Corrington Writing Contests

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Annual Corrington Contests

Corrington Writing Contests

The English Department hosts two annual writing contests inspired by each year's John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence recipient.

This year, the Department is adding a third contest for photography. 

This year's awards are inspired by the work of Maurice Carlos Ruffin!

On October 28, 2024, in Marjorie Lyons Playhouse, New York Times Editor’s Choice and Ernest J. Gaines Award Finalist Maurice Carlos Ruffin, will accept The Corrington Award for Literary Excellence and read from his essay collection, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You. 

For this year's writing contests, students are asked to think about place, voice, and character. In an interview with Antenna, Ruffin says,

Writers can present our communities as nobody else can. I’m from here; I’ve been here my entire life. I’ve seen things that people from Wisconsin or Canada probably won’t understand. That’s why I make it a point to present these voices. Our job as writers is to hold up a mirror to society and say, maybe you can’t see it, but have a look. 

 
For guidelines and submission details, click on each contest. 

2024 Contests

The Corrington Excellence in First-Year Writing Contest

The English Department invites essay submissions from first-year students inspired by the work of Maurice Carlos Ruffin and engaging with the idea of place.

Taking a note from Ruffin, we welcome you to think about place in a multitude of ways. Place is more than a physical location. According to Tim Cresswell, “Place is also a way of seeing, knowing, and understanding the world. When we look at the world as a world of places, we see different things. We see attachments and connections between people and places. We see worlds of meaning and experience” (18). What have you seen, known, and understood about place? The following questions may be helpful as you think and write. 

  • When you think of home, what comes to mind? What places (geographic locations, physical buildings, virtual spaces, people) are or have been home for you? How has your idea of home changed throughout your life? 
  • Our understanding of a place is impacted by memory: our personal memories, memories of others, collective memory, conflicting memory. How do you fit into the memory of your chosen place? 
  • Spend time researching the name(s) of the places you have lived. What does the current name mean? What past names has it had, and what dictated the change? How has naming shaped this place, and how does it interact with your relationship to it? 
  • The epigraph to Ruffin’s book is from Ellis Marsalis: “In New Orleans, culture doesn’t come down from on high, it bubbles up from the street.” Where does culture bubble up in your communities, places, homes? 
  • A place can be thought of as a blend of nature and culture. How do natural features and phenomena shape a place and its culture? What is the difference between a natural place, a manicured one, a manufactured one, a preserved one? Does the nature of the places you have occupied shape your understanding of and relationship to them? What is the relationship between nature and your place (how does each act upon the other)?  
  • Communities can be geographic—but they don’t have to be. In what communities (physical, digital, otherwise) have you found a place or felt out of place? Where have you found and/or lacked belonging? What has constructing or joining this community looked like?  

Essays should weave together personal experience, research and knowledge, and careful attention to language. Essays should be 1,000-1,500 words, not counting headers and citations. Any sources used should be cited.  


Deadline: December 2nd, 2024

First Place: $500 & Publication in the conglomerate

Second Place: $100

Third Place: $50

 

To submit an entry click here. 

The Corrington Creative Writing Contest

The English Department invites creative writing submissions inspired by the work of Maurice Carlos Ruffin and engaging with ideas of place, character, and/or voice.

In an article for Lit Hub, Ruffin describes his process for thinking of place, character and voice:  
 

Each narrator has a different timbre, pitch, intensity, and cadence....My first-person and second-person narrators are singing. The narrators in my third-person stories are playing their instruments. 


Together, the 20 or so lead characters in my New Orleans-set short story collection, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, make up a large band with chorus. James, the elegant protagonist in “Ghetto University,” sings in a smooth tenor. Shaquann, the irrepressible trans girl in “Rhinoceros,” is the living embodiment of the drumbeat in every bounce song ever made. And Gailya, who is at the heart of the one novelette in the collection, “Before I Let Go,” is gently playing a piano in the dark. 


The point of this extended metaphor is that I don’t make the voices. And perhaps neither should you. I listen. Then I wave my hands around to make sure the song stays on beat. I may glare at a character if they seem to lose the plot. But they tell their own stories. And thank goodness for that.

This contest is open to all Centenary students. Students should submit only one piece, but all genres are welcome. Work submitted to this contest should be previously unpublished. 


Deadline: December 2nd, 2024

  
First Place: $500,  publication in pandora, and a performance at next year's Corrington Award ceremony

Second Place: $100

Third Place: $50

 

To submit an entry, click here. 

The Corrington Photo Contest

In celebration of the work of Maurice Carlos Ruffin, visiting writer and 2024 recipient of the Corrington Award for Literary Excellence, The Learning Commons invites photography submissions that capture the places and communities that hold significance for you. Show us your place as you see it—your perspective, your point of view—and help us experience it through your eyes. 
 
As you think about place, we encourage you to consider Centenary itself—not only as a campus but as a vibrant community. What moments, spaces, or people make Centenary feel like more than just a location? How does this place come to life through the connections, memories, and experiences shared here? 
 
This contest is open to all Centenary students. Limit 2 photos per student. Photos should be at least 300dpi and submitted as .jpg or .png file type. Each submission should include a title and a brief caption (50-100 words) explaining how your photograph engages with the idea of place and community. 

Deadline: October 9, 2024

 

Top 10: Printed in large format and displayed at the Corrington Award Reception. 
 
First Place: $200 and front page feature in the conglomerate

Second Place: $100 and publication in the conglomerate

Third Place: $50 and publication in the conglomerate

To submit an entry, click here.

 

 

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