Contests, Awards & Scholarships

Willamette Writers sponsors and judges several different contests and scholarships. Entering a competition and having a deadline helps inspire and motivate writers. Winning a contest or scholarship is a great resumé builder.

Competitions range from children’s writings to writings for children in the Kay Snow Writing Contest; opportunities to have your short script made into a movie through our FiLMLaB Competition; and even our fun Six Word Story contests.

Our achievement programs provide college, graduate and high school students and their professors a chance to attend our annual Willamette Writers Conference the first weekend of August in Portland, OR through our C. Whitcomb Conference Scholarship, or the chance to receive money for college from our Kate Herzog Scholarships.

The Willamette Writers Board also presents Annual Awards that honor our local emerging and accomplished authors, and acknowledge and thank people and organizations who have demonstrated philanthropy in their work with writers and publishers.

Elizabeth Lyon Honored with Kay Snow Legacy Award

At this year’s conference, we have the pleasure of honoring three outstanding Willamette Writers community members who embody the spirit of WW. We begin today by recognizing the incredible work of Elizabeth Lyon. About Elizabeth Lyon As an independent book editor for over 35 years, Elizabeth Lyon is most proud of playing a part in…

Member Promoters of the 2016 Willamette Writers Conference

We would like to honor the Willamette Writer Member Promoters who have been helping us to spread the word about this summer’s Willamette Writers Conference. (To learn how you can become a Member Promoter, click here.) Please click on the links below and thank these supporters for their work on behalf of Willamette Writers by following…

Randall Jahnson To Direct 2016 FiLMLaB

Are you ready to join the grand experiment?We are nearly at the end of our submission period. 2016 FiLMLaB kicked off during the first week of January and will close in the last week of March. March 26th, to be precise. March 26th, at midnight to be even more precise. And even though all the…

Letters About Literature Update – Waiting for the Returns!

For those of you waiting to hear news from the Library of Congress for your children and students about Letters About Literature, we just wanted to let you know that we’ve heard that the letters have all been received and judged on the national level. Which means we’re just waiting to receive them so that judging…

Do You Write YA or Middle Grade Fiction?

Then enter to win our Roland Smith Award! The popular author of the Cryptid Hunters Series is also a generous contributor of his time to thousands of schools around the world and the final judge of our YA and Middle Grade in fiction. Read more about Roland.

Valentine’s Day Six Word Story Contest 2015

Congratulations to our 2015 winners: 1st – “You, me, coffee – it’s a start.” – Stephanie Carradine 2nd – “I’m checking out from Heartbreak Hotel.” – Joan Graves 3rd – “You miss me… When I duck.” – Terry Nelson 4th – “Should’ve known. Artificial diamond, fake love.” – Bob Ferguson 5th – “Chocolate spawns love…

Halloween Six Word Story Contest 2014

“Seance went wrong. Consult Vatican immediately.” – Rachel Lombard (Grand Prize Winner from 2014!) Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2014 Halloween Six Word Story Contest! Check back for our Valentine’s Six Word Story Contest coming up in January. Ghosts, goblins, witches, and jack-o-lanterns. Haunted houses, skeletons, and screams. Dig deep into your twisted…