as a bonus the winner would get to spend the first year at Ursinus in Salinger’s old dorm room. “Any college could offer money,” Professor Volkmer said. “Nobody else could offer Salinger’s room.”

On Jan. 19, 2006, the college announced the $30,000-a-year Salinger scholarship, and within a week, the writer’s literary representatives were demanding that his name be removed. In retrospect, this was not a big surprise. All his life, Salinger had done everything possible to protect his privacy from the same stinking phonies who’d so unnerved Holden Caulfield. He removed his photograph from the jacket cover of “The Catcher in the Rye” and successfully sued a biographer to prevent the publication of his personal letters.

“Salinger’s representatives sent us a warning; it was only one paragraph, but it was blunt,” Mr. DiFeliciantonio said. “They may have used the word ‘exploit.’ ”

College officials pleaded that they were just trying to help worthy students. “I don’t think they used the term ‘cease and desist,’ ” Mr. DiFeliciantonio said, “although they may have used the word ‘desist.’ ”

In deference to what some would refer to as Salinger’s artistic sensibilities and others would call his nuttiness, the college changed the name of the scholarship to the Ursinus College Creative Writing Award. But the part about sleeping in Salinger’s room remained. “I mean, we own the room,” Professor Volkmer said. “They couldn’t stop us from that, I don’t think.”

In the next few weeks, Ursinus will announce the sixth annual winner of what is now known here as the “Not the J. D. Salinger Scholarship.”

In theory, previous winners who have slept in Salinger’s room — 300 Curtis Hall — should have felt honored and humbled, although it was no bed of roses.

“It’s a pretty tiny room,” said Anton Teubner, a senior who slept there in 2007.

“It is small,” said Logan Metcalf-Kelly, the current occupant. “But I don’t mind sleeping in it.”

“Late at night,” Mr. Teubner said, “I’d be in bed and there’d be these drunk freshmen yelling in the hallway: ‘It’s the room, it’s the room.’ Cut into my sleep.”

On the other hand, for the lonely male freshman, there are benefits. “Girls are interested in seeing the inside of Salinger’s room,” Mr. Metcalf-Kelly said.

The problem is, except for the plaque in the hallway identifying the room, there’s not a lot to see, and scant evidence that one of the great writers of the 20th century spent the first half of his freshman year there. A slanting ceiling makes the room feel even smaller than it is. Instead of curtains for privacy, Mr. Metcalf-Kelly has slung a towel over the only window. It’s hard to tell whether the walls are a faded yellow or bright beige. The carpet is so matted, threadbare and cruddy-looking, it does seem possible that Salinger walked on it.

A scholarly assessment of Salinger’s four months at Ursinus would probably conclude that great writers are not necessarily great human beings, and that their behavior in their formative years does not necessarily foreshadow their outsize successes to come.

Salinger wrote a weekly column in the school paper called J.D.S.’s The Skipped Diploma. The writing is so snide and hip and insiderly, it is almost impossible to tell what, if anything, he was trying to say. He was also the paper’s theater critic, but his reviews were mindlessly positive and cloying, particularly when it came to the female roles, and some scholars have speculated that his primary artistic goal was bedding coeds.

If there is one single thing he did at Ursinus that would hint of the perfect short stories to come: “For Esmé — With Love and Squalor”; “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes”; “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”— no one has unearthed it yet.

Still, for a man who didn’t appear to like much of anything for very long, he seemed to have had a fondness for Ursinus. Compared with his other college experiences — two weeks at New York University and a few creative writing courses at Columbia — Ursinus was as close to an alma mater as he’d get. In her memoir, Margaret, his daughter, wrote that he “had only good things to say about Ursinus and its lack of pretension.”

On March 15, 1963, Salinger wrote to the registrar, requesting a catalog for the family’s baby sitter, “a thoroughly nice young girl,” noting that “I look back with a great deal of pleasure on my own days at Ursinus.”

To qualify for the Not the Salinger Scholarship, applicants must submit writing samples. The judges aren’t looking for the person who writes most like Salinger; they’re looking for a person who, like Salinger, writes with a strong, distinctive voice.

That’s a good thing, because there are applicants who have never read Salinger’s books.

“I glanced at them in high school, but never actually read them,” Mr. Metcalf-Kelly said.

“I was not a Salinger fan until I came here,” Mr. Teubner said.

Mr. Metcalf-Kelly said that if his generation were asked to pick a dorm room to sleep in based on literary merit, many would head for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Dave Eggers slept. “I think Eggers’s ‘A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius’ had the impact on our generation that ‘Catcher in the Rye’ had on its generation,” he said.

“Eggers went to my high school,” said Mr. Teubner, the Ursinus senior, who graduated from Lake Forest High near Chicago.

