DUL Creative Writing Awards

Are you an undergraduate who enjoys creative writing?  You could win an award for your talents!

The Rudolph William Rosati Creative Writing Award

The Rosati Creative Writing Prize is awarded each spring in recognition of an outstanding work of creative writing.  All Duke first year or sophomore students are eligible to submit work for consideration.  Projects may be any genre and take any form (audio/video, digital media, etc.), but must include a substantial creative writing component.

Deadline: June 15th, 2026

Prize: $1500

For more details: https://library.duke.edu/research/awards/rosati

The William Styron Creative Writing Award

The Styron Creative Writing Prize is awarded each spring in recognition of an outstanding work of creative writing. All Duke juniors and seniors (graduating spring 2025) are eligible to submit work for consideration. Projects may be any genre and take any form (audio/video, digital media, etc.), but must include a substantial creative writing component.

Deadline: June 15th, 2026

Prize: $1500

For more details: https://library.duke.edu/research/awards/styron

Eligibility for both awards:

You must be a Duke undergraduate student

You may submit no more than three different projects in a given year. Each project should be submitted individually with an accompanying application.

Submitted projects must have been written during the current academic year

Projects are judged based on quality and originality of writing

At this time submissions must be written in English

No minimum length. No more than 50 pages for each submission can be submitted. The total work can be longer, but in that case only submit a carefully selected sample.

Contact Arianne Hartsell-Gundy, Librarian for Literature, at arianne.hartsell.gundy@duke.edu, if you have questions.