The William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition opened for entries on January 1, 2011. The deadline for entries is May 1, 2011. Because administrators will be unavailable to receive and process a flood of entries on April 1 due to travel plans, the deadline has been extended.

Significant cash prizes are offered for previously unpublished work in seven categories: Novel, Novella, Novel-in-Progress, Short Story, Essay, Poetry, and Short Story by a High School Student. Prizes range from $750 for High School Short Story to $7,500 for the winning novel.  Winners also receive gold medals and are the Faulkner Society's guest for Words & Music, 2011 in New Orleans this November, when awards are presented at the annual gala, Faulkner for All.

If you are writer, we look forward to seeing your work. Dozens of past winners of the Faulkner - Wisdom Competition have been successfully published! After reviewing guidelines, if you have questions, contact us by e-mail at Faulkhouse@aol.com. We look forward to receiving lots of new work this year.

For 2011 Guidelines, Click Here!

THIS YEAR'S JUDGES!
Poet, essayist, non-fiction author, teacher, and popular lecturer, Rodger Kamenetz will judge the poetry category of the 2011 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. For the last several years, Rodger has been deeply involved in research and analysis of what our dreams mean, research which produced the compelling book, The History of Last Night's Dream: Discovering the Hidden Path to the Soul. Since this the non-fiction work was published Rodger has continued his research and, during Words & Music, he will address The Importance of Last Night's Dreams in the Global Village. Kamenetz is the bestselling author of The Jew in the Lotus, Stalking Ellijah, and Terra Infirma, a brilliant memoir about the author's relationship with his mother in his dreams after her death.

Judging the Novel competition this year is Will Murphy, Executive Editor at Random House, named one of "50 Under 40," who matter in publishing by Publishers Weekly. Murphy has become known for editing books that matter, such as the powerful Finn by Jon Clinch and the beautiful new work by Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence; as well as The Second World: Enemies and Influence in the New Global Order by Parag Khanna. Other authors include include Jeff Shaara, David Brooks, Bernard-Henri Levy, Philip Zimbardo, and Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, which was on the New York Times Bestseller List for 16 weeks.

This year's Short Story judge is editor Michael Signorelli, who has been at Harper Collins Publishers since 2005.  His list ranges widely from poetry and stories to novels and memoirs to graphic novels and design.  He edits New York Times bestselling authors Kenneth C. Davis and Thomas C. Foster; internationally acclaimed novelists Dennis Cooper, Richard Milward, and Tony O’Neill; memoirists Dan White, Kevin Sampsell, and Gerry Hadden; and Barnes & Noble Discover Finalist (and New Orleans’ own) Barb Johnson, among others. Recent books of note include Three Delays by Charlie Smith, Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever by Justin Taylor, and The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry edited by Ilya Kaminsky and Susan Harris. He created and wrote Harper Collins’s poetry blog www.cruelestmonth.com and helps manage HarperPerennial’s blog www.olivereader.com.