NARRATIVE HIGH SCHOOL WRITING CONTEST GUIDELINES
Calling all high school writers and teachers! We’re excited to share with you the details of our upcoming Twelfth Annual Narrative High School Writing Contest, starting with the news that acclaimed poet and Narrative Prize winner PAISLEY REKDAL will serve as our guest judge!
In recent years we’ve heard from students in sixty countries and throughout the US—a virtual world of young writers. This coming January, we’re eager to hear from YOU!
Contest dates and details
The submission portal for the 2026–2027 contest will open on January 6, 2027, and close on or before January 29, 2027, at 5 p.m. PST.
Important note: Only the first 1,000 submissions will be accepted. Please be sure to submit early, as the contest will close once we reach the maximum number allowed.
Be sure to register for Narrative to receive updates and news in the months ahead.
Who is eligible for the the contest?
High school students from the US and internationally, grades 9–12, are eligible. New this year: students may submit directly to the contest. The submission portal will open on January 6, 2027. Winners and finalists will be asked to provide proof of age.
Is it poetry only this year?
Yes. This year we invite writers to submit a poem of 10 to 50 lines that responds to the prompt “When Everything Changed.” Essays and fiction will not be eligible.
Can you tell me more about the prompt?
Using the prompt When Everything Changed as a springboard, we invite you to write an original, unpublished poem of 10 to 50 lines that takes your reader on a journey toward at least one crystalized moment of change. Go to the places that are vulnerable, messy, and authentic, and provide a context of “before and after.” We encourage you to write about what confuses or shocks or angers you, that speaks of things you might not think you have the agency to change or fix—and from this messy mix, show us something we haven’t seen or considered. It can be change for one character or more; it can be a new awareness that is still raw or unguarded—all that is rich turf for poetry.
Be artful, be original. Be bold! You may turn toward the metaphorical or the literal, the small or the large, the individual or the systemic—it can be something outside your window, your country, or closest of all, something in your heart. Write a poem of 10 to 50 lines that touches on this theme.
Lean into the question, and ask others to join you. We each have something to learn and something to teach. Take us on a journey that is distinctly your own and shows us what we’re missing. We cannot wait to read what only you can write!
Who is judging this year’s contest?
Our Narrative staff, led by bestselling author and Narrative cofounder/editor Carol Edgarian, will review all submissions to the contest. Winners and finalists will be chosen by this year’s guest judge, Narrative Prize winner and acclaimed poet Paisley Rekdal.
Rekdal is the author of four books of nonfiction, and seven books of poetry, including, West: A Translation, which won the 2024 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Utah Book Award in Poetry and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Her newest book of poems is Heritance. A former Guggenheim Fellow and Utah Poet Laureate, she directs the American West Center at the University of Utah.
When will the winners and finalists be announced?
The first-, second-, and third-place winner, along with the contest finalists, will be announced in mid-April. Paisley Rekdal will meet to mentor the winning writers and edit their pieces over Zoom prior to publication.
What awards will the winners receive?
Cash and prizes of up to $2,500 will be awarded. The winning author will be presented with a $500 award. The second-place winner will receive $250, and the third-place winner will receive $100. Each finalist will receive $50. The schools of the winners and finalists will also receive special recognition, mentorship, and prizes. The winning works will be published in Narrative, alongside many of today’s great writers.
The Narrative High School Writing Contest is part of our larger Narrative for Schools program, which provides teaching resources and inspiration, as well as complete access to our Library, with its Explore by Theme tool; Video Tutorials; Recommended Reading Lists; Advice for Writers; Writing Prompts; This Could Be Me: Careers in Publishing; and much more—all for free.
Questions? Email @email. We love hearing from teachers and students!
Please spread the news to friends, colleagues, and students and SHARE the poster below around your campus! We hope to hear from as many voices as possible.
Watch a short video as last year’s winners and finalists talk with Carol Edgarian about what inspired them to write their stories and poems.
You can also check out our Letter to a Young Writer by Carol Edgarian, as well as recent winning works listed below.
The Eleventh Annual High School Contest: One True Thing
The Tenth Annual High School Contest: What I Cannot Say, I’ll Say Here
The Ninth Annual High School Contest: My Note to the World
The Eighth Annual High School Contest: True or False?
The Seventh Annual High School Contest: Blind Spots
The Sixth Annual High School Contest: Escape
The Fifth Annual High School Contest: The Choice
The Fourth Annual High School Contest: The Mistake
The Third Annual High School Contest: When Everything Changed
The Second Annual High School Contest: Dear America
The First Annual High School Contest: Where I’m Going
I have a question!
If there’s something we haven’t covered, feel free to reach out to us at @email. We love to hear from students and teachers!
