Young Writers Awards
Charleston Literary Festival Young Writers Awards recognize students with exceptional talent while promoting the transformative power of literature and encouraging creative growth.
The Charleston Literary Festival’s Young Writers Awards seeks to elevate teen voices while supporting their talents and providing the encouragement needed to be lifelong creators. The Awards align with South Carolina ELA State Standards and are open to 9th – 12th grade students currently enrolled in a Charleston, Berkeley, or Dorchester County public school. The Awards offer opportunities for recognition of teachers and students, cash prizes, and participation in Literary Festival events. The Literary Festival wishes that the recognition received will show young authors that their voices are valuable and provide them with a launchpad for careers centered in the literary arts.
Charleston Literary Festival’s Young Writers Awards program is committed to reflecting the broad range of voices and experiences of the tri-county public school community. Submitted works are adjudicated by a panel of literary professionals and are selected for recognition based on three criteria: originality, skill, and emergence of a personal voice.
Three works are selected for each of the three categories of Poetry, Journalism, and Short Story for a total of nine awards. The selected young authors will receive a cash prize, be invited to present their work at a Literary Festival event, and their work will be published on the Festival’s website. Teachers of award-winning students will receive tickets to a select number of Festival events.
This program builds a model of support for tri-county teachers and students that will in future years, provide professional development opportunities with the Literary Festival’s featured authors, direct scholarships, engaging fellowships, teen writing workshops, a rich bank of educator resources, and robust alumni engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Award Process
A group of literary professionals will adjudicate the works and score them based on three criteria: originality, skill, and emergence of a personal voice. Three awards will be selected in each of the three categories for a total of nine award placements. First, second, and third-place prizes for each category will be selected. Winners will be notified through their supporting teacher. First prize will be $300, second will be $200, third will be $100, and all winners will be invited to take part in an awards ceremony during the Literary Festival. Teachers of winning students will receive a total of two tickets to use during available Festival events. Winners will have the opportunity to present their work during the Literary Festival and have their work highlighted on the Literary Festival’s website.
Submission Period, Deadline, and Award Notification
The submission portal will open on Monday, August 25th, and the deadline for entries will be Thursday, October 2nd at 11:59 pm.
Students will be notified of their award status via their supporting teacher on Monday, October 20th.
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Award-winning students will be matched with a Charleston Literary Festival presenting author and will read a selected portion of their work ahead of the selected Festival session. A Literary Festival staff member will coordinate the session time with the supporting teacher and student in mind. The student will receive five tickets to the selected event for their family and friends to attend. Additional seats can be purchased through the Festival’s website.
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A group of literary professionals with a wide range of experiences is selected to review and score the submissions. We do not release the names of the judges until after the adjudication process, as this practice ensures that judges are scoring independently, and the process is based on merit only.
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Contact Jennifer at jennifer@charlestonliteraryfestival.com and provide your name, the supporting teacher’s name, and a description of your issue.
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To ensure equal access to all Charleston County High School students, there is no entry fee.
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No, students are welcome to explore any topic, and language will not be censored. Please keep in mind that winners willbe invited to present their work at a Charleston Literary Festival event with the public in attendance. Additionally, if a work expresses self-harm or the harm of others, the supporting teacher will be notified of the content to ensure the safety of the student and others.
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No. Students may submit one entry for the category of their choice (maximum of one submission).
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Yes! Award-winning works will be published on the Charleston Literary Festival’s website.
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9th through 12th grade students at any Charleston, Berkeley, or Dorchester County public school are welcome to enter.
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Not currently, but we do hope to extend the opportunity to those students in future years.
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Yes.
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No. Collaborative work is not allowed in any category.
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We encourage students to review the section ‘Category Details’ and discuss their entry with their supporting teacher.
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Yes, we honor the chosen names and pronouns. Please be aware that the names and pronouns of selected Award winners will be public.
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No. Works suspected of being generated by AI will be subject to disqualification.
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Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.
All works submitted must be original.
Plagiarism or presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgment, is strictly prohibited. Plagiarism of ideas occurs when the writer presents the ideas of others as his/her/their own. Information, interpretations, and conclusions that come from a specific source must be attributed to the source even if the original words are not used. Plagiarism of language occurs when the writer takes sentences or substantive phrases/words from a source. Writers must use quotation marks or block quotations to indicate that the words in the essay are the same as those in the original text, and writers must provide a citation* that correctly identifies the source. It is important that the writer fulfills his/her/their responsibility to the original source by being precise and accurate when quoting. Works suspected of plagiarism will be disqualified.
*The basic citation format is: Last name of the author, first name. “Title of page/document”. Title of overall webpage, date, URL.
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You can submit a work that has been previously entered into another program if the other contest or program does not hold exclusive rights to your work.