2026 Spring Writing Contests

$1000 PRIZES + $250 RUNNER-UP AWARDS

DEADLINE: FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2026 (12PM NOON!)
WINNERS ANNOUNCED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2026
2026 JUDGES: SEE BIOS BELOW

***These awards are open to the entire university student population.***

GMU Rinehart Fiction Award | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up
GMU Rinehart Nonfiction Award | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up
GMU Rinehart Poetry Award | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up

Prolific in the early 20th century, Mary Roberts Rinehart was referred to as the "American Agatha Christie." In 1983, the Rinehart family established The Mary Roberts Rinehart Fund at George Mason University to assist aspiring writers. Open to the entire University Student Community, contestants for awards in fiction and nonfiction should submit a freestanding entry, such as a short story or a self-contained section of a book. No entry in fiction or nonfiction should exceed 20 pages. Writers of poetry should submit 1 single poem of 60 lines or less. The competition is open to currently enrolled George Mason students, graduate or undergraduate, majoring in any discipline or program of study. Students are limited to one submission. The work submitted cannot be previously published in any form, print or online.

Awards will be given in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry categories.

Virginia Downs-Mark Craver Ecopoetry Award | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up

The Virginia Downs Poetry Award was established by the family and friends of Virginia Downs (1916-1984), poet and George Mason University graduate. The Mark Craver Poetry Award was established 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. This year, we honor both alumni with an ecopoetry contest. The award is given for a single poem of 60 lines or less, and this year, the subject matter focuses on ecopoetics, the Anthropocene, climate change, or the natural world. The competition is open to currently enrolled George Mason students, graduate or undergraduate, majoring in any discipline or program of study. Students are limited to one submission. The work submitted cannot be previously published in any form, print or online.

***The following awards are only open to currently enrolled MFA in CW students.***

Mary Roberts Rinehart Fiction Award (MFA Students Only) | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up

To assist 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 awards were given to honor Ms. Rinehart, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, whose work was popular in the earlier decades of the 1900s. The prize is given for a single short piece of fiction 20 double-spaced pages or less. The competition is open to any currently enrolled MFA in Creative Writing student. Students are limited to one submission. The work submitted cannot be previously published in any form, print or online.

Mary Roberts Rinehart Nonfiction Award (MFA Students Only) | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up

To assist 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 awards were given to honor Ms. Rinehart, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, whose work was popular in the earlier decades of the 1900s. The prize is given for a single short piece of nonfiction (essay, memoir, etc.) 20 double-spaced pages or less. The competition is open to any currently enrolled MFA in Creative Writing student. Students are limited to one submission. The work submitted cannot be previously published in any form, print or online.

Mark Craver-Virginia Downs Poetry Award (MFA Students Only) | $1,000 Winner + $250 Runner-Up

Note: GMU-designated contest categories are open to any currently enrolled George Mason University undergraduate or graduate student, as established by the Mason Foundation and the directives of the honoree for whom the contest is named. In addition, there is one contest in each genre (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) for which only currently enrolled MFA students are eligible.

Judges

See below.

Contest Submission Guidelines

1. Students are limited to one submission per contest and must submit a different work for each contest. (A poem or a story cannot be selected as winner of more than one contest.) Previously submitted winning entries cannot be re-submitted. Please check each contest for specific guidelines, such as word/page limit.

2. Students must submit an electronic copy of each submission in PDF format. Electronic copies in another format will not be accepted. Each entry should be saved with the title of the corresponding award + title of piece. (Ex. GMU Rinehart Fiction Award_Story Title).

3. Please use the following format for submission emails:

The SUBJECT LINE of the email should be: First Name Last Name_Spring Writing Contest 2026. (Ex. Pat Doe_Spring Writing Contest 2026)

Include your G# and First and Last Name in the body of the email.

Each attachment should be titled with the name of the contest to which the entry is being submitted and the title of the piece (Ex. Mark Craver Poetry Award_Poem Title).

No identifying information other than the entry's title should appear on the submission itself.

Electronic submissions should be emailed to Rafaella Silva at rsilva8@gmu.edu and must be received by the posted deadline. The deadline for 2026 is Friday, April 10 at 12:00PM ET Noon.

New entries or new versions of previously submitted entries cannot be resubmitted after the initial noon deadline.

4. The purpose of these awards is to reward previously unrecognized work. Therefore, submissions must be previously unpublished. Submissions will be considered as "published" if they have been accepted for or have appeared in any publication, online or in print, including student magazines at this or other institutions. Work currently under submission will not be considered to be "published," and is eligible for these awards.

