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2020-2021 Full tuition scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy offered through Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing competition
Prestigious international competition for high school-aged creative writing students launches today.
More aspiring creative writers have the chance to attend Interlochen Arts Academy on a full tuition scholarship through the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship, an award for high school-aged creative writing students supported by the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation. The contest is now open to all students who will be in grades 9-12 during the 2020-2021 academic year.
“Thanks to the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation, talented young writers have an opportunity to take their writing talents to the next level at Interlochen,” said Trey Devey, President of Interlochen Center for the Arts. “Our partnership with the Ball Foundation to sponsor this competition helps attract promising young writers from around the world to consider the benefits of attending Interlochen Arts Academy and to demonstrate that they have the passion and the potential to succeed in our truly top-notch program.”
A competition that began in 2001, the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition Scholarship has made it possible for young writers of great promise to study creative writing at Interlochen. In turn, the Creative Writing program itself has helped hundreds of young writers find their unique voice and expand their understanding of the craft of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, playwriting, and screenwriting.
Previous contest winners have gone on to earn degrees from Cornell, Yale, Princeton, and the University of Michigan. They have won or been shortlisted for numerous awards including the Norman Mailer Award for Fiction, the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize, Juxtaprose’s Short Fiction Contest, Wigleaf’s Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions, and the Pushcart Prize. They have published books and been featured in a variety of publications including Driftwood Press, Black Warrior Review, Kudzu House Quarterly, Broadly, Entropy, and more. 20 Creative Writing students at Interlochen have been named Presidential Scholars.
Interlochen’s one-of-a-kind creative writing program provides expert instruction and guidance to high school-age writers. Students benefit from small class sizes and a faculty of published writers who are also experienced and dedicated teachers. Students are closely mentored and afforded venues to read their work in public, as well as publish it in national magazines.
Applicants are asked to submit writing samples by Dec. 6, 2019 in at least two of the following genres: fiction, poetry, personal essay or memoir, screenwriting, playwriting, and hybrid genre. The winner will be selected based on the overall strength of their portfolio.
“The judges of the contest are looking for a strong portfolio that highlights the writer’s voice, vision, and versatility,” said Joe Sacksteder, Director of Creative Writing at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
For more information about the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition and the submission process, please visit write.interlochen.org.
