Information for:
Spring 2009 Fellowships:
- Thesis Fellowship
- Completion Fellowship
- Heritage Fellowship
Spring 2009 Contests:
- The Mark Craver Poetry Award ($600)
- The Mary Roberts Rinehart Awards in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction ($500)
- The Virginia Downs Poetry Award ($400)
- The Joseph A. Lohman III Poetry Prize ($100)
- The Shelley A. Marshall Fiction Award ($500)
- The Dan Rudy Fiction Award ($300)
**With the exception of the Craver Poetry Prize (which is open to George Mason MFA poetry students only), all competitions listed below are open to any currently enrolled George Mason University student, graduate or undergraduate.**
The Mark Craver Poetry Award
The Mark Craver Poetry Award was created in honor of Mark Craver, an MA and MFA alum as well as a popular Mason adjunct professor and area high school teacher until his death in January 2004. Read More >>
The Mary Roberts Rinehart Award
To help aspiring authors, the family of the late Mary Roberts Rinehart began a number of years ago awarding small grants to writers whose work showed particular promise. These grants were given to honor Ms. Rinehart, a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work was popular in the earlier decades of the 1900s. Read More >>
The Virginia Downs Poetry Award
The Virginia Downs Poetry Award was established by the family and friends of Virginia Downs (1916-1984), poet and George Mason University graduate. The award is given for a single poem of 60 lines or less, on any subject and in any form. Read More >>
The Joseph A. Lohman III Poetry Prize
The Joseph Lohman Poetry Prize was established by Judith Lelchook through the Academy of American Poets in New York. Read More >>
The Shelley A. Marshall Fiction Award
The Shelley A. Marshall Fiction Prize was established by Donn Marshall, the husband of Shelley Marshall (1963-2001), a GMU alumna who was killed in the September 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. Read More >>
The Dan Rudy Fiction Award
The Dan Rudy Fiction Prize was established by the family and friends of Dan Rudy (1947-1983), fiction writer and George Mason University M.F.A. candidate. Read More >>
Rules of Submission (for All Prizes and Awards)
- A "currently enrolled student" is a student registered for a course at George Mason University during the spring semester, 2009.
- Students are limited to one submission per competition and must submit different work for each competition, since a poem or story cannot receive more than one award or prize.
- Students must submit one hard copy and one electronic copy of each entry for each contest.
- Paper copies should be placed in envelopes and labeled according to the contest for which they are being submitted. There are bins on the filing cabinets just in front of the graduate programs manager's desk and they are labeled with contest names. All paper copies should be placed in these bins.
- Electronic copies should be sent as email attachments to writing@gmu.edu. A separate attachment is required for each entry and all entries should be titled according to the contest for which they are being submitted.
- Because the purpose of these awards is to reward previously-unrecognized work, submissions must be previously unpublished. Submissions will be considered as "published" if they have been accepted for or have appeared in any publication, including student magazines at this or other institutions. Work under submission will not be considered to be "published," and is eligible for these awards. PLEASE NOTE: Work submitted to these awards is no longer conisdered automatically for inclusion in Phoebe. Students who wish work considered there must submit it separately to the editors.
- The author's name must not appear on any page of a submission. Instead, include a cover page with the title of the work or works submitted, the name of the competition, the author's name, email address, mailing address, telephone number and gnumber.
- Address submissions with the award name clearly written and send to Graduate Programs Manager, MSN 3E4, Department of English, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, or bring it in person to the English department, Robinson A, room 487. Submissions will not be accepted by fax.
Submissions will not be returned: Students are advised to keep copies of work submitted. Please do not call the Department of English for competition results. The outcome of the contests will be announced on the George Mason MA and MFA listservs toward the end of the semester, and award winners will be contacted by email or phone shortly before that time.
DEADLINE: The 2009 contest winners have been announced and a deadline for 2010 contests has not yet been posted.