Scholarships & Awards

The English Department offers several monetary awards for student writing.

The following are available to English majors during each academic year. Awards are made in late spring for the following academic year. Read carefully, as the requirements for each award may differ.

 
 

 

Scholarship & Award Guidelines

 

All contests are limited to one entry per student. Unless otherwise noted, all submissions should include a cover sheet that includes the contest name, the student's name, student ID number, student address, and the title of the entry. Because submissions will be read blindly, you should not include your name or any identifying information on the submission itself. 

When submitting, students should email their submissions to our Office Manager; in the subject line of your email, please indicate the name of the writing contest to which you're submitting.

 

Contests for the 2023–24 academic year will open in the spring.

 

 

ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ student with book in the winter

Awards & Scholarships

 

Type: Scholarship

Amount: Minimum $750 per academic year

Purpose: To provide tuition grants to sophomore or junior students majoring in English at the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks.

 

Type: Scholarship

Amount: Minimum $1,000 per academic year

Purpose: To provide scholarships for graduate students majoring in creative writing at the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks.

 

Type: Scholarship

Amount: Minimum $500 per academic year, award in spring semester

Purpose: To provide scholarships for undergraduate students in any field of study enrolled in a creative writing class at the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks.

Category: essay

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ freshman undergraduate students

Category: one short story or novel chapter

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ undergraduate students

Category: nonfiction personal essay or journal entries

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ undergraduate and graduate students

Category: set of three poems

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ undergraduate students

Category: set of three poems

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ graduate students

Type: Student Award

Category: critical essay or literary analysis

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ undergraduate and graduate students

Criteria: critical paper written in an upper-division or graduate level literary course at ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ. Writing can be from the Spring, Summer, or Fall 2023 or Spring 2024.

 

Type: Student Award

Amount: Minimum $500 per academic year

Purpose: The English Emeriti Award will be awarded each year to the Outstanding English Major, as voted on by Department faculty members in the spring semester. The intent is that this award should be no less than $500, and larger if the fund is able to support a larger award. The amount of the award is determined by the English Department Chair in consultation with the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

The English Emeriti Award is established in honor of retired professors who have taught English at ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ and been awarded Emeritus status in recognition of their achievements and years of service.

Type: Student Award

Purpose: To provide an award to a ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Student for creative writing in a broad ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ field. 

Category: fiction or nonfiction writing

Eligibility: all students enrolled within the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ system


note: submissions should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages

Type: Scholarship, Student Award

Amount: Minimum $200 per academic year, See agreement & revisions

Purpose: To provide the Minnie E. Wells Award in Literary Criticism, an award based upon an essay written by a student (majoring in any field) for an upper division literature course at ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ in the Department of English; and to provide the Minnie E. Wells Scholarship in English Literature, for students pursuing a BA in English with an emphasis in literature at the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks.


Minnie E. Wells Award in Literary Criticism

Category: critical essay or literary analysis

Eligibility: ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ undergraduate students who have not yet earned a Bachelor's Degree

Criteria: essays written during Spring, Summer, or Fall 2023 or Spring 2024. Submissions are limited to work produced in upper-division or graduate-level literature courses offered by the ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Department of English.
     

note: in addition to the other elements noted above, students' cover sheets should state the name of the course for which the paper was written.

 

Kasugahara Miki (left) and Natalie Tan Rei Hsi (right) ice skate on the frozen Tanana Lake with Nanook Recreation on Sunday, February 3rd, 2019. | ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Photo by Sarah Manriquez
Did you know?

CLA has been the beneficiary of some truly generous gifts from alumni, friends, former professors and staff and other donors. The College of Liberal Arts has many scholarships to offer, from department-specific to college-wide. Why don't you see if there's another here for you?

 

 

Ready to apply for scholarships?