Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards

# Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards Since 1993, Penguin Random House has awarded more than $3 million in college scholarships to public high school students for original poetry, memoir and personal essay, fiction and drama, and spoken word. Run in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, the competition awards scholarships of up to $10,000 each to six U.S. high school seniors, with honorable mentions receiving creativity kits of PRH titles and writing resources. Named categories include the James Baldwin Award for Fiction, the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry, the Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word, and the Chinua Achebe Award for Freedom of Expression, which asks students to write about a banned book that changed their life. ## What You'll Do - Choose a category and prepare an original submission in that form - Submit through the awards application when the annual cycle opens - If selected, take part in the virtual development week held each summer: one-on-one meetings with Penguin Random House editors, networking workshops, a panel on careers in publishing, and fireside chats with PRH authors - Join the virtual awards ceremony that closes the week ## Who Should Apply Current high school seniors attending public schools in the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, who plan to attend college. An additional first-place prize goes to the top entrant from the New York City area, where the program began. ## Outcomes Winners receive scholarships of up to $10,000, editorial mentoring during development week, and publication of selected winning entries on the Penguin Random House site; past winners have gone on to become professional and award-winning authors.