The editors of Deep Wild invite students currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate studies to submit work for the writing contest 2025.

Deep Wild Journal's Waking to the Wild 2025 Student Contest

The editors of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry invite students currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate studies to submit work to our 2025 College Student Contest. Submissions will be accepted from November 1 through March 1.

The contest theme is "Waking to the Wild." We seek work in any genre that conveys the awe, the gratitude, the passion to protect, and/or any other feelings and thoughts that arise when you awaken to the wild world.

The contest is open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. There are no fees to enter. Winners will receive cash awards, and their work will be published in the 2025 issue of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry. Each student is entitled to only one entry. 

Submit up to four pages of poetry or up to 3,000 words of prose. Mixed-genre submissions are welcome.

Cash Prizes for the Deep Wild Journal's Waking to the Wild 2025 Student Contest

Three or more pieces will be chosen for publication in the 2025 issue of Deep Wild Journal, and the authors will receive cash awards and five copies of the journal.

The 1st Place prize is $200, 2nd Place $100, and 3rd Place $50. 

Judges may also select a number of other pieces for Honorable Mention, and if so, the writers will receive a copy of the journal and possible publication online or in the journal. 

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Other Ongoing Writing Competitions

• The Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest 2025 | $150 Cash Prize
• St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition 2025 | CHF 20,000
• 2025 Centre for African American Poetry and Poetics (CAAPP) Book Prize | $3,000 Cash Prize 
• Deep Wild Journal's Waking to the Wild 2025 Student Contest
• The James Laughlin Award 2025 | $5,000 Cash Prize and Residency 
• The 2025 Zócalo Poetry Prize Honors Poems of Place | $1,000 Cash Prize 
• Frontier Poetry's 2025 Hurt & Healing Prize | $3500 Cash Prizes 
• Pennacle's Pen on Fire Writing Competition and Workshop 2025

Submission Guidelines for the Deep Wild Journal's Waking to the Wild 2025 Student Contest

Submissions should be made using your private email account from the college or university, or if you do not have such an account, inform us in the cover letter box on Submittable, The cover letter should also give your name, school affiliation, program of study, expected graduation date, and contact info (phone, email, permanent address).

Entries must be submitted anonymously. This means your name should not appear either in within the file or in the file name.

There is no fee to enter the contest.

Again, only one submission per student. Multiple submissions will be disqualified.

Once you submit a piece, you cannot recall or revise it, or substitute another in its place.

Please do not exceed the length limits: 4 pages of poetry or 3,000 words of prose. Shorter, fully realized pieces stand just as good a chance of winning as longer ones.

Formatting: Prose entries should be typed, double-spaced, in 11- or 12-point font. Poetry should be single-spaced, with double space between stanzas.

Finishing: Tightly written entries that are error-free and that have already benefited from feedback and revision will stand the best chance. However, be assured that a few typos or minor errors will not affect our decision. We will work with authors of winning entries to revise their work as needed for clarity and correctness.

Submit Here