Winning/honorable mention pieces are NOT published on our website. If you submit a winning piece to one of our writing contests, you WILL be able to submit it for publication elsewhere after the contest has concluded.

5. At the discretion of the judges, an award may be divided between two or more writers, or, if no submission is found to be of sufficient merit, an award may be withheld.

6. Award winners are contacted by email shortly before results are posted, usually in mid-April. Winners will be announced on the creative writing website.

Questions?

Please email Rafaella Silva, the English Department's Graduate Admissions Outreach Manager, at rsilva8@gmu.edu with questions.

CONTEST JUDGES

GMU Rinehart Fiction Award | JUDGE: Amina Gautier

Amina Gautier is the author of four award-winning short story collections, At-Risk, Now We Will Be Happy, The Loss of All Lost Things, and The Best That You Can Do. Her most recent collection The Best That You Can Do (Soft Skull/Catapult Press), the inaugural winner of the Soft Skull Kimbilio Publishing Prize, has been awarded the Midwest MLA Book award, an International Latino Book Award, a Silver IPPY Award in Short Story Fiction, a Florida Book Award in Fiction Silver Medal, a Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award Honorable Mention (Runner-Up), was a Finalist for the Big Other Book Award and the Housatonic Book Award, and was Longlisted for The Joyce Carol Oates Prize and The Story Prize. For her body of work, she has received The Chicago Public Library Foundation’s 21st Century Award, the PEN/MALAMUD Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and the Blackwell Prize. https://aminagautier.wordpress.com/

GMU Rinehart Nonfiction Award | JUDGE: Andrew Bertaina

Andrew Bertaina is the author of the essay collection, The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place (Autofocus 2024), the book-length essay, Ethan Hawke & Me (Barrelhouse, 2025), and the short-story collection, One Person Away From You (Moon City Press Award Winner 2021). His work has appeared in The ThreePenny Review, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Orion, and elsewhere. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry, The Best Microfiction, and listed as notable in three editions of The Best American Essays and as a special mention in The Pushcart Prize anthology. He has an MFA from American University and more of his work is available at andrewbertaina.com.

GMU Rinehart Poetry Award | JUDGE: Kemi Alabi

Kemi Alabi is the author of Against Heaven (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award. The collection was a Kate Tufts Discovery Award finalist, Chicago Review of Books Award winner, and one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2022, among other honors. Alabi’s poems have appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, Poetry, Boston Review, the Grammy-nominated album Difficult Grace, and elsewhere. For more, check out kemialabi.com.

Virginia Downs-Mark Craver EcoPoetry Award Ecopoetry Award | JUDGE: Madeleine Wattenberg

Madeleine Wattenberg is the author of I/O (University of Arkansas Press, 2021). Her work is published in The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Poetry, Poetry Daily, Salamander Magazine, The Rumpus, and DIAGRAM. She has an MFA in poetry from George Mason University and a PhD in poetry from the University of Cincinnati. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Writing at Lakeland University. Visit madeleinewattenberg.com.

Mary Roberts Rinehart Fiction Award (MFA Students Only) | JUDGE: Mimi Montgomery

Mimi Montgomery is a journalist at Axios who’s written for outlets like The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Garden & Gun, and Outside Magazine, and her reporting has been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Inside Edition, and CNN, among others. Mimi attended the University of Virginia and has a master’s from Georgetown University. Her first novel, Murder Bites, will be published by Penguin Random House this August. mimimontgomerywriter.com

Mary Roberts Rinehart Nonfiction Award (MFA Students Only) | JUDGE: Jodie Mortag

Jodie Mortag, a true Wisconsinite, having labored numerous summers in the mozzarella factory where her parents met, received her MFA from Wichita State University. Mortag is an associate professor of writing at Lakeland University and is the editor of the literary magazine Seems. Her work appears in Ruminate, North Dakota Quarterly, Counterclock, Fourteen Hills, and Barnstorm, among others. Learn more on her Lakeland University page.

Mark Craver-Virginia Downs Poetry Award (MFA Students Only) | JUDGE: Logan Phillips

Logan Phillips, a writer and cultural worker, was appointed Poet Laureate of Tucson, Arizona, in 2026. He is author of the books Reckon (University of Arizona Press, 2026), Sonoran Strange (2015), and the ongoing NoVoGRAFíAS series. Phillips is known for compelling, bilingual readings, and multimedia performance art pieces. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of publishing, music, education, and community-centered, land-based projects in the US, Mexico, Colombia, and beyond. His books, tour dates, and newsletter can be found at Dirtyverbs.com.