Enter the Next Creative Writing Contest: Deadline: March 16, 2025
Get inspired by the theme of our next issue — “Life” — and submit your entry by MARCH 16, 2025, to win a chance to have your creative writing published in USC Dornsife Magazine.
Open exclusively to alumni and students of USC Dornsife, the contest is judged by Dana Johnson, chair and Florence R. Scott professor of English; David Ulin, professor of the practice of English and editor of USC Dornsife’s literary magazine Air/Light; and Susan Bell, editor-in-chief of USC Dornsife Magazine. Both Johnson and Ulin have served as judges for National Book Award and for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. In addition, Ulin has twice been a Pulitzer Prize judge and Johnson has served as a judge for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.
The winning entry will be published in the Spring / Summer 2025 issue of USC Dornsife Magazine, accompanied by a short bio of the author. We may also publish the winning entry in our e-newsletters to students, faculty and staff and alumni and post it on the USC Dornsife website. Please note that we reserve the right to edit entries in consultation with the writer.
About USC Dornsife Magazine
The recipient of more than 45 awards for excellence, the magazine is published and distributed twice a year to more than 80,000 alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends of USC Dornsife.
Rules
- The contest is open to USC Dornsife alumni and students (undergraduates and graduates) — except those whose primary source of income is from writing.
- Deadline to submit entries is March 16, 2025.
- You may enter creative writing in any of the following genres: fiction, poetry, memoir or essay.
- All entries must be original, previously unpublished work, in print or online, have not been broadcast or won a prize.
- Your entry must be inspired by the theme of the Spring / Summer 2025 issue of USC Dornsife Magazine — “LIFE.” (Please feel free to be creative in your interpretation of the theme — you may explore it from any angle.)
- Entries must not exceed 500 words.
Good luck! We look forward to reading your entries.