If Mr. Teubner were to pick a literary bed, he would move to Bennington, Vt., where Bret Easton Ellis slept. “I’m not sure that’s typical,” he said. “A lot of kids my age don’t read Ellis anymore. He’s a little old. He was big in the ’90s.”

Callie Ingram, a junior, slept in the Salinger room two years ago. She described “The Catcher in the Rye” as “a good book, but not pivotal.” She still hasn’t opened her copy of “Franny and Zooey.”

If Ms. Ingram had to pick a bed, it would be in Knoxville, at the University of Tennessee, where Cormac McCarthy slept. She was particularly moved by “All the Pretty Horses” and “The Road.”

However, if she preferred staying at Ursinus and were willing to settle for rooms occupied by Cormac McCarthy’s niece (class of 2009) or John Updike’s mother (class of 1923), either of those could work, too.

The On Education column on Monday, about a writing award at Ursinus College that includes the chance to occupy J.D. Salinger’s former dorm room, gave an incorrect date, provided by the college, for the year that the niece of the writer Cormac McCarthy graduated from Ursinus. It was 2009, not 2007.

How we handle corrections

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Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow.   Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station  is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station  was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

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Victor Mukhin

• Scientific Program

Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems

However, up to now, the main carriers of catalytic additives have been mineral sorbents: silica gels, alumogels. This is obviously due to the fact that they consist of pure homogeneous components SiO2 and Al2O3, respectively. It is generally known that impurities, especially the ash elements, are catalytic poisons that reduce the effectiveness of the catalyst. Therefore, carbon sorbents with 5-15% by weight of ash elements in their composition are not used in the above mentioned technologies. However, in such an important field as a gas-mask technique, carbon sorbents (active carbons) are carriers of catalytic additives, providing effective protection of a person against any types of potent poisonous substances (PPS). In ESPE “JSC "Neorganika" there has been developed the technology of unique ashless spherical carbon carrier-catalysts by the method of liquid forming of furfural copolymers with subsequent gas-vapor activation, brand PAC. Active carbons PAC have 100% qualitative characteristics of the three main properties of carbon sorbents: strength - 100%, the proportion of sorbing pores in the pore space – 100%, purity - 100% (ash content is close to zero). A particularly outstanding feature of active PAC carbons is their uniquely high mechanical compressive strength of 740 ± 40 MPa, which is 3-7 times larger than that of  such materials as granite, quartzite, electric coal, and is comparable to the value for cast iron - 400-1000 MPa. This allows the PAC to operate under severe conditions in moving and fluidized beds.  Obviously, it is time to actively develop catalysts based on PAC sorbents for oil refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and various technologies of organic synthesis.

Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents.     Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.   

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Best Short Fiction Writing Scholarships in 2024

Showing 19 scholarships that match your search.

Creative Writing Award

The winner will be offered the opportunity to occupy during her or his first academic year the residence room where J. D. Salinger lived; and Leadership standing in the Ursinus writing community. The winner will be expected to join the previous award winners in reading subsequent creative portfolios, and will help the Office of Admission in selecting the next winner. Award winners are also expected to be prominent members of Ursinus’ Literary Society, The Lantern, and the creative writing community.

Categories: Short Fiction

Organization: Ursinus College.

Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Categories: Short Fiction.

Apply now →

Unpublished Writer's Award

The winner of this award receives $1,000, an invitation to accept the award at our annual awards ceremony, promotion on our website, and a feature of their work in our Magajournal and quarterly newsletter. Applicant must email an original, unpublished fiction work (short story or novel excerpt) not to exceed 2,000 typed words on double-spaced pages

Organization: Go On Girl! Book Club.

Deadline: March 31, 2025.

Additional awards: Invitation to awards ceremony, promotion through website and publications.

The Phyliss J. McCarthy Scholarship for Excellence in Writing

LearnCurious is proud to introduce the annual competition for the Phyliss J. McCarthy Scholarship for Excellence in Writing. In 3,000 words or fewer, applicants must respond to one of three creative prompts. Entrants must be high school juniors or seniors to win.

Organization: Learn Curious.

Deadline: July 23, 2024.

Additional awards: 2 runner-up prizes of $50 each.

Dark Poetry Scholarship

The Dark Poetry scholarship is designed to assist in the professional development of Horror and/or Dark Fantasy Poets. This scholarship is worth $1250, which may be spent on approved writing education over the two years following the granting of the scholarship.

Organization: Horror Writers Association.

Deadline: August 01, 2024.

Dennis Etchison Young Writers Scholarship

The Dennis Etchison Young Writers scholarship will be open to students in grades 10-12 (or the equivalent, if home schooled), with an interest in writing horror/dark fiction. Students must provide a selection of their work, at least one letter of reference by their instructor(s), and a description of their goals with an education plan for use of the stipend. The recipient will have 2 years to utilize the funds.

Additional awards: Horror author JG Faherty will mentor the winner for 6 months..

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship

It is clear to the HWA that there are unseen, but real, barriers limiting the amount of horror fiction being published by women. This scholarship, named after the great female horror writer, aims to encourage more female writers to enter our genre and to aid in the development of those already working within it.

Horror Writers Association Scholarship

The Horror Writers Association Scholarship will be open to all horror writers (HWA membership is not a requirement). Scholarship is designed to assist in the professional development of horror writers.

TalNexus Scholarship for a Master in Fine Arts Degree

The TalNexus Scholarship for a Master in Fine Arts Degree offers grants of up to $4,000 for storytellers (writers and filmmakers) pursuing degrees in Masters in Fine Arts. The award recognizes applicants of demonstrated talent in their craft and a commitment to exploring themes of individuality, community and innovation – broadly imagined – in their works.

Organization: Taliesin Nexus.

Deadline: September 01, 2024.

Additional awards: Multiple grants will be given. Winners will also be accepted into the TalNexus Writers Workshop and can receive travel stipends..

YoungArts' National Arts Competition for Writing

YoungArts’ signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists ages 15-18 or in grades 10-12 from across the United States. YoungArts winners receive valuable support, including financial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences working with renowned mentors, and performance and exhibition opportunities at some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions.

Organization: National YoungArts Foundation.

Deadline: October 08, 2024.

Additional awards: Multiple awards of varying amounts will be given.

New York Life Award

The National New York Life Award, sponsored by the New York Life Foundation, provides six students whose works explore personal grief, loss, and bereavement with $1,000 scholarships. Additional state scholarships of $500 are available to two students from select states. Note that deadlines for all Scholastic Art & Writing Awards vary depending on your state.

Organization: Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Deadline: December 01, 2024.

Additional awards: 10 additional scholarships of $500 each (restrictions apply).

Civic Expression Award

The Civic Expression Award, sponsored by the Maurice R. Robinson Fund, provides six students whose works best promote responsible participation in civic life with $1,000 scholarships. This award is part of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Note that deadlines for all Scholastic Art & Writing Awards vary depending on your state.

Unigo $10k Scholarship

Provide a short written response to the following question: "Imagine a historical figure is brought back to life. Who is it? What‘s their favorite mobile app?” Response should be limited to 250 words or less.

Organization: Unigo.

Deadline: December 31, 2024.

Deming Fund Grant

We award small artist support grants ($500 – $1,500) to individual feminist women in the arts who are citizens in the U.S and Canada. We welcome applications from women artists and writers who exhibit high quality and originality, use feminism as their central interpretive lens, and validate and express intersectional views.

Organization: Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc..

Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Arts for Life! Scholarship

Arts for Life! annually awards $1,000 scholarships to 25 graduating high school seniors in Florida who demonstrate excellence in creative writing, dance, drama, music or visual art. To apply, students must submit a completed application, a brief essay explaining “how the arts have positively influenced my life,” and a portfolio of work in creative writing, dance, drama, music, or visual art.

Organization: Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Deadline: February 01, 2025.

Porter Fleming Literary Competition

The Porter Fleming Literary Competition honors the memory of Porter Fleming, one of Augusta, Georgia’s leading citizens and foremost philanthropists. The Porter Fleming Literary Competition consists of four categories — fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and one-act play — and awards $7,000 in cash awards, distributed evenly across these categories.

Organization: Morris Museum of Art.

Deadline: February 10, 2025.

Additional awards: 4 second place prizes of $500 each, 4 third place prizes of $250 each.

What are writing scholarships?

Writing scholarships are financial awards given to students based primarily on written work, though other factors are usually taken into consideration as well. Most writing scholarships involve a prompt or series of prompts to which applicants must respond. Some writing scholarships — especially those that award large amounts of money — require applicants to submit past writing samples, or even a full portfolio.

The good news is that, with so many writing scholarships to choose from, you don’t have to apply for any that are “out of your league.” Indeed, though most students have heard of writing scholarships, you may not realize just how many different varieties there are! Here are five of the most common types of writing scholarships, all of which you can find in this directory.

1. Personal essay scholarships

Personal essay scholarships involve writing on a topic related to your own experience. You’ll often see personal essay prompts like, “How have your experiences influenced your choice of major?” and “What are your career aspirations and how do you plan to achieve them?” Other prompts may ask you to write about a role model, a life-changing event, an aspect of your identity, etc. Suggested length is usually about 500-1,000 words, but varies depending on the level of detail requested and how many essay questions are provided.

Just about every scholarship these days has a personal essay component of some kind. This is because personal essay responses both demonstrate writing skills and give the judges a clear sense of each applicant’s goals. No one wants to throw away money on an aimless student — so if you’re applying for a personal essay scholarship, make sure to convey both your writing abilities and your ambitions in your work!

2. Critical essay scholarships

Critical essay scholarships are more in line with what students might consider  “academic” essays. The prompts typically ask applicants to analyze works of literature. However, unlike open-ended English class essays, most critical essay scholarships provide a very specific prompt (e.g. “Examine The Great Gatsby in the context of its World War II-era revival”).

Critical essay scholarships can also involve non-literary subject matter. Some may ask applicants to evaluate a historical event or figure; others may ask them to defend their stance on a political or legal issue. Though the line between critical and personal essays can sometimes blur, for the purposes of this directory, we define critical essays as those that use evidence from an external source to prove a point.

3. Short fiction scholarships

Short fiction scholarships include scholarships for short stories, one-act plays, poetry, and any other form of fiction that isn’t a novel or full-length script. Short fiction scholarships tend to be easier to find than long-form fiction scholarships, since most judging panels don’t have time to read more than a few thousand words per entry. Therefore, if you write fiction and you’re hoping to nab yourself a scholarship, this category is the way to go! (That said, if you’re a hardline novelist, some places will accept a sample chapter or two as short fiction entries.)

4. Journalism scholarships

Journalism scholarships are for students interested in pursuing a career in news, magazine, and/or online journalism. These scholarship applications almost always ask for writing samples to show the candidate’s interest. Depending on the organization, they may prefer topical news reports, informative articles, thinkpieces, or a mix. Some journalism scholarships provide a prompt and ask applicants to write a new article, but the focus is usually on samples. Speaking of which…

5. Portfolio scholarships 

Portfolio scholarships are the most rigorous kind of writing scholarship, requiring a substantial body of work from each applicant — usually 5-10 pieces of writing, if not more. The upside is that awards for portfolio scholarships tend to be pretty sizable, and may even cover your entire tuition!

If you decide to apply to a portfolio scholarship, make sure you have several strong pieces of work in your oeuvre, and consider writing a few new pieces as well. What you shouldn’t do is rush through a dozen new pieces to throw together as a portfolio. If you don’t have samples at the ready from previous assignments or projects, you’ll be better off applying to a less intensive writing scholarship.

Why apply to writing scholarships?

Applying to writing scholarships is a huge undertaking, especially if you’re pursuing multiple scholarships at once. It can sometimes feel like the effort isn’t worth it, or that you have little chance of actually winning any awards. But in truth, submitting to writing scholarships is one of the best investments you can make in your education, your creative writing skills, and your professional life.

Scholarships for larger amounts do attract more applicants, but that doesn’t mean they’re impossible to land — only that you have to work a little harder to stand out. And you can definitely sway the odds in your favor by applying to lots of small scholarships ($500 or less) for which you’ll have fewer competitors. Remember that every little bit helps! For example, if you plan on taking out student loans, even a $500 scholarship could save you much more in interest down the line.

Another compelling reason to apply to writing scholarships is that oftentimes, you’ve already done the work, or the work required is minimal. For scholarships that require writing samples, you’ll simply submit what you’ve already written in the past — and even for scholarships with specific prompts, you rarely have to write more than a couple of pages. If you were seriously committed, you could apply to a scholarship every day, spending a single concentrated evening on each application.

Jumping off that thought, as English majors love to say: the more writing scholarships you apply for, the better a writer you’ll become. Writing tons of scholarship essays will make you a much more creative and efficient writer. Not only will this help with your personal writing projects, but it will also be invaluable to your education and even your career! Writing is a crucial skill for every major — you’ll always have to write papers and emails to professors, after all — and even if you don’t plan to pursue a writing-based job, you'll still need writing skills to polish your résumé.

Finally, remember that there’s a writing scholarship out there for everyone, no matter what your interests or intended field. This directory includes plenty of creative writing scholarships, yes; but there are also personal essay scholarships for future doctors, lawyers, salespeople, and so much more. You have nothing to lose by giving it a shot, so why not start searching for your dream writing scholarship today? (And if you’re unsure about your writing skills, you might benefit from some of the resources below.)

Resources to strengthen your writing skills

• 20 Writing Tips to Help You Become A Better Writer Today
• How to Stop Procrastinating and Build A Solid Writing Routine
• What is Creative Nonfiction? Memoirs, Literary Journalism, and More!
• How to Write a Memoir: Tell Your Amazing Story in 9 Steps
• How to Write a Fantastic Short Story In 7 Steps
• How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript Like a Pro
• 700+ Creative Writing Prompts to Inspire You
• 100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Authors

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